LOS ANGELES – It’s often lip service when teams say their goal is to win the World Series every year. Most teams are actually happy with a postseason appearance. But for the Dodgers, winning the World Series every year isn’t just their goal and their mantra. It is also their sole focus.

The Dodgers spend more than other teams. They also develop players better than other teams. And over the past decade they have become the best organization in the sport. When it comes to improving their roster, enough is never enough for the Dodgers.

With their payroll and star-studded roster, it’s no big secret that the Dodgers are World Series-or-bust. But to win the World Series, you have to get there first.

For the fourth time in eight seasons, the Dodgers accomplished at least that much. On Sunday, they secured a spot in the Fall Classic against the Yankees, beating the Mets 10-5 at home in Game 6 of the NLCS to reach the World Series for the first time since 2020.

“It feels like we’ve finally arrived, I’ve finally arrived,” Shohei Ohtani said after clinching his first berth in the World Series in his first season as a Dodger. “Many of the matches we played were very tough and difficult to win. It was truly a team effort to get here.”

After losing two games to the Padres in the NLDS, the Dodgers made a major change with their season on the line. They seemed to understand that one name wouldn’t save their season, but 26 would.

From that moment on, the Dodgers were a team on a mission. They eliminated their rival Padres in five games and were on to their next test: the New York Mets and their magical season.

Taking down the red-hot Mets would require a similar determination to what the Dodgers showed in beating San Diego. The mentality that all 26 players were essential immediately came into play, with star first baseman Freddie Freeman still hampered by an ankle injury and the rotation seemingly in flux.

While it would have been easy for a team with so many injuries to make excuses, LA continued to find ways to win. And after coming home to Dodger Stadium with a 3-2 NLCS lead, Game 6 ended up being quite similar to this team’s journey – both in the regular season and in the postseason – with the group coming together to score 10 points scoring and getting 27 outs. a collective effort.

“They’ve proven to themselves how strong they are,” manager Dave Roberts said of his team’s determination. “When you get into the position we were in against a division rival, it turns into a street fight. It’s lose and go home, or you fight like crazy. I think that’s what put us over the top in the DS and what also allowed us to finish off (the Mets) in six games.”

In what is becoming a signature move for the Dodgers this postseason, they used a bullpen game to reach the World Series. One by one on Sunday, seven relievers tapped the rubber, limiting the damage and trusting the Dodgers’ lineup to produce, which it did. Eight of the Dodgers’ nine starters recorded a hit and/or a run scored in the Game 6 victory.

‘They are deep. They are good,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said after the game. “They have had many setbacks. They are missing many important parts. And they are still a very good team – that is why they are moving forward. You have to be able to weather the storm, and they did that. If you look at the team and the entire organization, they have been doing it for a long time, year after year. And that should be our goal.”

Spending money on the biggest superstars in the game, like the Dodgers, and acquiring the likes of Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freeman not only improves the team exponentially, but also increases the margin for error. What makes these Dodgers unique in baseball is their ability to consistently win on the margins, coupled with spending where other teams can’t or won’t.

Look no further than the man who won NLCS MVP, Tommy Edman.

When the Dodgers signed Edman to a three-way deal with the Cardinals and White Sox that also netted them reliever Michael Kopech, the former Cardinal had not played a game this year and was still rehabbing from offseason ankle surgery.

Fast forward to the postseason and Edman showed exactly why LA wanted him. When he took over for the injured Miguel Rojas in Game 3 of the NLDS, no one knew what a major role he would play over the next ten days. But in addition to starting every game at shortstop, the versatile Edman crushed Mets pitching in the NLCS, slashing .407/.393/.630 with a homer and 11 RBI, teaming with Corey Seager for the franchise record in a postseason series. . While filling in as the team’s cleanup hitter in Game 6, Edman hit a two-run double and a two-run homer in the pennant victory.

“We had really good at bats throughout the series. Our entire lineup was good,” Edman said of LA’s NLCS performance. “We had some guys that could have won MVP. I just kept getting up with guys on base and had a lot of opportunities to drive guys in.”

Ohtani disagreed. “I think Tommy is clearly the MVP,” he said. “He’s doing things — not just this postseason, but during the regular season — and contributing in places where it doesn’t really show up in the stats.

“But I think the common theme for this season has been a lot of people, different guys have stepped up over the course of the season.”

Now the Dodgers face the New York Yankees in the World Series, with Game 1 Friday at Chavez Ravine. It will be the first time the two historic franchises have met in the Fall Classic since 1981 and their 12th meeting of all time. It is also a rare clash between the No. 1 seeds from each league, pitting the two teams with the best records in their respective leagues against each other.

The Yankees seem like a real “final boss” for LA, as they can match the star power of the Dodgers and any baseball team. But as LA has learned in its first two postseason series, winning the World Series won’t be accomplished with one massive effort from one player.

Rather, their depth will be needed now more than ever, especially with the continued unknown that is Freeman’s ankle and a patchwork rotation that will face its toughest challenge yet against a Yankees rotation that can go four deep.

“This year, man, whether it was free agency or trade or waiver claims, whatever it was, it seemed like we kept adding the right piece,” Kiké Hernández said. “The right piece after the right piece after the right piece to get a ball club that is not just a complete ball club, but that has the character and the – sorry, mom, sorry again – but to give up** *needed to endure a 162-competition season.”

Despite everything they’ve been through so far, the Dodgers have absorbed every blow and still ended up exactly where they wanted to be. We will soon know whether they can do that again in the next round.