"If Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman & Shohei Ohtani go 2-for-30, Dodgers lose" - Ex-Marlins exec warns about Emmanuel Clase & Guardians in playoffs

Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman finished second and third in the NL MVP race last year but were utterly disappointed when they went 1-for-21 in three games in the NL Wild Card Series, where the LA Dodgers were swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks. With Shohei Ohtani on board, the team is looking to avoid a similar situation this year.

On the "Blair & Baker" podcast, former executive David Samson was asked about which team is the best in baseball and which team is his favorite for the World Series. He compared the Cleveland Guardians lineup with the Dodgers lineup, stating that even with big names like Betts, Freeman and Ohtani, it is important that they show up, otherwise it will be yet another Wild Card series exit.

"I certainly don't want to play the Cleveland Guardians because I am scared to death of Clase. I cannot even imagine what it is to go into a single game where you know he's not gonna give up a run. So you have eight innings at best to get a lead and their lineup is such if it gets hot then that lineup is good enough to go with that bullpen and rotation but again they have to do it like the Dodgers last year.

"If Betts, Freeman and Ohtani go 2-for-30 this year, they are gonna lose just like they lost last year to the Diamondbacks when Betts and Freeman were 1-for-21," Samson added.

Samson: Shohei Ohtani's regular season unimportant compared to postseason

Shohei Ohtani spent six season with the Los Angeles Angels, but never could make it out of the regular season. For David Samson, Ohtani is the vital cog that pushes the Dodgers over the line in October. It is no secret that LA have struggled in the playoffs in the last few years and need that extra push from someone like the Japanese superstar to win it all.

"I am not thinking about 50-50, it doesn't matter to me. I am thinking about October and what the Dodgers need is they need to win the pennant, get to the World Series and try to win that series as well. That's what they brought Ohtani in for. All this extra stuff is fantastic, it's great marketing, it's great for MLB but this month coming up that's why Ohtani is a Dodger," Samson said.

The Dodgers have had consecutive humiliating defeats in the NL Wild Card Series in the last two years. The team will be hoping to avoid that and replicate the 2020 World Series-winning playoff performance.