10:55am: There’s nothing official in place yet, per reports from Jack Harris of the L.A. Times and Ken Rosenthal and Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic (among others). Harris writes that the two parties are “working toward a deal,” while The Athletic indicates “serious” negotiations are taking place. There could simply be semantics at play. Nightengale’s initial report plainly stated that a physical still needs to take place, so there’s never been firm indication of a final deal yet. A physical for a 38-year-old pitcher with Yates’ injury history isn’t necessarily a layup, but that seems to be the stage they’ve reached. If all goes well, a deal would be announced in the next few days.
9:52am: The Dodgers and reliever Kirby Yates have reached a “tentative” agreement, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today. The contract is pending completion of a physical. Yates, a client of the Beverly Hills Sports Council, would be the second high-profile bullpen addition for the Dodgers in recent days; they also inked Tanner Scott to a four-year, $72MM deal over the weekend. If the physical goes well and the deal is indeed finalized, L.A. will need to make a corresponding transaction to remove someone from the 40-man roster.
It’s the latest strike in an offseason spending blitz that has seen the Dodgers make free agent plays for Scott, Blake Snell, Teoscar Hernandez, Blake Treinen, Michael Conforto and international stars Hyeseong Kim and Roki Sasaki. Those additions come as Los Angeles looks to become the first repeat World Series champion since the Yankees’ threepeat back in 1998-2000.
Manager Dave Roberts’ bullpen has been completely remade over the past six months, beginning with the deadline acquisition of Michael Kopech. In late July, closer Evan Phillips was struggling at the time of that Kopech acquisition, and much of the bullpen was in a state of flux. Since then, the Dodgers have acquired Kopech, activated Treinen from the injured list (and, this offseason, re-signed him to a two-year deal) and now signed both Scott and Yates in free agency. A late-inning contingent of Scott, Yates, Kopech, Phillips and Treinen is very arguably the most talented quintet of any team in baseball.
It should be noted, however, that Nightengale suggests the Dodgers recently learned of an injury to Kopech that could cost him at least a month of the season. Details on said injury have yet to surface, but that revelation likely played a part in the team’s decision to close an agreement with Yates.
Yates himself isn’t without risk. He’ll turn 38 in March, and he pitched all of 11 major league innings from 2020-22 due to injuries (Tommy John surgery, most notably). The veteran closer returned with a healthy but shaky season for the 2023 Braves, logging a sharp 3.28 ERA in 60 1/3 innings but also walking nearly 15% of his opponents. He improved across the board with the 2024 Rangers, firing 61 2/3 innings of 1.17 ERA ball with a gargantuan 35.9% strikeout rate. His 11.8% walk rate was still noticeably higher than the 8.2% league average but a substantial improvement over his 2023 campaign nonetheless.
Yates ranked second among all free agent relievers in strikeout rate last year, trailing only Aroldis Chapman. He paced all qualified free agent relievers in ERA and ranked seventh or better in SIERA (2.85), K-BB% (24.1) and swinging-strike rate (15.2%). No qualified free agent reliever missed bats within the strike zone as much as Yates; his opponents’ 74.3% contact rate on pitches in the strike zone sat at the top of this year’s free agent class and sat as the third-best mark in all of baseball for pitchers with at least 60 innings pitched, trailing only Josh Hader and Mason Miller.
Dating back to his breakout with the 2018 Padres, Yates has consistently been outstanding when healthy enough to take the hill. He’s pitched 257 innings in that time and boasts a 2.21 ERA, 35.5% strikeout rate, 10% walk rate and 15.2% swinging-strike rate. He’s leaned on a lethal four-seamer and splitter pairing that’s helped him miss bats in droves while piling up 93 saves and 30 holds in 262 appearances on the mound.
The Dodgers are already well into the fourth and final tier of luxury penalization. Any dollars allocated to Yates will come with a 110% tax, as was the case with Scott. RosterResource already projects the team’s luxury tax ledger to sit at a staggering $371MM; the addition of Yates could push their CBT number close to $400MM. The Dodgers were already set to owe around $108MM in overage taxes before the signing of Yates; presuming he gets an eight-figure salary, they’ll very likely owe more than $120MM in taxes alone.
Uh oh…
King – Hafta admit, this is getting hilarious!
They sign Scott.
Then the news about how they wanted Yates before the Scott signing.
Then they sign Yates anyway.
And every other team sits on their butt waiting for the huge discount that never comes …….I have zero sympathy for those teams.
It’s quite telling if you’re a free agent and they don’t want you this offseason.
I feel like Dodgers are just trolling now.
The Roger Beshens Football Slider effect is happening more frequently now and is quite clear.
Teams that are now aware of this situation are discovering they don’t have the right coaches teaching the right skills.
They need to get in touch with Roger Beshens. Roger solves problems very quickly. The uninterested pitcher needs to be taken to the right spot to reflect on what he doesn’t know.
Roger will then wrap each one separately so they can be easily recognized with a final end date if they are unable to produce quickly enough.
thats funny because of the 20 sliders/sweepers he has thrown over the last 2 years none of them were whiffs or were strikeouts. Roger Beshens needs to go back to the drawing board.
Tanner Scott doesnt throw the football slider and is the best reliever of the offseason probably because he knows to stay away from a horrible pitch.
Tanner Scott has been using the Roger Beshens Football Slider for many years. It’s very private and no reason to share the secret with anyone else.
Gotta give it to Roger, he’s one persistent mother…
I heard that Andrew Friedman IS Roger Beshens !!!
Roger Beshens is involved with everyone who uses his Football Slider.
It’s something personal but many people are aware of it.
Roger Beshens was in the Dbacks Clubhouse May 23, 2024 showing Strom he got his number.
In 2018 Andrew Friedman was different than he is today.
The Roger Beshens Football Slider helped lucky people who got messages from him on Twitter.
The most helpful advice a pitcher can get even if not asked for.
The new “Evil Empire” , lol.
I think it was Andrew Friedman’s “hot pen” that started those wildfires, lol
Even in the late 90s and early 2000s the Yankees didn’t spend annually like this. This is a different level evil empire.
Black Ace57,
The Yankees’ payrolls in the late ’90s and early 2000s have been calculated to equate to something like $500M-$600M in today’s dollars, so they did spend annually like this – and then some.
Relative to the rest of the league? Sure they did.
Can you provide a source of your information, please? Seems preposterous.
gbs – Exactly!
I would bet the Yankees signed a lot more record-breaking contracts than the Dodgers have (Yamamoto & Ohtani).
The Dodgers payroll (including luxury taxes and actual outlays for deferred salaries rather than present value) is well over $500m now. In the $550m range and they still haven’t added Kershaw.
I’m no economist, but I can throw 92 million (2000 Yankees payroll) an inflation calculator, and get roughly 170 million. I know that it’s not that simple, but yes, this is far beyond what the Yankees were doing then from that perspective.
You are correct, in that it’s not that simple. I am guessing you just used a general, cpi-based calculator but you need to look at how baseball salaries have increased in that time. Look at the difference between the Yankees and team #2, or the Yankees vs the median spend of teams. Thank god you’re not an economist!
False. It’s 2 years of spending. People forget the talent LA has let walk in Free Agency. As far as Yates, Kelly and Hudson either retired or are retiring.
Gbs42 can you share whatever you’re smoking with me? Let’s do basic math here. The Yankees payroll in 2000 was 92.3 million. Using basic CPI inflation calculating from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that equates to 172.5 million today. Argue whatever you want, but you have to live in reality when you do it. Not some fantasy world where you pull numbers out your rear.
Mad Hatter,
That $500M-$600M was from my memory of an article or two, so it could be wrong. Here’s what I can very.
1. The 2005 Yankees spent about $210M on player salaries. With inflation of about 62% since then, that’s about $340M, in the ballpark of the Dodgers’ current payroll, though admittedly LA may keep spending, and they have the $100M luxury tax to pay.
2. The ’05 Yankees outspent the #2 team, Boston by about $85M, or (coincidentally) about 62% more than the Red Sox. The Phillies have a 2025 CBT number around $320M, and 62% above that is about $500M.
I may be mixing actual payroll and CBT numbers, so I won’t swear this is all 100% spot on, but I think the general point that the Yankees spent in a similar dominant fashion 20 years ago is correct.
I’m not an economist either but following that 2000 season the Yankees budgets rose rapidly so using the low point of that period is kind of disingenuous. If I toss their 2005 budget of $209 mil into an inflation calculator it comes out to $336 mil in present day value.
I’m not even saying it’s a bad thing. Spend it if you’ve got it. But, yes, relative to the rest of the league the Yankees have had no issue outspending the majority of the league by a lot for a long time.
This is a fairer comparison. I wasn’t attempting to be disingenuous with using 2000. I simply looked at a few years and picked one to use. I didn’t bother looking for the peak because as you’ve shown, it’s nowhere close to $500 or $600 million.
gbs – One major distinction worth mentioning ….
When you say “spent” do you mean their payroll obligation for 2005?
Or do you mean $210M in new contracts given that offseason?
Because to me “spent” means what you actually spent at that time, like when you use a credit card.
Spent doesn’t mean the balance of the credit card when the statement is generated, which is actually debt/liability.
Where does one need to submit their CPA license to speak about this?
Seam, you need to use NPV because the Dodgers, for example, aren’t paying Ohtani $70M in 2025.
No. You can’t compare two different teams in two different eras of of Baseball. This is not history repeating itself. Baseball was different then. For example, there was no salary cap for one, which I’m sure you know. Baseball used to be American Baseball back then. It was capitalistic. Today we have ObamaBall. It’s socialism at its finest. Back then if you owned a team and you wanted to pay someone 10 million dollars, you could pay anyone any amount of money to play for you. Today you have one team blatantly creating their own set of rules as they go along that fits into whatever model is good for them. To be honest I’m starting not to feel bad for the rest of the league and it fans. There is obviously no governing board for Major League Baseball and I haven’t heard any owners complaining yet. This is not good for baseball and everyone knows it but nobody seems to care. Where’s Mansfield? Who is he and what does he do? Who does he work for? This is just the end result of years of no leadership, with no knowledge of the game, no love of the game, and every move made to “enhance the game” with the underlining concern with how much money they made. The last thing I’ll preach about it that honesty I wish baseball went back to the old days. I think it’s better for baseball anyway in the long run. And the world is different today. Today you could have a billionaire show up, buy a team, drop a lot of money, and in a year or two you could be a contender and it doesn’t even have to be a big market team in order to do that.
Fair point that they weren’t spending the modern day equivalent of $500-$600 million on their annual payroll.
But without doing a deep dive you can look at their spending relative to the rest of the league and, using 2005 as an example, their team payroll was nearly twice that of Boston who came in at #2 and more than twice that of the Mets who came in at #3.
They weren’t just outspending the rest of the league at that time, they were blowing them all away.
And I’ll give you all something else to think about. Do you know what the other owners are saying right now about the Dodgers signing Yates? They’re saying , thank God the Dodgers signed Yates. My fans want me to sign someone to make the team better. But now I can get someone cheaper. He just won’t be as good.
how do you make those calculations?
I hear you. But I’m taking about what is happening in the now and today. That was 30-40 years ago and people are still talking about how Steinbrenner decided to spend his money. George wasn’t the only owner in the early 80’s that took heat when they signed big money free agents. The salary cap didn’t just show up one day. There was a push back from other owners when, not just George signed players but when other owners signed players as well. They knew it would increase every other team’s payroll eventually. Everyone didn’t want a salary cap in the beginning but eventually they got one and today this is the joke that it has become.
There isn’t a salary cap though. There are just escalating penalties for exceeding certain levels of spending. Which hasn’t proven to be much of a deterrent to teams willing to face those penalties.
There was a lot less of a disparity between the payrolls of the top 10-15 spending teams in 2024 than there was even 10 year ago.
Where the major gap continues to exist is with the bottom payroll spenders despite the fact that those teams are supplemented to spend. Several of those teams pocket that and don’t come close to spending to what their market allows them to. And that is with changes to draft order disincentivizing tanking too.
So is the issue the teams who are spending to their market capabilities or the teams who aren’t?
With expanded playoffs more teams feel that they can maximize profits by just competing for that 3rd wildcard knowing that if they can just hang there will be butts in their seats and if they can get in that playoff appearances can be lucrative.
Kershaw wont cost much. 10-15 mm at most
Kenley Jansen says, “Hey guys! I’m still here! You don’t want me for a reunion?”
Actually gb no they didn’t. . The Yankees didn’t even have the highest payroll in 1998. The orioles did. In 1999 the Yankees payroll was 8 million more than the next team (rangers). 2000 it was 4 million more than the next team (Dodgers). 2001 it was basically even with the Red Sox. Not even a million apart.
And 2000 their payroll was 92 total. Which is equivalent to about $150 today. So where do you figure their payroll then would be equivalent to $50 million now?
With luxury tax penalties that will cost the Dodgers 20-30m. For a #6 starter. Nice!
Too soon? I mean are they even out yet?
Yanksfan,
I was wrong on the exact timing. It was around 2005 when the Yankees vastly outspent other teams.
Glad I’m a DODGER FAN
mack, which DODGER are you a FAN of? And why just one of them?
Kinda like an oligarchy of baseball and society.
Just when everyone thought Friedman was thru he adds another big arm (Yates) to the bullpen
Friedman may as well finish the offseason by signing Bregman or trading for Arenado
As a Yankee fan, I’m offended by the Dodgers. 🙂
Seriously, though, if everyone else refuses to sign free agents, waiting for the bargain “that never arrives,” as you correctly state, who is the problem?
Maybe the Dodgers see a significant change coming with the next CBA, so they’re going all in times two now while they can.
See a change, they are forcing a change to be made.
The next CBA will likely target deferrals but the Dodgers contracts will be grandfathered in, extending the advantage they hold over most of the league.
So, yes, they are going knee deep in the strategy now.
The Dodgers might have the first $400 CBT payroll this year and pay $125M in luxury tax.
Lord – Exactly!! It’s not like the Dodgers are setting records for ANY of their free agent signings this year.
Scott got $18M per.
That’s less than Diaz, less than Hader, and not much more than Iglesias and Jansen got last year.
I guarantee whatever Yates got was easily affordable for just about every team.
