LOS ANGELES -- After a second consecutive exit in the National League Division Series last year, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, general manager Brandon Gomes and the rest of the front office laid out their offseason plan.

They knew early exits in October weren’t going to be acceptable moving forward. To give themselves the best chance of that not happening in 2024, the Dodgers wanted to be aggressive over the winter.

Their priority was signing two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani. Once the Dodgers accomplished their top goal, the rest of the plan they mapped out developed perfectly. In the end, the Dodgers secured all of their top targets over the winter, spending more than $1 billion in contracts.

By doing so, the Dodgers established one of the best rosters in recent memory. The expectation for the 2024 season was simple: World Series or bust.

With a 10-5 win over the Mets in Game 6 of the NL Championship Series on Sunday at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers moved four wins shy of achieving their ultimate goal, advancing to the World Series for the 22nd time in franchise history.

“Each [World Series appearance] is special but this group of guys, I love these guys," Mookie Betts said in an interview on FS1. "It’s fun coming to work every day. It’s fun battling. It’s just fun being a Dodger.”

Said Ohtani, through interpreter Will Ireton, in an interview on FS1: “It’s the place I dreamt of all my life. To be able to finally come to this stage and be able to play and hopefully win it is the next goal.”

The Dodgers will now take on the AL champion Yankees, setting up a battle between two juggernauts in the World Series beginning on Friday at Dodger Stadium. It’s the 12th time the two historic franchises will face off in the Fall Classic and the first since 1981.

On a team full of superstars, the Dodgers turned to a group of relievers to send them to the World Series. Without having a fourth starter, the Dodgers went to a bullpen game for the third time this postseason. The first one was spectacular. The second one wasn’t.

But on the third try, the Dodgers’ bullpen came through, using seven pitchers to get the job done. The Dodgers’ bullpen navigated through a lot of traffic and allowed four runs over nine innings, but consistently made big pitches when they needed to, stranding 13 Mets baserunners.

The pitching performance was made easier by an offensive outburst by the star-studded lineup. Tommy Edman drove in four runs en route to winning NLCS MVP honors. Will Smith and Teoscar Hernández also delivered big hits throughout the night.