The two-time defending champions have done it again. The Dodgers officially announced their four-year, $240MM contract with Kyle Tucker on Wednesday afternoon. The deal includes $30MM in deferrals and will come with an approximate $57.1MM annual value for luxury tax purposes. Tucker, a client of Excel Sports Management, receives a $64MM signing bonus — all but $10MM of which is paid upfront — and can opt out after the second or third seasons. Outfielder Michael Siani was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
Los Angeles will pay the first $54MM signing bonus next month. They’ll owe the remaining $10MM in February 2027, and the signing bonus is guaranteed even in the event of a work stoppage. Tucker will make a $1MM salary this year, followed by a $55MM salary in ’27 and $60MM annually for the final two years if he doesn’t opt out. The team is deferring $10MM annually in the final three years, which will be paid in installments between 2036-45.
Tucker, who turns 29 on Saturday, is the latest superstar addition to what was already MLB’s most feared offense. He slots into a lineup alongside Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Will Smith, Max Muncy, Teoscar Hernández and Tommy Edman. He’ll join Hernández and Andy Pages as the primary outfielders, with Edman capable of logging center field action when he’s not at second base.
Los Angeles has four outfield prospects who rank prominently near the top of their farm system. They reportedly wanted to avoid locking in long-term commitments as a result. They’ve accomplished that with arguably the biggest annual value in the sport’s history.
It’s a $60MM average on the surface. Without adjusting for deferrals, Tucker’s deal would be the second-highest AAV ever. Ohtani landed a $70MM AAV on his 10-year, $700MM guarantee, though the massive deferrals meant it had a “true” annual value closer to $46MM. One should therefore view the $51MM annual salary on Juan Soto’s 15-year, $765M deal as the more accurate record holder until tonight. Tucker’s adjusted AAV beats that by more than $6MM.
Although Tucker was this offseason’s top free agent, he’s a clear step below the likes of Aaron Judge, Ohtani and Soto of the previous three winters. Tucker has been a consistent All-Star who’s a little outside the top tier of superstars. The fifth overall pick by the Astros in 2015, he broke out in the shortened 2020 season after logging limited big league action in the two preceding years. He connected on 29 or 30 home runs in each of his first three full campaigns, improving his approach along the way.
Tucker was already a great hitter and seemed to be on his way to pulling closer to Judge, Soto and Ohtani with a monster start to the 2024 season. He was out to a .266/.395/.584 slash with more walks than strikeouts through the first two months. He fouled a ball off his right leg and was placed on the injured list with what the Astros initially termed a shin contusion. It turned out to be more serious, as subsequent testing revealed a fracture that kept him out for three months.
The four-time All-Star returned no worse for wear and had a fantastic September. The Astros nevertheless decided to field trade calls after the season. They were never going to meet Tucker’s asking price on an extension and felt they could cash him in for help elsewhere on the roster. They lined up a deal with the Cubs around the Winter Meetings that sent Isaac Paredes, Hayden Wesneski, and prospect Cam Smith to Houston for Tucker’s final year of arbitration.
Tucker’s lone season in Chicago had its ups and downs. He got out to another blistering start, running a .284/.359/.524 slash with 12 homers through the first day of June. He jammed his right thumb diving into second on a stolen base attempt that day. He avoided the injured list, but subsequent testing revealed that he sustained a tiny fracture at the top of his hand between his ring finger and pinky.
The hand injury wasn’t viewed as a serious issue until Tucker’s performance began to suffer. That didn’t occur right away. His next few weeks were the finest of the season, in fact. Tucker slashed .311/.404/.578 across 25 games that month. Things went off the rails in July, as he batted .189/.325/.235 with just one home run over the next six weeks.
The existence of the hairline fracture wasn’t reported until the middle of August. Cubs officials acknowledged that Tucker had been injured in June but said that he was fully healthy by the time the injury was revealed publicly. Maybe the thumb became a retroactive explanation for what was actually a simple slump, though it’s possible he developed some subtle bad habits in June as he tried to mitigate the pain of hitting through the break. Manager Craig Counsell gave Tucker a three-game mental reset towards the end of August before plugging him back into the middle of the order.
Tucker appeared to be getting back into a groove when he hit another speed bump. He strained his left calf in early September and landed on the injured list, costing him three weeks in the season’s final month. He finished the regular season with a .266/.377/.464 slash line in a little under 600 trips to the plate. He hit .259 with one homer in eight postseason games as the Cubs advanced to the NL Division Series.
The uneven second half soured some Cubs fans on the Tucker acquisition. His overall numbers were in line with his career marks. The offense was 36 percentage points better than league average by wRC+. His lifetime .273/.358/.507 batting line is 38 points above par. Tucker has been in that range in four of the past five seasons. The only exception is his .289/.408/.585 showing over 78 games two years ago.
The ’24 season is probably an outlier, but the Dodgers should feel they’re adding one of the top 10-15 hitters in MLB. He doesn’t expand the strike zone and has a rare blend of plus contact skills and above-average power. Tucker has no issue hitting pitchers of either handedness. He doesn’t have the huge exit velocities of the sport’s premier sluggers, yet he’s a safe bet for 25-30 homers in a healthy season.
Tucker’s glove isn’t as strong at this stage of his career. He won a Gold Glove with Houston in 2022. His defensive grades and sprint speed have declined as he’s gotten into his late-20s. That presumably gave teams pause when considering a long-term investment. Tucker’s defense should remain serviceable in the short term. The Dodgers can comfortably plug him into right field and kick Hernández over to left if they don’t trade him.
The Cubs issued Tucker a qualifying offer but made little effort to retain him. The bidding seemingly came down to the Dodgers, Mets and Blue Jays. New York was similarly hesitant to make a long-term commitment, as they reportedly offered a four-year deal at $55MM per season. Toronto was seemingly willing to entertain a longer term at a lower annual value.
Tucker is L.A.’s second qualified free agent signing of the offseason. They added Edwin Díaz on a three-year, $69MM deal around the Winter Meetings. They surrendered their second- and fifth-round draft choices this summer, plus $1MM from their 2027 international bonus pool, to sign Díaz. They’ll forfeit their third- and sixth-round picks for Tucker. The Cubs receive a compensatory pick between Competitive Balance Round B and the start of the third round (currently slated to land 77th overall).
MLBTR had predicted an 11-year, $400MM deal for Tucker at the beginning of the offseason. It’s unclear if any team would have been willing to go to those lengths. He’s giving up some measure of long-term security in exchange for massive salaries over the next couple seasons and the chance to return to free agency at the tail end of his prime.
He’ll have the option of retesting the market before his age-31 and age-32 campaigns — and without being attached to draft compensation barring a change to the qualifying offer rules in the intervening CBA. A five- or six-year guarantee could be well within range at that point. He’ll collect a huge signing bonus, essentially shatter the record for average annual value, and join the team with the best chance to win the World Series in the interim.
While the specific salary breakdown hasn’t been reported, the Dodgers are reportedly paying $54MM of the signing bonus right away. RosterResource estimates their cash payroll obligations close to $428MM for the upcoming season. Tucker’s $57.1MM AAV will push their competitive balance tax projection north of $395MM.
They’re taxed at a 110% rate on spending above $304MM, so Tucker’s deal comes with a staggering $62.81MM tax hit in the first season. The Dodgers are essentially valuing Tucker’s 2026 season alone at $120MM. L.A. ended last season with a luxury tax payroll of $417MM, costing them another $169.4MM in taxes. Their tax bill alone was higher than the final payroll calculations of 12 teams. They’re trending towards a similar or potentially even greater amount in 2026 depending on what else they do this offseason and at the trade deadline. The aggressiveness continues as they aim for the first three-peat in MLB since the 1998-2000 Yankees.
Tucker’s deal is going to be the latest example for many fans and smaller-market owners who will argue for a salary cap in the upcoming round of collective bargaining negotiations. This level of spending also reaffirms why the MLB Players Association has steadfastly maintained that a cap is a non-starter. Next offseason’s CBA talks are expected to be similarly or even more contentious than those that froze the sport for 99 days during the 2022-23 lockout.
That’s not the concern of the Dodgers or their fans, who’ll be thrilled to add another star as they try to cement their dynastic run. They’ll be heavy favorites in the NL West, and it’s difficult to imagine a scenario in which this team doesn’t make the playoffs. A championship is far from guaranteed, however. The Jays were one swing away from beating them in Games 6 and 7 of last year’s World Series. An extra quarter-second on Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s dash home or another few feet on Ernie Clement’s fly ball in the bottom of the ninth would have flipped the outcome. L.A. ownership and the front office aren’t getting complacent.
After missing on Tucker, the Jays seem likely to reengage with Bo Bichette. Their longtime shortstop is now the top unsigned player. He has reportedly had a productive meeting with the Phillies, but the Jays and Bichette have long expressed mutual interest in a reunion. Bichette wouldn’t be a great fit for the Mets, but they could conceivably pivot to challenging the Yankees for Cody Bellinger. The Mets still don’t have a left fielder after swapping Brandon Nimmo for Marcus Semien. Their reported offer to Tucker demonstrates there’s plenty of room for short-term spending, but president of baseball operations David Stearns has shied away from lengthy commitments this winter.
Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported that Tucker was signing with the Dodgers. Jon Heyman of the New York Post had it as a short-term contract, while Robert Murray of FanSided was first on the four-year, $240MM guarantee. Murray reported the opt-out after the second season, and Passan had the third-year out. Heyman reported the $30MM in deferrals. Ari Alexander of Boston 7 News was first on the $57.1MM post-deferral AAV. ESPN’s Jesse Rogers had the signing bonus details. The Associated Press had the salary breakdown and deferral specifics.
Image courtesy of Christopher Hanewinckel, Imagn Images.
BANGGGGG
I’m pleased a down-and-out organization like the Dodgers finally landed a big fish.
Flags fly forever baby! Go DODGERS!!!!!!!!!
#Tainted
that referring to the astros? Only team I know of deserving that mark.
Fcking cheaters!!
LAD 100% responsible for the upcoming multi year lockout. When mlb returns in like 2028 they’ll be forced to give up half their roster.
#Love
Buying flags… how impressive
Dodgers will trade for Skubal next
#EmpireStrikesBack
It makes it fun to have a villain that everyone will want to take down, great for #MLB Baseball, will be best ratings ever
Flags with an asterisk on them
@Cubsin25
Remind me…what was the deal for Bregman? Swanson?
B-S
Compared to this, they were reasoned and designed for sustainably, not reckless abandon.
@Mondesi’s Cannon
Nothing like knowing in your heart of hearts that you’ve truly accomplished something.
The last time my heart swelled with pride like this was while watching Kramer school those children in karate.
Good times.
See you in the playoffs. I think Reckless Abandon is the band that will play the National Anthem.
B-S
Looking forward to it. Should be fun. Band sounds like a blast.
Cubs have had a stellar off-season.
No but they will be the ones to blame for the lockout coming up
Enjoy it while you can. With the next CBA you will be sharing all that local TV money with the rest of the league. I suspect a fire sale in 2028 and you will become a team like the NY Jets or the Raiders.
48% of the TV revenue is already shared among all teams. Are you in 1987?
Why?
Cheaters how?
Not how it works. Any changes will be grandfathered in over a period of time.
you probably were not saying that back in the day when the Yankees were that team, but it’s benign and great when its your team, innit?
Dodgers are the first mlb team in history to reach $1 Billion in annual gross revenue.
The profits from that gross revenue can go into the owners pockets or in the pockets of the best team they can put in the field.
Seems like the fans of the other 29 teams would rather it be in the Dodgers owners pockets.
Maybe the owners of the other 29 teams also wish it was in the Dodgers owners pockets.
But there are 780 major leaguers and a players union that want that money in players pockets.
Maximizing the wages paid to the laborers is good. Keep spending LA
sportico.com/leagues/baseball/2025/los-angeles-dod…
I knew I loved lasagna.
What an absolutely idiotic framing of the Dodgers buying rings. Nobody cares that the owners are making less money. They care that all the best players are on one team. It’s an absolute joke and it’s terrible for baseball.
Cubs – The Yankees did it for decades.
I’m expecting Bo signs with the Jays soon.
WS rematch highly likely.
Tucker wasn’t even around for that I don’t think
I guess it’s appropriate that the team with the most absurd financial advantage ever gives out the most absurd contract ever.
Skubal and then eventually Skenes will be the next chapters in Star (player) Wars
Curse of the 2017 Astros lol
This is not good for the sport!! Plain and simple.
There will be no multi year lockout. Too much $ in tv contracts will prevent them from missing significant time if any. Owners have more greed than players and aren’t willing to lose out on the cash.
Dodgers, Blue Jays, Cubs and Mariners had good off-seasons.
Pirates and White Sox had nice additions.
Still lots of time until pitchers and catchers report.
HA, you had a typo… accidentally put an L in the first word.
And Skubal will still go out and test the market next year.
Yes it is. They’re doing what the angels failed to do with Mike Trout and building around and doing service to a once in a lifetime player.
Correction. The only team dumb enough to be “caught”.
How do the Dodgers have an absurd financial advantage??? Because they use the system the way it was designed!!!
Here’s an idea, have the Dodgers teach everyone else how to do contracts!!!
Correction, Astros were the only team “caught” cheating.
Pretty reckless spending by them to be spending over $200 million for flags when they could just buy the flags in their store for under $100.
Sal, stop acting like a tell. If you don’t realize that the 48% of local revenue including tv they put into revenue sharing and then recieve 1/30th of all the local revenue paid in by all teams still leaves the Dodgers with more than any other team I think you are missing the point.
The Dodgers just spent more for one player than 7 teams are spending on their entire 40 man roster.
The Dodgers are $258 million over the CBT threshold. They are further over the CBT threshold than the TOTAL REVENUE of 3 MLB teams.
The Dodgers will spend more in CBT FINES in 2026, than all but 5 others teams current total CBT PAYROLL.
Ayeah, both the Yankees and Red Sox were caught cheating in 2017. After the Yankees complained about the RedSox and the Red Sox complained about the Yankees, they were the reason that the Commissioner sent out a memo to the front offices in September of that year telling the teams that what he called electronic sign stealing was now considered illegal.
Carlos Beltran came to the Astros from the Yankees where they had used the same system. The only difference was the Yankees relayed that information to the batter in a different manner. He brought the system with him to the Astros.