I really don’t understand the sudden problem with deferrals since teams have been using them for a long time.
Any many of this offseason’s contracts have had signing bonuses worth a similar amount as the deferrals, which should make the NPV calculation basically the same as if the salaries were equal each year of the contract.
No one has deferred as much money as the Dodgers have in the last 2 offseasons alone.
Von, so they’re expanding a previous approach and having success. Lends credence to the saying, “success breeds contempt.”
Previously deferrals were used to manage teams cash flow.
These are done explicitly to avoid paying luxury tax and completely destroy any illusion of competitive balance in the game.
And people always get mad when top dogs do things.
gbs – It’s absolutely illogical to blame deferrals.
I hate to use the word ignorance, but clearly some people don’t understand how it works even though the staff here (and many commenters) have explained it in great detail many, many times.
Many teams have been doing deferrals for a very long time.
Deferrals do NOT in any way circumvent the CBT calculations.
Jealous Dodgers haters need to deal with it.
HHJJ,
The Dodgers are paying luxury tax on the NPV of each deal, and their tax bill will again be over $200M. They’re not avoiding anything.
Von – Just curious, would that be true if you subtract the unusual Ohtani contract?
Either way, why penalize the Dodgers for being smart?
What is the deal with people hating intelligence?
They are NOT breaking any rules, obviously.
gbs – Love that quote, thank you!
I have a simplified version, people be jealous when others be smarter.
Typo on my part. The Dodgers’ luxury tax bill will again be over $100M.
Lord99: I don’t know if it’s the other teams fault for not signing these good FA. It seems that they all want to play for the Dodgers. How do you fight that? My question is, how are they gonna use all these guys? Sometimes you can have too many good players. Some fringe players might be let go or not get a lot of playing time. I feel so bad for them.
avenger – How do you fight that?
Easy …. by offering more money than the Dodgers.
These players are NOT taking huge discounts to sign with the Dodgers, especially with the much higher taxes and cost of living.
Look on the bright side, they’ve got so many players locked up for years to come that they probably won’t be signing very many the next few years.
suit: Not with all of the deferrals.
The problem is, no one is going to defer that amount of money to play for other big markets, even teams like NY. The Dodgers have a unique advantage between finances and locale.
And as Halos points below, the Dodgers are using deferrals differently. They aren’t using it to manage expenses, they are using it to get players to sign lower AAV contracts to avoid lux tax penalties. The Dodgers found a way to manipulate the system. Credit to them, but as a result, the system needs to change.
Disagree. I don’t think teams are too concerned about deferrals. It saves the Dodgers some tax money, but they still have to pay out all the money every year in real time. I think fans are concerned about it because they don’t understand how it works.
No. Many teams are close to redline. Their budgets are very different without that RSN money.
I’m not saying the Dodgers should be penalized in the slightest. In fact, their front office should be praised. What I’m saying is that the league needs to tweak the rules a bit going forward. The Dodgers beat the league at their own game. So, the league needs to change the rules.
Oh WAY over $100m. Everything over like $280m is taxed at 110%. Or maybe the threshold is a bit higher. In any case, the bill is enormous. And remember the CBT calculation includes present value of deferred salary, not the full salary (which the Dodgers have to pay nonetheless). That’s another $24m a year for Ohtani alone that’s not in the CBT figure. Their total payroll figure right now, including tax and deferrals, is in the $530m range or so.
Fever: I agree. There’s nothing wrong with deferrals. I hear the White Sox have deferred Cannon’s $1M this year.
@Fever Pitch Guy They’re not taking huge discounts, but they’re taking huge deferrals that they wouldn’t take elsewhere.
People keep saying “deferrals don’t impact the CBT,” but that’s not quite true:
Deferrals can influence a team’s decision to exceed the CBT threshold, especially if the team is trying to avoid the financial penalties that come with it. Teams may strategically defer payments to stay under the threshold in the short term, but this still results in the salary counting toward the luxury tax calculation, potentially triggering penalties in the long run.
The lower AAV contracts wouldn’t happen without the defferals. And the Dodgers are being taxed yearly on that AAV.
Fever: I don’t think higher taxes and cost of living is much of a problem when you’re a multi-million Aire.
Absolutely agree. Again, I’m not saying the Dodgers should be punished at all. Their FO should be praised, but if the league wants to put out a decent product, they need to change the system that the Dodgers have gamed. This doesn’t mean punishing the Dodgers for doing something within the rules. It just means tweaking the rules for the sake of competitive balance. Punish the non-spenders. Encourage them to spend more, while at the same time putting a limit on over spending.
There’s not a big difference here in those advantages; the Angels have the same locale, yet no one is saying F- the Angels when they sign anyone. The rest of the league is the Dodgers’ farm system at this point.
FPG, next year the Dodgers might be like this year’s Braves, doing almost nothing.
Not sure about that guarantee, Fever. Worth a listen.
youtu.be/I_JWiwJQUxE?si=uxNVrlutve0ETiOC
@Fever Pitch – Deferrals DO impact CBT calculations as they are based on net present value of the deal. Take Obtani for example. He is earning $70M per year (contractually) but 95%+ of that is deferred. As far as CBT goes, the Dodgers are being charged $46M in 2025 for Ohtani’s services; which is only about 65% of his contract’s annual value. So deferrals are a way to bring a team’s CBT charges down in current years.
@ Halo – While deferrals can lower the team’s CBT hit, they really are not a way for teams to manage their cash flow. MLB requires teams to put a player’s deferred salary into an escrow account each year. So while the Dodgers might only be paying Ohtani $2M this season, they have to pay the additional $68M this year as well; it just goes into the escrow account. This way, teams can’t default on future payments. Also, the team is allowed to keep any interest earned on the escrowed funds, so that is the one financial benefit to the team.
Everyone needs to watch this to see how alarming things actually are.
@Von – With Ohtani’s unusual, record breaking contract, of course that is the case, but it’s well within the rules. I believe the largest deferred contract prior to Ohtani’s deal was Scherzer’s deal with the Nationals but I could be wrong.
Yeah of course it’s within the rules. That’s my point. The Dodgers don’t need to be punished per se, but the rules need to change because the Dodgers outsmarted the system. And every time the Dodgers or any big spender is spending, the stupid revenue sharing rules encourage cheap owners to remain cheap. The system is horrible, and the sport is broken. It’s not necessarily the Dodgers fault. That’s not my argument. But change is needed.
@Seamaholic et al
What’s the difference between the Dodgers using deferrals & the Padres using ridiculously long extensions (Xander Bogaerts) when we all know neither/none will be playing when the final dollar is paid?
Be the necessity for the change you wish to see in the world.
That is a valid point, Halos. Deferrals lower the AAV, which can be viewed as luxury tax avoidance, so this is something that might chance with the next CBA, and the Dodgers may want to get in with some grandfathered deals.
Exactly that’s a great point. People are just hating and jealous that the Dodgers have a great organization and spending money to win. The Mets, Cubs and others have done the same year after year. Stop with the whining!
Von, the players are agreeing to it, so what’s the problem?
The Yankees spread DJLM’s contract over 6 years to lower the AAV.
The Phillies spread Harper’s contract over 13 years to lower the AAV.
Dorothy, the Dodgers are only be charged $46M per year because the NPV of Ohtani’s contract is $46M. $70M won’t be worth nearly as much in a decade as it is today, and these calculations consider that.
Again, this isn’t an attack on the Dodgers. This is saying baseball is fundamentally broken right now.
The Yankees and Phillies are examples of huge spenders who should be subjected to a cap as well, but, they don’t have the advantages the Dodgers do in terms of an extremely unfair TV contract.
All these posts keep coming to the defense of the Dodgers, but I think that’s missing the point. I’ve said it many times, and I’ll say it again, the Dodgers are doing absolutely nothing wrong, and should be praised.
MLB is the problem. They need to change the rules, not necessarily just to prevent the Dodgers from doing what they’re doing, but even more so to prevent the Pirates and Reds and non-spenders to sit back and not spend.
MLB is a broken system. The Dodgers are just the best at using the system to their advantage.
The Dodgers announced today that are signing every major player.
The dodgers have already announced that they’re signing everybody next year too. Considering a large portion of their team is already locked up for the next 3 years, I’m already locking in Kyle Tucker signing with them next year. That’s if they don’t sign Bregman this year, considering he’s still on the table and they’d only have the overlap for one year.
Not to say that they don’t just do both anyways. But I’m not going to be surprised if they sign Bregman at this point and just either pay Muncy as an expensive backup or try to trade him. Then just sign Tucker next year. Betts will just play anywhere they need him to go too hah.
Alan: They already have.
The Dodgers will sign Kyle Tucker & Vladdy next season, just before the current CBA expires.
You like boys
I agree. The Cubs, in particular, really tick me off. They need someone like Scott or Yates and they let the Dodgers sign both. Get off your f@$&ing a$$ and fix the back end of the bullpen Hoyer. This is beyond infuriating. $40M below the first tax threshold and last year’s payroll and he still doesn’t make a move to address the biggest weakness the last two years. Go get a proven closer. Porter Hodge cannot be relied upon alone. He has tremendous potential but he has like 9 career saves.
This is a perfect example of a team being cheap. The cubbies are a big market team that doesn’t spend like LA or NY teams. They go after the bargain counter FA or Japanese players that the Dodgers don’t want or need
i have sympathy, simply because of the mets and dodgers, we wont have baseball in 2027,and im im i dodgers fan.this is going to screw the future of mlb up.now because of 2 teams we will go a full season 2027, without mlb.which i will have to support.the only way mlb will survive is to do what the nfl does.all money goes into 1 pot the its distributed evenly 30 ways evenly.and you can thank the mets and dodgers for this.
It’s not other teams sitting waiting for a discount – it’s that the Dodgers can keep overpaying in ways few others can, and they paid the full freight for Scott and probably will pay for Yates too. They can do things others can’t, so…they’re doing things others can’t.
Same here, these guys are sitting out there with teams playing peek a boo while the Dodgers are actually being aggressive and going after them. Most of these players are already millionaires so it pays to get less now and more when you will need it once you retire. Stop crying, the Dodgers are playing within the rules.
Saying the system needs to change isn’t crying. Watching non-spending owners get money because spenders are being taxed is a bit ridiculous. The sport is completely broken and if it keeps going this way, it’ll go the way of FIFA where rich oil barons will just start owning all the teams.
The Dodgers are doing nothing wrong, and shouldn’t be punished, but they are highlighting how flawed the rules are.
As I was saying…the Dodgers sign ex-Padres, alot of them.
Dodgers love ex-padres…
Padres love ex-rangers…
Love is LOVE, Brother ❤️
Padres also sign ex dodgers
I’m dating this as a Yanks fan. They have ZERO fear in spending the money, and being up against the harshest threshold should prove that. The only way the Dodgers have escaped being anywhere near the same position as the Yanks is because they have slightly more than $1 billion in deferred money. The team is owned by one of the smartest investment bankers in the world. They are literally spending like a drunken teenager on spring break with a black Amex card. Like a bunch of horny freshman surrounded by tig ole bitties partying with no restraint. If the Yanks, Red Sox, Toronto, SF, Washington, Padres and others being to follow suit then we might as well constrict the league and absorb the small market and inept teams bendy they’re would be near zero chances for them to ascend. They would be exclusively reliant on hitting a honeymoon on every draft, and their window of opportunity to win would be brief.
K&CFan,
The Dodgers have to find these deferrals, setting aside the NPV of each contract’s annual value in an account to ensure they have the money when it’s time to pay those deferrals.
They’re not running a Ponzi scheme like Fred Wilpon did with the Mets or taking team money for personal use like Frank McCourt did with the Dodgers.
gbs – You’re on a roll today!
FPG, thanks, though I think I’m about done explaining the details for today.
gbs – I hear ya, it does get exhausting and monotonous after a while.
@GBS – I’m quite sure the team has to pay the full annual contract value into escrow each year, not just the NPV. So for Ohtani, they are paying him a $2M salary in 2025 and then have to pay the full, remaining $68M into the escrow account (not the $46M NPV). This ensures all players get 100% of their deferred. Contract amounts. The Dodgers do get to keep any interest earned on that money over the time it is in escrow.
@GBS – My apologies. You are correct. Teams have to pay present value of the contract amounts within 2 years from when it was earned. I misread from my source (I thought it said contract value). So the Dodgers are only paying $44 – $46M into escrow each year for Ohtani instead of the full $68M. The idea is that money will grow to $68M per year by the time it is due to be paid out. If not, the Dodgers will owe the difference out of pocket.
In fairness, Wilpon didn’t run a Ponzi scheme, he was suckered into signing up for one run by Bernie Madoff.
As for how deferrals really work, you can explain it over and over in the most simple terms as if you’re talking to second graders, but some people will never, ever get it. At this point anyone who doesn’t get it just doesn’t want to get it.
And they do not actually have to start funding the escrow till 2026,
Thus the Dodgers cash outlay for Ohtani in 2024 was $2 million.
The Dodgers actual cash outlay in 2025 for Ohtani is $ 2million.
Probably the main reason why they were able to give Yamamoto a $50 million signing bonus last year.
The Dodgers can then leverage 2+ years of essentially super cheap Ohtani (selling jersey’s, gate receipts, TV revenue, etc) in 2024 and 2025 with almost no cash outlay. The Gugenheim group can then take those profits and invest it (S+P 500 last year was over 25% gain for the year), but investment bankers probably do better.
Smart and shrewd business moves no doubt. The Sasaki thing bothers me the most. In the free market he would get Yamamoto money, In the draft he would be 1-1 and start day 1. Doyers control him for 6 years on a minor league contract.
According to the CBA, teams get one year of grace to begin funding a deferral set-aside account. So for Ohtani it starts this year. It also isn’t an escrow (which assumes it being held by a third-party), it’s more like a trust account. The teams hold the set-asides themselves, and can invest them pretty much as they wish. As you say, Guggenheim no doubt calculates that their rate of return is going to much higher than the modest rate of return required by the CBA. For Ohtani’s contract, if they can simply hit the historical average return on the S&P 500 (10 percent) they can essentially zero out the cost of his contract entirely.
