Dodgers Offseason: How are LA Fans Feeling Amid Big Moves from Padres and Giants?

An online poll shows that the majority of fans still expect the Dodgers to win the NL West despite big improvements by the Padres and Giants.

The National League West is going to be pretty interesting in 2023. After the Dodgers won the division by 22 games in 2022 — only to be knocked out of the playoffs by San Diego, the team that finished 22 games behind them — both the Padres and the Giants have made big pushes this offseason to improve their teams.

The Padres re-signed pitchers Robert Suarez and Nick Martinez and jettisoned Mike Clevinger and Sean Manaea, all of which would have made them a slightly better team already. But they really went for it when they signed Xander Bogaerts, one of the top three shortstops on the free-agent market. Factor in that they'll also get Fernando Tatis Jr. back early in the season, and San Diego is definitely looking to make things interesting in the NL West.

The Giants won 81 games in 2022, a 26-game drop from their division-winning total of 2021. They've been aggressive in free agency, bringing back Joc Pederson when he accepted their qualifying offer and making a strong push for Aaron Judge, who ultimately rebuffed them to go back to the Yankees. San Francisco pivoted to Mitch Haniger, who's no Aaron Judge but it a solid outfielder. They also signed Manaea and Ross Stripling to fill holes in their rotation left by the departure of Carlos Rodon. But their big move came this week, when they signed shortstop Carlos Correa to a 13-year contract.

Amid these improvements within the division, Dodgers Nation asked their Twitter followers how they're feeling about L.A.'s chances in the division in 2023:

What place will the Dodgers finish in the NL West?

— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) December 14, 2022

More than half of the 5,470 respondents expect the Dodgers to finish in first place. Sure, that's probably lower than we would have seen in previous years, but Los Angeles was a 111-win team last year, so there's a lot of breathing room between them and their competitors.

Or, at least, there was. The breathing room has shrunk significantly so far this offseason. Andrew Friedman still has time to make some moves and finish putting his team together, but so far, the Padres and Giants have had more impactful offseasons.