Presenting the Dodgers' All-Quarter Century Team, the best in Los Angeles since 2000

New York Times

27-05-2025

Editor's note: The Athletic is marking 2025 by naming an MLB All-Quarter Century Team, selected by Jayson Stark. We're inviting readers to take our survey and make their picks for the best players at each position since 2000, with the results announced in an upcoming story. Some of our beat writers are picking All-Quarter Century Teams for the teams they cover. Check this page to find all of our All-Quarter Century Team coverage.
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It wasn't always the so-called 'golden era' of Los Angeles Dodgers baseball. The days of boycotts and Fox and the inner details of Frank McCourt's ownership of the club defined a certain generation at the turn of the century. Then Guggenheim Partners entered, infused the franchise with cash and helped turn the Dodgers into a behemoth that spurred talk this winter about how they'd ruined the sport.
All of that within 25 years.
The last five years alone have produced two World Series titles. The last time the Dodgers missed the postseason, Dee Strange-Gordon was their leadoff man on Opening Day. When filling out the roster for the all-time Dodgers team from the last quarter century, it should be no surprise that most players are from modern day.
It's a ridiculous collection of talent, which makes for some interesting debates and a fun exercise. Surely, no one will be upset with how this turns out. (Right?)
(* Currently with Dodgers)
WAR leader: Freddie Freeman (19.8*)
After 12 seasons with the Atlanta Braves that seemingly cemented a future statue outside of Truist Park, Freeman never expected to play anywhere else. But he's kept on rolling in L.A., producing multiple MVP-caliber seasons and emerging as a vital presence in the middle of a stacked lineup.
In October, he joined the short list of Dodgers postseason legends. He tore ligaments in his right ankle in the final week of the regular season and ultimately required surgery. He swung in agony the rest of the playoffs after tearing rib cartilage. When the Dodgers won the NL pennant, Freeman was on the bench.
Then Freeman made history by becoming the first player in the World Series to hit a walk-off grand slam with a shot (and a pose) off of Nestor Cortes in Game 1 against the New York Yankees that might be his defining image on a baseball field. Freeman slugged three more home runs in the series and put together an integral at-bat in Game 5 against Gerrit Cole en route to World Series MVP honors.
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The longtime Brave had created a new legacy.
'That's the nicest thing you ever can say: He feels like a Dodger, he looks like a Dodger, and then, he's a Dodger,' said Fred Freeman, the player's father.
There's a case to be made for Adrían González, whose acquisition signaled the start of this Dodgers era of spending. In trying to find a place for Cody Bellinger, first base was a possibility. But this is Freeman's spot.
WAR leader: Gavin Lux (7.8)
Is this cheating? Probably. The Dodgers have had a glut of great outfielders since 2000, and second base has been a moving target. Trea Turner, a future $300 million shortstop, once started a postseason game at second base for them. Betts has played more games at shortstop for the Dodgers than he has at second base, which is one of those things that feels off even if it's true.
But if the Dodgers want to praise Betts for his versatility and ability to move to the infield each of the last three seasons, then that means he can play there on this roster.
Acquiring Betts was in many ways Andrew Friedman's white whale. The Dodgers tried for superstars in the latter part of the 2010s, to no avail. Gerrit Cole spurned them after the 2019 season. So did Anthony Rendon. Just before spring training, however, the Dodgers sent Alex Verdugo, Connor Wong and Jeter Downs to the Boston Red Sox for Betts, David Price and cash. That October, amid a pandemic and in an artificial bubble in Arlington, Texas, Betts helped the Dodgers win their first World Series title in 32 years.
He's already spent as much time in a Dodgers uniform as he has for the Red Sox, with two rings to show for it and three top-five MVP finishes.
WAR leader: Justin Turner (34.6)
There's a case to be made here for Adrián Beltré, who began his Hall of Fame career in a Dodgers uniform in 1998 at 19 years old at the behest of Tommy Lasorda and authored his finest season (48 home runs, 1.017 OPS, 9.6 WAR) with Los Angeles in 2004.