That 48% number is about to head north brother.
Not really. It might attract ratings in the sense that people slow up to see the wreck on the highway.
True, but
AI Overview
+7
Yes, a portion of MLB’s local media revenue is shared across the league, but big-market teams keep a lot of their high local earnings, creating inequality, while the league is also moving towards centralizing some local broadcasts through MLB Local Media due to regional sports network (RSN) collapses, directly impacting how much is shared and leading to a mix of league-run and traditional local broadcasting.
Tucker was not part of the 2017 or 2018 teams
What about the Red Sox and their apple watches?
At $60,000,00 per year, if Kyle Tucker plays every one of 162 games, his pay comes to $370,370 per game. If he plays every inning of every game, his pay comes to about $41,00 per inning. If he bats 500 times in the season, then each at-bat pays him $120,000. Any way you figure it, this contract is just nuts.
Ha, we shall see. Every owner is a billionaire, every team has deep pockets. However as in life, not all billionaires are equal. The dodgers owner is not only smart but wants to win and doesn’t the dodgers to make money. So he hired the best to run his team. Who in turn goes out and gets the best players. Now players want to play here. As too how this is bad for baseball. The taxes alone pay for 3 teams whose owners only care about bottom dollar. Honestly I hope we win 120 games, 3 peat. After that I don’t care what baseball does. The cryers are gonna cry, the haters will hate. So be it
Baseballisthebest
I see this post now. For some reason it was not appearing on my phone.
Of course the Dodgers have more money to spend than nearly all other teams. I never said they didn’t. I’ll ignore your pejorative and your exaggeration inherent in a statement like this: “Dodgers just spent more for one player than 7 teams are spending on their entire 40 man roster.
” Not sure how to “act like a tell” but I can imagine what you meant to type. Appreciated. Enjoy your day. I sure will.
Or they have a much more populus area from which to obtain revenue
@Carl
“all the best players are on one team”
Try a factual argument. It looks better.
I don’t think it will be multi year. But this signing was the final fuel needed to ensure a long lockout over a salary cap. The owners won’t open their books, but at least 24 teams will push for one. The players will eventually cave, but we might lose half or more of the 27 season.
How many owners have interest payments on the loans they needed to afford the rising costs of purchasing a team?
Rich owners don’t want a cap and the ones who do can’t afford to lose games.
Those owners can’t afford a lockout and will not hold out for a salary cap that players are steadfastly against.
you’re dreaming
Yea, the leagues fandom is expanding, rating in the playoffs were huge, there’s a lot more eyes now on the MLB and their star player(s) is now in the ranks of Messi, Lebron, etc in world wide name recognition…so terrible for baseball.
Ignorant – you handle fits
The Blue Jays are not going to repeat as AL champs.
Better than not having flags. Every team has the same opportunity. Baseball teams and owners do have money.
Lotta players on many teams would call you stupid. The dodgers don’t have all the best players. We don’t have the best at each position. They are deep for sure. They paid well for it and they paid mostly the right type of players. Team guys who want to win. When your team is owned by a billionaire who’s not reliant on the team making money, who hires the best staff/scouts etc and continually drafts and trades well. You are going to win and win a lot. Every team has money, every team has the same ability to sign players. Draft and develop. Dodgers are best in the game for a reason and money is only part of it.
Why did you reply to my comment. You might’ve not meant to, but it says it on my screen.
bass – Based on what? The fact they improved on a team that came within one run of winning the WS?
Who on the Jays had a career season last year?
dodger – I agree with some of your post, the Dodgers do excel at certain aspects of putting a team together.
But your assertion that “every team has the same ability to sign players” is kinda like saying “every person has the same ability to make $200K a year” or “every person has the same ability to buy a million dollar home”.
LAD benefit from the stadium and the market. You probably know, salaries are very high in LA because cost of living is very high. It’s a massive market with a massive amount of wealthy and/or high income fans.
Let’s put it this way, if the Pirates or Reds or Royals or Brewers were to sell out every game, they STILL wouldn’t generate more than a fraction of the LAD revenue.
There are limits to how much revenue can be generated by each team …. the LAD limit is the highest in MLB.
All owners want to win and If it was such a brilliant strategy other teams would be doing it. Thats crazy stupid money to be throwing at a guy who hit .266 22 home runs and 73 RBI. For comparison Mickey Moniak hit .270 24 homers and 68 RBI’s. Moniak will be paid $4million in 2026.. lol. Me personally I am not hating I am laughing because Tucker just fleeced the Dodgers.
Exactly, the Doyers are now the new Yankees. Yankees: “I AM your, father” Dodgers “Noooooooo”
Manfred created this mess and now he’s completely lost control. So much for competitive baseball.
wiser – Apparently you missed the news, he played hurt most of last season.
In his most recent healthy season, 2024, he had a .993 OPS
I don’t disagree with you that it was a massive overpay, but the reason is because he hasn’t been able to stay healthy the past two years …. not because he isn’t that good. When healthy, he is that good.
He was not healthy in 2024. If he was, he would’ve likely won the MVP, or come close.
Astros – I meant when he played he was healthy, he didn’t play hurt.
Sounds like wishful thinking on your part
Fever: So they paid 60M a year for an injury prone player. That adds to it being a massive overpay IMHO
Astros71: If, if, if.
MLB top:They won’t need to trade for Skubal. They’ll just buy the whole Tiger organization and weed out guys they don’t want.
That’s a partial cop out. La made investments that have paid off huge. Some of which started with O’Malley but increased in huge ways after McCourt sold the team. All teams are owned by wealthy men. Yes everyone has a chance in America to make 200k how hard you want to work for it? To say different is shorting yourself. I make more but I bet I work harder and longer than 95% of the population. Cause that’s what it takes.
Avory: Great episode. Kramer is an all time great.
But he wasn’t healthy and just had a “good” season last year. Huge overpay.
No they aren’t. The owners representation, and the MLBPA leaders are responsible for that. They see this coming, and they aren’t doing anything to head it off at the pass. All teams are operating within the current CBA rules. But if there is a work stoppage, it’s the leadership in the union, and the owners that didn’t do enough to stop this in it’s tracks.
Regardless, 60 million per year for him was ridiculous
4/240. $60MM AAV? I’m guessing deferrals to be announced.
60 million AAV is crazy.
Tucker is good but he is not 60M AAV good, Jesus Christ 😂
Ya, has to be. Otherwise with luxury tax you’re looking at 4y/$504M. Insane.
Won’t matter cause Dodgers payroll now moves to a whopping $440 million and will decrease by whatever deferred amount is. Most important that $240 million goes to $504 million for 4 yrs when factoring in 110% penalty. The rest of mlb should not even bother playing the games. Dodgers are making George Steinbrenner of the 90’s look stupid with their reckless spending
LAD figures they may only have to pay a portion of ’27 season that is played….and then he opts out.
Deferrals won’t help that much unless it’s a huge percentage of the total, because they’re only deferring a few years.
Don’t worry. 58 million a year is deferred
Outside of any catastrophic injury he’s definitely opting out after year 2. They really want him for ’26 and ’27 to get their 4 rings before their entire spending model blows up on them.
he wouldn’t get 60 per year if it was an 8 or 10 year contract, but he is a 4 to 5 win player, and likely projects to be worth 16 to 20 WAR over the next 4 years, so 60m AAV is probably a slight overpay if WAR is purchased at 11 – 12m per win on the open market, but the is pretty dang close
Yeah Ohtani and Tucker are probably making only $2 million dollars each in 2026 with all the $ being deferred.
Do you really see him leaving a $60MM guaranteed contract?🤣
25-30 homers and .270-.275 BA a season gets you $60M? Wow!! Ohtani is a bargain at $70M.
$120m? Yeah definitely. He can get way more in two years.
And they’d find the principal of that $ that would accrue to that $58M by time of payment. So they would be paying much much more than $2M this year, so the savings you are implying do not happen in reality.
reckless is a word, but not sure it applies here. if they keep winning world series it becomes worth the dollars
Only collecting $2M per year. That does not allow !allow a team to only have to pay $2M . Teams have to fund these deferrals as they are happening so they are ultimately paying and funding these deferred contracts as they happen. The caveat is they are funding it at the value of that $ now and said funding accrues to future value until time player realizes the gain.
Agreed about the details of deferment. If I were a player, I would make it over 20 years even if the NPV would be significantly less.
Yes, because he’ll still be just 30 years old and it becomes 120M vs the 300-400M he’s gonna be offered.
oh, so that is why they are doing it.
What nonsense… trying to justify a 60M annual salary for a better than average, but very streaky hitter that can’t stay on the field for a full season anymore.
Good for him, but there’s no way this will ever be a justified acquisition
To add to your point: Tucker has a .176 postseason avg.
Only $30M is deferred
The other owners could spend too. They aren’t broke
yeah way overpaid, but I guess he got the deal he wanted. Dodgers needed to improve third base though. Maybe Tucker plays some there?
Dodgers get $250mil per year from their TV deal, Cuts that $504mil in half.
The Dodgers TV revenue is $330 million not $250 mill. And 48% of that revenue is shared with all teams.
It’s totally justified CubsIn25 and the rest of you Cubbies fans. Told ya he’d get paid, ha ha ha ha ha!!! He’s worth it.
Nobody cares about his postseason average. It means very little when predicting future performance.
HH
Doesn’t guarantee a prediction, but definitely can indicate he doesn’t perform as effectively under the bright lights of a playoff atmosphere while only facing ace pitching. Others can rise to that challenge.
Well he’s really costing $120m a year when you factor in the luxury tax penalty. Crazy hey?
Apparently you know better than anyone at the Dodgers front office…..Oh wait, you don’t.
hm yeah maybe kyle tucker will play some third base, why not
it doesn’t matter if that’s true financially, the dodgers only look at as, will Tucker improve our chances of another title (and further increasing revenue).
.You won’t be laughing if they have a three-peat… Or more..
(BTW, what are the 9 championships thing? You counting when they were the Philadelphia A’s?) 🤣
1955, 1959, 1963, 1965, 1981, 1988, 2020, 2024, 2025
How do small market teams like Cleveland and Cincinnati compete with this? Somethings got to give.
Anthony, it wasn’t George of the 90s as the team first won while he was suspended and others in charge allowed their for four to develop together. He did try to get the stars in NY starting in the 70s when free agency started. The difference was while he spent, the team’s total budget advantage over most of the other clubs was not like this.
I just looked it up quickly and even back then Steinbrenner did have an advantages. In 1977 for example the Yankees payroll was twice as big as Boston’s. I didn’t realize that. My bad.
But they claim they are losing money.
I know this …the Dodgers will NOT like the next CBA deal. May not get a salary cap but the playing field will be leveled.
Nine – It’s amazing what a bidding war between the Mets and Dodgers can do for a player’s salary, isn’t it?
@nine champs
I totally agree that Tucker is definitely good – WHEN HEALTHY. But no way $60/yr good. Last few years he’s been having those nagging injuries that seem to affect him. Personally I don’t feel he is mentally tough. Also, his defense is definitely nothing close to special. He’s not all that much better defensively than Suzuki.
Another thing, he doesn’t have much of a personality. His personality doesn’t sell seats, it’s his play. And when he’s nursing injuries, he’s not in the lineup.
I especially loved the statement that by signing a short-term contract he left some long-term security on the table. I wonder if he’s now worried about how he’ll feed his family a few years down the road?
That seals the deal it’s a lockout for sure. This is worse than the Yankees under Steinbrenner for sure. It used to be a few teams could rarely sign their young star but now it’s 3/4 of the league. The gap between small and large market wasn’t this wide. It’s hard to predict playoff success and there’s no such thing as guaranteeing a World Series title but the Dodgers sure do try. There is a handful of teams out there spending a lot of money not to match the Dodgers that’s impossible but to have a team that if they got hot enough and with some luck could win a series with the Dodgers. Players markets are totally dependent on whether the Dodgers or Mets are in on the bidding. Not to say they won’t get decent deals but they are the two teams willing to bid in that stratosphere.
Seth: Agree. It also makes sense that any free agent is calling the Dodgers first. Why even negotiate with any other team? Every other team gets leftovers. Salary floor and salary cap immediately.
World Series titles don’t mean what they used to.
Say what? To us life long Dodgers fans they do !!! 😂😎👍👋🤛🤔😁🤣🤗🙏🏼
Enjoy them, you should. Its become outrageous though. The 2027 season may not even happen.
The 2027 season will happen, perhaps in some abbreviated fashion. Not all MLB players are millionaires and the need to get back to work will eventually drive a settlement. This will be as much about making sure there is a definitive floor to get the low spending owners to finally be competitive. And if there is a cap involved, it will likely remove or significantly lessen the tax system currently in place. That should be enough to drive the low spending owners to an agreement as the threat of that tax revenue cutting their revenue sharing number down. A’s, White Sox, Pirates, Marlins, Rays, and a few others will be required to comply or be forced to sell. Can those low spending teams really go an entire season without revenue? I’m guessing “no”.
You better win this year as there will be a lock out in 2027 and a hard cap in 2028. You won’t sniff another World Series
It’ll happen. Stop with the gloom and doom.
You need to read more @atomic. There will not be a salary cap.
Sal, the union leadership has said in the previous 3 CBA negotiations that they are not willing to discuss a salary cap until there is 100% revenue sharing between teams, there is total financial transparency between the teams and the MLBPA, and the players are guaranteed a percentage of total revenue between 48 and 51%.
It takes a vote by 23 teams to approve those changes, not unanimous consent. After what the Dodgers have done the past 2 seasons in spending more on CBT fines than the entire 40 man CBT payroll of a third of MLB teams, I would no longer rule it out.
No, there will NOT be a salary cap with the new CBA deal. But there will be more revenue sharing, stiffer penalties in draft picks, luxury taxes, etc. The playing field is going to get leveled to a certain extent ..it has to.
No, they still do. 2 and counting
They buy the best talent where most other teams can’t. Totally dilutes the value of the titles.
Has never stopped Yanks fans from babbling about 27.
Nope, the titles still mean the same. Not diluted at all.
Not only are they diluted, they’re completely fraudulent. It’s as if the season wasn’t even played at all and the Dodgers just bought a championship directly from the commissioner. And what makes it even funnier is they have one of the weakest, most fake fanbases in all of sports. All their fans are vapid Hollywood celebrities and transplants. No culture. No ethos. They should go back to Brooklyn tbh.
