The Dodgers' magical postseason run in 2024 goes to the World Series for the first time since the COVID Cup year of 2020. After defeating the rightly favored Padres, the Dodgers finally dispatched a Mets team and now face the Yankees in a higher-level matchup that has Rob Manfred and Fox Media drooling.

The Dodgers arguably got the coaching staff out of a slump by defeating the Padres and being eliminated from the Division Series round. After all, the Dodgers added about $1.24 billion in new signings last offseason, which is slightly less than the gross domestic product of the world's 176th economy, Vanuatu.

A team doesn't spend that much to achieve the same first-round exit that the Dodgers suffered in 2022 and 2023. I will claim until my last breath that the Dodgers saved someone's job by bowing out of the Division Series round. No one has said publicly that anyone's job is in jeopardy, but let's be honest with ourselves.

If the Dodgers had somehow lost the NLCS, I would argue that whoever was likely spared by the NLDS win would have been right back in the hot seat. To the Dodgers' credit, we will probably never know the answer to the question of who would be in the hot seat in this scenario.

As I correctly pointed out before the playoffs began:

…What I see is a stud (Yamamoto), a slightly better-than-average one (Flaherty), a well-below-average rookie (Knack), and a terrible guy trying to find-it-out (Bühler) .

I thought it was crazy for the Dodgers to give their best starter a bite at the apple in the NLDS. The Dodgers realized their likely potential mistake and made the trade. I've already made up my mind, but this trade is probably the only way forward in this series.

That claim has been borne out so far in the postseason, particularly during the now-concluded NLCS. Jack Flaherty was masterful in Game 1 and a garbage fire in Game 5. Landon Knack threw a chunk of what was supposed to be a long relief effort in Game 2. After a miserable year, Walker Buehler finally looked like his old “Big Game Buehler” self for four innings in Game 3. Yoshinobu Yamamoto was good but didn't last in Game 4.

To Dave Roberts' credit, he took a risk with his team during the NLCS, and if things had gone sideways, whoever wasn't in the hot seat would have been put right back in the hot seat, considering , what an inferior opponent the Mets were. While we could and should praise Tommy Edman for his great performance during the NLCS, there is one person who is not being praised by the fan base and media in general: Brent Honeywell.

Roberts' punting maneuver

Like the Nationals in 2019, Roberts and the Dodgers had to rely on who was available. And after Knack's fumble in Game 2 and Flaherty's flop in Game 5, Roberts did something virtually unheard of in playoff baseball: He did the baseball equivalent of going back to bed.

Seriously, Roberts and Co. relied on the strength of the team to overcome the Mets, and in particular on one backup player, a man with a Scooby-Doo streak who wasn't even on the Division Series roster: Brent Honeywell.

Honeywell threw 7⅔ workmanlike innings that allowed eight hits with a 4.70 ERA. He also set a Dodger record by striking out three batters in Game 5. Honeywell pitched more innings in the NLCS than anyone except Flaherty.

You can see how much the Dodgers' success meant to him in the interview with Kristen Watson after the game.

Honeywell wasn't perfect, but it didn't have to be. He just did a good job and pitched about as many innings as Jack Flaherty. The Roberts maneuver was to survive and save higher leverage arms like Blake Trienen, Evan Phillips and Michael Kopech in case they were actually needed. That task was made much more difficult when bullpen star Alex Vesia went down with an intercostal strain that kept him off the NLCS roster.

Needless to say, the move worked and was definitely noticed by his teammates. Max Muncy spoke with David Vassegh after Game 6 and publicly revealed that Honeywell helped turn Mookie Betts by sending him fastballs off the tee. Muncy said to Honeywell after Game 5, “You just won us Game 6.” This interview should be viewed in its entirety.

Honeywell isn't the best reliever on the Dodgers, but from the interview footage above you can see that he would run through a wall (or damn well die trying) for his current teammates.

An ode to Honeywell

Eric has a penchant for three-inning saves. My baseball quirk is to take photos of backup players when I travel, preferably those on the fringes of the roster. My theory is that these ballplayers are still relatively close to “normal people” so you could theoretically have a conversation with them. I have some of the only photos and videos of Zach Logue, who is definitely a real person and a helper.

As much as we'd like to think otherwise, none of us probably have anything in common with someone like Tyler Glasnow or Kershaw.

My favorites are substitutes like the late Iron Mike Marshall. If someone can go multiple innings and soak up innings, that reliever is the one I admire as a fan. One only has to look at my song for Ryan Yarbrough to see evidence of this appreciation.

Honeywell is not Yarbrough (who is?), but I was there in Detroit when Honeywell went into service. I watched Honeywell soak up innings in St. Louis in his signature turtleneck. I saw him finish a laugh in Miami before Shohei Ohtani had literally the best day ever in the history of sports. To me, anyone who throws a screwball or a knuckleball is fine.

With all due respect to Edman, who had a monster NLCS, if Honeywell was unable to stop the bleeding in Games 2 and 5, the Dodgers are likely looking at a Game 7 that would take place on Monday night.

We'll probably never know who would win this game, thanks to Brent Honeywell.