Thanks for your patience and time on this gbs. notwithstanding Steve Adams and Tim, the writers on this site seem to purposely obfuscate the facts surrounding deferrals and the obligation of the team to set aside adequate funds to cover the obligations in the out years. The other absurd in accuracy that is perpetuated daily here is that the money deferred somehow doesn’t count against the luxury tax calculation.
There are significant financial advantages that the Dodgers enjoy in Los Angeles over other teams. mostly, it’s a result of the tv deal they signed years ago. The biggest issue though is that they understand that you have to spend money to make money and that’s what’s going on right now. They are indeed swimming in dough.
The neat thing for the Dodgers is the more money they spend and defer, the more they make on that money. As you say, Ohtani will end up playing for free, and everyone else who defers will play at deep discounts.
@Dorothy,
From Sportico:
“The required funding is discounted by 5% each year of the deferred payment schedule.”
sportico.com/leagues/baseball/2024/dodgers-deferre…
The CBA allows teams to discount the set-asides by five percent annually. It’s optional, and in the overall scheme of things, insignificant.
BlueSkies, I’m sure the Dodgers are happy it’s only ~$44M they have to set aside instead of $68M.
Because that’s the contract’s present value. This isn’t a happiness situation, it’s simple arithmetic.
BlueSkies,
I understand. My point is some people think the Dodgers should have to fund the full amount immediately, but the Dodgers can use the $24M they don’t have to put aside now in other ways to make more money.
Lots of people believe bizarre stuff, but reality doesn’t change on that account.
Knicks: Beat-speak?
How is this good for baseball ?
oldguyG, what specifically?
1. The increased usage of deferrals?
2. The Dodgers’ $400M payroll?
3. Both?
4. Something else?
Competitive balanced
Revenue disparity
Fans interest
Hit them for 3 years/30 million
MLB TV ratings outside of LA are going to be rather interesting this season.
Are owners unaware of the Roger Beshens Football Slider?
The low level workers often flatter the boss without him realizing what is really going on.
Roger Beshens might want to send a video to all the MLB owners of him Strom, Lovullo and so they quickly understand what is going on.
Or maybe it’s not that big a secret and most teams look at the football slider and say, “meh”.
Who wouldn’t want to throw the Roger Beshens Football Slider like Skenes, Glasnow, Snell, Flaherty…Hundreds more…
Roger Beshens taught his shaping and metrics throughout the entire 2024 season to Brent Strom.
This is a baseball rumor site, not an infomercial. Broaden your interests and speak about other baseball topics.
What is even the point dude
Distraction From wildfires?
Really?
They’re gearing up for the playoffs.
Starters pitch only 3 or 4 innings in the playoffs, so a team needs a deep BP to get through the playoffs. The Dodgers have that now
They already had a deep bullpen before Scott and now Yates
I’m not even counting the huge off-season from last year but they’ve added:
Snell
Sasaki
Hernandez again
Conforto (meh)
Kim (wild card)
Scott and Yates (two closers)
The dodgers now have 2.5 established closers (Scott was known to choke) and 4 people that can close games in the 2 signings on top of treinen and kopech
Yates, Scott, Phillips, Treinen, Kopech (although injured). That’s 5 guys I trust to close games.
Throw in reliable lefties Banda and Vesia who both got saves last year as well.
Dodgers are going to be impossible to score on late in games.
Plus Evans, plus Graterol later in the season.
*Evan Phillips
It never really works as planned with relievers. Out of the blue some of them suddenly lose effectiveness. Looks great on paper though for sure.
As a born and bred Dodgers fan, I do not pity the rest of the league. The McCourt years, cheating Astros, people saying 2020 doesn’t count, the constant jokes about losing in the first round, playoff Kershaw… I love this and I want more.
@Kewldude69 As a Mets fan I don’t love this, but I can hardly complain given what the grossero Cohen has misspent since he bought the team. Turns out he’s just Fred Wilpon—only with more money.
I’ll be very interested to see how this goes. Even if LAD wins the division and is an incredible, unlikely 65% to win each of three postseason series against some of the best remaining team in baseball and thus win the World Series, they’re still only ~27.5% to go all the way (.65 x .65 x .65).
Randomizing the postseason to a great extent is baseball’s fraudulent ‘parity.’ It’s an ugly method, but it does make the chance of a repeat WS winner year to year very low, even for a so-called Superteam.
Don’t forget the Robert Murdoch years-trading Piazza not signing big free agents
Only thing missing was Toronto being left as finalists.
That’s tomorrow’s update lol
lol
LOL
I’d add a comment here but I can’t stop laughing. Ahahahahaha!
The Roger Beshens Football Slider is a serious product and should be taken seriously.
The Roger Beshens Football Slider every day can keep you wealthy as long as you use it in moderation.
It should be used with supervision if the pitchers becomes over excited.
Oh, just so you know, Flaherty is next. Ahahahahaha!
Flaherty probably won’t be back. There is just no room for him the rotation. He would be our 7th starter at best.
Yeah, Flaherty was really inconsistent last year.
But #1 after injuries to the other six. Come to the Dodgers, pitchers! Only team where you don’t actually have to pitch!
Honestly the Dodgers have ruined baseball
I said this so long ago and I was a hater to people. Why you mad I was told. Now people see it. They are killing the game and it’s not fun anymore. It also hurts young players in their organization who will never reach the league cause they keep buying and buying.
And those players who are blocked will be traded to other teams in return for lower level top prospects, international bonus $$$, or at the trade deadline to cover for underperforming or injured players. They will get an opportunity with a different team.
They will be delayed and it will take extra years for them. Dodgers keep buying their way cause they choke every year. So they finally won and now they continue to buy more and more. You are only looking at it from one side cause you are a dodger fan. Teams like pirates and reds and other smaller markets will never get the same chance. Don’t say owners just need to spend more. Thats why caps need to be there.
owners need to spend more
He told you not to say it!! why i oughtta…..
The Padres were up to 260 million and out of compliance with MLB. Other teams can’t spend anywhere close to this.
Like Michael Busch did last year with the Cubs. He helped me win my fantasy league.
@Taker Those franchises have minuscule payrolls and refuse to spend. The Reds have a generational talent at SS. Are they doing anything to reassure him that he should stay in Cincy when he can be a Free Agent? Maybe those teams will acquire one of the pitchers the Dodgers cast off. Gonsolin or May become a Red or a Pirate. My biggest issue with you, “the Dodgers are ruining baseball,” whiners, is that your only solution is a salary cap or to punish the team actively trying to win. Instead, you should think about why those players were still on the market when Spring Training started in a month and why cheap owners don’t try to win.
Rule 5 draft. They can only delay so many players. Way injuries are it’s not very many. Then the next wave of talent comes. Can’t delay them very long. And when you continually have draft pick pushed back, lose picks, give up pool to sign Roku, you don’t have that many good players to delay.
Van Lingle Mungo;
LOL
Right.
What I don’t understand is why people working minimum wage jobs and living in the inner cities buy Colt .45 Malt Liquor when those in the wealthy suburbs are buying Glenfiddich. The bottles of Glenfiddich are on the store shelves. Those inner city people are too cheap to buy some.
There are 29 teams in major league baseball that don’t have to trade anything to the Dodgers. They can merely wait them out when they have to put players on waivers. That forces the Dodgers to spend money on players they don’t have any longer when teams pick up the waiver players at league minimum. Two can play the game the Dodgers are playing and they now have 28 pitchers, only 13 slots, plus only four pitchers have minor league options remaining. The Dodgers will HAVE to put 11 players on waivers when the league refuses to trade for their excess players.
Why? The Dodgers have the most revenue and will outspend. Owners do not put their personal money into it, no successful business owner does. Especially once the business is as established as an MLB franchise.
People that live in “inner cities” aren’t billionaires.
if other teams can’t spend, their owners should be removed.
@hiflew, no they don’t. But they are outpending, good for them.
They don’t care about spending money on players no longer on the team. They have so much coming in that tossing aside unused guys can just be written off.
Ashley’s- Not even close
Kirby Yates and Tanner Scott are not Glenfiddich. The Dodgers signed them at a price that was not that far off from the MLBTRs prediction. Owners are either colluding to keep prices down or just plain dumb trying to wait for a players market to fold in order to get a deal.
nothing the world’s priciest NLDS exit can’t fix.
Dodgers wouldn’t be making these signings if their home grown/young players weren’t hurt. Grove, River Ryan(trade), May (on the mend), Sheehan, Hurt, and Stone. These moves are a product of the injuries
Exactly pointing out the inequity in the system. Most teams simply cannot buy their way out of their problems.
There is no such thing as a blocked pitcher. Only position blocked is DH /1B and they covered that by fleecing the Cubs in the Busch trade
Fleecing? I’ve yet to see either of those 2 guys in the majors while Busch was ranked the 3rd best defensive 1B in MLB, hit 20+ HRs while not even playing full time and was a rookie. Talk to me when those 2 “prospects” make it to the show.
This is why we have the rule 5 draft. A young player will get their chance at the big leagues with another team if their current team won’t provide it.
I hate the Dodgers, but what you say is simply untrue.
You should change your name to HATERDBACKS……..hater
Yeah, so did the Yankees back in the day. Oddly enough, baseball survived.
You call this surviving?
Baseball is a joke.
A joke? These players are available in January. Why didn’t other teams get off their asses and make offers? The Cubs were interested in Scott but wouldn’t give him a 4th year. The Sox made an offer when they heard the Dodgers were curious, but they aren’t a winner. Players want to win. Baseball is going to have colossal attendance this year.
Surviving? Baseball is now behind “curling” in sport viewership.
MLB revenue is at an all time high.
Maybe other teams should have gotten off their a**es and made some moves then.
I hate comments like this. It’s cause players are jumping to win and get their money and numbers and chase titles. That’s why there needs to be a limit. Stop saying things you don’t understand. Dbacks got burnes and dodgers had to get snell,saski,conforto resign teoscar, Scott to an insane contract, Yates now,edman to a huge contract, it never ends!
takerbacks? It ends!
I don’t think you understand much of what you are talking about. This is not about a single team competing with the Dodgers. Could other teams have signed Conforto, Snell, Yates, Scott or Teoscar? YES! these contracts are not earth shattering. Teams are just sitting this out hoping that the market falls out from under these players and they can get them at a bargain.
Do you understand money?
These teams that don’t give a rats @$$ about going over the spending limit, and elect to pay the fine, means one thing. The fines aren’t high enough.
Yes I understand. Yes some teams do care. This team doesn’t.
Maybe only two “other teams” could afford to spend money like the Dodgers.
That said, the Dodgers have some money hanging on their books for longer than many of these posters will be alive. Not sure how great a strategy it is to have multiple Bobby Bonilla contracts on your books beyond 2028, say.
Honestly, why would they care? Just sign everyone to deferrals in 2028 and the cycle repeats
The ignorance is woeful.
Tomorrow’s money is cheaper. It’s no different than the Dodgers taking out loans to pay salaries when they can afford to pay those salaries immediately.
This borrowing makes the cost of those salaries lower, and given Guggenheim’s rep they’re very likely to outperform MLB’s net present value calculations, thereby giving themselves a break on the actual cost of salaries.
Deferring money doesn’t cost them additional money, but rather cuts their costs. It’s like your mortgage, where a $2,000 monthly mortgage payment in ten years might well effectively be something like a $1,500 monthly mortgage payment.
@Jason
I’m a Yanks fan. We spend money like drunken sailors coming into port for leave. Our current salary for this year is around $300 mil. The Dodgers, around $250 mil. The Dodgers have 3x our 2025 salary payroll in deferment money owed!!! Now, every team can do the same thing, but that’s completely ridiculous and needs to be changed. The money is deferred but had to be funded into an escrow account. I can almost guarantee that that’s likely 10-15 teams that couldn’t do that even if they wanted to without the owner going into their personal wealth to do so. That’s fine if your team is close and you want to deliver at least 1 chip in a “win at any cost season.” But to pursue like the Dodgers? Wouldn’t be financially stable. Yanks can play that game and can a few others. But for the sake of the league and trying to avoid restriction, they need to rein all toff deferred contacts.
The money is deferred but had to be funded into an escrow account. I can almost guarantee that that’s likely 10-15 teams that couldn’t do that even if they wanted to
=========================
They might not have the money to pay someone $20M, but if they did, then I can guarantee you that they have $5M to spend and $15M to put in escrow.
I’m in no way a dodger fan, but the true villain is MLB. They approved the media contract that the dodger have. If they hadn’t, the playing field would be a bit more level. That being said, I still hate what the dodgers are doing even if it’s not breaking any rules.
Why would MLB reject a media contract because it was too high? That a very weird take.
VinScully – Why would they reject a media contract for being too high? Because it creates an uncompetitive balance within the sport, which is bad for everyone. Was that so hard to understand?
It isn’t bad for everyone since 33% of that contract is given to the other owners. I mean, do you even understand economics?
Funny how in some fans’ eyes in just a few months the Dodgers went from being a joke to the Evil Empire. All it really took was a World Series win.
You are totally missing the point.
The Dodgers are the MODEL.
It’s the teams that arent tryong nor are obligated to that are ruining baseball.
Don’t be foolish. Aside from the Yankees no one else generates enough revenue to acquire this much expensive depth. The NL is about 2-3 teams and that’s about it. The AL will at least be competitive.
@Steve, YOU are correct sir! Ahahahahaha!
No one else is trying? How can you type that with a straight face?
He didn’t say no-one else was trying. So with a straight face you might want to go back and reread the comment.
“Owners need to spend more.” So your point is they ARE trying to spend more, they just can’t? Oops my bad. Such a spot on comment from an LA fan.
Your team sucks and is ruining an entire sport. I hope you enjoy your bought championships as much as Houston enjoys trashcan jokes.
I agree to a point, there are so many teams who absolutely are doing the bare minimum just to get by and have the owner make a stupid ass paycheck. However I disagree that any ole team can even come close to the Dodgers in terms of spending power. Not only do the Dodgers have the most stable and lucrative TV deal, they have the best player in baseball deciding to defer 97% of his contract 10 years down the line, and last but certainly not least there is the often overlooked stream of money coming from Japan due to all of their Japanese stars at an estimated $130 million last year. I don’t at all fault the Dodgers for doing what they are doing and taking advantage of their entirely unique position, but only perhaps 2 or 3 teams in all of Baseball can even be in the same stratosphere as the Dodgers financially and the Mets often are running at a deficit
Nonsense. The LAD are a model only for those teams with $500M++ in revenue.