OMG, I just got deemed a vapid Hollywood celebrity! Yay!
Nope… they cost a hell of a lot more than they used too… present value or deferred…
yeah. I miss the days of the Yankees and Cardinals swiping up all the amateur talent, keeping them indefinitely, and winning like 40 WS in a 70 year span while half the league couldn’t even sniff contention. Things were way better back in the day.
Yeah s8n666, most of these people don’t know anything about the history of dynasties in MLB. The Yankees had a 40-year run of dominance that’ll never be matched.
That is correct. It included two five in a row penants, with one being a five in a row world series championships. The Dodgers may tie the last team to win three world series in a row, the Yankees, and may tie four penants in a row the following year, and add a fourth consecutive worlds series. The Yankees also had a four in row period in the thirties. I believe that from 1947 through 1964, the Yankees were in the world series every except for 1948, 1954, and 1959.
While for many Yankee fans, 2010 to 2025 has been a long drought, but every regular season has been a winning one, and is part of streak that is around 33 consecutive seasons. They have been to the Champion Series at least 6 times, and one World Series appearance. Yes they have not won a World Series since 2009, but fans can look forward to a competitive team. I also have a shout-out for teams like the Rays, Brewers, Twins, A’s, who have had a number of competitive seasons over the last 25 years despite low payrolls.
the dodgers have a top farm system, too. they haven’t sacrificed the future at the expense of the present, they’re just using the money hack that shohei ohtani is the way a team should
Thats because they can afford all the top scouts.
@ conin
Said the fan of a team that doesn’t win.
So titles only count for teams that spend an amount that YOU deem to be acceptable? Teams that go all in and spend huge chunks of their revenue to better the team for the enjoyment of their fans are bad? No one seemed to give a crap when the Mets and Padres were outspending everyone a few years ago. No no that was acceptable because a team that you don’t hate was the one doing it. Please keep crying. Your tears are delicious and nourishing to me.
A lot of these folks whining about the Dodgers spending money on good players are the same ones whining about the owners of their teams not spending money on good players. Screw ’em. They’ll never be happy even in the perfect utopia they imagine for themselves.
Enrico: Your post fails to say those teams were giving out 60M annually to 1 player because they didn’t. And Tucker isn’t even the 4th best player on his team and won’t be during his whole contract.
Like before expansion and flannel uniforms?
Hahaha
As much as I HATE this (mainly because Hal is not committed to winning first and foremost), I congratulate Dodgers fans, yet again. Top-tier organization that continues to push forward to ensure they WIN, which should be the primary goal; not ensure a playoff appearance, which is the new Yankees standard.
Bottom line is that if the Dodgers can figure out how to spend and add, yet still keep making money (even if it’s mainly on deferred money), then Hal should be able to as well.
They’re committed to championships. I remember a team we both know once had a similar approach.
Lord – Last year the NYY had a $294M payroll, highest in the league and well ahead of next-highest Toronto at $240M. I don’t really get how Yankee fans can be unhappy about spending.
I think HOW they are spending the money is the real problem, like the Cole contract.
Easy to say when the money comes from Hollywood & former sport stars pockets. Im now really hoping for a lockout..
@Yankee
I’m not going to bother to defend Hal but historically the Yanks reinvested more of their profits back into the team. The Dodgers and Mets have owners worth 4x and 7x what Hal is worth and they both own money investments firms holding hundreds of billions in assets. Figure out on your own what a huge advantage that must be, especially when teams are allowed to USE the money they put into escrow for deferred money to invest and reap the benefits of capital gains. If you have enough personal wealth that you can not only NOT take out any money but in fact, operate at a deficit, AND your an astute investor, let’s just say you can do some things like no other. It’s a whole other economic ballgame. Mark Walters is worth 4x what Hal is worth and not only leads Guggenheim Sports owners of the Dodgers but they also own the Lakers, which by themselves are baked for more than the Yanks. The Yanks are no longer the big bully on the block. In actuality, they were never the wealthiest owners just the ones willing and able to spend more than others fun their revenue. The Jays ownership is worth $16 billion but they just run their business for profit.
Every big market team can do what the Dodgers do if they choose to. Problem is they don’t. The mechanisms to manage their team financially are there; turning a larger profit and driving up the value of the team is their primary objective. Winning is a bonus.
@Dodgers
You have no idea how the business of baseball works. It’s quite clear. You can’t really think that teams like the Pirates, Reds, Marlins can sirens like the Dodgers, Mets, Yanks or Jays do you? Even the Yanks can’t spend like the Mets and Dodgers? And a teams valuation means nothing until they sell it and, the Yanks for example, only own about 58% of the team and would have to pay significant taxes if/ when they still it. The Guggenheim Sports members have at least 3 members who are worth more than Hal and they can easily borrow from the billions of dollars they manage. They can easily borrow $1 billion and allocate that to fund they’re salary deferred contracts and then use those funds for investment purposes over the next 10 years and then reap the capital gains it generates, pay back the loan, satisfy ther deferred contracts and pocket tend of millions for themselves. Please get that thru your head fam. It’s a new day. Teams better hope that the bigger dogs in the money management game don’t decide to buy teams like the Yanks, Angels, Giants, White Sox, etc because a firm like BlackRock would put the Dodgers and Mets firms to shame. Their holdings are in the trillions.
I think they can sirens just fine…
This is outright lies. The Dodgers get $330 million in local TV money. No other MLB team gets close to that.
$330M x .52. The rest goes into pool and divvied up.
All of these owners could spend a lot more if they chose to. Like when Seidler bought the Padres and they suddenly became a “big-market” team
“Every big market” …I disagree. Not every “big market” team has the beautiful weather, huge stadium, Uber large population to draw from and the daily, overflow standing room only crowds of Chavez Ravine.
I believe the Dodgers are still hugely profitable at these crazy payroll numbers and it’s been said they’ve already received enough additional revenue from Asia to pay off the Ohtani deal several times over, in cash.
Dodgers 32, that is incorrect.
Tucker’s AAV for CBT purposes is $57.1 million so the Dodgers will pay a $62.81 million fine for his portion of payroll. Total that one player will cost the Dodgers $119.91 million in 2026. That is more than 7 teams entire 40 man CBT payroll.
The Dodgers are $258 million over the CBT threshold. They are further over the CBT threshold than the TOTAL REVENUE of 3 MLB teams.
The Dodgers will spend more in CBT FINES, than all but 5 others teams current total CBT PAYROLL.
No other team can do what the Dodgers are doing other than perhaps Cohen who is floating the Mets out of his own pocket, not the team’s revenue stream.
teams should tank vs. dodgers, making them 162-0. rest up for the real games boys, this is just an all-star exhibition.
@Clip
There is still nothing better than a Yanks-Dodgers Series. I hope they can pull it off again. Best of luck to you.
no nothing worse than another Yankees – Dodgers World Series
must be tough going through life with a sad face
The Yankees payroll is less than 284 million I believe.
Hal is not his dad, when will ppl realize this. I remember George well; fortuitous chain events (in the long run, didn’t seem so at the time) made the dynasty happen, which is now ancient history. I wish for someone who is a combination of Hal who is not impulsively destructive like his dad, but with his father’s all-out, win-first mentality.
But what we have, Clip, is what we got.
but Steinbrenner’s Yanks only won when they had good management and great role players because George still stupidly spent anyway and still insisted that they trade for players they did not need like Canseco.
While the Yankees may not be spending as much, they still have a competitive team that now has about 33 consecutive winning seasons, and multiple playoff appearances. The Yankees are always in the top 4 in terms of spending, and a few years ago they had the highest payroll.
Hal could maintain a competitive team year in and year out at a $200 million plus payroll, and pocket a $100 million. For at least the last 4 years the Yankees have been close to or a little over $300 million payroll. Going back to say 2015, somewhat smaller market teams have made it to or won the World Series. Examples include the Royals, Rays, Nationals,Blue Jays, and Braves. While the Brewers have not made it to the World Series over this period, they have been competitive. As we all know big spend does not guarantee a championship.
I am mixed on the salary cap issue. I remember being glad but concerned about the lack of a cap, when rules were put in to control the Yankees. The last couple or proposed refer to the Mets and Dodgers. But as a Yankee fan, I cannot complain about the Dodgers and the Mets.
My reason for the concern is the lack of the cap may be slowing the growth rate of MLB vs. the NBA, NFL, and possibly the NHL. Baseball used to have as many as ten teams among the Forbes top 50, and now are down to five (Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs, Red Sox, and the Mets or Giants). If the MLB continues to shrink relative to other leagues, the salaries should suffer as well. Attracting new owners via purchase of an existing team or through expansion will be more difficut due to lower returns. The owners and players have to think long-term.
I know the NHL still does not have a team in the top 50. The other sport growing in terms of number of teams in the top 50 is from the the international soccer world, or football, which is the term used outside of the US.
LBY — You are trying to use Franchise values of individual teams to determine to Leagues value. Not a good measurement.
Teams in Capped leagues make more money/profit, thus have higher valuations Because of the Cap of the League.
The number one cost of (most) businesses are Labor costs. Capping what Labor makes is fine…as long as the ownership gets Profit Caps.
Profit Caps. If the owners want to Limit what the players can make, the same should be true on ownership. As it stands both are uncapped.
Cap both, or neither.
In the words of the immortal John Sterling ” The Dodgers Win The Dodgers Win “.
They are the Yankees of the 90’s dominating the Sport and the Business of Baseball and embarrassing the Mets as the red headed step child. Lol
In related news, the Dodgers are forced to designate Tyler Glasnow for assignment in order to clear a roster spot.
Friedmas was quoted as saying “It was a tough choice, but given that he is the lowest paid guy on the roster we figured that was the way to go.”
Cue the Kevin Durant joining all the super team memes
Say goodbye to Michael Siani, his stay on the Dodgers was short lived! My guts as a Rangers fan!!!
Store bought.
[Everyone disliked that]
Tucker is nowhere near worth $60mil a year
60 mill?? With the tax bracket, aren’t the Dodgers paying total for him like $110 AAV???!!!?!
Tucker’s AAV for CBT purposes is $57.1 million so the Dodgers will pay a $62.81 million fine for his portion of payroll. Total he will cost the Dodgers $119.91 million in 2026. That is more than 7 teams entire 40 man CBT payroll.
And the Dodgers will still likely make money in 2026.
Silly. On Mars money has no value
[I liked it]
Let’s see if Cohen gets mad and goes overboard outbidding NYY for Bellinger. Boras is gleeful at this development.
I’m hoping someone tells them Bichette is available. I don’t think they noticed.
Guess someone did haha
doesn’t seem like it. Mets may have been in on all the major free agents but signed none of them and actually got worse with the trades they made.
They signed Devin Williams. $17 million a year for a closer makes him a major free agent, whether you think so or not.
I don’t think he cares that much
He gets Bichette instead.
Just reading all the outrage is pretty funny. Dodgers going to pay something like $120M a year for Tucker. That is the entire payroll for some teams. Talk about waving your dingus around.
Is this post going to hit 5000 comments?. The °Ad revenue rolling in tonight boys.
Wow look at the Dodgers make a splash
At least the “only” splashes this off-season are Tucker and Diaz
(please don’t sign Bichette too)
No kidding I was really rooting for Toronto to get Tucker it will be interesting to see the contract considering he had a long term deal from them.
We all know already that it will have about a billion in deferred money… welcome to the lockout in 2027…
I wasn’t rooting for the Blue Jays to get him at all, but I thought a thousand percent that’s where he was going. I was a million percent wrong, and I admit it.
I’m dying to know what the Blue Jays’ offer was that he turned down and why. If they gave him six or seven years and he turned it down, I was only half right, but only half wrong.
I knew he wasn’t going to the Mets something about the Mets just smells bad..
Toronto will sign Bo shortly.
Probably always the plan B
@oldgfan
Maybe… I’m thinking they’re going to have a run at Bellinger first.
I’m sure you are whining equally about Dylan Cease’s deferred money. if not, You hypocrisy is showing.
One way to have parody is to have all the stars on one team. haha It would be incredible if they didn’t make the playoffs.
I thought I was wrong once,
but I was mistaken.
Seriously though I hope you’re right.
The Jays will have competition from the Phillies and the Yankees, especially if the Mets sign Bellinger. Much respect to the Jays, but once again they lose to the Dodgers.
No, just $30M.
@Kermit
You and people like you have been saying that for the last 13 years in a row.
Sad part is only 3 or 4 teams were in on these guys because everyone else can’t afford it
the rumor was 10 years but no dollar amount was indicated
Something about the Mets still smell bad?
How did that go?
Don’t worry. Andrew’s job is done for now.
I am
I’m sure they’ll miss you and your great attitude dearly
I don’t believe all the hype around Tucker and Diaz. I’m interested whether either one will meet or exceed expectations.
You don’t have to. The guys who won the last two world series just pressed the 60million dollars a year believe button.
probably not, but with their star studded lineup and endless (and oft injured) starting pitching, it may not matter. Here’s hoping some team knocks them out early in the post season or they miss the post season altogether.
maybe Mets sign Bichette and claim that he’s the one they wanted the most anyway.
Gotta believe Bichette is either going back to Toronto or to Philly.
Dodgers are the Harlem Globetrotters. Everyone else is the Washington Generals. But they do need each other. 🤣🤣
Which is why I think all TV money should be split between all teams: you can’t play a game without an opponent.
@84LeFlore
It already is to the tune of 48% of tv revenue.
Surprise, surprise
The usual suspects
The only suspect?
Surprise? It was widely reported that it was down to Dodgers, Mets and Jays.
(Of course, I realize you may have been being ironic, and it went entirely over my head.)
@Matrac, he was being sarcastic, not ironic. They’re not the same thing.
I was using the term ironic, sarcastically.
I’ve heard it both ways…
You can’t have it both ways. That’s a rule.
So Cohen’s buying power is overrated or Tucker wanted that guaranteed 4th year or possibly he just wanted to play for the Dodgers to begin with or he doesn’t like the Mets or Blue Jays.
He wants to win a World Series now. I assume they also had the best contract (years, cash, opt outs).
Most voted the dodgers wouldn’t add another big name player apart from skubal trade. I figured the dodgers would sign since it’s win now.
New the Dodgers would sneak in. They were way too quiet in the Tucker sweepstakes.
They were very widely reported as one of the three finalists for him, definitely not quiet.
