Complaints against the Los Angeles Dodgers grew louder with each star free agent they signed throughout the offseason.
Starting with Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Teoscar Hernández last year, to Blake Snell, Tanner Scott, Roki Sasaki and Kirby Yates this offseason — among other players mixed in to their acquisition list — the Dodgers have aggressively improved their roster.
Their payroll is set to be significantly higher than the next closest team, around $50 million more than the New York Mets, and around $100 million more than the third-highest payroll club.
Fans and owners alike have been critical of their spending, often with the complaint that the Dodgers are ruining baseball. Unsurprisingly, Dodgers owner Mark Walter doesn’t see it that way, via Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times:
“I don’t think so,” said Mark Walter, the Dodgers’ controlling owner.
Even though the Dodgers have by far the best World Series odds, with most projection systems having them around double the next-closest team, those odds are still just around 20-25%. Meaning, they are about 80% more likely to not win the World Series.
In addition to the parity of MLB and randomness of the postseason, the Dodgers are adding new fans to the game and raising interest globally, which also benefits every team owner and the game itself:
“There’s no guarantee in this thing,” Walter said.
And just why does he believe the Dodgers are not ruining the game? “We’re attracting more fans,” he said. “There may be some issues, but this is not the end.”
Due to the Dodgers’ spending, the idea of an MLB salary cap has been discussed more often than in previous years. Owners have even began discussing the concept during meetings, but those talks won’t pick up much until the next Collective Bargaining Agreement is needed.
The Dodgers have taken the stance that their spending is to reward the fans that pack their stadium on a nightly basis as they try to build the best team possible each season.
Rob Manfred views Dodgers as model organization
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred also pushed back on the idea that the Dodgers are ruining baseball, instead touting them as a model organization.
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