This has been going on long before the Dodgers started throwing money around.
Murphy8- I think you meant to say the Offseason is ruined.
To those of you who want to hand the Dodgers the Pennant in Feb- I ask: 1) When has a baseball season ever been predictable? 2) how many teams who “win the offseason” go on to win the WS? …..very few over the last 4-5 decades. Lets wait and see how this peculiar marathon of a baseball season shakes out before we crown LAD
The only way they don’t win the World Series is if their timeline follows We Are Marshall.
Imho, this is far more about the other teams ruining baseball because they refuse to sign these contracts. It’s not like the LAD went out and signed all these guys at rates far above market value in the first week of the offseason. These teams are creating the circumstances under which they are being called a victim to the Dodgers.
This is an ownership problem, not a LAD problem.
Yankeeclipper – I’m a Mariners fan. I think I’d have to agree with your point there. Ask anyone in our fanbase to use one word to describe how they feel about our Ownership I’m almost certain they’d use words like “cheated, “angry” “disgusted!”
I can accept that there’s always going to be teams that spend more than the Mariners. Its hard for us to watch a Mariners owner trade away a hitter like Eugenio Suarez just because he’s being paid $15M yr. Esp when you had an amazing young Rotation
Do you really think the Milwaukee Brewers can afford a $300 Million payroll. Really do you actually believe that?
LA will have a $400 Million payroll in 2025 when you add the CBT tax they will have to play. Aside from maybe the Yankees, no one can touch that number. LA’s depth is beyond what any other franchise in the NL can compile. They are a polar vortex of talent acquisition with that budget. Yes some owners are not blinking an eye because they don’t care. But there are some that are trying but can’t outbid this budget.
Get over it you bunch of little girls, it’s the beginning of the “Golden Age” of baseball. Ahahahahahaha!
Don’t blame the Dodgers, blame the union. Lockout coming in 2027. 20 or so teams won’t stand for this when the next CBA is negotiated. MLB’s antitrust exemption also needs to be looked at also. No other business in the country is allowed to operate in this way.
Lockout coming in 2027. 20 or so teams won’t stand for this when the next CBA is negotiated.
==============================
Why would there be a lockout? Just because LA is spending?
Oh, really?
The antitrust exemption applies only to MLB controlling the location and number of franchises. Since all professional sports have this control too, the actual impact of it on baseball is close enough to zero to not matter.
What owners are calling for a lockout? Last I checked it was just a bunch of whiny Dodger hating fans in social media.
They still aren’t at the same payroll as the Mets 2 years ago and that didn’t ruin baseball. On the plus side for other fans, 7 of the Dodgers starting hitters are signed for at least three years, and five starting pitchers signed for at least 4 years so they won’t be too involved in free agency for the next several years.
It’s an old team well along its run on the FA treadmill. It’ll be interesting to see how and whether they replace Ohtani, Freeman, and Betts.
Maybe some other owners could’ve spent money and created winning cultures that would’ve prevented the deck becoming this stacked toward the team that does?
Doesn’t mean there shouldn’t also be a cap. About 2 other teams can keep pace with dodger spending.
It isn’t a salary cap that is needed. MLB need to close the loophole of deferring money ten years down the road. If a team defers money, they lose their international players and their draft picks for the year. If Ohtani didn’t defer 680 Million dollars last year, the Dodgers would have added 70 million to their yearly payroll that applies to the luxury tax. That would have prevented what was seen in 2025 because they wouldn’t have had the space to sign anyone without paying 110 percent on every dollar spent.
Ohtani counts 46 million against the payroll this year. Also the contract is likely a lot lower than 700 million if he doesnt defer the payments.
MLB need to close the loophole of deferring money ten years down the road.
========================
The timing of the payments make -0- difference. Anyone can do that.
So easy to know who to Mute.
If you don’t understand deferred money, shoo.
No its not the same. and now owners are saying what’s the point. Smaller cities can’t do the same thing just cause the owner has money.
Takerdbacks: no owners are not saying, “what’s the point?”
Blaming the other owners is a lazy and uneducated argument. The dodgers have an 8..5 BILLION dollar media deal approved by MLB. No other team even comes close. The Yankees get paid 85 mil a year for the YES network for comparison.
No other team in the entire league has that revenue stream. MLB ruined the game by allowing this media deal to exist.
Meanwhile, the dads don’t even HAVE a media deal
Indeed blaming other owners is uneducated. The Dodgers can have an enormous payroll and still make a profit because of their revenue advantage.
If you can’t afford to field a winning team, sell.
Clearly you don’t understand media deals and market size.
Hahaha! What a overly simplistic non-starter. “Hey, we need 31 other billionaires, because these jerks are tight wads.”
So basically what you’re saying is if you’re not willing to hemorrhage money, you shouldn’t own a team?
You want a six team league
You cant really be an owner of pro sports sustainably unless youre a bad owner.
I don’t think we can say that either. Honestly we don’t have access to the numbers to see exactly what percentage of teams revenue is being pocketed by ownership vs what is getting re-invested in the team. I think its safe to say that most teams can afford to increase their salary by about 20-30 million if most teams do this that is a lot more competition for the Dodgers for FAs.
Also just spitballing, but why not have Luxury Tax payments cover first time offenders and go to teams that are near that threshold.
Imagine a league without LA, NY, and Philly…. that league would fold rather quickly.
I was joking when I made that comment yesterday.
buy some lottery tickets today, lol
About time Dodgers fans got some good news, as it has been hours since they announced the Tanner Scott deal…
SERIOUSLY!!!!!!
THEY CAN’T KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH THIS!
The Cubs could’ve signed Scott; wouldn’t go to 4 years (only 3). They also could’ve signed Yates. Instead signed Trevor Richard. They were both choices they made. Take it up with Ricketts.
They can and they will.
What rule are they breaking geanplayzyt?
Great time to be a Dodgers fan!
Bad time to be a baseball fan.
Revolver – regular season is going to suck, it’s going to just be dodger highlights.
But come postseason it will be exiciting. Dodgers rotation is deep, but has durability concerns. Anything can happen in a 5 game series. Padres almost did it this year
Another comment that makes me laugh. I grew up in the NYC area when the Yankees were the dynasty, and anybody who rooted for them and wasn’t from the Bronx was treated like they had a social disease. So I became a Mets fan, even though back then they were practically the least talented baseball team of all the time. And yet, somehow, despite the Yankees dominating baseball for decades, baseball was not ruined. This game has a long history. It helps to have a little perspective.
LOL! I’m a RS fanatic, and lived with this for decades. I am having a chuckle here with all these people thinking that the LAD is ruining BB with their one consecutive WS streak.
Not to mention that the Mets didn’t ruin BB with their $356M spending in 2023.or their $300M in 2022.
The LAD led the league in spending 5 straight years, from 2013-2017, and no one even realized it.
Yep. It’s hard to come up with a decade in the last 100 years when the Yankees weren’t the dominant team for at least part of it. And yet, baseball was somehow not ruined by this. I can see why if the Dodgers manage to put together a run even half as dynastic as the Yankees have for so long that fans of other teams are going to hate the Dodgers in the same way a lot of us grew up hating the Yankees. But ruin baseball? Gimme a big fat break.
Always a good time to be a dodger hater. All my life!!
It really is. Dodgers ownership cares about winning and they’re doing something about it. Other teams are trying to reinvent ice water and make financially responsible decisions. LAD is playing Oprah with all the best FAs on the market while teams like BOS, ATL and SEA are ordering bagels for their meeting to figure out what all these deferred contracts actually mean.
To be fair, I doubt the Mariners are forking out for bagels.
It’s probably a draft, develop, and trade for your own bagels kind of meeting but the bagel market just hasn’t gone the way they thought it would for a 3rd straight bagel meeting so instead of the focal point of the meeting being on what they can do to fill the roster holes they still have they’re trying to figure out how everyone can make it to the next bagel meeting with a bagel in hand.
Draft, trade and develop. If the M’s are going to be a small market team, then be a small market team. This season starts the clock to trade Logan, Kirby, Cal, and anyone else that won’t sign an extension if they are serious about it.
The only thing “good” about this is that the Dodgers have all the pressure in the world for them to win it all again this year. Anything short of a World Series victory (even a 7 game loss in the World Series) will be looked at as a complete failure of a season given how much money they have spent and how much talent they have accumulated.
It’s Dodgers vs. The Field this year. All of the other 31 teams will rejoice if the Dodgers do get upset along the way.
*29 other teams, but your points are solid Dorothy. Thanks for being a saint!
Aloha bradduh Gwynning, well after years of shelling out $$$ for MLB TV, I finally in good conscience could not condone anymore the practices of the MLB. I cancelled my subscription. I love this game very much and have been associated with it my whole life. I can still support my Cubs and teams like your Padres without the subscription. And if my Cubs get to the post season, I can always sign up for Sling, lol. BTW in my area, all A’s and Giants games are blacked out too. I think the only way this gets resolved is with salary cap and enforced penalties. Problem is Manfred is weak. Well, let’s hope for the best. Mahalo Nui!
Thanks Gwynning, I had the NFL on my mind with 32 teams.
Is this all because the LAD won a WS last year?
Very impressive. How many more players chasing rings?? Does anyone hope they lose now??
Yes but I also hope the Yankees never win again too.
I trust my wife. She’s a successful businesswoman. Its that love and trust at this point that makes me unconcerned that the Dodgers will cuck me and steal her.
Dang my dudes in LA….leave some meat on the bone.
Have you taken steps to make sure she doesn’t trade YOU to the Dodgers?
Depending on the return it could end up being a pretty shrewd business move.
You got an NTC?
That deal happens when the Dodgers start taking sunken contracts again. She’ll deal me. Dodgers will pay me off and release me…and I’ll find another wife in Cincinnati as the 5th starter lol
If it comes to that you could always find a left handed and right handed Cincinnati wife to be in a platoon xD
As long as I get some at bats to stave off the lonliness
Absolute joke!
what do you know
This is getting dumb
The Dodgers are going to be the engine that brings a salary cap to baseball.
Or lead to contraction.
Exactly the opposite. The owners can’t be any more in favor of a cap than they already are, and the Dodgers subsidizing spending by other teams is a wonderful outcome for players.
MLB: we need a salary cap because the market is not sustainable.
MLBPA: [points at Dodgers and laughs]
Moves by the elite financial franchises in financial outliers of this scale create more disparity between them and teams on the other end of the margin. Some reasonably mid-market teams become smaller market in this way…and potentially longterm unstable.
I dont look for these deferrals to last as practice forever. Baseball history is about finding edges..and moves to correct those with rules.
If Baseball wants 30 healthy teams then it might have to look to moving several overseas to a large international market. And that’s kind of what I speculate. The Dodgers aren’t really competing with other teams. They’re competing with the Yankees to establish global branding in a shrinking domestic market.
I’m not sure why a place like Tokyo isn’t a better option than say, Nashville. Probably need a couple Pacific rim teams like was needed when the Giants and Dodgers went West.
This is all $$$.
Transportation is an issue. Four teams in Asia would allow teams to travel once during the season, hit all four teams, then return to N.A.
Still, what about travel for those Asian teams?
You need supersonic flight to make such a thing sustainable. A sixteen hour flight home from a 1-11 West Coast Swing would be too much for some people.
Yeah, I know it sounds ridiculous logistically to add two Japanese teams. But that was also what was said when the Dodgers and Giants moved west. It will absolutely take schedule adjustments.
Its also why somewhere else here…I mentioned possible contraction.
Just a total hypothetical as ab example. Let’s imagine MLB was truly an international game (sorry Toronto lol)…but there’s no WAY Pittsburgh gets a franchise in that. MLB would have MOST of the base teams in the US. But we’d lose a few. My wife owns an CPA firm with offices in 6 locations. She’s closed an underperforming to utilize the resources elsewhere.
Am I predicting it WILL happen. No, but its not absurd to think that in time it can.
Absolutely, under the current framework of how MLB schedules. I think we’ll see the end of the 162 game schedule. Teams don’t NEED it to generate revenue at the gate nearly as much now as in the past.
The ONE compliant from potential customers beyond baseball being boring is that there are too many games.
Huh?
Dodgers are just playing by the rules. Steinbrenner and Cohen can’t compete with the sunshine of California. I really feel bad for the smaller markets, but it is what it is.
Yankees and Mets would be dumb now not to play this scheme. It’ll probably get dealt with in the next cba
I don’t think MLBPA will go for a cap, that cat is out of the bag. Maybe stiffer luxury tax thresholds and a soft payroll floor but a hard cap, probably not.
The MLBPA very literally stood up against the cap in 1994 and it cost a world series. MLB and the MLBPA realize that baseball doesn’t have the hold on customers that it even had in 1994. The LAST thing they’ll want is a strike. For ANYONE alive with memory of 1994..nope! I’m getting old lol
That’s not sunshine it’s fire
To be fair, it doesn’t appear that Steinbrenner or Cohen are even trying.
I think this is the big thing. Living in sunny California, by the beach, with direct flights to Asia and still getting to play for the most competently run organization in baseball. The big question is why would anyone sign for another team if given the option? How would playing in a city like Detroit or Cleveland ever be as attractive as playing in SoCal?
Well, playing in Detroit or Cleveland obviously is not as attractive as SoCal or LA……of course, there is San Fran which has gone from an attractive choice for living to a shithole…but overall, CA offers weather and convenience that is tough to beat…..
Ya, and I don’t think people understand that living in NYC holds a candle to living in SoCal. If the value LA is offering is even remotely close to what another organization/city can offer, why would anyone choose to live elsewhere. This would be particularly true for guys like Treinen and Yates, who are both in the twilight of their careers, albeit still elite pitchers.
Something tells me you’ve never lived in coastal California and rely on television for your world views. It’s attractive living for everyone, even the homeless….
I doubt you have ever been to SF and just feel that way because Fox News told you to
The direct flight thing always gets me. Players with this bank charter jets
Detroit perennially spent near or at the top of all teams. The diff was the owner wanted to win at all costs.