Salary Cap now. Enough is enough
Or other teams could just start spending more
im sick of this comment! Its depends on cities. No business just spends if your not making the money. Smaller cities cant compete with LA NYC. Its awful!
Yawn. Any owner who wanted to sign Tucker could have done so. the only thing limiting some of these “small market” teams from spending is a willingness to do so.
That’s fundamentally untrue. Teams do not have anywhere near equitable revenues, and they never will. Yes, teams can and should spend more. No, not every team could ever spend like the Dodgers. There’s no reason to pretend otherwise.
Amazing the large market apologists keep trying to sell that. If every team had a local TV deal to pay their entire payroll, sure they could do that. Not the real world of baseball and it’s screwed up system.
“Any owner that wanted to sign Tucker could have done so”
Not really. “Any owner” could have put the offer on the table but a player of his caliber is going to a team they is competitive and that means had other players of his payroll / caliber which not “any owner” can do.
Not feasible for “any owner” to put out 400 mil payroll – see the crowd sizes for A’s and Miami for example.
And the ever present decision of the player coming into play.
This type of fantasy league comment isn’t realistic in the real world.
all the teams are owned now by Billionaires. Don’t buy a professional sports franchise if you don’t wanna spend and just collect the revenue sharing $$
Maybe not every team could shoulder the entire Dodgers payroll, but every team in the league could have paid for Kyle Tucker
It’s not sustainable. Maybe you can afford a $30 beer, but most can’t.
Yes, but Kyle Tucker has to want to *play* for a franchise that has no more money to spend after dropping $60m AAV on him.
Unchecked, this type of spending will eventually bankrupt the league when nobody can afford to go to a game.
thing is it cuts into a lucrative number those owners take home every year. has to be a desire to compete as opposed to just blowing up that bottom line.
I mean yeah but outside of Steinbrenner I think all owners are in baseball for the money
If I had a net worth of 5 billion and tried deferring 1 billion (which just inflates overtime) on top of all of my taxes and other expenses I would probably go bankrupt
That’s right. It’s just a coincidence that the teams with the highest payrolls all happen to be in the biggest media markets. And it’s just a coincidence that all the skin-flint owners happen to be in the smaller markets. Keep deluding yourself.
@Sadler: player salaries have literally nothing to do with the price of beer/concessions. Teams like the Dodgers don’t sign Tucker and go, ‘well, better re-price our beer to pay for this contract!!!’.
Beer/concessions, ticket prices, parking, etc are all about supply and demand. Prices are high because people will pay for it. Period. Teams do research and price things as high as demand allows to maximize profit.
And i’m sick of whining fans of teams that won’t spend. Kavetch at your small market minded owners.
That’s the way it should be, but that’s not reality. The owners are billionaires because they like making money. They own a team to make money. If it runs at a deficit they will either trim the budget (not sign big name guys) and/or charge more to you and me. As salaries skyrocket the ones who pay the price are small market teams who can’t compete and folks luck us who are priced out of spending a day at the park with our family
Willingness and revenue. Or maybe just entirely a lack of revenue.
@Sadler MLB has seen 3 consecutive yrs of growth in ticket sales. All 3 seasons eclipsimg 70M, that is in no way indicative of nobody being able to afford going to a game. It may very well price out some fans, that however has in no way harmed ticket sales.
Exactly, Dodgers owners have more than 10 times the money than the 2nd richest owner Steve Cohen. $60 million per year is like us spending 60 cents on something.
@Wren The billionaires buying these teams are not doing so to operate as a traditional business or a publicly traded company where they need to show profits to appease investors. These franchises are tax havens and assets they can leverage the value on borrowing against the value and iften doing so with rates around 1% that others could not even dream of. These contracts are capital expenditures charged off as depreciating assets further lowering any tax liabilities. They do not want a transparent bottom line they want to show less earnings on paper as that $ capital continues to grow net worth and provide a far better return then the meager 1% they are paying leveraging the ever growing net worth.
Taker: every owner is a billionaire. They could all spend more>
Then, perhaps< small market owners should move.
@mattv You think Tucker would have wanted to sign with Tampa, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Kansas City….? Naw.
@mariners
They’re levels of wealth dude. If Jeff Bezo woke up with Hal Steinbrenner’s money he would slit his wrists. The owner of the Pirates is “only ” worth around $1.2 bil and hi is wealth is attached to the team not other billion dollar businesses. He can’t outspend other team owners.
Can someone on this site break the economics of baseball again???
@rolder
No they can’t. Just use the Pirates as an example.
Here’s a concise version:
—
The Pirates generated approximately $280-300 million in revenue in 2024 with an $87 million payroll. Their operating expenses beyond payroll (stadium operations, minor leagues, scouting, staff) run around $165 million. If they signed Kyle Tucker at $35 million per year, their total expenses would be roughly $287 million—leaving virtually no profit margin. At $60 million per year for Tucker, they’d be operating at a $20+ million annual loss. The Dodgers generate $500+ million in revenue annually, allowing them to spend $240+ million on payroll and still turn a profit. The Pirates literally cannot “afford to sign free agents just like the Dodgers” because their revenue doesn’t support it—it’s basic math, not a choice.
@Knicks
As long as we’re counting…Dodgers revenue exceeded a Billion in 2024. 2025 isn’t tallied yet but reports say it’s at least 750 mill.
That’s why the small market teams receive a share of the revenue across the leagues, so they do have the $$$$$$ to spend. The low spending owners bank it rather than spend it.
@marinersfan1977
Of course none of that is remotely true, but if you want to nurse a grudge against your team, that’s your prerogative.
But the fantasy that owners of a team in Cleveland should spend out of their pockets to keep up with the Dodger owners who don’t have to is one of the most nonsensical, ignorant expectations I’ve ever heard from a sports fan.
The idea that ANY of these owners pay ballplayers out of their own pockets for your enjoyment is one of the biggest delusions in sport. And the biggest lie of them all is that small market owners pocket a greater % of their revenue than the big market owners do. Yep, you’ve swallowed whole the propaganda from big market owners who don’t want you to use your brain, but instead want you to believe the falsehood that the big markets are “virtuous” spenders while the low revenue markets are profiteers. It’s the same playbook the white collar fraudsters use to distract the ignorant by pointing out the penne ante welfare cheats. And hey, it worked on you, didn’t it?
Exactly. Which is why I think all TV money should be pooled, then split between all teams.
The amazing Dodgers can’t play any game without an opponent.
@dodgers32
I know you have to persuade yourself this is true in order to feel good about your accomplishments, but the idea that the Dodger owners 1) spend money out of their own pockets for ballplayers or team operations and 2) aren’t “pocketing” profits WAY in excess of small markets in both actual dollar and % of revenue terms is delusional. But you go ahead and keep believing in fairy tales. They always make children feel better.
This heavy spending by the Dodgers will catch up to them in the future. All those deferrals will make it hard to spend at all in about 10 years.
The price of beer has nothing to do with player contracts.
The deferral money is posted annually starting in year 2 of a contract. And it earns.
@Dodgers
Even if the Pirates shocked the world and signed Kyle Tucker at $60M per year, they’d still be hopelessly outmatched by the Dodgers. Pittsburgh would have ONE elite player and $75-85M for the remaining 24 roster spots. Meanwhile, the Dodgers are fielding Ohtani, Betts, Freeman, Snell, Yamamoto, Glasnow – six players each making $25-30M+ with their total payroll approaching $400M. One superstar can’t compete against an entire roster of stars. The structural spending gap makes true competitive balance impossible, no matter how much revenue sharing the Pirates receive.
You can’t be serious. The revenue sharing doesn’t come close to addressing the revenue disparity between the big- and small market teams.
@Sadface Deferred contracts have to be funded annually as they happen per the CBA. That $ will be paid into an investment where it will accrue at to the future negotiated amount and collected at thay time. It will not impact the future.
Sadler
“when nobody can afford to go to a game.”
Wrong. Take a highschool level economics class
Fans choose to spend billions on MLB. MLB has billions to spend on plays.
If fans didn’t spend so much, players wouldn’t make so much
@Bovouac I believe it has to be posted within 2 years of the time it is deferred at the latest . Im sure teams eye the rate and fund at what they believe will be the optimal time.
I forget the specific rate used but it like other rates it is influenced by things such as the Fed rate . Im sure both the teams and agents have financial people who have an educated prediction of how these rates will likely fluctuate and it weighs in during these negotiations.
Some of these people who are financially illiterate just continually rant about deferrals on here as though these contracts were just thrown on interest free credit card til later. It is both laughable yet scary that there are so many who cant grasp how interst accrues or know the basics of the time value of $. If some of these people outlive the a tragedy life expectancy cat food sales are going to spike, as thats all they ll have to eat since they are oblivious to the importance of getting $ somewhere so it can compound.
No it won’t.
Yeah bazbal, like when Mr. Seidler bought the Padres and turned them into a big-spending big-market team.
Mattv – You appear to have no idea how a business functions.
Bazbal Seems to be blissfully ignorant to the fact MLB has foruchnof its history been split between haves and have nots.
The reasons have varied sometimes rebuilds, cheap owners, owners have have run into financial issues elsewhere and it carried over into how they ran their franchise. This is nothing new.
He also ignores the fact that these without these large market teams the league as a whole likely would bot exist. Large market teams obviously have larger local fan bases and they have a much larger national appeal. I personally despise the Yankees but I cant deny that them making the playoffs is good for the game as a whole(even better when Tigers bounce them from playoffs).
@Astros Yes every MLB team could have inked this deal and stayed financially solvent. Now if that would have been wise from a business perspective or benefit them strategically in terms of building a sustainable competitive roster is a different story.
They actually get to write off these contracts as depreciating capital expe ditures. That doesnt negate all of what they pay. It is just one example of the tax havens and wealth vehicles that these franchises have become.
In reality although every team likely could have afforded this deal, I dont see it being realistic for any other team. The Dodgers increased upon already high revenue last yr and seem to be flipping a substantial portion back into roster. It seems a glaringly obvious overpay to limit the length of commitment. I can see how and why they are doing this financially.
This clearly gives them an advantage competitively. We know it increases chances but does not guarantee anything as far as winning. Id say they live or hate their spending when Dodgers are away it ll be a premium game for every hosting team. When games ate available nationally Im sure it will be a plus to ratings. So ultimately like it or not it does benefit MLB and the sport as a whole. Had he signed with say the Pirates, the gains would pale in comparison .
Says the poor person who is not a Billionaire.
LOL, funny how that works.
How does that translate to the White Sox exactly?
I was waiting for hundreds of comments to get to yours
This is a representation of the United States at this point in our history…
The extremely wealthy blame it on others for their own lot in life …and make the public believe the problem is penne ante welfare cheats
But if you own a team you should already be billionaires, so get in the arena and spend a little and if you cant do that, get out! Fans spend their hard earned money for a competitive product.
Fox of the 30 “owners”, meaning the control person since no one person owns any team, 25 are billionaires.
Yeah, we’re lucky that the teams in New York are so terribly run
@Chili Bowl
I hope this isn’t the way you generally apply critical thought to complex issues. I mean, you actually believe these “billionaire owners” spend out of their own pockets on ballplayers for your enjoyment? That is about the most hilariously delusional thing I’ve ever heard!
Pal, REVENUES drive player salaries, not owner wealth, good grief.
Nutting gets around $200M from media money and revenue sharing. FG estimates ’26 Pirates payroll to be $95mil, That’s $105mil surplus before tickets sales. Yeah, Nutting could afford $60mil AAV for 2 years
@Sadler
Are you familiar with the concept of supply and demand?
If everyone spent like the dodgers they wouldn’t have a team full of superstars and Merrill Kelly would’ve gotten 5/150
@matt
How many teams can afford to sirens over a billion in contracts over a 3 year period?
Blue Jays.
Why bother?
Or dodgers can actually pay players without deferrals
Not many teams can defer a billion dollars and offer players extra income post playing days
I’m on board with banning deferred contracts but not salary caps
I’m fine banning or capping deferrals
Like teams can only defer 10% of the 1st cbt threshold every year
If the dodgers actually paid Ohtani 10 years 700 mill but could only defer 26 mill a year I doubt fans would care how much they spend.
Others can use deferrals, too and have.
Others literally can’t afford to defer billions of dollars
You think pirates athletics Rockies or even orioles diamondbacks royals could defer a billion dollars and pay it off? No
I’ve always been anti salary cap. But this is getting out of hand
Lockout coming, better enjoy this season. Salary cap and floor are both needed.
Other teams can afford to defer a lot of money. Dodgers aren’t just kicking the can down the road. They are putting that money in an escrow account which is earning money from the market and the Dodgers will most likely receive more from that investment than they put in. Any other owner would benefit in the same way. Each owner certainly has a good team of financial advisors.
Others teams literally cannot defer a billion dollars. You have to have the money to put into the account. You can’t put an IOU into the account. You think there’s plenty of teams with 102 million dollars lying around they can put into an escrow account every year? Yeah maybe they should check their dryers and couch cushions and car seats.
Dodgers have actually deferred more than some teams payrolls and 60-80 percent of other teams payrolls
I like how people are like those teams are cheap why can’t you come up with 102 million dollars to defer anyone can do this!?!?!?!?!
Bottom teams like Athletics Rockies Guardians Rays certainly couldn’t
Even teams that do spend Mariners Dbackd Royals Orioles would struggle to an extent
So no other teams cannot there’s maybe 5-10 who could but that’s about it
Yes, they can start spending. Plenty of teams don’t spend enough. But we’re all being silly if we’re going to pretend that market size doesn’t play a *massive* role in how much a team can spend. No franchise owned by rich people is going to operate at a loss just to compete, or even eat away at most of their profit.
Personally I think the “some rich guy owns each team” business model needs to go away entirely in favor of some sort of player-and-league owned model with regional franchise managers, but obviously the billionaires like their ATMs too much.
No they can’t. MLB won’t allow it. Two years ago the Padres spent slightly more than they are now and MLB said they were out of their debt to server ratio. Sure teams can spend more, but they can’t spend anywhere near that level because they don’t make hundreds of millions from TV
So then cut the TV revenue from LA js
lol not all teams have the Dodgers market…I don’t understand how people don’t see this
Most teams got screwed on their current tv deals. FYI, the dodgers aren’t most teams.
Yeah just give us the Dodgers $330 million TV contract and we will spend.
