PHOENIX — The weather is gorgeous without a cloud in the sky for the opening of the spring training, but everywhere you turn there are orange traffic cones, potholes, and detours.

It has nothing to do with the partying and traffic from the wild Waste Management Open in Phoenix, rather the other 29 Major League Baseball teams trying to navigate any possible way to knock off the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Dodgers, the defending World Series champions, are threatening to strangle the hope out of all their competitors with their sexy array of stars, massive $380 million payroll, and enough talent where they could their divide their team in two, and still wind up playing against one another in the World Series.

If the Dodgers can win the World Series with only three healthy starters, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman playing injured, and forced to rely on a bullpen from the first inning to the ninth, can you imagine how powerful they’ll be after spending close to a half-billion dollars in the winter?

They’ve now got eight starters – nine when three-time Cy Young winner and future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw re-signs – after signing two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell and grabbing Rōki Sasaki, perhaps the greatest young pitching talent in Japanese history. Oh, and don’t forget they also signed the two best closers on the market, too, with Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates.

Little wonder when Dodgers shortstop Miguel Rojas was recently asked if the team could break the Seattle Mariners’ all-time record with 116 victories in 2001, he flatly predicted they’d win 120 games: “It’s not a goal. It’s an expectation."

The Dodgers are simply that loaded.

Sportsbooks have the over/under on the Dodgers' win total at more than 103 and the team is the overwhelming favorite to win it all.

How would you like to reside in the NL West, where the San Diego Padres had the Dodgers on the ropes in last year’s division series and then watched the Dodgers spend $461 million this winter while the Padres did nothing more than bring back their backup catcher and sign a platoon for left field? Or the Arizona Diamondbacks, who spent a franchise-record $210 million on ace Corbin Burnes, only for the Dodgers rotation to improve even more with Snell, Sasaki and the return of Ohtani? Or the San Francisco Giants, who spent a franchise-record $182 million on shortstop Willy Adames, only for the Dodgers to snag their ace in Snell and outfielder in Michael Conforto?

Oh, to be in the NL Central or AL Central, where all 12 teams in the two divisions were outspent by the Athletics of Sacramento.

Well, after teams spent all winter trying to work their magic, they now will be reporting in the next two days to spring training camps in Arizona and Florida, fashioning a report card for the top six winners and losers of the offseason:

Winners of the MLB offseason

Juan Soto: Come on, $765 million? Really? It’s mind-boggling that Soto is being paid more than Shohei Ohtani, who’s a cash cow for the Dodgers. Soto is a mighty fine hitter, but he’s also a one-dimensional player who could end up being the Mets’ starting first baseman or DH in a couple of years. This is the most stunning contract in baseball since Alex Rodriguez’s record 10-year, $252 million deal with the Texas Rangers nearly a quarter-century ago.

Los Angeles Dodgers: This team is so deep with pitching that there’s no need for a single starter to pitch 150 innings this season, making sure that everyone is well-rested and fresh for the playoffs and World Series. The Dodgers’ toughest task of the spring will be setting aside time to get their fingers sized for their 2025 World Series rings.

New York Yankees: The Yankees will tell you in hindsight that their loss in the Soto sweepstakes might have been the best $760 million they never spent. Sure, they wanted Soto, but they also concede that if they landed him, they never would have been able to build their team into the best in the American League. They signed ace Max Fried to a $218 million contract, traded for Cody Bellinger, traded for Devin Williams, and signed former MVP Paul Goldschmidt. And, for an added bonus, it sure helped that most of the marquee free agents headed to the National League over the winter, clearing the path for a Yankees’ return trip to the World Series.

Willy Adames: Raise your hand if you thought Adames would get a guaranteed contract worth $128 million more than free-agent slugger Pete Alonso. Adames made the shrewd decision to sign early, and got a fat seven-year, $182 million payday from the San Francisco Giants. If he had waited, who knows, he could still be sitting out there waiting for his contract like Alex Bregman.

The team formerly known as the Oakland Athletics: Finally, no more payroll slashing. No more distractions. No more protests. The Athletics, who lost 307 games the past three seasons, suddenly are legitimate. They improved by 19 games from their 2023 season, going 39-37 after July 1, tied for the third-best record in the American League. They even started acting like a major-league team this past winter, increasing their payroll, signing starter Luis Severino to a franchise-record $67 million contract over three years, locked up outfielder Brent Rooker to a five-year, $60 million contract, and resisted all trade overtures for All-Star closer Mason Miller. Sure, they’ll be playing the next three years in a minor-league ballpark, but the stands will be filled at their 14,000-seat stadium, and they'll be cheered by the good folks of Sacramento. The biggest bummer may be dodging those bad hops in the infield with 156 games scheduled between the A’s and the Sacramento River Cats.

