The Los Angeles Dodgers 8-0 start to the season marks the greatest start to the season for any defending World Series champion. And as a result, MLB Network’s Mark DeRosa is ready to compare this year’s Dodgers team to one of the greatest teams in the history of the sport.
While the distinction of the greatest MLB team ever is incredibly subjective, a majority of baseball fans give that distinction to the 1998 New York Yankees, who famously won 114 games in the regular season en route to sweeping the San Diego Padres in the World Series.
This would, of course, spark what would become one of the greatest stretches of play in the history of the storied Yankees organization, going on to win championships in both 1999 and 2000 as well.
The Dodgers may have a lot of work to do to reach that three-year stretch of success. But DeRosa believes that when you compare the lineups of the two teams, the current Dodgers actually hold the advantage over the 1998 Yankees.
“I truly believe this Dodgers roster could arguably be the best team I have ever seen,” said DeRosa on Friday. “They have a chance to do crazy things if they want to do it. So, I looked up ‘What is the best team in the last 30 years?’ The 98′ Yankees, according to Google, so you know it has to be true. So I was saying to myself, ‘Where does the 2025 Dodgers roster stack up in comparison to what we believe to be the greatest team of the last 30 years?'”
DeRosa then compared the starters at each position between the two teams. And ultimately, he concluded that the Dodgers had a 6-3 advantage, with the only advantages to the Yankees given by DeRosa being Derek Jeter over Mookie Betts, Bernie Williams over Andy Pages, and Paul O’Neill over Teoscar Hernández.
Which team are you taking on paper: the 1998 Yankees or 2025 Dodgers?@markdero7 goes position by position to pick apart the two dominant ballclubs. pic.twitter.com/q7mqiz6vWt
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) April 4, 2025
DeRosa didn’t go into the starting rotations or bullpens of the two teams. But on paper, the Dodgers arguably could have the edge there as well if the additions of Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki turn out to be as impactful as most expect them to be.
Perhaps the last time that we saw these kinds of conversations in any sport came in the NBA when people likened the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors to the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls after breaking the record for the most wins in a regular season.
Ultimately, that conversation came to an abrupt end after the Cleveland Cavaliers came back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Warriors to win the 2016 NBA Finals.
DeRosa acknowledged that similarly, we could very well see these comparisons end for the Dodgers should they fail to win a World Series this season as the 1998 Yankees did.
“I think the distinction for this conversation is that the 98′ Yankees won the World Series,” added DeRosa. “And this version of the Los Angeles Dodgers, they will be measured, fairly or unfairly, on whether or not they win the World Series. I know it’s only April, but this is as good a team as I have ever seen put together on paper.”
Ultimately, we will soon see whether the 2025 Dodgers live up to the hype that DeRosa has placed on him. But if the first eight games of the season are any indication, this could truly be a special season for Dodgers fans.
