The Los Angeles Dodgers are coming into the 2026 season with very high expectations. After all, they have won back-to-back World Series titles and had yet another very productive offseason.
One of their biggest moves with the signing of All-Star closer Edwin Diaz, who joined the team on a three-year, $69 million contract shortly after the conclusion of the World Series. The Dodgers needed some bullpen help, especially at the back end of games, and they got their man.
Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report named each team in Major League Baseball’s biggest X-factor, and for the two-time defending champions, Diaz was listed.
“Despite spending $16M more on relievers than any other team, the Dodgers’ bullpen seemed to be just plain cursed last season, to the point where they brought Roki Sasaki back in late September as a reliever, desperate to find anything that might work,” Miller wrote. But if new closer Edwin Díaz pitches as well as he did last year with the Mets, it’s hard to find a thermal exhaust port on this Death Star.”
Los Angeles Dodgers Closer Named X-Factor
Diaz appeared in 62 games last season with the New York Mets. In those appearances, he went 6-3, recorded 28 saves and posted a 1.63 ERA. He is a three-time Reliever of the Year and three-time All-Star.
But the Dodgers were forced to get creative last season with their relief corps. Sasaki ended up working out as their closer, especially in the postseason, but they needed somebody more proven to anchor the back end of their bullpen, and Diaz might be exactly what they are looking for.
If he can stay healthy, then the Dodgers should be in good shape and should be a fully operational “Death Star” as Miller described. They are the first team to win back-to-back World Series since the New York Yankees did it from 1998-2000, and if they win a championship this season, they will be the first team since the Yankees to three-peat.
Diaz could make that task much easier for the Dodgers, as he remains one of the elite closers in the league. The Dodgers were lucky to outbid the Mets and land Diaz in free agency, and their bullpen should be in much better shape than last season, simply because they now have one of the top closers in MLB.
It’s going to be hard for teams to dethrone the Dodgers with him at the end of games and a powerful lineup that still features Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.
Road to World Series still runs through Los Angeles
Until another team dethrones them, the Dodgers are the team to beat heading into 2026, and it would be hard to imagine any team having a better shot to win the title than them. They have proven each year that they are baseball’s best team.
The path to the World Series still goes through them, and beating them will be even tougher now that they have Diaz closing games. It should be interesting to see what the season holds for them.
Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star Closer Named Team’s Biggest X Factor