Why the Dodgers should keep the core of an aging championship together

The Dodgers entered a packed home stadium when their World Series bid ended, waving to an adoring crowd that viewed them as more than just back-to-back champions.

They were beloved Angelenos.

Many players are on a first name basis in town, and if they are not, they are identified by a nickname.

Freddy, Moki and Shohei.

Yoshi and Rocky.

Miggy Roo and Kiki.

Players who were once strangers were now extended members of hundreds of thousands of families.

Normally, a team as old as the Dodgers would have to consider a roster shakeup. Freddie Freeman and Miguel Rojas will be 37 years old at the start of the next World Series. Max Muncy will be 36 years old, Kiki Hernandez will be 35 years old, Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernandez will be 34 years old, and Shohei Ohtani will be 32 years old.

But under these circumstances, how could the Dodgers even think about dismantling their team?

How can they unload any of their stars, no matter how low they fall next year? How could they not keep their key free agents, no matter their age?

They can’t, they can’t, they can’t.

The Dodgers have to do this again.

“Obviously we would love to have everyone back,” Freeman said.

Muncy has a $10 million team option for next season. The Dodgers should pick him up.

Rojas and Kiki Hernandez are free agents. The Dodgers have to re-sign them.

Freeman won’t be making the calls to his teammates, of course. The decisions will be made by President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman, who was characteristically evasive when asked what efforts the Dodgers would make to keep their players out of contract.

“Obviously the people who were here and were a big part of it are starting to get the upper hand,” Friedman said. “However, they are free agents. They’ve earned the right to go out and talk to 29 other teams as well.”

Muncy does not have the option to leave if the Dodgers exercise his option, but Rojas and Kiki Hernandez have said they would like to return next season.

Whatever Friedman decides to do, it shouldn’t prevent the Dodgers from shopping the free agent market, with Kyle Tucker and Stephen Cowan being potential additions to their outfield.

But the Dodgers’ core will be older than it was this year when their collective age presented a variety of problems.

Their 18-inning win in Game 3 clearly weakened them more than it did the Toronto Blue Jays, who won the next two games. In retrospect, that should have been expected, as the Dodgers struggled to maintain consistency offensively during a six-month regular season.

While Betts has turned into one of the best defensive shortstops in the league, he has seen a sharp decline offensively. Muncy was limited to 100 games due to injuries. Teoscar Hernandez is not even close to being the same player he was last year.

There were times when even Ohtani began to show the effects of being on the wrong side of thirty. Ohtani’s father acknowledged this fact in an open letter of congratulations he wrote to his son, which was published in Monday’s issue of Sports Nippon.

“Shuhei, you are 31 years old,” Toru Ohtani wrote in Japanese. “I think as a baseball player, you’re at your best, but there comes a time when you have to choose between pitching and hitting. When you can’t pitch anymore, you can become an outfielder. I think if you train, you can definitely do it.”

However, the team must remain together.

The championship can force teams to make emotional decisions, as was the case last winter when the Dodgers re-signed Teoscar Hernandez to a three-year, $66 million contract.

This winter, they will have to settle similar differences between their hearts and minds. They must listen to their hearts.

The players deserve it. Fans are demanding it.