Best bullpen in baseball now. Let’s go blue!!!!!!! This is amazing for baseball man. Yankees did this dynasty in the 90s and the Dodgers are doing it now. I love me some Dodger baseball!
Dude seriously how are you even impressed if you win? No one cares anymore. That’s what the dodgers did
okay quitters.
I bet you talk smack when you dunk on grade school kids on the lowered rim.
This tracks, as the Dodgers are 33% of the way to the Yanks’ dynasty and the rim was lowered to 33% of regulation height.
How exactly was the rim lowered? Playoffs field has expanded. Harder to win World Series now than ever before. A ton of those Yankee rings came win they only had to ply two rounds including the World Series.
It was a just a reference to Dock_Elvis’ comment. Cmon guy youre the defending champs, you have all the players and still you need to pick a fight?
I’m referring to Dodger fans like the above who want to brag up dunking on teams when they have nearly as much in deferred labor salaries than those franchises are worth.
Yeah. Other teams like. Do better. But they can’t do THIS.
True, that, even with this roster the Dodgers can’t be more than 30% to win the World Series in 2025.
Hahahahaha! Don’t be bashful
Do they have room for Bregman?
Hahaha, seriously. No but seriously…look out for Arenado lol
This is like the NBA now! lol
Hopefully 9M of the 10M contract is deferred so it doesn’t hurt our CBT numbers too much so we have room to afford additions at trade deadline
That’s your concern?!?!? Pfft.
Why not?
I think I am going to start getting into Pickleball
Good idea. Give you something else to conplain about.
Make it stop!
i’m in awe of this front office. they’re bombing 29 teams into the stone age. take note, hal. this is how you throw your weight around
Pittsburgh hasn’t left the stone age my dude.
bombed them into the primordial soup before land masses formed?
How many roster spots do they have.
How is this actually possible? How many roster spots did they have open/were they filling with Quad-A guys?
Now their just trolling everyone.
Of course they did.
As Manfred is so deep in the Dodgers pocket i expect at some point he will announce that while the other teams will have to play with 26 man roster the Dodgers will be allowed to play with a 65 man roster (at the rate they are going, they’ll need it)
This is just stupid at this point
Feels like I am reading an article from The Onion from back in the day?
Weirdly surreal
The Onion looks pretty normal these days…
Let’s go Rangers can trade for Helsley now!!!!
Dude, I freakin called this yesterday… as a joke!!
How the hell are they going to fit all these guys? There’s going to have to be some trades/releases coming up of guys like Brasier and maybe Banda. Or maybe even someone like May or Gonsolin gets traded. They still have to find room for Kershaw as well lol
@MLBtheSho(hei)
Dodgers created a new loophole for themselves called “deferred roster placements”.
Hahahaha
Just waiting for the headline: Dodgers sign Pete Alonso.
It’s fun to joke about but with Freeman or Ohtani taking up 1B and DH full time, Alonso would be a bench piece.
Of course, at this point, that still might not stop them.
Dodgers sign Pete Alonso and assign him to the Pittsburgh Pirates until he’s needed in July.
This is going to be especially hilarious when they get bounced out of the NLDS.
Tony Clark *handshake emoji* other owners
The next CBA against the Dodgers
What the Dodgers are doing is good for the MLBPA’s long-term agenda. It’s the other owners who will take issue.
Why would other owners care? They just want to make sure their profit margins are hitting their expected metrics.
Why would the MLBPA agree to change anything? They just want to make sure their dudes are getting paid.
I think the only people upset about this is some segment of the fan population. And we don’t get a vote.
Have you no shame, Kirby?
MLB is broken. Salary cap NOW!
Dodgers seeks to carry 50 on their roster.
Never seen anything like this before. Even in the Wildest George Steinbrenner days
Lol. George had his personal biases for and against specific players so a lot of his signing were by the feels.
If the Dodgers sign every available pitcher there won’t be anyone to pitch for the other teams. Thereby improving their offense. Brilliant.
What’s the word to describe something beyond total annihilation of the world?
FUBAR?
Space.
As sick as I am of seeing the Dodgers sign anyone and everyone they want, I wish my team was doing this. John Henry could be doing the same thing if he really wanted, many owners could. I do not fault the Dodgers at all.
Simply not true. No one has the media deal that the Dodgers do. That is why they can run an absurd payroll and still profit.
you oh gotta be kidding me…
LOL
has there ever been a team that was this dominant on paper to start a season?
This is historic. No team has ever gone this hard. This blows away the Yankees evil empire. There will be huge changes in the coming years in regard to deferrals and tax penalties. Perhaps we even get a cap and a floor, but for now, just sit back and enjoy the show.
Dodger fans should be thrilled. Non-Dodger fans have an absolute villain to root against. This is insane and I’m here for it.
i’m with you. this is good for the sport. villains drive interest
MLB will certainly try but the union won’t allow it. Dodgers are one problem team. How about the handful that don’t spend a dime? All the owners are in bed together and won’t disrupt the yin and yang
That’s why I said floor and cap. You can’t have one without the other.
Ignore the non-spenders. We all agree that those owners are horrible for baseball. But think of the teams that spend consistently, they can’t do what the Dodgers are doing despite their best efforts. The Dodgers have many unfair advantages. Is that good for the sport? You could actually make an argument either way, but I do think this will lead to changes.
A floor is a fake concession for a cap. A’s are spending this offseason not because they had a sudden change of heart but to maintain their status as a revenue sharing recipient. They could have been spending this whole time but chose not to
There is no concession that MLB can make that will convince the PA to accept a cap. Not having a cap is 10x more important to them than having a floor.
WILL. NOT. HAPPEN.
A year ago, I would agree. I think it’s gone too far now. I think they may agree to a cap if they get a high floor.
Alright who are we trading all our star players to in the AL to compete against the dodgers
We the Padres offer up Tatis Jr and Michael King.
… for Stroman and Oswaldo Cabrera. It’s the only chance you got to prevent the Dodgers from winning. Think of all the non-LAD MLB fans who will thank you… and the children.
Ummm, Bring SD Fleet’s proposals have been blackballed…
Next!
Black balled? You hated the idea of cease to the orioles Kjerstad when I said it but when others started suggesting such then you suddenly fell in love with the idea. Weird how that worked. Such a follower never a leader or original thinker.
“No that’s a bad idea idea”
“Same idea posted by gwyinnings butt brigade”
Gwyinning: yassssss queen slaayyyyyyyy
I said I’d only entertain trading Cease if we missed on Roki. I have no idea what else you’re on about!!! Lol
Oh must of been the other Gwynning that liked Cease to Btown for Kjerstad and Mountcastle.
I think I said I could see an offer start there… but Mounty isn’t as coveted as one might think. He’s just a *suitable* throw-in. I said Basallo, Honeycutt and McDermott would be my ask and I was shutdown. No worries! Are you being purposefully defensive about something? I’m here to help if you need it.
Let us hear your ask for Tatis, which is downright ridiculous to even suggest he’s tradable, but let’s all hear what Fleet wants for floating Junior out there. This is a safe space, even if we do get a good chuckle at your offers.
Baseball wised up. Its always good when there’s a villain.
Villains. Ha ha. They have probably the nicest manager in baseball and their stars are universally well liked. The villains play in San Diego. A team of narcissists.
You’re right. Seems like baseball fans love the Dodgers.
Universally liked? Come on. Get off the Dodgers Kool-Aid. No player is universally liked. The Dodgers are pretty disliked. Now they will be very much hated outside of the fanbase. And that’s good for baseball.
HAHAHA you must be trolling
But this is not good. Other teams have no chance.
Meh… some teams have a chance, the teams that have no chance haven’t had a chance in 10 years, those teams need to look at themselves.
If I just picked the Dodgers signing every FA in the contest, I’d have one correct pick more than I currently do…
Dude, if I picked the Dodgers for every free agent in the MLBTR contest, I would be in first place or close to it.
They Doyers have 24 pitchers, not including Ohtani, on their 40-man prior to Scott and Yates. What are they doing?
Fixing to deal their lower talent to teams like the Royals for cash flow to spend on developing player talent too. Amazing…amazing front office. Its like a genius with a mint in the basement. Totally running baseball on tilt.
I love their FO, but you also have to admit they have many unfair advantages. Other teams can’t do this. Some try to emulate this, but it doesn’t work out. The amount of deferrals and Japanese superstars willing to play in LA doesn’t happen elsewhere. The Dodgers have a great FO, but that FO has resources that other teams don’t have.
Oh….this isn’t good for baseball longterm. Baseball has ALWAYS adjusted rules to cover these deals. And it’ll do something about the referrals eventually.
@Dock_Elvis Then the Dodgers will simply pay the NPV of those contracts, signing Ohtani to 10/460m, for example, and paying him 46m a season.
Im concerned about states govts getting involved if income taxes are delayed. Im not really sure how that shakes out
We need an executive order to stop this madness.
The Gulf Of Dodgers. There, happy?
Mount St. Felons!
Are you referring to all the felons who were pardoned this week?
Nah, I’m apolitical. I was referring to the Dodgers robbing the rest of MLB!!!
Trump and Musk can’t compete with the Guggenheim Partners
It’s ridiculous that every other team is limited to 26 roster spots, but the Dodgers are allowed to have 75. Completely unfair!
Dodgers are making the evil empire Yankees of the 90s look like chumps lol
Los Doyers!
Awesome time to be a Dodger fan!!!! Looking at these discussions, it reminds me of the signs I saw at Yankee Stadium during the World Series, “Freddie Please Stop” except now it’s “Dodgers please stop”
Dodger fans are already raising the 2025 ‘Ship..LOL. You’ve won the offseason but nothing else!
I’m not even mad any more it’s just funny at this point
What are we even doing here?
Baseball is out of control and in the end it’s the fans that suffer. It’s moves like the Dodgers are making that increase prices at every level. It’s way too late for a salary cap. No one can overcome greed.
Wow, just ridiculous at this point.
The league needs much stiffer non-monetary penalties for such lavish spending.
It’s become a Dodgers and Everyone Else league.
I thank the dodgers for single handedly forcing a salary cap and hopefully floor as well I’ve wanted one for years this is the final nail in the coffin
Dodgers making serious long range plans. Their Japanese stars might even still be valuable when they open the 2030 MLB season in Japan taking on the Tokyo White Sox fresh off their relocation.
The Pacific Rim Job.
Dodgers are BURYING the Yankees in the move toward international play and market share.
You won’t hear me complaining. Yankees fans had their times.
My concern is that it’s obvious someone very intelligent in the Dodgers finance dept is encouraging very deep long term player investments in a game that is domestically shrinking. What will occur is that we will have a new generation of what small market teams are. And it’ll leave some franchises open go relocation internationally we’ve maybe not considered possible.
I’m not sure, for example, treating the Colorado Rockies as the Washington Generals is sustainable long term. They’ll sell Rockies tickets now because it’s Denver…summer tourists..etc. but eventually having a lousy franchise on the field will produce absolute lethargy marketing wise. What’s to say the Rockies would just sell.
I think baseball DOES want a couple international teams. Would you want Nashville or Tokyo as a business person?
When they finally develop baseball in Europe and the east coast teams have all the geographic advantages I’ll be sure to come back here and complain.
Not going to happen in our lifetimes. Europeans find baseball boring. Even fast-paced cricket, the closest sport to baseball, is dying there and the game has hundreds of years of history. Maybe Italian Baseball League but there have been very few and no notable players making the migration to MLB.
Pacific Rim countries like it, and as business goes is where a company seeing dismissing domestic returns would go. I dont think it’s ridiculous to think in 20 years two MLB teams will be in Japan, etc.
The Japanese Leagues actually seem like prime acquisition targets. If this were “normal” business. MLB would be buying stock.
This get dumb baseball has to put a salary cap on baseball or it just going to be the Dodgers buy Everone I’m not even going watch it this year
Being an Angels fan, I don’t know how you watch at all….
The “for life” part was a court-mandated sentencing.
Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah hey hey hey goo bye. Why didn’t the angels sign Tanner? Kirby? Teoscar? Blake? I never heard this off season once that the angles were interested in anyone or made an offer to anyone. Why didn’t they sign Freid ? Verlander? Etc……
A salary cap does not guarantee that currently badly run franchises will run any better.
Doesn’t matter. The number of people intelligent and learned enough, with a very specific skill set able to run a baseball franchise optimally is in single figures. It currently appears to number three.
We probably need to define what optimal is. The A’s made BANK losing on purpose. That’s not a baseball fans definition of success. But that’s success from a business standpoint.
Im a huge fan of allowing the Green Bay Packers ownership model. These teams are essentially public assets much like a city park. Allow public ownership.
Good idea. Nothing to watch in Anaheim, my Angel friend.
Have I mentioned how I’m so sick of the Dodgers? Jeez.
Just give the dodgers the 2025 World Series trophy and rest of us 29 teams can play for the runner up trophy this year.
Shut the front door! They haven’t won sheet, I’m not inclined to *give* them anything!
You can make a video game team but it still has to win. From what Dodger fans have been saying the last few years they do not have a high opinion of Robert’s’ ability.
They do now, Midway.
Andrew Friedman: “People made fun of the Dodgers. They said we could only win a championship during a shortened season. And I took that personally.”
WHAT THE ****
How do they even have roster space??
What’s sad is this guy literally would be an asset to every contending team and nobody went for him. Apparently the luxury tax threshold is so daunting that it prevents other non-poor contending teams like the cubs or braves for example from signing obvious assets that don’t “block” any young players.
The soft cap is actually thinning an already thin herd of spenders in baseball. It’s time to re-think how to approach this.
I look for the MLBPA to eventually own the game.
Or maybe your team (insert name here) makes an effort to sign someone. All this belly aching but I haven’t one team say hey Kirby here’s a formal offer! All these teams after the fact “were interested “ in Tanner Scott yet no one made an effort. Keep crying
Kirby Yates reportedly agrees to a 2 year $400 million contract with the LA Dodgers. $390 million is deferred from 2027-2090.