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But there is no talking about this generation of Dodgers baseball without mentioning Turner's name. Signed to a minor-league deal after interacting with then-bench coach Tim Wallach at a Cal State Fullerton alumni game, Turner had one of the seminal mid-career breakouts of the 2010s.
Turner earned MVP votes three times, all after the age of 31. The Long Beach native who grew up listening to Vin Scully became a postseason hero, producing an .830 OPS across 86 postseason games for the Dodgers and hitting the first walk-off home run the Dodgers had seen in the playoffs since Kirk Gibson's in 1988. Turner's was a solo shot in Game 2 of the 2017 National League Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs, 29 years to the day after Gibson's blast.
WAR leader: Corey Seager (20.9)
The former top prospect in the sport delivered as a unanimous NL Rookie of the Year winner in 2016 and finished third in NL MVP voting that same season, all at 22 years old. He was a certifiable superstar, particularly in the batter's box, capable of torrid streaks that matched any hitter's in baseball.
Even after missing most of the 2018 season due to elbow and hip surgeries, Seager found a way to write another brilliant chapter in 2020. A dominant 60-game regular season (.943 OPS) paved the way for an electrifying postseason, as Seager posted a 1.171 OPS en route to NLCS and World Series MVP honors as the Dodgers snapped a 32-year title drought.
The Dodgers have certainly had a bevy of shortstop talent, from Seager to Trea Turner to Betts to Hanley Ramirez and a half-season of Manny Machado and more. But Seager is the easy choice here.
WAR leader: Will Smith (20.5*)
The Dodgers' current franchise catcher will likely have plenty of chances to build on this status after inking a 10-year contract extension in March 2024. He's already separated himself as one of the pre-eminent catchers in the sport since his debut in 2019, emerging as a two-time All-Star with a penchant for hitting with runners in scoring position. As a rookie, Smith learned from Russell Martin (second to Smith on the WAR leaderboards among Dodgers catchers), who was back for a swan song in Los Angeles.
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There shouldn't be much of a debate here over the man who caught the final out of the 2024 World Series, has been one of the best and most consistent homegrown position players of the Friedman-Guggenheim era and doesn't appear to be slowing down his production anytime soon.
WAR leaders: Mookie Betts (29.6*), Matt Kemp (23.0), Andre Ethier (21.5)
This stacked group of options here also included the incredibly productive Shawn Green (whose father helped craft Freeman's swing, to bring things full circle), a nine-time All-Star in Gary Sheffield, and a pair of outfielders who electrified during their time in Los Angeles, Manny Ramírez and Yasiel Puig.
No one resonated quite like Kemp, whose 2011 campaign was MVP-worthy even if it resulted in a runner-up finish: 39 home runs, 40 steals (just shy of what would've been the first 40-40 season in franchise history) and 8.0 WAR while playing center field. Upon returning to Los Angeles in 2018, he enjoyed a renaissance season, emerging as an All-Star and slugging a World Series home run. His No. 27 jersey is still popular at Dodger Stadium.
Ethier was a perennially productive corner outfielder, a two-time All-Star and a fan favorite with a sweet swing. His final moment as a Dodger? Coming off the bench to drive in the Dodgers' only run in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series.
Then there's Bellinger, who burned brightly for the Dodgers and whose end in Los Angeles came almost as quickly. Bellinger dazzled as a rookie in 2017, slugging 39 homers and forcing his way onto the big-league roster en route to NL Rookie of the Year honors. Two years later, he was the NL MVP, hitting 47 home runs with a 1.035 OPS. That all changed after 2020, when Bellinger hit the eventual game-winning home run in Game 7 of the 2020 NLCS off of Atlanta Braves reliever Chris Martin, separating his shoulder and requiring surgery after the ensuing celebration with Kiké Hernández.
Bellinger's career in Los Angeles wasn't the same in the two years that followed, and the team non-tendered him after the 2022 season. Still, 'Belli' resonated in a way few players did.
