MILWAUKEE — The Dodgers already had ace-level pitchers in their rotation when they decided last winter to add another. 

Enter two-time Cy Young award winner Blake Snell, who arrived on a five-year contract worth $182 million, joining Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow, to give the Dodgers three top options.

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Also in the rotation mix were Shohei Ohtani in his return to pitching after a year rehabbing from elbow reconstruction and a future Hall of Famer in Clayton Kershaw. 

“We felt strongly that not only could [Snell] help us in the regular season in accomplishing that first goal, but what he would bring to our staff in October,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said Monday. “Everyone wants to pitch in October. I think for some, it is literally part of their identity and what they yearn for more than anything, and I think Blake is one of those guys. … He loves these moments, and just betting on the pitcher, the head, how much he cares was something that was a No. 1 target for us [last] offseason.”