Can the Los Angeles Dodgers Win the World Series Without a Deadline Deal?

There was a team, not all that many years ago, that got to the final weeks of July looking pretty much unbeatable, which is how the Los Angeles Dodgers look now. The trade deadline was approaching, and everybody wanted to know what those 1998 New York Yankees would do.

"It was hard to find an upgrade," Brian Cashman said Thursday.

It turned out he didn't need one.

The Yankees, in Cashman's first season as general manager, engaged the Seattle Mariners in deep discussions about Randy Johnson but eventually passed on the price. Cashman exhaled when he found out Johnson, an eventual Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, was heading to the Houston Astros, then in the National League, rather than to American League rival Cleveland Indians.

The Yankees ended up doing nothing at the deadline, and they ended up doing everything the rest of the year. They won 114 games and swept through the World Series.

Two decades later, they're still the last team to win it all without making a single trade deadline move.

Which brings us back to the Dodgers, who may or may not make a move in the next 11 days—and may or may not need one.

"A need? I don't think we need anything," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters. "We still know we're the best team. ... We're still expecting to win the division and the championship."

It's hard to blame him for feeling that way, with a team that has won 31 of the last 35 games entering play Thursday night (even the '98 Yankees never won 31 of 35). It's hard to find a glaring need, even though it's easy to see why the Dodgers would like to add a top left-handed reliever (Zach Britton, Justin Wilson, Brad Hand, Felipe Rivero and Tony Watson have been mentioned in various reports).

You can pick apart any team, even one this good.

"A good general manager never feels confident," Cashman said.

DON EMMERT/Getty Images

A good general manager never stops trying until he runs out of time, and the Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has a front-office team that includes plenty of good former general managers and Farhan Zaidi, who holds the current title. There's no doubt they'll keep trying.

But is it OK if they don't find an upgrade? Can they win the World Series with the team they have, breaking a drought that has lasted since Kirk Gibson's famous season in 1988?

"Possibly," a top American League scout said. "They're really good."

They're 66-29, one of four teams in the last 50 years with a 95-game record that good (the '98 Yankees, 2001 Mariners and 1970 Cincinnati Reds were the others). They're an incredible 57-18 since calling up Cody Bellinger on April 25.

They have Clayton Kershaw, who can still hold claim to the title of baseball's best pitcher (they're 18-2 when he starts a game). They have Bellinger, who will be the Rookie of the Year and might even get some votes as the NL Most Valuable Player. They have Kenley Jansen, who didn't walk a batter until June 25 and still hasn't lost a game or even blown a lead.

They had six All-Stars, not exactly one at every position, but what do you want?

Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

Their rotation hasn't been deep enough in recent Octobers, but the Dodgers have Alex Wood, Rich Hill and even Kenta Maeda behind Kershaw. I'd feel more confident if Wood pitched a few more innings and if Hill didn't have a history of getting hurt all the time, but again, you can't have everything.

As another AL scout said, "If Kershaw can get through with just three playoff starts before the World Series, then they could use him in Games 1, 4 and 7."

Their bullpen has a collective 2.90 ERA, best in the National League and second in baseball behind the Cleveland Indians. For all the talk about lefty relievers, left-handed hitters have combined for a .687 OPS against Dodger pitchers. Only three teams in baseball have been better.

The Randy Johnson of 1998 could probably help them, but Randy Johnson isn't getting traded this month. There's a good chance no one like Randy Johnson gets traded this month.

If the Dodgers do end up trading for Britton, maybe they're the ones who end up with the best trade of the month. Maybe they make a great team greater.

Or maybe they end up like the 1998 Yankees. Maybe they don't make a July deal at all.

And maybe it'll turn out they don't need one.

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow Danny on Twitter and talk baseball.