The Los Angeles Dodgers have become baseball’s villains since winning the 2024 World Series. Almost immediately after the offseason started, the Dodgers began accumulating talent at key positions and addressing weaknesses all across the roster, particularly their rotation and bullpen.
Their acquisition spree began with two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell. They re-signed Blake Treinen, who was instrumental in LA’s postseason run. They added Hyesong Kim from Korea, whose defensive prowess provided more stability in the infield around new shortstop Mookie Betts. They re-signed star outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, then landed Roki Sasaki, a highly touted 23-year-old starter from the Japanese baseball league.
That would have been a spectacular offseason on its own, but the Dodgers weren’t done.
On Monday, they agreed to terms with free agent reliever Tanner Scott, arguably the best available bullpen arm in 2025. Scott had a 1.75 ERA in 2024, adds a 30.4% career strikeout rate and one of the lowest average exit velocities in baseball. The rich get richer. And then got richer again.
On Tuesday, Bob Nightengale from USA Today reported that the Dodgers had agreed to terms with Kirby Yates. Another star reliever. Another pitcher with elite stuff, strikeout rates, and a 1.17 ERA in 2024.
Like clockwork, fans of other teams once again took to social media to complain about the Dodgers ruining baseball. Except that ignores the real problem they have with the Dodgers signing and spending spree: they’re jealous.
LOS ANGELES – Blake Snell and Andrew Friedman react during a press conference introducing Snell as a Los Angeles Dodger at Dodger Stadium on December 3, 2024. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Dodgers Exemplifying What Good Organizations Should Do
The Dodgers’ 2024-2025 offseason has been so good, so dominant, that it’s overshadowed the New York Mets signing Juan Soto to a record-setting contract potentially worth upwards of $800 million over 15 years. Supporters of rival organizations have spent much of the last week angrily accusing the Dodgers of ruining baseball, demanding a salary cap or other restrictions to stop them.
Here’s the problem: not only would a salary cap not stop them from being MLB’s most desirable destination, but there’s nothing the Dodgers are doing that necessitates intervention anyway. Because what this offseason actually demonstrates is that LA is doing what every organization should: they’re trying to build the best possible team with the resources they have available.
The argument from opposing fan bases appears to be that the Dodgers should have accepted winning the World Series, then decided that winning once was good enough. Don’t try to make the team better, don’t try and win more championships while the core of Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani are still in their primes. Just accept what they have and ask permission from the other teams before signing or recruiting new players.
It’s absurd and the exact opposite of what a good organization should do.
If the San Diego Padres or the Seattle Mariners won the World Series, their fans would want them to continue trying to win in the offseason. But when the Dodgers do it, it’s bad for baseball, because LA’s owners are willing to invest more of their revenue into the on-field product. The Yankees have as much money as LA, if not more. They just made the World Series, and while they did add Max Fried, they could have also signed Snell, or Yates, or Scott or Treinen. They didn’t.
Yes, the Dodgers are spending a lot of money. No, they aren’t wildly outspending other teams. Per Cot’s Contracts, the Dodgers’ estimated payroll is $309.1 million in 2025. The Mets are at $289.1, the Phillies at $288.8, and the Yankees at $283.4. If the Phillies can sustain a nearly $290 million payroll, the Dodgers surely can spend $309 million with their bigger stadium, higher attendance, larger television deal and the off-field financial impact of Shohei Ohtani. The 2023 Mets payroll was nearly $320 million, for crying out loud.
What’s frustrating fans is that the Dodgers have spent their money wisely, while other teams essentially do nothing. Just ask free agent starter Jack Flaherty.
President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman even said in December that his goal was to build a roster deep and talented enough in the offseason that he wouldn’t need to trade prospects for rental players at the deadline.
That’s exactly what they’ve done.
For some reason, fans seem to have no problem with Pittsburgh Pirates ownership signing quite literally no one to build around Paul Skenes. Or the Cincinnati Reds making their one-year deal with Nick Martinez their biggest offseason acquisition. Or the Miami Marlins pocketing profits while collecting $70 million in revenue sharing. Or the Seattle Mariners and Minnesota Twins and Chicago Cubs adding virtually zero in new spending.
Nobody has a problem with trying not to lose like these other organizations are doing. But they do have a problem with actively trying to win. And regardless, because it’s baseball, nothing the Dodgers do can guarantee a World Series. Just don’t tell jealous fans that.
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