With pitchers and catchers due to report to spring training a little over a week from now, the Dodgers – and most of baseball – have yet to make any major free agent signings; not to mention the fact that one well-known agent is suggesting that there might even be a players’ strike before spring training begins on February 23 because of it.

But from an ‘as is’ standpoint, if the regular season were to start today, would the Dodgers be in a good enough position with the guys that they currently have on their 40-man roster to defend their 2017 National League Championship pennant?

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts thinks so.

“I keep tabs, as we all do, on who’s out there, but I like our guys and we won 104 games last year,” Roberts told reporters at last week’s FanFest event at Dodger Stadium. “To keep the right guys in place, I think that Andrew [Friedman] really values … and make no mistake, these guys are working to try to get better if there’s a deal to be made, but the [players] that we have, the depth that we have, I’ll take us against anyone.”

Hyperbole? Perhaps. But with the likelihood that 2015 first-round draft pick Walker Buehler will be added to a starting rotation that already includes perennial All-Star Clayton Kershaw, right-hander Kenta Maeda, and left-handers Rich Hill, Alex Wood and Hyun-Jin Ryu, the Dodgers do indeed have depth. In fact, some baseball experts believe that Roberts and veteran pitching coach Rick Honeycutt might even go with a six-man rotation due to their abundance of pitching talent and to reduce the wear and tear on those valuable pitching arms; this in spite of the fact that they have added no new free agent starters or (to this point) re-signed free agent right-hander Yu Darvish.

Twenty-three-year-old Lexington, Kentucky native and Dodgers 2015 first-round draft pick Walker Buehler made the first pitch on his major league career on September 7, 2017 after his September 1st call-up. He figures to be among three current Dodgers vying for the number five – or perhaps even number six – spot in the Dodgers rotation this spring. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Excluding the 22 non-roster invitees to major league spring training camp, here is the Dodgers 40-man roster as of February 4, 2018:

The notable additions to this roster include relievers Scott Alexander, Tom Koehler and Henry Owens. But also of interest are Infielders Tim Locastro and outfielders Matt Kemp, Andrew Toles and top prospect Alex Verdugo. Although it is unlikely that Locastro and Verdugo will break camp on the Dodgers 25-man roster, there is an exceptionally good chance that Kemp and Toles will … if Matt Kemp is still a Dodger by then, that is.

It’s no secret that the only reason why the Dodgers brought the one-time fan-favorite and the $43 million still owed to him over the next two seasons back into the fold was to dump the combined (near) $52 million that they owed Adrian Gonzalez, Scott Kazmir and Brandon McCarthy in 2018. It’s also no secret that Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi would love nothing more than to trade Kemp. The very obvious problem with this is what team in their right mind would be willing to take on a 2-year / $43 million contract obligation for a 33-year-old outfielder with significantly declining defensive skills?

But Matt Kemp aside, and to be cautiously optimistic, it’s difficult to argue with Dave Roberts’ assessment of: “I’ll take us against anyone.”

Play ball!