The Dodgers telegraphed this move at least a year in advance. If you recall last winter they had a very modest offseason for a large market team. They did short term deals with the likes of JD Martinez, Noah Syndergaard, Jason Heyward, Miguel Vargas, David Peralta, Shelby Miller, and Alex Reyes. Not very flashy. Then at the trade deadlline they acquired players like Lance Lynn and Kiki Hernandez. Again, not very flashy. They also relied heavily on their farm system with the likes of Outman, Busch, Stone, Sheehan, Pepiot, Miller, and Grove.
Why? They were handcuffed by the Bauer fiasco and a ton of injuries but they also wanted to keep the books clean to make a big run at Ohtani. It worked. And they probably aren’t done. They may make a run at Yamamoto or trade for a big name starter. They had been targeting 2024 for awhile.