@Atomic
OMG. Do you pay even a little attention to what’s happening right in front of you? For the umpteenth time. 48% of all TV revenue is shared among all the teams eligible for revenue sharing.
You can’t be this simple…..
For some reason I don’t see the A’s who can’t sell out even an hundredth of their games to end up spending large money, or the Rays, or Guardians or Pirates or StL or…. you get the point
BS
” I don’t see the A’s who can’t sell out even an hundredth of their games to end up spending large money,”
The Dodgers, Mets, Yankees, etc give them money
Matt,
Tucker’s AAV for CBT purposes is $57.1 million so the Dodgers will pay a $62.81 million fine for his portion of payroll. Just that one player will cost the Dodgers $119.91 million in 2026. That is more than 7 teams entire 40 man CBT payroll.
The Dodgers are $258 million over the CBT threshold. They are further over the CBT threshold than the TOTAL REVENUE of 3 MLB teams. Not their payroll. Their total revenue.
The Dodgers will spend more in CBT FINES, than all but 5 others teams current total CBT PAYROLL.
Other teams cannot spend that much more.
@Baseball Look at the # of comments here. Well this might not foster a level playing field,nit sparks interest and like the old adage “there’s no bad press”.
What will hold true is when Dodgers play an away series it will b one of.most desired, it will boost ratings when aired, and almost all those saying they are done with baseball will still b here saying the same thing the next polarizing signing.
Salary floor. The problem is that almost half the owners don’t care. The dodgers owners do care
Floor is a bigger problem than a cap right now and it’s probably impossible to put them in the same collective bargaining deal
A cap-floor system sounds awesome down the road but it can’t be put in all at once
Why? That’s exactly what the PA would demand if they somehow agree to a cap
Nonsense. The problem is the Dodgers have $300 million more in TV revenue than the average team.
@backstage
Maybe have someone read the comments directly above yours to you.
And it gets divvied up.
Sal,
The Dodgers and all teams pay 48% in.
That leaves the Dodgers with 52%.
That 52% is more than the total TV revenue that all except 2 other teams get in total before paying 48% into revenue sharing.
After that 48% is paid in by all 30 teams, each team including the Dodgers recieves 1/30th of the total.
Just about half of their highest TV revenue is shared. Signings like this led to that revenue. So this actually adds $ to other teams revenue.
@Tigers
Amazing. Someone who gets it who is not a Dodger fan.
Bivouac I try and comment setting emotions and any biased aside. People dont want to accept pro sports are driven by stars. Super teams create a love hate, but nearly all of both those sides sees increased interest.
Oddly tho it doesnt make me dislike them like I dislike the Yankees. I dont know why.
As a life long Dodger fan I went through a very long period of Yankee hating. I don’t feel that way anymore. I respect their extraordinary history and their talented players.
But having spent many years grinding my teeth over the Yankees’ success against my beloved Dodgers, I completely understand the torrent of vitriol, jealousy, hatred and anger that many fans now turn on LAD. I don’t like it, but I get it and they are entitled to their feelings.
Its only the thoughtless folks who don’t take the trouble to understand all sides of an argument that I have trouble with. All the best to your Tigers. Lots of talent there.
I have zero anger towards Dodgers. I kind of wish Gibbys 84 HR was viewed in higher regard then his 88 LAD HR. But I love watching highlights of both.
I also cant help but b a fan of Jeter. I guess some of that disdain towards Yankees is due to many of the fans. Dodgers fans seem nowhere near as pompous, I dont live in SF so thats easier for me to say.
I was at Gibby’s 88 HR game. Most dramatic moment I’ve had at a game. Was at Reggie’s 3 HR game in 77. I hated Steinbrenner tehn but I had to stand and applaud after Reggie’s third monster bomb.
I don’t disagree, but what’s the solution? They’re not gonna force crappy owners to sell their teams, as much as I’d love to see it happen. I totally understand that the players will never accept a salary cap, too. But something has to be done for the integrity of the game. Having the Mets and Dodgers with $350 million payrolls and the Marlins, A’s, Pirates, Rays etc all having $100 million payrolls just isn’t good for the sport. It’s not good for the fans. I’m not suggesting I have any good solutions either, but nobody is paying me to have good ideas. Something needs to be done. Either at the bottom or the top or both. Because this is getting out of control.
If Major League Baseball, higher-revenue teams contribute a portion of their local revenues into a shared revenue-sharing pool, functioning like an escrow account. These funds are redistributed to lower-revenue teams to promote competitive balance and support payroll and player development. In practice, this system allows smaller-market teams to better retain homegrown players as they approach free agency rather than losing them solely due to financial constraints. As a simple way to remember it, big-market teams tithe into the MLB collection plate so smaller-market teams can afford to keep the players they actually developed.
At this point a floor will accomplish nothing. How high can you possibly raise a salary floor to compete with a 500 million dollar roster. I am starting to think the Dodgers are just a front to clean money for a drug cartel. This is insane.
Led, when the Dodgers are paying more in CBT FINES alone that the total REVENUE of 3 teams and more than the 40 man payroll of 24 other teams, a floor won’t help.
About owners: okay I’m not even sure this is doable but you can have a gatekeeping committee that only allows any new owner to buy into MLB as long they promise to invest X of money per year, you weed out Snake Oil Salesman owners like Arte Moreno, have certain standards in the character & integrity of the owner (you don’t allow guys buying a franchise who have no interest in the sport like buying for prestige purposes-a billionaire’s bauble- and you don’t allow in multiple owners who treat the franchise like an index fund investment where the 20 or 30 myriad owners are happy getting a 10% dividend check every year instead of winning a World Series. You would have to enact very stringent standards on who you allow into the club, doubt its feasible or legal.
@Ignorant Owners already vote whether not to allow a sale to go through. Bottom line is these franchises are tax havens and assets they leverage to further enrich themselves. Keeping that intact is what is most important to them
Seriously. Salary cap should be 250 million with no deferrals, or deferrals should count against the cap
no cap.
With how much teams get in revenue sharing (not just salary tax but also media), I think 350M might be the min cap.
MLB should just fix their media revenue sharing to mimic the NFL in regard to TV rights, etc.
That doesn’t help parity in other sports. mLb hadn’t had a repeat champ until this year since 2001. NFL, NBA has had several. MLB gets low payroll teams in the playoffs every year. Salary cap would hurt the players, help the owners.
The sports are not the same. The NFL and NBA don’t really have parity either.
That’s false. NFL in a 14 team playoff field the NFL averages 5-7 teams that didn’t make the playoffs the previous year
That’s what I’m saying, the NBA and NFL aren’t pillars of parity either. The salary cap won’t fix parity.
Parity also doesn’t equal a healthy league and high viewership. Juggernaut teams like the Dodgers increase viewership and attendance. People either are stoked to watch them or want to hate-watch.
You listen to too much Colin Cowherd.
Dodgers hater here, and this signing does not change my opinion.
Why does everyone look only at LAD? How much did the Mets spend last year? Oh, right, a crapton…and they didn’t make the playoffs.
Point is, you can’t just buy a winning team. It takes the right players, the right culture, the right coach, etc.
I applaud the team I hate for continuing to spend a good chunk of what comes in every year. Most owners cannot say that.
To be fair the Mets are the Mets and most teams arent that dysfunctional
However, making the playoffs with 300 million spent is a lot easier than making the playoffs with a third of that payroll
“To be fair, the Mets are the Mets and most teams aren’t that dysfunctional” is moving the goal post so much that it isn’t even in the damn stadium anymore.
Fact is, Dodgers spent a lot of money last year to build a team. The Mets spent a lot of money last year to build a team. One of them made the playoffs and won the WS by the skin of their teeth. The other missed the playoffs.
And while I agree that it is likely the higher payroll the more likely you are to make the playoffs, it isn’t a given, as proven by the Mets…and the Dodgers themselves before these last two seasons.
A salary cap would do to baseball what it has done to every other sport…make the owners richer and prevent them from having to fork over too much of their hard earned money…by convincing fans that it’s the only way to make it a competitive playing field.
What a joke that would be.
It’s already a joke now
“…and the Dodgers themselves before these last two seasons.”
Not trying to pick a fight but are you counting the years other than ‘24 and ‘25 as a Mets-esque level of failure? If success is WS or bust, 29 teams a year are busts. How many times has LA not topped the NL West since ‘13? How many consecutive post season berths has LA had? WS appearances in ‘17, ‘18, ‘20, ‘24 and ‘25 ain’t half bad. I’ve been an LA fan living through the Murdoch, Fox, McCourt years. It freaking sucked. Bad. Ownership wants to win. Like any company, Guggenheim wants to put their best product to market. Regardless of anyone’s personal beliefs, they are succeeding.
@iknoweverythingesq
Amen brother
How much money have the Mets deferred? How about Phillies?
See problem isn’t spending
Problem is deferring so much money lowers the cbt tax hit
If the dodgers paid Ohtani 10 years 700 mill like the Mets paid Soto with no deferrals and had to be taxed at a 70 aav i doubt people would care as much
But deferrals and using future value lowers the aav of an agreed to contract no matter how you slice it
No deferrals has a higher aav than deferrals
So instead of being taxed at 70 mill a year Dodgers can sign Ohtani and other guys using deferral and be taxed at 70 mill .
That’s the problem fans have issue with
Using deferrals to create room to sign other players which Ohtani is on record saying he agreed to such an arrangement for that very reason so dodgers could afford others is the main issue fans have.
Again if dodgers were capped on deferrals and had to pay players like regular contracts nobody would care if their payroll was 500-600 mill cause they are being penalized by the cbt at those rates. But deferrals lowers the aav which lowers the cbt penalties.
That is a fair point. Deferrals are a problem.
I don’t think the Phillies defer. They have some really long and dubious contracts though.
Lots of teams defer salary, you just don’t hear about it. Blue Jays have been deferring salary for their free agents. Nats have a few contracts deferred from the days they were winning titles. Reds are still paying Griffey Jr., Bobby Bonilla Day is still a thing even though he quit playing 25 years ago, etc. Hell, the Angels just restructured Rendon’s contract and will be hit with deferrals.
It’s actually more common than you think, but since LA is LA, they do it to such an extreme level because that market prints money, they win a lot, and everybody wants to play there.
Not of every team is already doing it too.
Dodgers currently have 10 out of 21 most deferrals in contracts in all of baseball.
Lots of teams defer salary. You’re intentionally downplaying the magnitude of which the dodgers are deferring money, to the tune of billions of dollars.
It’s not common at all to defer billions of dollars
It’s not common at all to have 10 out of 26 guys on your active roster using deferrals
It’s not common at all to have deferrals be more than some teams entire payrolls and reach about 60-80% of others payrolls
The sheer abuse of the deferral system to lower aav hits, avoid cbt taxes and penalties, and then sign other guys using deferrals is the issue.
And no teams like Athletics Rockies Rays Guardians or even higher payroll clubs like Mariners Orioles Royals Dbacks couldn’t come close to deferring a billion dollars and affording to lay payroll and put aside 100+ mill into an escrow account every year
Not every team is using deferrals
And other teams that use deferrals don’t have 10 guys being top deferrals in the entire league
Deferrals are strictly used to have the player (and agent) broadcast a puffed up number for the press. The money is simply collected at a later time when the player is living in Texas or Florida or some Caribbean nation
@Drunk
Thank you for a bit of sanity.
Excellent analysis., Drunkpirate.
Are you three years old?
I don’t think 3 year olds can type. People that can type are 3rd graders and up, as well as middle and high schoolers (some of them).
So how do you know Tucker is the RIGHT PLAYER, THE RIGHT CULTURE? That team don’t need coaches or manager. It can be on autopilot and players make the decisions
Not you but it’s pretty wild to see folks crying in one thread about teams not spending money to then come in here and whine about the Dodgers spending theirs.
I personally don’t have an issue with dodgers spending money spend money
I have issue with using deferrals to lower your tax hit and then afford more players creating a monopoly only like 5 teams could sustain financially
If the dodgers were forced to pay 70 mill a year in taxes on Ohtanis contract whatever
Lowering it to 46 mill and then going out and getting 2-3 more players totaling 70 mill is the problem
They have 10 out of 21 most deferrals owed. 10 players on their 26 man roster and they’re all top 25 in deferrals in the entire league
Yeah systems been abused way too much. We either cap deferrals or eliminate it all together cause monopolizing baseball is bad for baseball
Actually, most can say that. The problem is that most owners don’t take in near what the Dodgers take in.
A salary cap would force small market owners to spend more money. They aren’t voting for a salary cap.
Salary cap would only benefit the cheapskate owners while hurting the players. You’d see players earning potential drastically drop from what they are worth, as well as shortening players careers by many years. It’s not fair to punish teams for trying to win, when every team has the same opportunities to sign players . It’s not the dodgers or any teams fault that 2/3rds of the leagues owners aren’t willing to spend the money that they have. So many teams focused on how they can make a profit while spending as minimal as possible, rather than trying to win and profiting off team success
Or, hear me out, the cheapskate Rays, Royals, Pirates…etc, start offering these kind of contracts, then the big market teams laugh and offer Tucker 4 years $400 million.
No one is disagreeing that any of those teams could spend more. There’s zero reason any team has a 2026 payroll below $150 million, maybe minus teams who had to play in minor league stadiums last year. But even then, there’s no reason any team should have a sub-$125-$130 million payroll.
But teams like that can only have one mega contract at a time. The Dodgers make insane revenue and their majority owner is the CEO of a enormous investment firm worth over $300 billion. See my comment below. If the Pirates (as well as the Royals) wanted to spend like the Dodgers did in 2025, they would have had to spend just about 130% of their 2024 revenue. The Rays would have had to spend just about 140% of their 2024 revenue to match the Dodgers’ 2025 payroll. It’s probably a lot higher once you factor in operations costs, employee salaries, and other general expenditures all team pay just to keep the operation running.
It’s the Dodgers ruining the game dude, the Mets suck
This is how we get a strike and lose out on games. I don’t even care how much stupid money gets spent by these bazillion dollar corporations who own sportsball teams. Still gonna watch these mf’s every summer.
Would be a lockout, not a strike.