Get some new material. Your team how many moves have they done? Better yet is your team making an effort? So when Bobby Bonilla (former Dodger the irony is amazing )gets his deferral payment every July we all joke and say ha! Mets will always Met! But The Dodgers who are playing within the rules the sport agreed to oh no it’s bad. You know what F’ It! If you want to call us the evil empire then so be it. But we’re not evil you made us evil by not holding your ownership responsible. Cubs owner “ I’m only looking to break even” where is the outrage?
This is the team front office that Steve Cohen aspires to emulate. Oh boy, buckle up!
Cohen doesn’t have the brains for it. First the ridiculous Lindor trade-and-sign, now the absurd deal for the two-tool player. He’ll interfere enough to derail most of the advantages that would otherwise accrue to his GM / PBOPs.
It’s the Padres and Snakes fault for bouncing them from the NLDS in back-to-back years. That incredible shame has created a monster.
Has this just become a joke now? Cancel the frigging season and just hand the WS trophy to the Dodgers. No need to play any games at this point.
The joke is the other billionaire owners who would rather steal your money and through revenue sharing the money of other owners rather than spend money to be competitive. The other owners should all be forced to sell their teams if they are just going to continue to be money grabbing leeches. So embarrassing for Steve Cohen, Mr Money, that even he is too greedy to make his team anything but a third place team.
@andyger63 How is it people like you can’t do the basic math necessary to understanding the Dodgers aren’t even 30% to win the 2025 World Series?
Honestly, I think the Dodgers just broke the camel’s back and they know it. They are just getting it out of their system now because they know there’s going to be sweeping changes to like every budget and roster rule imaginable come the next CBA. I don’t think there’s going to be any way around it with or without a strike.
Yates agrees to a three year, $60 million deal. $59 million deferred until 2050.
“A late-inning contingent of Scott, Yates, Kopech, Phillips and Treinen is very arguably the most talented quintet of any team in baseball.”
Is anyone “arguing” for another bullpen?
What about Vesia? 11.8 K/9, 1.76 ERA and 0.99 WHIP in 2024. He was as good as Treinen.
Sure! I was only quoting the OP.
The smartest team in sports.
Honestly who cares what they do???? Find a team to root for and be happy i have been a Mariner fan for 45 years imagine my suffering….lol I may be switching to the Mets they like to spend money….
45 years as a fan and you can just stop rooting for your team and rooting for another team cause they spend ? Last time Mets spent they had a horrible season and didn’t make the playoffs
Padres too.
But the Dodgers are a different animal. Hard to fathom the defending champs that have won an average of 98 wins a year from 2016 to 2024 will crater after adding Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki and Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates.
The Mets were notably above $300m in 2024.
If the Dodgers dont easily set a new season wins record, hang your heads in shame and paperbag night at the stadium for the final home series.
Spoken like a true Yankees fan!
Indeed, I am a Yankee, and I admire what the Dodgers are doing. However, I would put the same onus on the Yankees if they built the team the Dodgers are building.
You want to tell me deep down inside that you aren’t a tad apprehensive about this all blowing up in your face.
Because if this doesn’t work, no one is taking those contracts off of your hands.
But in fact the Yankees have built many such teams over their long history of dominance, and not all of them set a new season wins record. Funny but I don’t recall any heads hanging in shame. I hope nobody has to be told that nothing is guaranteed in baseball. All any team can do is improve their probability of success. The Dodgers are doing a lot to improve those odds, but then you have to play the games.
no Yankees teams except for those long before free agency ever approached what the Dodgers are doing.
You guy are handing out money like candy to relievers for godsakes. The 98 team the pinnacle of our dynasty team was lamented by guys like Joe Morgan for not having legit stars on it. You guys are building an all-star team.
You guys are in the other league so unless we meet in the series, more power to you, but man if the Dodgers stumble and get knocked out by a third place finishing wildcard team man will you guys hear the ballyhoo coming from every direction.for a long time..
You guys?
They’ve been there and done that. Peaking in early September doesn’t get a ring. It’ll be all about load management and being ready to go full throttle in October….
Pretty sure that they’re going to use their pitching depth as much as possible to try to minimize injuries. That is what they did last year but it didn’t really work given that they only had 3 SPs on the postseason roster that included an underwhelming regular season Buehler. Even when they pitched a bunch of scrubs they had the best winning percentage.
They don’t care about having the best winning percentage. Done that and got bounced out of postseason early. If they find a way to scale back all the SPs to preserve them for postseason they will do it.
They won the World Series, perhaps a little tweaking, but these off-season moves speak of a historical 2025 season, otherwise pretty much a ridiculous overkill for a 100-win season.
They could care less about regular season wins. Remember 2022, 111 wins and lost to Padres in 4 games in NLDS? Load management as previous poster mentioned. That’s no guarantee as to who’s heathy in October but the Dodgers sure going to try to keep pitchers healthy, even if it means regular season losses similar to last year.
Locking up the division is key. Playing 3 postseason series rather than 4 increases a superteam’s chance of winning the WS from roughly 18% to 27%.
They’ll ensure they win the division, and that means not taking their foot off the accelerator until they’re overwhelming favorites to win the West.
Didn’t say that they’re not going to try to get a top 2 seed. They should get it easily without trying very hard and practicing load management similar to last year. My point is no need to go for record wins like in 2022 and get bounced at NLDS. Does nothing for you in postseason. They need to be healthy above everything.
Dodgers have made postseason 12 seasons in a row but bounced at NLDS 5 times while getting a top 2 seed. Nothing guaranteed in postseason. In those 12 seasons, they’ve won WS 2x, lost in WS 2x, lost in NLCS 3x, and lost in NLDS 5x.
Insert that quote when the dude sees the severed head with spider legs in The Thing.
What’s next? Maybe a Dodgers meme crypto coin.
The dodgers could offer fans the opportunity to participate in a presale of their new meme coin which will have a deferred launch date mid 2030’s
As long as they don’t sign Bregman I’m okay. I don’t think that cheater belongs on the team. I’d rather play CT3 at 3B than Bregman.
WTF??
Between the starters and the pen, they have enough quality arms to fill out a couple of rosters.
Dodgers are doing what any team can do spend and put the best team they can on the field for there fans but I never seen so much jealously ever not even when Yankees by far had the highest payroll and won back to back to back to back
There is something to be said about teams spending more but maybe 1-3 other teams could spend like this.
When the Yankees had a dynasty it was mostly built around homegrown players being locked up long term. Ofcourse they supplemented those teams with FAs no doubt but not close to the dodgers essentially signing 2 new cores in the last 3 free agent periods.
I’m not hating but I get the hate for sure
At this point not winning the series and 130+ games will be embarrassing
Just ridiculous. The commissioner is such a loser.
It’s Freidman who’s running things now. (Shadow commissioner…shhhh.)
why bother with free agency at this point? just have everyone go to the Dodgers. what a joke MLB has become.
Soto isnt a Dodger. Bregman, Alonso, Santander. Buehler. Fried. Burnes. Adames….
The list goes on, but the point is that the Dodgers dont sign everyone. They target specific players and do their best to get them..
Look at the list of free agents signed and you will find the Dodgers are not the most active, and are nowhere near to the biggest spenders.
Friedman is playing fantasy league with the roster this off-season. Feel bad for the fringe guys on the 40-man about to get traded to poorly run franchises….
NONE of the 29 teams have to trade for the Dodgers fringe players EVER. They can wait until the end of spring training when the Dodgers have to cut 11 pitchers or put them on waivers. LA then pay their salaries and the teams grabbing them off the waiver wire get them for free or minimum prices.
]
That’s not even remotely going to happen. Good teams that expect to be in the playoffs aren’t going to wait for a guy to possibly get to them in the waiver order when they know they will never make it to them.
We all understand what you’re suggesting but it will never happen no matter how much you want it to.
Ashley’s-
ACTIVE ROSTER (13)
Glasnow
Snell
Yamamoto
Sasaki
Gonsolin
May
Phillips
Kopech
Treinen
Vesia
Yates
Scott
Banda
MINORS
Knack
Miller
Grove
Casparius
Wrobleski
Henriquez
Dreyer
IL
Stone
Graterol
Sheehan
Hurt
Ryan
Frasso
Brasier looks like odd man out. So, actually, one player getting traded.
Haahaha
Well, I’m done with MLB. My son’s travel team is much more fun to watch than this crap anyway.
LA Dodgers: A League of Their Own
Dodgers are stupid.
And dodgers owners aren’t in top 10 in richest owners in baseball and still spend to put a winning team on the field , others teams can spend but rather make extra millions for them selfs cause 16 billion isn’t enough at all
They are. Controlling owner Mark Walters is worth over $12B and there’s also the combined net worths of the consortium of wealthy minority owners. Collectively, they may have more than Steve Cohen.
The baseball gods will not abide and shall extract their karmic dues.
Remember when the Phillies were going to spend stupid money? This is stupid money spent by the Dodgers.
You all woke up a sleeping giant with your jokes about us choking in the postseason, the “fake” ring in 2020, etc. Now choke on their success! You only wish your team was doing the same thing. Cry me a river.
Who’s their DH. Now I’m worried the Mets won’t get Alonso back
Just kidding… I know they’ll play Alonso at 3rd
They’re just trolling the rest of the league now.
At least we have the ’27 owners lockout to look forward to.
Cubs second in the bidding. Offered one less year.
At this point see who falls off their 40 man and you will get a good player
You better get your trade proposals ready, because the Dodgers probably arent going to just watch them walk away…
I guess we’ll see what happens. I remember when the Yankees spent a ton of money back in the day and it didn’t work out so well.
Ditto Mets in 2023
Who didn’t think the Fodgers would go after all the best relievers ?
Their patsy starters can’t get past the 5th inning in most games, and probably have lass than 5 complete games combined.
Can you name one team that had five complete games pitched by a starting pitcher last season? No, because there were 28 total.
Talking about the whole rotation in their entire career.
There are very few teams that will have that these days. The CG has pretty much left baseball. It isn’t just the Dodgers. Check out the Padres, Mariners, etc. Other than temas with older guys like Kershaw Verlander and Scherzer you won’t see many CG.
Nah. You go ahead and do all that research. I’d rather just make spitball comments about the Fodgers sissy starters.
Yeah, pretty much what we thought.
Anyone know whats’ wrong with Kopech?
Shoulder inflammation.
It would be funny af if this team goes like 86-76 or something
Wild….but it’s not probably 0% this team makes the playoffs. There’s a slot machine with those rollers in it. They aren’t truly awful.
Are you not entertained?
MLB is in the Entertainment Industry. It’s not a sport. The 30 owners probably choose the winner of it all each year in secrecy. The Dodgers may win 120 regular season games this year & be bounced by the Reds or the Mets in the first round of the playoffs. Dodger fans will gnash their teeth & the fans of the other 29 teams will squeal with pleasure.
It’s called The Show for a reason.
Real Question: How do the deferrals work on future year’s salary amounts? Do they contribute to the luxury tax calculation when the deferrals kick in?
Philly 6
Real Question: How do the deferrals work on future year’s salary amounts?
=====================
Let’s say you sign a $50M/5 contract, with $5M/year for 5 years, plus $5M deferred for years 6-10. The second set of $5M payments are discounted at about 4.65%. Whatever the present value of that second set of payments is added to the original $5 * 5, and charged to your CBT over the life of the contract.
So if that second set of $5M payments is only $15M, then your annual cost is ($25M + $15M)/5, or $8M per year for tax purposes.
@Philly 6 MLB decides what the present day value is of those deferrals based on a formula applicable to all teams (set at 460m wrt to Ohtani’s 680m deferred), then divides the total by the number of years the contract lasts.
Ergo Ohtani’s deal is 10/460m, and 46m is counted as Dodgers’ payroll for each year from 2024 to 2033.
Oh come on
Dodgers are killing an ant w/nuke bomb. Sure am glad I’m Dodger fan (1st game 1979). This is making up for alota lean yrs (McCourts, Fox) n alota bad personel moves (Andruw Jones, Jason Schmidt, Pedro Martinez, Konerko) in the past. Still got Kersh to add too. Go F#ckin Dodgers !
This is just stupid at this point.
It’s a good thing you decided to become a doctor and not a baseball player so it doesn’t matter anyway.
Every single Dodger pitcher are subject to 60 day IL stints , look at there past records.
Before too many outrage posts, I thought this phrase in the article was interesting” “Los Angeles looks to become the first repeat World Series champion since the Yankees’ threepeat back in 1998-2000.”
All that money spent by big market teams, and it will be a quarter century since any team repeated. There’s more than money, more than having the “best” poster, to repeat, Make the playoffs, in this sport, you have at least a competitive chance.
@Mikenmn
With additional rounds of playoff’s added now I’m thinking it’s harder to repeat as well, Teams aren’t going to give it to the Dodgers.They gotta play 162 and then some.
Agree. I keep thinking of the 2001 Mariners 116-46, outscored opponents by 300, won the Division series, but lost the pennant to the Yankees, who won 21 fewer games. Stuff happens in short series
I don’t know. I had some sweet posters back in the day. My favorite was the Eric Davis one that said .44 Magnum with him sitting on a desk with a giant revolver with baseballs for ammo.
There’s a trade brewing. Robert Jnr possibly
D+ for Deferred Dodgers Dynasty
Look for a player lock out in 27. No way the other owners will allow the insanity to continue. NBA-NFL-NHL rules or it is over.
Number of different winning teams of major sports championship since 2000:
MLB-16
NFL-14
NBA-11
Why do people act like MLB has no parity?
@losrojos
Good post sir, and you are correct, they still gotta win a lotta games and the other teams aren’t gonna be a pushover.
Go back to 1989 and you can add the Reds, Blue Jays, Twins and A’s to that list. That is 2/3 of the league that won the World Series in a 35 year span. No other sport can come close to that now that there are at least 30 teams in every sport unless you go back to when leagues only had 10-12 teams.
Damn it feels good to be a Dodgers fan.
“It’s good to be the king.”
Can’t stop wont stop
Hahaha. Peter Seidler left the Padres hamstrung. Burdened by long-term, overvalued contracts. He also allowed AJ Preller to deplete the farm system and focus on established talent instead of development.
Not enough people understand economics of a 40-year-old man being expected to play baseball.
