The Los Angeles Dodgers attacked the offseason aggressively, adding a handful of the consensus top players in free agency for the second consecutive year.
Looking at the projected Dodgers payroll for the 2025 season, they sit around $389 million at this point. The next-closest team is the New York Mets, who have an estimated $331 million payroll.
Coming off a World Series title, the Dodgers doubled down on their drive of making on-field talent a main priority. Other franchises coming off a Fall Classic win have generally taken a step back from spending.
New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman spoke about the Dodgers’ approach and how it has changed the way fans and teams look at the financial aspect of MLB teams, per Chris Kirschner of The Athletic:
“Regardless of financial circumstance, the job is to find a way to compete,” Cashman said at Friday’s Grapefruit League Media Day. “Putting together a team, there’s a lot of different avenues to do so, whether it’s financial might, whether it’s amateur draft, international and pro scouting, development, waiver claims, minor leagues, free-agent signings.
“Ultimately, the Dodgers have raised the bar. They’re the defending world champions. They’re doing a lot of things good, which, again, as a competitor, you’re always looking inward at what are we not doing well enough compared to our competitors. I think we do a lot of things extremely well, if not better than most of our competitors. It doesn’t mean we’re operating perfectly at all aspects. So our job is to raise our game. If you can’t do it in every category, then you got to raise your game in enough categories to get yourself in a position to be the best.”
The Yankees missed out on signing Juan Soto to a massive contract, but rebounded to spread financial commitments around to fill out the rest of their roster. The crosstown Mets landed Soto by signing him to a record-breaking 15-year, $765 million contract.
That deal doesn’t have deferred salary, something the Dodgers are likely to have included in their offer to the left-handed slugger. Cashman and the Yankees have missed out on other free agents in the past two years because of cost-related issues, mainly, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who received more than Gerrit Cole.
In reference to free agency, teams are having to do self-analysis on their entire culture and how money isn’t the only factor in what a player desires out of their next destination.
Dodgers sustaining high payrolls
The Dodgers maintaining their massive payroll number is something that the ownership group has to be okay with sustaining. Even with the luxury tax bill and the drop in draft pick value because of their tax penalties, they’ve found a way to manage.
Other teams do not have this ability. The Dodgers have brought in an entire fan base with the addition of Japanese stars, and they’ve stayed on top of the baseball world with their stellar play.
As long as the business side is churning out cash, they’ll push the envelope of spending when players become available.
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