When the Los Angeles Dodgers signed free agent reliever Edwin Díaz, the team hoped to make it a cornerstone of improving their bullpen.

As many Dodgers fans know, that bullpen situation was one which caused Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to have a couple of sleepless nights. Still, Los Angeles has big goals entering the 2026 MLB season. Which one is biggest? Of course, it's pulling off a Three-Peat as World Series champions.

Getting Díaz is going to prove to be a big deal in the end. He's got quite a history of coming into games for the New York Mets, with an assist from Timmy Trumpet, and nailing down victories.

Díaz now gets to do this for the Dodgers.

When longtime MLB general manager and front-office leader Jim Bowden wrote about the seven teams that have improved themselves the most this offseason, seeing the Dodgers among them might sink some hearts in the baseball world.

But Bowden is no slouch when coming to looking at what MLB teams do. He's got as good an eye for talent as anyone else. 

Bowden's article in The Athletic on Monday, Jan. 5, spells out what the Dodgers have done so far.

"The Dodgers only really had two glaring needs entering the offseason — an impact closer and an improved outfield corner, whether it be in right or left field," Bowden wrote.

"It didn’t take them long to solve the closer role, as they signed the best closer in the NL, Edwin Díaz, to a reasonable three-year, $69 million contract," Bowden continued. "Díaz is a real game-changer in the ninth inning for the Dodgers.

"Now it will be interesting to see if they can improve the outfield with a player who can impact the lineup and play well defensively to put the exclamation point on their offseason," according to Bowden. "They were the best team in baseball if they didn’t make any moves, but with Díaz they’re even better."

Besides the Dodgers, who else is Bowden hailing for their offseason work? Those teams include the Baltimore Orioles, Pittsburgh Pirates, Toronto Blue Jays, Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, and Kansas City Royals.

The Orioles and Pirates hope that their improvements will get them into some conversations toward a division title. It's been a red-hot minute since they've been in that chatter.

Yet all of these teams, and many others, are just going to be chasing the Dodgers once again this season. Let's see if Los Angeles can add a little outfield help and, maybe, another bat to come off the bench.

Dodgers fans know that the front office will not sit idly by and see others make changes without doing anything itself.

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