Mr. Seidler knew he was dying n this was his last season, wanted to bring WS trophy home to San Diego for there 1st chmpnsp in 50+ years. Can’t blame the man for trying to win. He was great owner who related to the fans. Wouldn’t bow to Dodgers n proved it by spending alot of money constructing team to beat Dodgers. Was huge baseball fan his whole life. Now ownership is calamity n there lookin to deal Cease. Need to add another starting P not subtract1. Always LAs lil brother to the south. Was valiant effort.
As a NYY fan, I always had respect for the Dodgers because of their history and their track record of success. But, these Guggenheim people are ruining the sport of MLB with their use of tax dodging and exorbitant spending. Their use of gimmicky BS to run end around MLB’s luxury tax system has done the Evil Empire a huge favor. In the past we were always the ones being excoriated for spending. Now, the Tax Dodgers are the new standard for evil. They will be lustily booed wherever they play. And they better win again next year. And every year. Because with a trillion dollar payroll, there are no excuses. None.
Lol. Double-standard, much? Hal can do everything that the Dodgers are doing. So can Steve Cohen and he has. The Yankees/Mets are still being excoriated by fans, just not at the Dodgers’ level of vitriol.
Viveleempireevil
As a NYY fan… these Guggenheim people are ruining the sport of MLB with their use of tax dodging and exorbitant spending.
======================
Sarcasm I presume?
Nope.
So the Evil Empire, who spent a century buying pennants, are now upset that someone finally outspent them?
Who said irony is dead?
It’s ruined baseball enjoy see you after the long strike in 27 . Make whatever excuses you want LA and MLB is ruined
Dodgers buying every warm body….can’t complain….still have to play all 162 to get to the playoffs but certainly can admire their management for going after and scooping up players they feel can help them repeat……
MLB is not fair league it’s broken the CBA , Media , CBT , it’s not good for most fans of the sport .
I guess Andrew is the rockstar this offseason…AJ on vacation?
Such a smart GM. He’s good – Buy! He’s good – Buy! He’s good – Buy! Where did he get such a huge brain?
The brain store!
The question is, what is the size of your gm’s brain and why cant he get any deals done?
Will this ever end?
No!
If they don’t set the all-time wins records, it will be a disappointment for them.
They/We don’t care about the regular season. All about October….
Fair enough. They’re still going to win a ridiculous number of games. And that’s more of a guarantee than another World Series win.
It’s not a guarantee though. Baseball is a sport where players are considered to be great when they succeed 30% of the time. The names on the jerseys don’t matter and the stats on the back of the baseball cards don’t matter.
The only thing that matters is how they perform next year and there is no given that they win as many games as a lot of you are imagining. Good chance they can win 100 games but those of you thinking they will win 120-140 games are most likely going to be wrong.
Me and a friend were just joking about this yesterday. Let me up, I’ve had enough.
wahhh dodgers ruined baseball wahhh my team doesn’t spend wahhh nobody else is allowed to sign people its not fair wahhhhh gimme a break
Well thought out and reasoned retort.
:Yeah I agree. I’m not even a Dodgers fan, It’s just exhausting listening to people cry about it. Frankly, I think it’s awesome. We could be looking at one of the greatest teams of all time. Who wouldn’t want to see that? And it’s not like the playoffs are a cake walk either (see 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023)
Breaking News: Guggenheim Partners donates $1M to Presidential Inauguration Fund. In other news, Trump signs executive order expanding Dodgers 40-man roster to 48 players.
Like I said several times as a cub fan, the left overs scrap are there for the taking now for the cubbies.
I swear you people need therapy it’s literally a game
The Dodgers are easily going to be the most hated sports team. Clearly shooting for a 162-0 season.
Alonso next
I see a lot of comments about “well maybe your team should spend more”. It’s not that simple for small market teams. They have to operate in the market they are given. They can’t spend like the Dodgers, Yankees, Phillies, because their market doesn’t afford them that opportunity. The Dodgers are able to spend because they have the market to do so, and the broadcasting capital to afford those massive contracts. Deferrals mean they’re just kicking the can down the street. Eventually those contracts have to be paid. I’m a huge Giants fan, but I don’t begrudge the Dodgers spending. The game is still played the same way. Be better at the game than them, and you can make them watch the playoffs from their couch. Pure and simple.
@J0hnnyRing04013
Good post, and the Dodgers still gotta play all 162, nobody giving em the title yet.
What I find comical and hypocritical are fans of other large market teams begrudgingly the Dodgers.
Like I said, dodgers 130 plus wins and World Series repeat going away regardless of injuries because they ll get what they need.
@Bruce Wolff
Sorry Bruce they got some good players but,the rest of the league ain’t going to just lay down, and it’s been done before and the Yankees didn’t just blow teams away when they tried this year’s ago.
Rest of the fans have laid down if the comments around here are representative…
They won’t win anywhere near 130 games. You all are proposing preposterous win totals for a team sport that one or two players can’t just carry said team to victory every night. Even if you fielded a team of nothing but all stars not everyone of those guys will play to the results you expect of them. There will still be guys who underperform.
Dodgers are waiting for their Klarna payment to go thru before they announce
He who wins the off season on paper generally loses the real season.
(new slogan) Dodgers Baseball 2025: At This Point Why Even Bother
(new ticket promo) Dodgers Win or double your money back!
Bruh.
Dodgers investing heavily in their brand. There is obviously value in repeating but it begs the question: How massive is the return that they can go this hard at it?
Especially when you factor in the penalties. Anyone know if those funds are redistributed as part of MLB’s revenue-sharing process?
@kodion
Good post
Do u know how much there fan base just went up in last year in Asia alone. Japanese baseball fans, n there’s ton of em, love when there natl stars bring there talent to world stage in US. Signed Ohtani, Yamamoto, n Roki, in 12 months, that’s top 3 NPB players in there prime. They’re bucking to be Japan’s fav mlb team hardcore. That sells alot of Dodger hats plus international TV deals. Expanding the brand.
Yankee fan here. I love what the dodgers are doing. Stopping at nothing to win. Now I have a feeling this deferred money may bite them pretty hard down the line but they don’t care and nor should they. Their goal is crystal clear – win the 2025 world series.
It’s honestly refreshing they don’t have this – “play for the future”, loser attitude, that has infected sports this century.
Hopefully this spurs deferred deals league wide and all the pirates and reds fans can stop crying about not being able to compete with big markets
The dodgers have not broken any rules, they found a loophole and are eviscerating it. Instead of whining about it and trying to stop this – ALL teams should be attacking this model.
Dodgers are going to OWN Japan if this all goes according to plan! If they get it right, it’s brilliant!!!
Can’t see how the model is sustainable, though. I’ll be curious to see what effect the squeeze has when it hits …what a financial re-set looks like for a team like this.
Of course, if they have the ability to buy a regular cycle of World Series winners, well, all I can say is “I wish I was a fan of a team like that!”
They already have by first signing Ohtani. Now they have a stud pitcher in Roki for the league min. The squeeze will be the other minority owners who will want to receive dividends on their investments. It won’t be because of an unbalanced book.
Of course it’s sustainable…the Dodgers get more money before the first pitch is even thrown because of their TV deal…$330 million plus. That alone is more than 27 other teams entire payroll and if you have it then flaunt it and the Dodgers are certainly doing that.
Is it good for MLB as a whole?
In my opinion it’s not but until they change the rules nothing can be done about it.
No, the loophole should be closed.
Yankees of the fifties .
I’m interested in the corresponding roster move to get these guys on the roster, but oddly enough, there never seems to be one made.
Walker Buehler (*cries a little*), Jack Flaherty, Kiké Hernandez, Daniel Hudson, Kevin Kiermaier. That’s five spots right there. Kershaw hasn’t signed, and won’t until he can be immediately moved to the 60-day IL.
Plus Evan Phillips might be heading for an IL stint, Graterol as well. If they’re not both already on there. Pages can still be sent down. Teoscar re-signing just takes Teoscar’s spot.
I think the reason why no one has been talking about a roster crunch is there isn’t one.
That would put LA at an estimated $385-390 million in both actual and CBT payroll, roughly $85 million more than the second-place Phillies. The Dodgers also have something like $1.35 billion — with a B — in deferred payments on all the deals they’ve done the last two offseasons.
Nah, no problem here. Dodgers are merely playing by the rules…
No well above that in actual payroll. CBT only counts present value in CBT calculations, whereas they are actually paying out the full amount for their deferred contracts. The difference is $24m for Ohtani alone (and there are of course other deferrals too). And it doesn’t include luxury tax payments, and they haven’t signed Kershaw yet. At the end of the day total payments in 2025 for players and player-related tax will be in the mid 500’s.
Up next are the Artificial intelligence signings of Mantle, Mays, Williams, Ruth…
It’s simply about intelligence the kind of intelligence Roger Beshens has with his Football Slider. On center grip, throw like a football, stiff wrist.
This is the reason the Dodgers are taking their current actions.
Teams chose to hire people who read Roger Beshen’s messages but they should have hired him instead.
Roger Beshens has some MLB video with the Dbacks on his you tube channel.
Nobody cares about your desire to have someone else’s pitch named after you.
If a pitch from someone else doesn’t explain how to throw it we don’t have a name for a pitch.
Roger Beshens has made his pitch and everyone is supporting it.
Look for someone who can teach you how to throw the pitch you are thinking about and then come back.
Roger Beshens helped teams like the Yankees, Rays, Dodgers Braves learn his football slider starting in May 2018.
People in the past didn’t have that kind of influence.
Assembly’s finished. Still fine-tuning the apps.
It seems like that app is missing some important features.
Trying things out and making mistakes can lead to getting hurt.
When people find out they were taught incorrectly it can result in a lot of lawsuits.
The MLB will step in. So many more people will stop watching baseball. The Dodgers have just setback the MLBs plans to grow. You can blame the other teams for not spending, but that won’t matter when everyone is making less money
Nearly all Dodgers pitchers except for a few throw the Roger Beshens Football Slider exceptionally well. This is the key sign to help us understand what is going on.
I’d like to see half the roster on the IL for the entire season. I’m not wishing anyone get hurt, but I’d like to see this outrageous behavior blow up in their faces.
I’m tired of hearing Dodgers fans hurling insults and attacks at anyone who is not ok with the way the Dodgers have been doing business. This isn’t about being jealous or envious. It’s about the game itself. When you have one team with a payroll that’s equal to the bottom 10-15 teams’ payroll combined, how is that not a problem? It’s not necessarily the Dodgers ownership’s fault. They’re playing by the rules, but the rules need to be changed. There needs to be a hard cap and a floor. And don’t gripe and bother comparing baseball having a cap to NHL or NFL having a cap. There’s no comparison.
Baseball, much like pro wrestling needs an evil heel to battle with the “faces”. The Dodgers have taken the Ted Dibiasi role and ran with it.
Not really. I don’t think anyone hates the Dodgers. They have no personality. Just an optimized machine.
All that’s left is to sign Alonso 5/150 to be the clubhouse attendant and Bregman 8/200 to shag fly balls during BP and they’re ready for 2025
Dodgers RSN/Cable deal
$8.35 Billion. $334 Million Yearly
Guaranteed till 2038
I’d say the payroll is taken care of.
Now let’s talk about the Japanese impact & money.
Important to note that local TV money goes 48% to MLB to be distributed to other teams. Actually the Dodgers bigger money advantage over small market teams is their gate. They draw the most fans and charge the most per ticket. Their gate is about 5:1 compared to the Pirates and Marlins.
@Seamaholic
How did I miss that, r u sure, does every team share 48% local money only ?
Every fan of every other team wishes their team could be “hated” like the Dodgers (and Yankees, too). As a lowly Mariners fan, I think I speak for the fan base that I’m relieved that we’re at least not in the National League. (Oh, and I’m pissed off that we probably aren’t signing big contracts with Alonso AND Bregman, let alone Alonso OR Bregman.)
LOL
Well, baseball fans looks like none of our teams. Will be World Series champions the Dodgers will be World Series champions Dodgers have a monopoly on baseball I believe this will hurt baseball all the money that is deferred. The Plainfield is no longer level.
Dodgers are just trolling everyone at this point
Dodgers have reduced this season to rooting for their players get hurt so the season is competive.
I don’t root for injuries, but I will now, unfathomably, root for the Mets or Yankees if necessary
I wouldn’t be surprised if LAD and other big market teams’ motivation in spending wasn’t just to win, but to make the market parity issue more stark in order to drum up support for a cap in the next CBA.
Spend big now to potentially save big later.
If that’s the case they would have signed Soto over Conforto.
100% deferred over 30 years???
How do they even have room to add another player let alone a pitcher. Half their 13 pitchers are starters. And probably don’t want to come out of the pen. Those pitchers will no doubt be yes men and “what’s best for the team to win”
How did they update the article at 10:55am when it’s 9:51am right now. Even with a different timezone 10:55 isn’t possible.
The Dodger lockout of 2027!
Hey, why not? Andrew Friedman should just add Bregman, Profar and Alonso, for a combined $2 billion (95% deferred of course, to the year 3000) and start the season? I just hope that, when the current bargaining deal expires after next season, that a massive work stoppage will lead to a salary cap. That’s the only hope for the other 27 teams.
Well, they can afford $18M/year for reliever.
Why sign anywhere else.
Most teams $5M-$8M/year is top dollar.
And the only reason Bregman is available is because the Dodgers don’t want him. That should tell you something.
Great individual players does not always equate to great teams. Sure, they have the talent and the ability to be a dynasty. But are the Dodgers a superteam or a super team? Does putting together extraordinary talented individuals translate into great teamwork, collaboration, and team outcomes? Is the sum of the parts greater than the whole? We shall soon see. This all coming from a diehard Dodger fan beginning in 1968.
Well at least someone’s interested in them.
As a Pittsburgh Pirates fan it’s tough seeing relieves get more money than the entire Free Agent crop the Buccos have or are going to sign. #RinseAndRepeat
Just shut up and enjoy the pirogi races and the view – Bobby Nutting.
Asking Dodger fans if it will be enjoyable to watch the games knowing you will be beating up on your opponent every night. Kinda reminds me of the Harlem Globetrotters games against the Generals. Don’t see much excitement there…it’s like watching the same movie every day.
To me the best analogy is buying a seat to watch an insurance company beat up on one of its policy holders.