Left-handed starters: What a winter it was for the lefties in the game. Max Fried, who was 11-10 with a 3.25 ERA with Atlanta, signed the richest contract for a left-handed pitcher in baseball history (eight-years, $218 million) with the Yankees. Blake Snell, who was 0-3 with a 6.31 ERA at the All-Star break, signed a five-year, $182 million contract with the Dodgers. Sean Manaea, who has never won more than 12 games in a season with a career 4.00 ERA, signed a three-year, $75 million deal with the Mets. Yes, left-handed starters have never been more in demand.

Losers of the MLB offseason

St. Louis Cardinals: This is a franchise we no longer recognize. They’ve been the class of the NL Central since the turn of this century with 11 division titles, four World Series appearances and two championships in front of baseball’s greatest fans. Now, for the first time in three decades, they’re settling for mediocrity while they undergo a rebuild. They haven’t signed a single free agent, made one trade for utilityman Michael Helman, who was about to be designated for assignment by the Minnesota Twins, and still are desperately trying to unload third baseman Nolan Arenado and the remaining $74 million in his contract. It’s going to be a long, hot summer in St. Louis.

San Diego Padres: They may be spending the next 20 years lamenting just how close they were to toppling the Dodgers in the 2024 NLDS. And just when they thought they were closing the gap on the Dodgers, the Dodgers went out and spent nearly another half-billion dollars while the Padres ran out of cash. They lost their closer (Tanner Scott), All-Star left fielder (Jurickson Profar), infielders (Ha-Seong Kim and Donovan Solano) and catcher (Kyle Higashioka). Most painful, they lost Roki Sasaki to the Dodgers just when they were confident he was coming their way. All they’ve done all winter is bring back reserve catcher Elias Diaz and sign an outfield platoon of Jason Heyward and Connor Joe. If that’s not tough enough to swallow, they’ve been shopping starter Dylan Cease all winter trying to clear room to dip below the luxury tax threshold. Meanwhile, the ownership is muddied in a game of Family Feud with nasty lawsuits swapped between family members, leaving fellow owners to wonder if the team will eventually be sold.

Pete Alonso: No one’s free-agent value came crashing down mightier than Alonso’s. It was two years ago that he turned down a seven-year, $158 million extension. It was four months ago that he was seeking close to a $200 million payday. He was left with a two-year, $54 million contract with the Mets that no could possibly have envisioned. Certainly, he could have gotten a bigger payday if he wanted to play for the Toronto Blue Jays. He even rejected a three-year, $85 million contract in January from the Mets, which was heavily deferred, and ultimately even passed on a three-year, $71 million proposal. Alonso was left with no choice but to bet on himself, and can only hope that a year from now when he likely opts out, he can change a lot of folks’ minds, particularly with no qualifying offer attached to him.

Nick Pivetta: Remember when the baseball industry was surprised back in November when the Boston Red Sox gave a $21.05 million qualifying offer to Pivetta after going just 6-12 with a 4.14 ERA? Despite Pivetta never making more than $7.5 million in a season, he turned it down. Well, here we are, with pitchers and catchers reporting to camp, and Pivetta still is unemployed. No team is willing to give him $21 million a year while also forfeiting a draft pick. Pivetta can either swallow his pride and accept a cheaper deal or if he is really thinking about skipping spring training, he may want to pick up the phone and talk to Jordan Montgomery and Blake Snell. They’ll gladly let him know what a mistake it would be.

Stu Sternberg: Just when it looked like Rays owner Stu Sternberg and St. Peterburg officials finally resolved the Tampa Bay Rays’ stadium mess after two decades of negotiations, along came Hurricanes Helene and Milton, blowing the top off Tropicana Field and perhaps blowing up their tentative deal for a new ballpark. All the Rays know is that they’ll be spending the 2025 season playing at the Yankees’ spring-training complex, George M. Steinbrenner Field, with no idea of their future after the season. Will the city fix the roof permitting the Rays to return for the 2026-2028 seasons, delaying their new stadium by a year? Do the Rays want to back out of their deal by March 31 and pursue a new ballpark instead in Tampa or Orlando? The trust between Sternberg and the local politicians is now at a breaking point and could eventually lead to the team being sold.

Seattle Mariners: Come on, didn’t they learn their lesson from a year ago? Wasn’t it painful enough knowing they had the best pitching staff in baseball, one that could have carried them right into the World Series but instead sat home all winter Now, instead of spending money to bring in offensive help, trying to sign free agents Alonso or Bregman, or trading for Alec Bohm of the Philadelphia Phillies, they’re going to run it back again with basically the same offense.

This is an offense that entered the final five weeks of the season ranked last in hitting (.216), last in strikeout rate (27.7%), 28th in OPS (.666) and 27th in runs per game (3.93). And they did nothing to supplement it other than re-sign Jorge Polanco to a one-year, $7.75 million contract and sign free-agent infielder Donovan Solano to a one-year, $3.5 million deal. That’s it. Shame on the Mariners and their ownership if they waste another year. For a team that has never played in the World Series, you’d think there’d be a semblance of urgency to take advantage of having perhaps the most talented rotation in baseball.

Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB winners, losers: Dodgers look unbeatable as spring training starts