We need both a cap and a floor. Nearly all teams could totally spend more, but barely any teams can’t even come close to the Dodgers. They have more money tied into 2027 commitments right now, before Tucker, than 11 teams made in total revenue in 2024. The Dodgers’ overall had a payroll in 2025 just over $417 million, which was more than what 20 teams made in revenue alone in 2024. That’s not even factoring in operations costs for the Dodgers, such as how much every non-player employee, from the general manager down to what the ushers are making.
In no way would I ever defend owners like John Fisher or Bob Nutting. They’re the reason baseball needs a salary floor if they’re not gonna force them out. But Nutting would have had to spend just under 130% of the Pirates’ 2024 revenue to match the Dodgers’ 2025 payroll, and Fisher would have had to spend about 160% of the revenue the A’s made in 2024.
Also keep in mind, no owner can invest into their team like the Dodgers’ owners can. Mark Walter is majority owner of the Dodgers. He is the controlling partner of Guggenheim Baseball Management, which is part of Guggeheim Partners, an investment firm Walter is a co-founder and CEO of.
Guggenheim Partners is worth $330 billion.
At that point, it isn’t even about an owner’s willingness to spend and their desire to win. Owners of even big market teams are bidding with pennies compared to the Dodgers.
Mets don’t know how to spend their money. Even the Yankees had a limit to offering Soto money.
Nah, salary floor is more important. All salary cap will do is make teams cheaper and billionaires richer.
Carter, salary cap won’t work. What’s the cap? Certainly not under $200 million and more likely closer to the luxury tax line. Only 9 teams spent over $200 million last year.
Another idea would be to pool the local TV revenue and distribute it equally to the teams. But I’m pretty sure the Dodgers, Yankees, and other teams losing money in that deal would want assurances that the money goes directly to payroll. Basically take current payrolls and shared revenue would be added to those and those teams would be required to spend more.
The reality is there are a lot of owners – A’s, Marlins, Pirates, and Rockies come to mind – that don’t really care about fielding a competitive team. A salary cap, and likely even local TV revenue sharing, isn’t going to change that.
You wonder why the game is dying in flyover country?
A small market team hasn’t won the World Series since KC in 2015. Chew on that.
Seems like they set us all up for this surprising news!
This is not at all surprising news. The only surprise was Tucker going for the short term/high AAV.
A player who has only finished higher than 15th in the MVP voting one time (placing 5th in 2023) is now baseball’s highest paid player on an annual basis.
Yeah, I’d consider that deal a surprise.
The not-surprised part is that it’s the Dodgers doing it.
padrepapi, It’s a matter of opinion. You are one of those people whose opinion was that he would not get paid what was estimated he would. You weren’t alone in that opinion, but neither was I that he would.
And it’s a little misleading to focus on the AAV. The overall value pales in comparison to others. The overall value isn’t even in the top 10 richest.
Really, it’s absolutely no surprise to me that he got paid, and it was the Dodgers. The only surprise was that he went short-term/high AAV.
Yeah, I didn’t think there was a chance he’d sniff 500m and after his season was over and it was more good than great, I thought 400m would be a major reach.
It makes sense that on short term deals the annual AAV would be higher, was just very surprised it got this high.
Kinda nuts that Tucker is owed 4/240m and Tatis is owed 9/292m. More to the fans that were questioning how much trade value Tatis even had since he was owed “so much”.
I was sure he’d clear $400M, but, of course, that was on a much longer deal. MLBTR predicted 11/400, which I thought was about right. I thought several team would be around that with the signer landing him with a bit more.
Tatis is unique IMO. Unlike most guys on big deals like Judge, whose contract would be hard to move as he goes into his age 34 season, teams would absolutely jump at a trade for Tatis at 7 years younger. Soto is young as well, but unlike Tatis, his deal is nowhere near as affordable.
His signing bonus is $64M and he gets $44M per with an opt out after year 2.
$152M in the first 2 seasons.
He can opt out and then sign 8 yr / $248 ($31M AAV) and get a total of 10 yrs / $400M and be a free agent again or retire at age 39.
Wow, collect ‘em all I guess
..of course they are signing him 🙄🙄
Boring.
Well…..break a leg I guess
See its disgusting
I’m not even sure an all star team of the best players from the remaining 29 franchises could beat the Dodgers in a seven game playoff series.
The Blue Jays came within two outs of doing so, realman .
Realeman- They lost 73 games last year, they aren’t an unbeatable powerhouse and it was shown in last year’s world series.
BS GM
You mean the WS they won? Again?
Sal- They’re a great team, but just like any other ball club, they lose games. They aren’t immune to injuries or slumps, and any mixture of those at the wrong time can end up handing them the 4 losses it takes for a team that’s surging to beat them in the postseason. That being said I fear we might be set up for chance at the Dodgers 4 peating come 2028.
You don’t need to remind a Dodgers fan about injuries. The managed to win in ’24 despite a torn-up starting staff. They won in ’25 in spite of a disappointing bullpen. Any team can get hot in 5 game or 7 game series. This we all know too well.
That said, what a squad they have put together for the upcoming campaign. BoSox had a pretty good winter too.
Sal- It went to game 7, so it was not like the Dodgers dominated. That being said, they keep getting better so no doubt they are the favorites again and will be difficult to beat. Pitching injuries would be one thing that could put them in a position where there is a hole in their coat of armor.
Who cares? Guy never hit more than 30HRs hitting in a small ballpark. Enjoy the .820 OPS LA
@bucs,
You’re right. Should have kept Conforto and the Dodgers wouldn’t have needed Tucker.
With a career OPS of .865 and a stellar OPS+ of 140 he’ll do just fine, thank you.
Fly balls go to die in the LA nighttime sky. $60M/yr for an .820 OPS player. Its an overpay.
@bucs
Must have missed the part where Dodger Stadium played as the best home run hitters park in the league last year?
Hahahahahahah
I hate this for baseball !!!
Why?
@fox471 Dave
You can’t possibly be that naive.
The Dodgers are actually bringing about exactly what most of you want (whether you admit it or not)- talk of things like a salary cap. It’s the nature of opposites. It is rather enlightening contemplating opposites (the relationship between nationalism and globalism being a key example). This is a key thing powerful people understand that most don’t grasp.
Wow
Limitless money wins again
Now I want a lockout in 27. Cap and a floor
I’d settle for an official edict that says LAD wins at MLB and the league just drops to 29 teams. lol.
Obviously sarcasm.
Never mind the sarcasm – I like this idea!
Hey, let the Dodgers go join the NPB – they’ve got plenty of fans there already. The other NPB teams and their fanbases would all be delighted, I’m sure.
100 min. 250 max hard cap, which deferrals count against the cap
@vegas
Just say you’re mad the Padres won’t do stuff like this.
The Dodgers CBT payroll, not including CBT fines, is higher that the Padres revenue in total. If there are no incentives in any of their player contracts, the Dodgers will pay as much or more in CBT fines than the Padres 40 man CBT payroll.
The Padres can’t spend that much. They are already one of the only teams spending more than 50% of total revenue on player payroll.
Hmm…I wonder how a business can increase its revenue?
Oh, I know, I know! How about they put a better product on the field. Then more people will pay them money…
no cap no floor.
Are you wanting to lock the owners out? Because they’re the ones doing the spending (or not).
The owners collectively would absolutely vote for a salary cap
The owners don’t collectively want or do anything. Each owners wants to make as much money as they can for themselves and not share it with anyone else… including other team owners.
@Chicago Expat
The owners are pushing for a salary cap in the next CBA. This is widely known. Not sure if I can post links here, but:
amny.com/sports/mlb-lockout-rob-manfred-looming-1-…
@rhandome
Of course they would. And it will never happen.
Yes, the owners would like to limit the money they pay the players so they have more for themselves. This is not a new goal, and they’re certainly not doing it for the health of the game. And none of that changes the fact that the players nor their union are somehow at fault for the Dodgers spending big money, so I’m not sure why you would aim your disgust at them, when this is an owner-vs-owner issue.
Look, there doesn’t have to be a salary cap, and the owners sure as hell don’t have to lock the players out. If everyone thinks it’s not fair that some teams have a ton of money to spend on players and others don’t, then all that has to happen is that owners get in a room and agree to pool all of their revenues and spread those revenues out equally to all the teams. It’s that simple. Then all teams will have the same amount of money to spend this year, next year, and all the years that follow.
But the owners don’t want to admit that, so they call for a salary cap, as if it were the players forcing owners to pay them these amounts.
This whole thing isn’t a labor issue. It’s a greed issue, and it’s entirely a battle between team owners.
@Chi Expat
Well said.
@expat
Yes.
The luxury tax does provide the owners of lower market teams with some additional funds as long as they are using them appropriately. This has limits but it does act similar to a salary cap. Obviously some teams don’t worry about it and just pay more on the luxury tax. Not perfect, but at least it is something.
I don’t know that I would agree to forcing owners to pool all of their revenues, because many of the higher market teams also are going to have greater expenses. If you pool all of your revenues it also removes the economic motivation for teams to put together the best product, because they are driven by profit and if they are going to give away most of their profit what is the motivation to create the best team they can.
Part of a capitalist society is going to lead to some businesses dominating the market as they produce the most in demand goods and services. This can lead to the smaller businesses going under. As long as they are not a monopoly, it is difficult to fault them. It is up to the buyers to support those small businesses. Not ideal and I don’t necessarily agree with all of it, but it is the way the economy runs. I definitely don’t have the answer as my knowledge of the subject is limited.
A cap cannot be unilaterally imposed. It has to be collectively bargained with the players union.
The small market owners who don’t have RSN deals may vote to lock everything out until the Dodgers give everyone their RSN money.
Well they ain’t gettin’ it.
Jerry Jones not Dipoto right?
Hard caps basically only benefit billionaire owners. I thought we were done with the sarah McLaughlin commercials after new years. A lot of that tax money ends up in the other owners’ pockets anyway, so I don’t think they’re all that mad.
LET’S GOOOO!!!! We did it!!!! Welcome to LA, Tucker! Welcoming you with open arms
We did it? Is this guy serious?
If I was an LA fan I would be happy that the team is so stacked it is going to change the collective bargaining agreement
This is just like warriors and Kevin Durant in 2016
same people that screamed he was a cheater too …right?
Tucker was not with the 2017 Astros
I only say that about the 2017 team. I never had anything against Tucker, always respected him as a player
I mean Mookie Betts acknowledged the 2018 RS were cheating, and they certainly don’t care, so…
Yep, they all cheat. But fans on message boards and comments sections need a scapegoat to pour their wrath upon so the Astros had to be it.
The Astros got all the blame because they went about it in the most loud and obnoxious way – bang bang bang. That embarrassed the big wigs because it was so blatant…the other teams kept it on the down-low.
WE?
Go Dodgers and Kyle!!!!!!!!!!
Hahahaha.. I’m sorry but at this point I have to laugh. I’m by no means a Dodgers fan either but does this really surprise any of us?
if your not a dodger fan I told you its disgusting for baseball. They are ruining baseball and MLB is to blame!
They aren’t ruining baseball. If you want to blame anybody, blame all the top free agents signing there. They have other options but they’re the ones choosing the easiest path to a ring.
Well my friend why wouldn’t they if the dodgers give them what they want cause they can!! Thats why its bad for baseball. Every free agent will just want to go there. Your a dodger fan and not seeing it from other prospectives.
I’m a Reds fan not a Dodgers fan. I just choose not to let it bother me like a lot of you all do. You can have all the talent in the world and it doesn’t guarantee anything. They still have to play the game.
The Dodgers have always had money, except when the crook McCourt had the team. But it took them 32 years to win a World Series after 1988. So they win one in 2020, which probably 25% of you said didn’t count and lose in 2021, 22, and 23. But the Dodgers are ruining baseball? Actually,
The Red Sox and Astros came closer to ruining baseball. Oh, and the Dodgers put more butts in the seats every year, whether they win or lose the WS.
Joe, it actually makes it better when you beat a team with all that talent.
That’s why baseball is great. Anything can happen on any day. I got 10gs that they don’t go undefeated, ever.
@Joe It All.
I have a Ferrari, and you have a Yugo; we still have to drive the track.
I don’t blame the Dodgers for having bottomless pockets and acting within the rules to dominate the sport. But what’s happening is pretty objectively bad for the game. Blame whoever you want. Analytics, tv contracts, cheap owners who don’t care about winning, corporate greed, it doesn’t matter who you point the finger at, the long term lack of competitiveness with half the teams is making the game much less fun. I don’t know what the answer is, but denying that it’s a problem is ridiculous
They’re mostly choosing money, not an easy path to a ring.
Any team could’ve offered him more money or more years. The Dodgers just consistently are more willing
That’s not true
Lmao yes it is. Any team could afford the base 2 years 100+ million before the opt out. Every org is an ownership group of millionaires or even billionaires. Just because other owners would rather suppress wages than compete doesn’t change that
Yeah Simm, it is true.
Kc,
Tucker’s AAV for CBT purposes is $57.1 million so the Dodgers will pay a $62.81 million fine for his portion of payroll. Just that one player will cost the Dodgers $119.91 million in 2026. That is more than 7 teams entire 40 man CBT payroll.
The Dodgers are $258 million over the CBT threshold. They are further over the CBT threshold than the TOTAL REVENUE of 3 MLB teams. Not their payroll. Their total revenue.
The Dodgers total payroll and CBT fines in 2026 will be more than the total revenue of 24 other teams.
The Dodgers will spend more in CBT FINES, than all but 5 others teams current total CBT PAYROLL.
Other teams cannot spend that much more.
Other teams don’t need to! The average team is not anywhere near the CBT. And teams like the Yankees are suddenly too poor lol. Why are you caping for rich owners? This whole conversation is predicated on the idea that players should be limited in how much they make. Sorry I’m not pro owner and anti labor
You really need to stop believing this…the Dodgers are a big market that can sustain spending tons of money…not many teams can do that…the Mets rumored to offer him 50 mil a year lol Tucker just wants a ring
No he wanted 60 million
Yes 60 mil is nice but that still doesn’t take away that other teams can’t do this…it’s just stupid at this point…when the Dodgers win the next 4 World Series maybe things will change
I’m waiting for the dislike button. Goa has nothing to do with him wanting a ring.
What team couldn’t do this? I’m a Royals fan and we just gave Bobby Witt 200 million two years ago. What world are you living in?
No cards81, he wants the most money. $60 million is more than $50. These players care way less about rings than you guys do.