Well, looks good on paper. As always, we’ll see what happens in the coming months….
Still gota play the games. And injuries will once again rear there ugly head but LAs depth is lights out.
Actually, no. I like an even playing field. I also like to be able to afford to go to a game, which is now next to impossible. The 1988 Dodgers were a scrappy bunch that went on to win the series.With the exception of Hershiser and Sutton (and Lasorda), there were no future Hall of Famers (although Fernando should be considered IMO). What they had was team synergy. To me, that is more important and frankly, more fun to watch.
I guess if you poor teams are content being the Generals then Im content watching your pathetic efforts to stay mediocre.
Yankees are pathetic
Dodgers are at 371MM and the Pirates are at 50 bucks
That’s 50 more than the Padres…
New CBA agreement in ’27 to include.
1-International Draft–incl Asian countries
2-Salary FLOOR..say $140m to start.
3-Stiffer penalties for going over thresholds–ex.lose first 5 draft picks for going over 4th threshold…lose draft $$$…stiffer $$ penalties as well. There….FIXED!
140 is a lot for some teams. Good starting point though
I’d go for that. I don’t think you can initiate a draft for already-professional players though. Just legally that is problematic. You could for true amateurs, although it would be a big ask of the MLBPA as they strongly oppose it. One thing you could do is allow teams to sign Asian transfers only every other year. Or take away draft picks or future international bonus money.
Please please please, just for comedy’s sake, sign Bregman too! That’s all I ask for.
That cheater will NEVER wear Dodger Blue, his fate is sealed.
Everyone else fighting for scraps left over or falling off the table from the Dodgers feast
With little suspense left about outcomes, Dodger fans won’t be bothered hanging around till the 7th inning anymore, they’ll start filing out in the middle of the 5th.
Time saver!
Ya, awesome MLB, you just earned my not buying your online product to watch meaningless games. I’m tuning out this season. Screw you.
Maybe he’ll flunk his physical and the Jays will sign him
MLBTR – Repost that “lose the 2027 season” poll today or ask if you opinion changed following a proposed Yates deal
We trust in Roger Beshens Football Slider for the Dodgers.
Honestly I think I’m no longer a baseball fan. This is disgusting.
expansion….. or retraction.
I have to admit that I love what the Dodgers are doing!
I appreciate that comment. So many fans act as if spending discrepancies didn’t exist before the Dodgers, and only notice it because the LAD won the WS. The NYM spent a gazillion trying to buy a pennant and no one cared because they crashed.
What a joke. When is Manfred gonna implement a salary cap?
Not his decision. That has to be negotiated.
Paper is paper, but on paper this is the most talented team I have ever seen in my life assembled.
I saw the 70’s A’s and Reds, the good A’s, Toronto, Braves, Yankees and Red Sox squads in the decades that came after and this team looks better than all of them, and not by a little.
Whatevs. 2003 $200 million payroll Yankees with their free agents and core were beat by the Florida marlins with a below $100 million payroll and mostly pre free agency players. Diamondbacks made the ws over the dodgers in 2023 with pre arb players
@Citizen – That Yankees team had Aaron Boone too. Maybe he can end up on the winning end this time.
I hate it here… the Dodgers are splashing close to $100M on accessory pieces (Yates, Conforto) when factoring luxury tax. Meanwhile, my M’s who have at least two everyday positions without a suitable starter, have spent $3.5M and are tracking to like a $140M payroll in total
Well, goddamn. I’ll give them credit -they’re not messing around in their quest to repeat.
This entire Dodgers saga is just becoming a big Onion article.
They’ll have to update this for Dodgers.
theonion.com/yankees-ensure-2003-pennant-by-signin…
“it’s great for baseball”
Dodgers have also signed the sons of Ohtani, Yamamoto & Sasaski to deferred contracts.
I hear they are going to trade some spare parts for Mason Miller.
Boy the Dodgers shattered that 4th tier luxury tax glass ceiling, huh ? Blowing the roof off. What’s ruining mlb is all these team w/crickets coming from FO. A few teams haven’t added 1 player of any substance this whole offseason. Where’s there effort to field competitive team, to improve. Not the real poor teams but all the mid-pack n up teams pretending to not have any money. Love how quickly the “we were in on em right before he signed w/other team” news follows the actual signing news. There’s no half credit.
I think everyone is missing a very important point. Unless you play in the NLW, the LAD spending might benefit you.
Think about it as though you were a RS fan. Instead of the NYY only having to outspend the RS, they now have to outspend the LAD, NYM, Philly, etc. That becomes very expensive, very fast.
To me, the RS not landing a FA is fine, so long as NY and TO aren’t landing these guys either. So that puts more of an emphasis on developing the farm, and that is a much more level playing field.
Why bother playing the season? Just put the dodgers in the World Series parade and skip the rest of the rigged story
That didn’t work with the sure bet La lakers, does it
I’m hearing Freddie Freeman might miss a few days with dental appointments, so they should probably sign Pete Alonso.
Dodger Baseball: We’ll put the anti in climax!
So how many ws titles will the dodgers have to win to justify the money spent ?
I look forward to them going 162-0 this upcoming season. Automatic losses for all the teams they face.
Manfred: “Don’t worry, we’ll make sure everybody else gets a participation trophy.”
Looks like a pretty good squad. Let’s get to the games!
Why can’t major league baseball just take away a larger percentage of LA’s RSN money ??? There is no reason that money should just belong to LA since all of baseball contributes to the televised product. Then MLB can take that revenue and redistribute it to teams in smaller media markets who are still trying to compete.
Royals, etc want to pay more when the Dodgers are in town or whatever?
When you have Ohtani- a generational talent, you’ve got to do exactly what the Dodgers are doing and go all in. This is exactly what the Angels failed to do with Trout, instead they wasted his career. Even if they don’t win, no one can say they didn’t try. That said, no team should be able to buy a championship, and the league is better with parity across the board… no team should be able to win nearly 100 games every season without fail for many consecutive seasons, that’s bad for baseball. The talent needs to be spread out and no team should be permitted to do what the Dodgers are doing.
I live in San Diego and follow the Padres along with my Giants. Initially, I was pissed about Sasaki. Then Scott. Yates is just ridiculous.
In a weird way, though, the Dodgers are making me more excited for the upcoming season. Not only are there only 5 NL playoff spots available, but this is making every regular season game more important for the remaining teams. It’ll be fascinating to watch teams battle for those spots and analyze how well or poorly they may match up against LA.
I really believe there will be a galvanization with the other 29 fan bases where we all root for ANYONE other than LA. In that way, should be an incredibly interesting 2025 season.
Thank you for this. As a RS fan, I couldn’t care less. We have to make the playoffs, then we need to defeat 2-3 teams to get to the WS. And only then, will I care about the Dodgers, and only if they’re my opponent.
The only teams that should worry about LAD are SD, SF, and AZ.
Everyone’s mad at the Dodgers. But someplace an armless man is smiling, because now he can win the series in MLB 25 The Show with his toes.
all closers all the time
Sounds effective enough.
The Dodgers with BBC all of this spending may actually set themselves up for discounts in future years.. if I were a coveted player, I would sign for less to play on a completely stacked team.
Smart GM is buddying up w/Friedman right now cause come spring they are gonna have to move alot of talented players that theyll trade to get value in return. Traffic jam of existing players meshed in with new additions plus the farm kids knocking on door. Dodgers are gonna lose some pitching, can’t keep em all. Brasier, Banda, Gosselin, May, etc., teams should be salivating.
Dodger fans rejoice! This is the best time to be a dodger fan. To all you haters, jump on the board. Come and have a good time with us.
Dodgers fans should have fun because they will be the reason for a work stoppage. This will not go on and we all know it. Maybe some of you are too young to remember 1994 but I sure do and my kids who formerly were big baseball fans could care less about the sport they see as rigged for the top teams. It’s gonna be a whole lot harder to put that $100-$150 million back for deferments when there are no games. So please rejoice to the destruction of the game. This is how America’s pass time does to the sound of applause and let’s go dodgers.
Work stoppage=pay stoppage…
At this point it genuinely feels like they’re just blocking other teams from signing players now
Ok, this move finally does it for me. While I am very much in favor of the free market approach to business, this signing sways me to be in favor of a salary cap.
There has to be some sort of leveling of the playing field for all involved.
This is just not right
These players were sitting out there while teams of need are playing tiddlywinks, all teams had a chance to sign these guys, why didn’t they? Its not like that are getting record setting deals,
Level playing field? What level? ZERO dollars spent on ML free agent contracts like the Padres? Even the cheapskate A’s have gone wild compared to the Padres. I’m not delusional and think every team can spend like the Dodgers. But the fact is that ALL of the guys that the Dodgers have inked were on the market since a week after the Series. Dodgers signed Kim in the 11th hour of his signing period. Where were all the other gm’s? Scott has been floating in the rumors for weeks and yet no team got a deal done. How long do the Dodgers have to sit on their hands before your GM’s have an idea? Cry if you must, but dont act like the Dodgers stole anything. Dodgers are just capitalizing on your apathy.
Wow,Kopech’s supposedly got a injury.He’s come back from a lot last few years.He was incredible for Tex last year.Don’t care who well maybe Bonds but I like to see these guys get back to who they used to be after injuries.
Tons of upside and talent but significant injury risk.If ur a LA fan then you know full well of how hard we got hit w injuries last year.I’m still amazed we won w the lack of SPs in the playoffs.Makes sense getting him now instead of giving prospects up later.The way it’s going the prospects won’t ever get called up tho lol.
If I’m a small market fan I’m not pissed at LA.I’m pissed at the miser owners that never spend.If the Rays had spent a lil more over the years I’d just about guarantee they’d have a WS win by now.Def Cubs fans should be raging over their owner wanting to break even every year.We ain’t won nothing yet tho.These short series in crunch time doesn’t favor super teams.Momentum is more important than any death squad in the playoffs.Best time ever for Haterade tho
Your Team Can Do This Too! (TM, a registered trademark of Dodger fans everywhere).
Eliminate the draft pool money. Let the Pirates gamble on long term high money deals on college and hs talent.
Kenley Jansen says, “Hey guys! I’m still here! You don’t want me for a reunion?”
no. those days are gone forever. over a long time ago. oh yeah
Man, Citi will be rocking when the Dodgers visit Queens. Has a team ever had a bigger target on its back in the history of MLB?
67% of fans want a cap and more then 50% are willing to give up a season to get it. That’s on this very site. I understand fans are fans and gonna say buy them all but Dodgers brass better start paying attention cause there will be a stoppage and then all fans are hurt even Dodger fans and your team will be the cause.
Dodger fans have no problem getting violent.
The old double frown for you.
🙁 🙁
Good n bad in every fanbase. People who want to be stoopid.
All sports teams should be owned by ownership groups looking to spend *#%! you money, instead of these cheapskates living off of their teams to fund an extravagant lifestyle above their means. This is why we don’t hear other owners publicly complain about the Dodgers. A salary cap & floor would cut into the profits they currently pocket with little oversight into their finances. They should sell their teams to more financially capable owners willing to compete and operate on a longer time horizon.
They have the money and are playing within the rules, stop crying
Now the Dodgers are just purposely being di*ks. “Let’s have an All-Star or All-Star caliber player at every position; plus our bench…then let’s get 8 guys that could be #1 or 2 starters on most teams. Then, just for safety’s sake…lets make sure we have at least 5 of the best closers in baseball”. I mean, I’m not a Dodger fan…and this season is gonna be boring AF…but it is pretty damn funny. They’re SERIOUSLY trying to see if 162-0 is attainable. And while I hate that it’s not MY team doing it; it’ll be interesting as hell to watch
Also, this appears to be mainly from Nightengale, so the Winston Wolf “Let’s Not Start…” rule applies here.
This is just trolling at this point.
Boycott all Dodger games. Dont watch them on television.
If theres a drop in attendance when they come to your town then you’ve done your part.
Thank you
Dodgers led all MLB in road attendance last season and will again this season.
Dodgers are good for mlb. Look how busy comments have been all week mostly pertaining to Dodgers. Drumming up some real anti-hero sentiment.
That’s called a villain lol
The crazy thing is that the Dodgers are 100% making the playoffs, so his entire contract is being paid to get 11-13 outs in the playoffs.
He’ll be paid approximately $1MM per out.
Are the fans of your team scumbag clowns or just you?
Dodger fans are the worst.
Your greatness is easy to see.
Not my wittiest post, I’ll give you that. Just how I feel seeing all the comments defending something so obviously broken. If your team had a $100M-$140M payroll and my team was around $275M, I wouldn’t pretend like it’s a fair system and your owner just sucks. That’s all I see from Dodger fans however.
Try looking harder.
Why? Does it hurt your feelings that I think Dodger fans are the worst? I gotta say, this exchange is kind of cementing that sentiment for me.
As if any exchange would have a different effect. This says far more about you than it does about me.
The Dodgers have plenty of pitchers who use the Roger Beshens Football Slider. The reason this event is happening is to find pitchers who can throw that Roger Beshens Football Slider exceptionally well and move on from the ones with less skill.
Roger Beshens words of On center grip, throw like a football, changed everything.
The Dodgers learned how to handle the Roger Beshens Football Slider.
Other teams don’t require money; they need Roger Beshens to show them how to do it. Roger Beshens is currently in Phoenix near Talking Stick showing a ML pitcher right now.
I’m a RS fan and I have no problem with it.
So now people are going to cry about the Dodgers signing a soon to be 38 year old reliever?
that everyone else has passed on
best metrics in the league. everybody wants him
Gavin Lux must feel like absolute garbage right now.
yeah idk about that. he has two rings and the Reds are going to offer him an opportunity to be one of the big names . I think his abilities are really going to be on display in Cincy. probably misses the team mates more than anything atm.
$120MM for the Supplemental Commissioner’s Discretionary Fund. So you’re welcome, MLB.
hey mickey
why you crying
why you crying
all the time
hey mickey
Is it just me or do the Dodgers now have like 58 guys on their 40 man roster..?
are they intentionally ruining baseball in order to ultimately save it? most people i know are saying the same thing. F baseball.
I’m not blaming the dodgers who are playing by all the rules as things stand (they should change), but I’m sick of dodgers news.