https://www.fanragsports.com/dodgers/heyman-jansen-worried-about-mlb-effort-imbalance/ This article is somewhat related. I specifically want to point to Jansen's comment that only 2 teams in the NL Central are trying to win. I couldn't disagree more. Both the Brewers and Cardinals clearly have made significant moves towards improving their clubs and are at minimum in serious contention for a wildcard spot. The Cubs are obviously contending. I'm not sure which of the Brewers/Cardinals he's excluding from the "trying to win" group, but either way he's wrong. The Pirates are sorta kinda but not really trying, and the Reds are probably 1-2 years away from serious contention. I would also argue that the West has 4 serious contenders, and the Padres paid Hosmer $144 million guaranteed or something. They are a year or two away but very close to contending. The East is a bit of a different story. The Mets are being cost conscious but sorta kinda trying, the Phillies and Braves are building up to contending probably as soon as next year, and the Marlins...yeah they don't care about winning. So by my count, only the Marlins and Pirates in the NL are clearly not trying to win. 13 of 15 teams are either in win-now mode, or are built up to the point that they'll likely be in win-now mode within the next 2 years. I think it would be funny if the Dodgers lost 7 or 8 of the first 10 against a couple good NL West teams. They'll see Greinke once and Bumgarner twice, it could happen.