Mookie Betts Knows Dodgers Are ‘Other Team’s World Series’

Mookie Betts is far from the only impact performer headlining a star-studded Los Angeles Dodgers roster entering the 2024 season.

The Dodgers invested over a billion (!!!) dollars this offseason in stars such as two-way player Shohei Ohtani, Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto and former Tampa Bay Rays starter Tyler Glasnow. Those marquee additions further bolster a roster that already featured high-caliber players in Betts, first baseman Freddie Freeman and starter Walker Buehler.

After a record offseason, the Dodgers feature an even more improved roster that builds on the precedent of three straight seasons with 100 or more wins. As a result, players like Betts know the Dodgers have a target on their back entering the season.

“It’s going to be tough,” Betts told Spectrum Sportsnet during DodgerFest on Saturday. “Every game is going to be the other team’s World Series. It is what it is. It’s what we signed up for. We have to go embrace that.”

Betts helped the Dodgers earn a championship in the COVID-shortened season in 2020, his first after a successful start to his career with the Boston Red Sox. With the talent to do so, the Dodgers have a prime chance to win it all in a normal season.

“Obviously, we’re trying to win a World Series,” Betts added. “It’s World Series or nothing. We’re all trying to do the same thing. We can’t add extra pressure to do it. I think adding extra pressure only does more harm than good.”

The Dodgers open the season on March 28 against the St. Louis Cardinals in Los Angeles.