What world are you living in? Yes, every team hypothetically could do it. Realistically, only one team is doing it. I don’t blame the Dodgers for taking advantage of that, but it’s still a problem, regardless of who you point the finger at.
The Royals revenue in total is $80 million less than the Dodgers CBT payroll before fines.
Let me say that another way. The Dodgers are spending on player payroll $80 million more than the Royals make.
So penalize the teams that make money? How about KC find a way to increase their revenue? Put a damn ferris wheel in CF or something.
Such a lazy take. What is wrong with fair competition to you? Surely you understand no matter what some teams do, it’ll always be impossible to compete with the Dodgers (and other high spenders) payroll wise.
A much less “lazy”take? Some teams just can’t keep up. No one ever said everything has to be fair except for the ones who have nothing when the answer is make more money. You don’t like the answer, but that’s it. Every team is capable of selling out a game. Every team is capable of spending and deferring contracts.
It’s just much easier to say they can’t. And I’m lazy?
Andy- the padres sellout almost every single game.
They have spent so much on payroll that they have 300m in debt, 150m in cash calls. They are a small media market with no tv deal. They have gone from a revenue receiver to a payer. Means they drive more revenue than half of mlb teams.
Despite all that their payroll after taxes is gonna be half to third as large as the dodgers. What makes it worse is the dodgers will still be much more profitable than the padres.
People blame the dodgers, I don’t. What I do blame is a very flawed system. A system that benefits the bottom teams that don’t spend. Also creates a huge revenue gap between the bottom and middle markets vs the large market teams. The dodgers can afford to have 9 100m dollar contracts for players. That’s not even counting the ones below like Diaz and Scott.
I do think they need a floor, I don’t think they get a cap. What they need is greater revenue sharing. This would more balance the money in the league. I’d say the Mets and the dodgers wanted to spend more they could but it would then at some point becoming out of their owners pockets from a losing balance sheet. Or I guess they could double the current lux tax rate and that would do about the same thing. Thought that wouldn’t spread the money around like greater revenue sharing. Everything doesn’t have to be completely equal but the gap is too larger right now.
I’d simply add a salary cap and floor so it’s dead even across the board? Why are you scared of that? I know the answer
Scared? I’m not in favor of enriching the owners further while limiting the players. I’m not anti-labor or a boot licker
You add a floor high enough where the players don’t lose out and do a 50/50 split, like every other major sport. You can live in this alternate reality where Pittsburgh and Miami have to pony up 400 million dollar payrolls to compete, I’ll keep advocating for baseball to run the way that true baseball fans want. Sorry, I don’t need to have 4-5 teams bidding on a world series every year.
Well they will all be suffering from age-related regression here very soon, so there’s that.
The DBags tried to break baseball….errr…improve their team by trading for Nolan Arenado.
Should they not have tried, because apparently trying is frowned upon?
I’m here for the comments.
#DigglinDickers
This is the comments section? I’m looking for the arguments room.
The arguments room? I’m looking for the troll arena.
This is unsustainable.
Your name is no quarter. This is literally no quarter being given.
Why?
Cause how long is there gonna be any interest left in the league if the same team can just buy the championship every year?
It lasted quite a while for the Yankees from the 20s through the 60s. This is not new for baseball, just a different team doing the buying.
We just watched the best World Series in forever. And it had the highest ratings in 30 years. Stop whining
Exactly hiflew. A lot of these people don’t know anything about the history of baseball and how it’s so often been ruled by dynastic teams.
Those Yankee Clubs were not spending anywhere near this, even with inflation. There is no analog for what the Dodgers are doing.
In 2005, the Yankees payroll was more than 3x the median MLB payroll. If the Dodgers did that in 2025 their payroll would have been over $450M, as the average payroll last year was about $150M.
The reality is the Dodgers have not even scratched the surface of what the Yankees did in the late ‘90s-late ‘00s. The people complaining about it at that time just didn’t have so many platforms to make their complaints heard.
Because when it costs $1000 for a family of four to go to a game, nobody will go.
Revenue and viewership are at an all time high
More than 4 million people paid to get into Dodger Stadium last season.
Whose fault is that? The owners set prices and are making money hand over foot even on loser teams.
I took my two grandsons and one of their girlfriends to a game last year. Had loge seats, nothing too special but nice. With parking, four seats, and a few hot dogs and sodas $680.
The place was packed.
It’s a high income, high standard of living area. Folks can afford it.
3 million people plus turn the turnstiles at Dodger Heaven.
Every. Damn. Season.
Put a good product on the field, and people will show up.
The Dodgers have already made Ohtani’s entire $700m contract back in revenue and advertisements around Dodger Stadium just because Ohtani plays there.
They’ll be alright.
Andy, that is absolutely wrong.
All the new advertisements around Dodger Stadium that came when Shohei signed with the Dodgers.. All the $3 bobbleheads sold at $50, all the jerseys…That doesn’t add up to $700M? Japanese interests alone paid that off. Still have all the other revenue created. The Dodgers will be just fine.
Woe!
One more right in the contest.
Wow what a competitor
Strike incoming 2027.
Lockout.
Semantics. The 1994 strike was also a lockout, but everyone still called it a strike. The truth never matters, just how people choose to remember it.
Hiflew, that is not correct. The 1994 strike happened because the players chose to continue to play without a new CBA. It happened after the season started and was initiated by a vote of the players.
A lockout is 100% by the owners and has to happen before the season starts.
And there won’t be a cap so just give up on that.
oh is that right?
I’m going to start getting prepared for no baseball in 2027 now
That Mariners fan must not live close to a minor league ballpark. The Yankees have their Double-A farm team in the town where I live.
It sounds like you and a lot of other people are hoping for it.
Hilarious
How much is deferred?
Let me guess, half?
12.5%. You were close.
30 million
The Dodgers are ruining baseball.
There needs to be a salary cap.
How much is deferred?
Have I covered them all?
@Andy
You forgot thre-peat
Yeah let’s hope for The Big One, seriously.
This is why there will be a lockout, the Dodgers have ruined the game with that BS Ohtani contract.
Agree, but I believe the Soto contract was even worse
It wasn’t worse, ohtanis was because of the insane deferrals and all the deferrals the dodgers have done
The ones that have already been paid off by the revenue generated by Ohtani and subsequent advertising and commercial revenue?
Those deferrals?
This is so true. The joke of a contract to Ohtani allowed all this. They exposed a flaw in the system with deferrals and nothing has been done to stop it.
Rsk, it can’t be changed without a new CBA. That is coming after this season.
Salary cap please.
MLB is the only major sports league without one.
And it’s worked well in the other leagues – they’re thriving. Hard to understand why baseball fans can’t grasp this.
Oh, it’s 0% the fans.
Just reading the comments here there are a lot who argue against a cap. That’s what I was referring to.
Baseball is thriving.
All those arguing against it are baseball players with a pseudo fan accounts to make us believe that a salary cap is not good for baseball.
Mute, MLB is also the only major sport that doesn’t have 100% revenue sharing, financial transparency with the players union, and a guaranteed percentage of revenue found to the players.
Not happening
Go watch your (referee flag) football or your three-point shot fests instead and relish your warm hug salary cap sports.
They’re the ones who’ll be playing next year while we lose the baseball season.
Gross for baseball
Tarik Skubal coming to LA next
Get ready to overpay if it happens.
Why would they overpay for him this year when they will just buy him next year. It’s not like they will need him in 2026 or anything.
Because they can and so it keeps him away from other NL contenders.
Motor city beach
How many top 100 prospects will it take?
Sheehan, Hope, Ferris and Emil Morales enough?
From all the packages I’ve read suggested Sheehan and Hope seem to be mentioned the most, along with others ranging from Glasnow, Rushing and Ryan etal on the big league roster to prospects (Ferris, Freeland, your top prospect OF whose name I forget). The Tigers want MLB ready starters in return and need offence which could be an OF, 3B or even SS. There was a package with Glasnow, Sheehan, Hope and another prospect I saw that would actually allow them to compete this year if they lost Skubal. Most other packages are a step back this year.
Horton and Shaw from the Cubs in a package are other names mentioned that would keep them competitive. The Mets packages center around Tong and Sproat which is a step back short term..no doubt they are adking for MacLean. Yankees…their guys are not plug and play for this year. Blue Jays you know they will ask for Yesavage. I’m sure there are others.
All guesses, and all sound unlikely. I could see a team making a panic play after this latest Dodgers signing and the whole arbitration mess may open up more of a posdibility of him being available now.
So, does this make Skubal more tradable?
Dodgers’ top 7 prospects for Skub, Green and Meadows?
I think so. Look at the Mets moving to grab Bichette right after LA outbid them for Tucker. Would they both do the same for Skubal?
Personally a package fronted by Horton from the Cubs or Kirby from Seattle would be my favorite option and allow them to remain competitive. Who knows if Seattle or the Cubs would get involved in the overbidding. I like Tong from the Mets and Sheehan and Ferris from LA but I think it’s a step back for Detroit if they take those deals. The secondary pieces on offence also matter too. A young guy like Shaw from Chicago fills a need and he us proven vs Jett or Benge or LA’S prospects who haven’t played in MLB yet.
I think the offers for Skubal go up if Detroit wins the arbitration.
Why trade Greene?
Sweeten the pot?
Just talking.
Or…LA has an outfield project of prospects…like 6 good ones? Gotta tempt them to.think Green, Meadows, Tucker.
Never happening but it would be nice…
Really.just want.to see.if.other fans.thought so too….because those.contract sizes are unfamiliar in Detroit.
Yeah I think someone is going to be tempted to make a crazy play for Skubal. Let’s hope they either pay him or make a good trade that helps this year and beyond. Cheers dude.
At the deadline or next year
LA can overpay any time and it won’t matter to them. They’ll just go sign someone else.
Agree. The $30 million hit adds another $64 million with luxury tax adds to payroll to a whopping $500 million! That would be hilarious to see. Steinbrenner family should sell the franchise for $10-12 billion as it’s not worth owning a franchise with the cost of players salaries getting out of control
This would truly break the hot stove.
And it’s a legit possibility.
I’d be happy with Steven Kwan in LF instead of Teoscar, but what do I know?
Seeing Teoscar flail at an 0-2 pitch nowhere near the zone got old last season. And the “maybe I’ll try at some point” defense.
Look at me complaining about back to back championships.
It’s good to be a Dodger fan.
Agree, but I still cant forget Pages going back to the wall with 2 outs in the ninth of Yamamoto’s no-hit bid and making NO ATTEMPT on a ball that, after watching multiple angles, he had a legit shot to catch.
If you cant make an effort for a No-No not sure you should be on this team…
And the dodgers strike again
Shocked that its short term tho
Any guesses as to how much? Mets were at 4/200. How much higher were Dodgers?
They could have been lower. If it’s true people play for the Ring over the money he could have taken less for the easier path to a ring.
For the hundredth time almost all of them go for the MONEY. Fans care more about rings than players do.
4/300?
$60 million a year lol. Its a lot regardless of high taxes in LA.
Total tax burden is higher where I live and even higher than that in NYC.
They were an out away from losing the World Series last year btw… Just sayin’!
Anything can happen in a short luck-filled playoff series. You have to be lucky AND good.
No respect for anyone signing with them like this. Easy ring no challenge. No respect. He has every right to do this. But I have every right to wish him nothing but embarrassment and regret on this.
He’s a great player and has nothing to be embarrassed about.
He’s a good player but this is a massive, massive overpay by the Dodgers
It must hurt you deeply for him to ignore your heartfelt advice.
Good to see the small market teams step up finally
Looks like everyone is playing for 2nd place for a 3rd year in a row. Broken sport.
Did you watch the 2025 world series?
Nope.
Ok seriously….. this is getting crazy. I’m a Yankees fan and I get it but this is getting ridiculous. If you aren’t a multi-bilionaire whose money comes from something not related to baseball is going to be tough to sign the amount of talent the Dodgers are collecting. You CAN still compete but the margin for error is thin.
When a Yankees fan says this Is getting crazy, you know things are out of hand.
So the Yankees fans have ruled the roost for (the better part of) a century but are semi-suddenly contemplative about the grand scheme of things? Can the applicable GoFundHal outreach be far behind?
Soon the world will consist of just 5 countries, China, Denmark, Russia, Bezuckermuskerland, and Guggenheim BM. Play ball!
Stop the politics.
Let me guess……90% deferred
If I was Tucker I would defer 90% to avoid paying the taxes in California. Tucker lives in Florida so when he gets the deferred money he doesn’t pay state taxes.
He still pays federal taxes.
#floridaman
30 mil deferred. You stink at guessing…
Lame
Lol
Why 😢
SIX SEVEN
Tay Kinney approves your message.
“at sixes and sevens” is a term that predates today’s “6 7” meme by a few centuries…
The More You Know. 🙂
Wouldn’t be surprised if they announce a Bichette signing some time in the near future as well.
Its like you want a lockout
He will be as blue jay!!! Unless Met’s outbid?
No, they go after the best players and he isn’t one of them.
Yuck
Welp,I got ONE right in the FA contest.
Yep
This is why baseball is losing market share and interest.
@Pitt
And yet here you are.
And you ought to check the attendance figures and tv ratings.
Attendance is down 10% compared to the peak year of 2007. National TV contract is down 5% from its peak adjusting for inflation. Dodgers Yankees Cubs and Red Sox are pulling 100-200M a year from their local tv deals…
make the stats say what you like. 51 million pairs of eyeballs watched Game 7 this year.
and 48% of the TV revenue is shared
How many Japan based eyeballs made up that number ? Casual Canadians ?
Might have to look within that number to get a true indication of how the grass roots is doing.
@foppert
per MLB & Bloomberg:
27.3 million in the U.S., 11.6 million in Canada, and 12 million in Japan
Ok. All over it. Thanks. Understandably big OS numbers.
Dodgers are cool. Earned the right. All good.
That’s not to say it’s good for the game overall. The talent disparity is trending in the wrong direction. So many fans going in with no chance. Not good. Got to reverse it.
