The Dodgers report to spring training next week. In the annual projections released by PECOTA on Wednesday, the team is projected to win 99 games. No other team in the National League is forecast to win more than 90. Those numbers could change if any of the available free agents — Yu Darvish, Jake Arrieta, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and dozens of others — ever sign with teams.
Every dollar the team spends pushes it closer to the $197-million luxury-tax threshold and reduces some flexibility for either the present or the midsummer trade deadline. The Dodgers need that flexibility to stay in the hunt for Darvish, even if it seems unlikely they'll be able to pull off the steps (winning the negotiation with Darvish over other suitors with more money to offer, clearing salary elsewhere) to bring him back.