For a while there, the Dodgers looked untouchable. The kind of team that can stack up stars, mow through the playoffs and make the rest of baseball feel like it’s playing for second place. But Milwaukee changed the mood in a hurry, sweeping Los Angeles in the NLCS and ending the Dodgers’ bid to keep the run going.
That result lands especially well for SF Giants fans, who have watched the Dodgers become the sport’s default power for years. The Brewers did the baseball world a favor by knocking out the team that had won the World Series in 2024 and 2024, and now Los Angeles heads home without a third straight crown.
There was fatigue around this Dodgers team well before the final out. Even in Los Angeles, the support didn’t always look overwhelming.
The Dodgers failed to sell out any of their four home playoff games this postseason, and last year’s empty seats only added to the impression that even their own fans were starting to wear thin. Giants fans have long had their own view of that crowd, the one that arrives late and leaves early to avoid traffic.
The comparison to the Marvel machine fits. The Dodgers have become the baseball version of a roster full of Avengers: loaded, expensive, and easy enough to admire for a while before the whole thing starts to feel overplayed. For the neutral fan, there’s only so much appeal in watching the team everyone expects to win do exactly that over and over again.
Still, this loss does not suddenly make the Dodgers vulnerable in any lasting sense. They remain stacked, and this kind of defeat may only sharpen their edge heading into next season.
Los Angeles is not cooked. If anything, it probably just got more dangerous.
For the Giants, though, the bigger picture is still the same: there’s a huge gap to close. San Francisco is light years behind Los Angeles, and it may take until the next decade before the Giants are truly able to threaten them with any consistency. The real hope sits in the farm system, with a batch of promising prospects expected to start arriving in 2029 or 2030.
The rivalry has swung hard before. The Giants owned the 2010s with three World Series titles, while the Dodgers have taken two and a half titles this decade and still have three more years to grab a third legitimate championship of the 2020s. Maybe the balance shifts again when the 2030s begin.
For now, Milwaukee has at least shown the rest of the league that the Dodgers are not unbeatable. The Blue Crew may still be favored in the NL West most years the rest of the decade, but if San Francisco keeps adding pieces, keeps developing its prospects and keeps moving forward year by year, the Giants might eventually get back to the point where this rivalry feels alive again.
In Other News...
Jeremy Affeldt Still Owns One Of The Giants' Wildest October Legacies
Jeremy Affeldts October rsum still stands out whenever the Giants championship years come up, and for good reason. Few relievers in postseason history have been as consistently hard to square up, with Affeldt sitting at the top of the all-time list in WHIP and hits per nine innings among pitchers who threw at least 30 playoff innings. His 0.86 ERA in the playoffs is also part of a tiny class near the very top of the record book, which helps explain why he became such a trusted arm during San Franciscos run of three World Series titles.
The biggest stage of that legacy came in Game 7 of the 2014 World Series, when Affeldt delivered 2.1 scoreless innings and picked up the win in the clincher. It was the sort of performance that fit his entire postseason profile: calm, efficient and right on time when the Giants needed it most. Even years later, his October work remains one of the more vivid reminders of how much San Franciscos title teams leaned on relievers who could control the biggest moments. [Read more 🡒]
Former Giants Coach Is Earning Attention As Another Faces Uncertain Future
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Meanwhile, another former Giants staffer is in a much shakier spot. Ethan Katz, who once served as San Franciscos assistant pitching coach, is now a free agent after being let go by the Astros in the wake of managerial and general manager changes, and his path forward is still unsettled. Houston also blocked Katz from interviewing for a promotion with another club, though that opportunity may still be alive, leaving his next move far from clear. [Read more 🡒]
Buster Posey Faces A Brutal Giants Decision After 97-Loss Season
The Giants winter has already started with more questions than answers after a 65-97 finish left them staring at a crowded 40-man roster and a payroll that will make every move count. Buster Posey inherits an offseason built around expensive commitments and a core of Willy Adames, Matt Chapman, Jung Hoo Lee, Camilo Doval and Logan Webb, with the front office needing to sort out who stays central to the next step and who becomes part of the reshaping.
There is also the usual December squeeze of protecting prospects, getting injured players back into the mix and finding room without boxing itself in financially. For a club that needs to get older, younger and more flexible all at once, the hard part may not be identifying the issues so much as deciding which established names are worth carrying into 2027 and which ones could be moved to create the necessary space. [Read more 🡒]