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Dodgers reenergized after latest winter spending spree
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- Dodgers reenergized after latest winter spending spree
Dodgers | 2.1
Near the end of the Dodgers ' annual Fanfest event on Saturday afternoon, a sudden buzz arose in the crowd.
Over the Dodger Stadium speakers, fans heard the familiar sounds of a high-pitched trumpet. They started clapping to the beat of what will soon become a common ballpark tune.
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Edwin Díaz , the team's new closer and $69 million free-agent signing this winter, wasn't personally in attendance. But on the unofficial start day of a new and highly anticipated 2026 season, his Timmy Trumpet entrance song was already whipping Chavez Ravine into a frenzy.
Edwin Díaz speaks during his introduction as a new member of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope) AP
It was a reminder of how, even for a franchise with back-to-back World Series titles, another big winter spending spree has re-energized the club.
Much like their team's fans, Dodgers players have watched in amazement at the way the organization has continued stockpiling talent over the last several offseasons.
Such moves helped build this current Dodger dynasty, netting everyone from Shohei Ohtani to Yoshinobu Yamamoto to Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow . They have also turned the Dodgers into villains, with their $400 million payroll becoming the bane of the rest of the sport.
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Inside the clubhouse, however, this winter's newest additions –– namely, Díaz and $240 million outfielder Kyle Tucker –– have served another purpose ahead of the team's three-peat bid.
Dodgers players didn't exactly need more motivation, or a reminder of the opportunity in front of them.
But seeing more big names walk through the door, "it injects energy into us," first baseman Freddie Freeman said. "To go out and keep getting the best players year in and year out, even when you're winning the World Series, it's refreshing. It just really shows you that our organization, our front office, our ownership group wants to win every single year. To be a part of that, it's special."
Jan 21, 2026; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Kyle Tucker (23) is introduced to the media during a press conference at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
This has become something of an annual dynamic for the Dodgers in recent years.
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Each season, they are saddled with lofty expectations. Anything short of another World Series has long been seen as a failure. That kind of environment presents an ever-present pressure, and the threat of mental fatigue over the slog of a long regular season.
The infusion of new blood, however, has come to provide an important internal reset.
"It's huge in the sense that you're getting the talent," manager Dave Roberts said of this winter's signings of Díaz and Tucker. "But the other part is, you're getting a couple guys that haven't won a championship (with us) … Having guys that haven't had that feeling, that taste, infused with a lot of the guys that we already have here, I think that's great."
Third baseman Max Muncy , now the longest-tenured player in the organization following Clayton Kershaw 's retirement this offseason, was speaking to reporters Saturday when Díaz's entrance song made its Chavez Ravine debut.
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He said adding players of that caliber is a reminder to the rest of the roster.
"It always sends a message to the players: We're here to win," he explained. "It's not, 'Oh, we won one. We're good now.' It's, 'We want to keep winning.' And for us as players, when we see that, you have to understand and know that we can't just take this year off because we won last year. We have to keep going and get better."
FILE – New York Mets relief pitcher Edwin Diaz throws during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Sept. 27, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File) AP
Veteran infielder Miguel Rojas echoed that sentiment, describing the "sense of urgency" such moves create for a new campaign, especially after a long October run and short offseason of recuperation.
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"It's going to push ourselves," he said. "Older players need to continue to get better. Younger players need to earn their spot. And I think that's going to be a good competition, a good vibe and a good atmosphere in the clubhouse."
The Dodgers wouldn't be in such a position, of course, had it not been for their biggest recent signing of all in Ohtani, whose heavily deferred contract structure and revenue-driving celebrity status have enabled much of the club's recent spending.
"When I signed with the Dodgers, I had conversations with (owner) Mark Walter and (president of baseball operations) Andrew Friedman, in terms of making sure we would be in position to continue to add players," Ohtani said through an interpreter. "I'm sure from a fan's perspective, they're ecstatic to see something like this."
And on Saturday, it was clear that feeling was reverberating among his teammates, as well, setting the tone for a 2026 season in which the Dodgers will be pursuing history, and re-energized by the new pieces they've enlisted to help accomplish it.
"It's why everyone wants to be a Dodger," Muncy said. "They see that it's just all about winning. It's never about, 'Oh, we're good.'"