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WAR leader: Shohei Ohtani (11.8*)
There will likely be a dividing point in the history of this franchise: before Ohtani, and after. That's just how much Ohtani has changed the calculus for the organization and the sport, not just with his dominant play but also with the business and advertising dollars that have spawned from his decision to sign a 10-year, $700 million deal with $680 million deferred in December 2023. He is a force multiplier and market changer, infusing even more cash into a team that seemingly is generating more revenue than just about any organization in baseball.
Ohtani's production has somehow matched it. He became the first player in baseball history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season, finding a way to make history even when the two-way star wasn't pitching. He's off to a near-identical start in 2025 and is nearing a return to the mound.
WAR leaders: Clayton Kershaw (76.3*), Zack Greinke (17.7), Chad Billingsley (17.3), Kevin Brown (14.2), Hyun-Jin Ryu (13.9)
The first name on this list and first pick if this were a draft is undoubtedly Kershaw, the iconic left-hander who will enter the Hall of Fame as soon as he's eligible. The three-time Cy Young winner might be the best pitcher of his era and has been 'the franchise' through ownership turnover, through generations and heartbreaks. From his distinctive windup to the devastating slider to the nasty curveball that Scully dubbed 'Public Enemy No. 1,' Kershaw is the Dodgers.
The only pitcher to even come near Kershaw's single-season heights is Greinke, who shared a rotation with him and jockeyed alongside him on Cy Young ballots over a dominant three seasons in a Dodgers uniform. His 2015 season, when he posted a 1.66 ERA, is one of the best Dodgers pitching seasons ever.
Injuries might have interrupted the middle part of his time as a Dodger, but Ryu's stint in Los Angeles was an undeniable success. He was productive as a rookie, putting up a 3.00 ERA at age 26 in 2013. Even after getting hurt, he returned to fine form and joined the short list of pitchers to wrestle away a Game 1 postseason start from Kershaw with a 2019 season in which he posted a 2.32 ERA and finished second in Cy Young voting.
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Then there's Buehler, the first draft selection Friedman made as a Dodgers executive. Buehler arrived as an edgy flame-throwing prospect who ascended to one of the best pitchers in the sport with the bravado to match. Buehler's postseason resume elevated his status even among his peers on this list.
His return last summer from a second Tommy John surgery was ugly. But Buehler bounced back with a vintage October, including coming on in relief to record the final three outs of the Dodgers' 2024 title. 'He went through a lot, but now he's etched in Dodger glory and royalty forever,' Kershaw said that night.
Before Yoshinobu Yamamoto signed the richest contract ever for a pitcher at $325 million, there was Kevin Brown, who signed the first $100 million contract with the Dodgers. He'd last just five of the seven years of that deal before being dealt to the Yankees and missed significant time due to injuries, but advanced metrics are certainly high on Brown. Brown was named in the Mitchell Report with ties to performance-enhancing drugs, which makes his selection a difficult one.
Yamamoto, in his second season with the Dodgers, appears to be staking his claim as a challenger for the next time such a list gets put together.
WAR leader: Kenley Jansen (18.7)
When Kershaw made his debut in the Dodgers organization, in the Gulf Coast League in 2006, a Curaçao native by the name of Kenley Jansen was behind the plate. That catcher with a strong arm and a natural feel for a cutter would turn into one of baseball's most productive closers and could have a strong claim to Cooperstown when all is said and done
Jansen's 350 saves in a Dodgers uniform included 41 in a dominant 2017 campaign when he finished fifth in NL Cy Young voting and carried a heavy load in relief for a Dodgers team that won its first pennant since 1988. Lapses in velocity and the sharpness of his cutter took him out of favor for some of the Dodgers' 2020 title run, though Jansen rebounded for a vintage 2.22 ERA and 38 saves in what would be his final season with the Dodgers in 2021.
For as much as Eric Gagné's brief, electric run defined his era, Jansen's resume is just too much to top.
(Top photo of Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp: Stephen Dunn / Getty Images)