Whit Merrifield lauds Dodgers' deferral strategy amid extraordinary offseason

Free-agent infielder Whit Merrifield is thoroughly impressed by the offseason the Los Angeles Dodgers have had thus far. They signed two of the biggest free agents on the market, Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

While many teams would have been happy with those two additions, LA kept pressing on. They also traded for Tyler Glasnow to help solidify their rotation and Manuel Margot to assist in the outfield. More recently, they signed Teoscar Hernandez.

The Dodgers have put themselves in prime position to be a contender for years just from this offseason alone. Merrifield joined Foul Territory TV to give his take on the juggernaut in the National League West.

"It's hard to fault any team that is going out and doing the best they can to make their team World Series contenders. Props to them for being creative and doing things that have not been done at the level they are doing it" stated Merrifield.

While some fans are calling for a salary cap, given how LA is spending money this offseason, Whit Merrifield does not see the need. He does not see any reason to fault a team for doing their best to compile the most competitive roster that they can. If Ohtani was willing to defer $68 million a year, why not go that route?

"I wish there was 29 other teams that kind of followed that" stated Merrifield.

Instead of implementing a salary cap, Merrifield would like to see the other teams in the league follow suit. However, he cannot expect a team like the Oakland Athletics to go and do what the Dodgers have done this offseason.

Whit Merrifield believes what the Dodgers are doing is good for the league

While every team has different goals coming into the new season, one goal should remain consistent: putting together the most competitive roster. That is something the Dodgers did this offseason.

Whit Merrifield wants other front offices to be more aggressive with their offseason targets. Many of these teams have the funds to sign multiple big-time contracts at any point.

Given how good the Dodgers look now, they may have put the pressure on other teams to change their ways. You cannot expect to go far in the league when one team has assembled an All-Star caliber roster.

It will be interesting to see how different some other teams move during free agency and the trade deadline in the future.