ANY team that gets to the playoffs has a chance. All it takes is getting hot at the right time. Fans with “no chance” need new ownership. The Rays have proven time and again that it can be done on a budget.
make the stats say what you like, you’re the pot, I’m the kettle! twisting stats in the wind to win an argument…
I present to you average tv viewership per WS game by year from 2000 to 2025:
Year,Average Viewers
2000,”18,081,000″
2001,”24,528,000″
2002,”19,261,000″
2003,”20,143,000″
2004,”25,390,000″
2005,”17,162,000″
2006,”15,795,000″
2007,”17,212,000″
2008,”13,198,000″
2009,”19,334,000″
2010,”14,300,000″
2011,”16,600,000″
2012,”12,700,000″
2013,”15,200,000″
2014,”13,741,420″
2015,”14,542,800″
2016,”22,846,429″
2017,”18,701,429″
2018,”14,829,400″
2019,”13,741,429″
2020,”9,779,667″
2021,”11,928,167″
2022,”12,023,000″
2023,”9,119,000″
2024,”15,808,000″
2025,”15,863,000″
100%
Imagine being, like, a Pirates fan and seeing this crap
I don’t have to imagine. I’m imploring all non-Dodgers fans to not tune in to or attend games where the Dodgers play your team.
Dodgers led MLB in road attendance in 2024 and 2025. So good luck with that.
Bold of you to assume the Pirates would have a chance even if nobody did this.
Wrong – 2025 Dodgers vs. Blue Jays series generated the most recent massive viewership, with its Game 7 becoming the most-watched MLB game globally in 34 years, drawing 51 million combined viewers across U.S., Canada, and Japan.
73 Million people watched the Beatles on Ed Sullivan Show….not worldwide but just here in the United Staes…..
In 1964.
60% market share.
Baseball is doing just fine, thank you. And the Dodgers are a big part of it.
Talking about buying a championship!!
The Yankees did the same as your username implies.
Yeah, like that Yankee Dynasty of 40 years, started with the purchase of one Babe Ruth.
Every team is trying to buy a championship. I hate to be the one to have to break that to you.
4yrs/220 mil
That’s my prediction anyway lol
salary deferrals have to go, and/or salary caps have to come
Almost every team does deferrals and a salary cap would just make the dodger owners wealthier. LA already pays for most of the small markets through shared revenue and luxury taxes. A cap just decreases how much the cheap owners would make.
@drs
no… haha… more than half of the teams don’t do deferred payments to FA. You can’t just make stuff up.
@DRS
Good luck trying to explain that to the knee jerk responders.
@ Bivouac
Nothing to explain because it’s not true.
Nobody does deferrals like the Dodgers do. That’s the problem. AAV shouldn’t take any deferrals into account and there should be a cap on how much of a contract you can defer
AAV for luxury tax purposes*
Nobody does it.. quite the way the Dodgers do. Why’d they have to be so good?
Only 11 teams have players with deferred salaries.
well at least we know they’re not buying the 2027 world series
Buy it, grow it at home, it all counts the same.
I don’t blame the dodgers at all for anything they’re doing, I blame all of the teams that aren’t willing to spend money and try to win. Every team can afford to sign the big guys, but only a select few actually open up their wallets for it. A salary cap would be detrimental to the players and the league. A salary floor is 100% necessary, and is the main factor for the Dodgers signing so many guys
It’s a partially true argument. Ask what the padres front office thinks.
The Padres FO thinks?
A salary cap would not be detrimental to the players or league. All of the other major professional sports have a cap and they all manage to survive.
@MC Tim Sure, I’m positive the players will vote to limit their future income and agree that it’s not detrimental to them.
@sad
How many mlb owners have members worth $20 billion dollars and can afford to not take any money out of the revenue? You think the owner of the Pirates who is worth $1.5 bil and owns the team, a newspaper and a resort can compete? Magic Johnson is one of the “poorest” partners in the Guggenheim Sports Group and HE’S worth more than the Pirates owner(Nuttering?). For him, it’s a mom and pop business. To Mark Walter’s it’s must another revenue stream in addition to the Lakers, Guggenheim Investments, etc. Even Hal Steinbrenner is broke compared to Walters.
Mom and Pop business, lol! Yeah Nutting pretty much operates it that way.
Seriously?
He can show Ohtani what a top 7 batter in the game looks like. I was rooting for the jays so much last word series
The rich get richer :’)
We don’t need him. I expect he will be hitting 9th and sharing time in the outfield.
Exactly. That’s the problem.
More like full time and hitting 3rd. He’s your second best hitter, bud.
Goodbye 2027
Oh Lord, here we go
What a shocker. 🙄
Oh for heaven’s sake.
Why? Well, we do see Tucker less.
Supposedly this guy doesn’t like playing baseball and was always going to sign a short term contract and retire after.
Yeah, being a Cub fan this guy was not all that. Very fragile and absolutely ZERO personality. Good luck with that ridiculous contract.
What the heck does personality have to do with anything, lol?
Probably paying him a buck and deferring the rest of the 300 million 38 years down the road.
It’s getting a bit tiresome at this point. But since the other owners rather line thier pockets….. #thinkblue
Mets and Jays are usually in on everyone the same or better $, but most players just choose LA for the “life style” + obviously easiest path
Ring Chaser Tucker
Money chaser like all of them and like we would be too in their position
The thing is he possibly had offers from teams in states that have lower or zero income tax. Part of it is ego getting the largest contract since if he signed in a zero income tax state he’d only pay taxes on the road. In CA top tax bracket is over 14%.
In CA the top tax bracket for state income tax is 13.3% before deductions. My firm has clients that pay close to 0% state income tax in California with 8 figure incomes.
Great. Tucker isn’t going to be able to avoid paying income tax. Also in CA there is an extra 1.1% tax on income over $1M.
Yeah maybe it’s time for 29 other teams fans just to take a break until everyone has the same money to spend
What’s the point of watching baseball if you’re not a dodgers fan this year…..
Same as every year… Because you like watching baseball and support your team.
@Igr
Be sure to let us know how the beach volleyball goes this summer.
I gotta admit, it’s not a bad watch..
Oh yeah. Do men play it as well ?
Cant go wrong watching women in bikinis jumping around in the sand.
For your many fantasy teams. Or as good ole Samuel would say, Rotisserie League.
Can’t make it up. What a loser.
Huh?
Can’t wait to see how much is deferred…
This is annoying
Salary Cap Now
lol
4 millions fans through the gates at Dodgers stadium means they can spend money.
WOW. Even Dodger fans are impressed. Andrew Friedman got his guy. Welcome to Dodger Blue.
Do they know that he’s not Japanese?
Disappointing on multiple levels.
10 years for 100 mil a year with 99.5 deferred until 2099
As a dodger fan I truly don’t like this signing. We needed to get younger not another guy right at 30. If it’s longer than 4 years I think it was a bad signing.
He’s 29, and it is a 4 year deal.
My comment was made before terms was presented. Either way glad it’s only 4 years.
High AAV short term with opt outs after 2nd season. He’s in his prime and Dodgers desperately needed someone to plug in at RF. Teo was a huge defensive liability. I get that these players are getting older but they are all experienced, professionals, and buy into the culture. Hard to argue with what Friedman and company have accomplished. 2 back to back championships with high probability to make it 3, a feat rarely accomplished in sports.
I think the price is ridiculously high for the short term. I’ll concede that and the injuries hampered him. We will see how it plays out. No one is behind the scenes so we can’t really know the details.
Dear Dodgerfan….seriously?
Called it lol. They going for the threepeat. They know they’re window ain’t that big so they trying to win as many titles as they can before Ohtani, Freeman, Betts, etc. get too close to father time.
They have enough dollars/farm system to keep the window going for another decade+
I mean 5 seasons is a big window. I think that this was meticulously planned and IS meticulously planned. This organization is operating and firing on ALL cylinders. Andrew Friedman and ownership wanted to transform the Dodgers and you see that every year. They are giving back to LA fans. It’s been a decade+ in the making.
If you mean by meticulous “spending $1.72 billion more than any other team over a 12 year period”, then I agree.
Finally! Maybe the dodgers can compete for a ws within the next few years now.
I’m at the point where we need a salary cap, no matter what it takes.
Even if it means breaking the players union.
That makes no sense. You want to break the players union because the *owners* spend too much on players? The players union didn’t make the Dodgers sign Tucker… the Dodgers did it all on their own. If you want to break somebody, go after the owners.
The owners want a salary cap. Maybe not the Dodgers owners, but collectively, they are pushing for it.
Some owners want a salary cap, some owners do not, some owners want some teams to spend less, some owners want some teams to spend “more.” This has nothing to do with the players union or the players. It has to do with owners not playing nice with one another. That’s not a reason to punish the players.
breaking up the union is such an insane take.
The alternative is the sport withers and dies. This is not sustainable. I would hope the players union realizes this.
It will never happen.
Imagine calling yourself a champ playing in that lineup. What a joke.
They arent doing anything illegal or even unethical… but, come on. They make the George Yankees look like a class of first graders.
Thought he’d take a longer deal
Kyle went from banging on trash cans for a ring to pulling a Kevin Durant for another. Shameless.
Tucker never played for the bang on a can Astros.
@Chucky
Better not to confuse them with facts.
Its not just because they have limitless funds, but because they’re the only team that TRULY prioritizes winning…🙄
Finally the Dodgers make a move. /s
What’s good for the Dodgers is bad for baseball. Baseball is broken at a tike when it can’t afford to be.
Any player signing with the dodgers is soft and has no competitive bone in them.
Well, that’s just…stupid.
4/240 million opt out after 2 years. 60kil aav is absolutely insane
Flags fly Forever!!
Go Dodgers!!
For all those saying that other teams just need to spend like the Dodgers do, you do not understand TV revenue. The Dodgers generate about $334 million a year. A year. For contrast, the Brewers bring in $35 million. Dodgers overall revenue is $750 mil and that will continue to grow with the way their TV deal is structured. So the Dodgers spent $417 in 2025 plus $169.4 in luxury tax with that extra $300 million covering a big chunk of payroll.
This, to me, is an argument against the salary cap. What should the Dodgers do with all that profit?
Billy, to get the union to agree to a hard salary cap there would have to be both 100% revenue sharing between all 30 teams and a guaranteed percentage of MLB revenue going to the players. The Dodgers would not make that much profit because they would have much, much less revenue.
So not only do you have to convince the players to cap their earnings but you also have to convince the large market teams to share all their profits with the whole league? How likely is that to happen?
@backstage1
At least tell the entire story bud. Or maybe you’re not aware that 48% of all the Dodgers TV revenue, sponsorships, concessions, merchandise, ticket sales, etc go to REVENUE SHARING PAID TO THE HAVE NOT TEAMS.
Sal, that is not how it works.
Baseball best
Would you care to enlighten me?
Already did twice in this thread.
I see a few posts from you none of which speak to the current revenue sharing arrangements.
That’s great for the dodgers. More reason to have a hard salary cap
For a team, and a fan base, that is super pissed that “the astros stole” their WS wins, they sure do love signing former Astros players.
Yeah they should be ashamed.
Tucker wasn’t on the 2017 Astros.
Tucker didn’t play for those Astros.
Wow is that the biggest overpay in sports?
Can’t wait for Dodgers to be full of pride when their team is the literal only reason a lockout happens.
I hope part of the lockout is disbanding the Dodgers to restart baseball.
240 for 4 years. I like Tucker but man he’s not worth that
Holy cow! 60 million per?
lets wait for the deferrals. People still think Ohtani makes $70M a year.
That’s true….deferrals or not nobody on earth is worth this kind of dough
Baseball is ruined
Yep just like all the great teams of the past, ruining baseball. Murderers Row, Big Red Machine…ruined.
Yeah, that’s totally the same thing. (Thumbs up)
60 mil!!! omg and fans ask why other teams dont do it
I am in horrific pain
60M IS CRAZY
WOW, serious dough
LA Deferrals doing whatever they can to better chances for 3-Peat
LA Deferrals separating themselves from rest of NL
Tucker gave himself a chance for a World Series Ring
Tucker wants money. Rings? LOL.
C’mon man
Not shocked at all. Maybe I’m de-sensitized to it. Maybe that’s what Manfred wants
$60 mil yr is insane .. can’t wait to see what they will offer Acuna in 2yrs
Be quiet.
If Acuna can stay on the field for consecutive years he’ll make b a n k.
Skubal may get 500 million from them.
$60m AAV?!
Gross.
MLB is very broken, I am hoping for a long lock out in 2027 that will save the sport
Trash opinion and I’m a Giants fan.
My opinion is based on 60 years of experience as a baseball fan of a small market team. Just because you do not agree does not make it trash. Your comment, however, is classless and just rude.
60 million a year? Or another fake contract? Honestly bring on the lockout and a cap. This is getting pathetic at this point.
240 for 4 years is crazy!!! I like that that it is not long term!!!
$60 mil a year?? A little too high I hope the team also has opt out options after 1 and 2 years?? I think Bellinger could’ve worked out wonder if they offered him 4 years $120 mil??
The opt-out is for him, not the team.
Cohen is gonna panic sign Bellinger to a 10/500 contract now.
And some thought Bregman was overpaid
Getting to where I’m over it.
Geeeeeezus.
I hope that is a typo. $60m a year for Tucker? Come on. He is decent but not that good.
As a very disgruntled Mets fan, Tucker is more than “decent.” He is great. But also not worth $60 million AAV.
I wonder how many teams payrolls are smaller than the Dodgers luxury tax penalty
There was an article published a couple days ago. 11 or 12 teams payrolls were smaller than the Dodgers luxury tax penalty. I think their payroll plus penalty tax was more than the bottom 8 teams combined
Tucker’s AAV for CBT purposes is $57.1 million so the Dodgers will pay a $62.81 million fine for his portion of payroll. Just that one player will cost the Dodgers $119.91 million in 2026. That is more than 7 teams entire 40 man CBT payroll.
The Dodgers are $258 million over the CBT threshold. They are further over the CBT threshold than the TOTAL REVENUE of 3 MLB teams. Not their payroll. Their total revenue.
The Dodgers total payroll plus CBT fines in 2026 will be more than the total revenue of 24 other teams.
The Dodgers will spend more in CBT FINES, than all but 5 others teams current total CBT PAYROLL.
Salary cap and salary floor. No deferrals. Gotta hate this NBAification of Major League Baseball. No superteams!
Wait what 4 years 240 million sounds absolutely insane Tucker is not worth 10 million more per year than Soto
that’s why Soto was guaranteed 3X what Tucker is.
$60 million AAV is crazy unless there are deferrals, which there probably are. But even then, it’s still crazy. I don’t know if the Blue Jays or Mets are going to turn to Bellinger since the fit on the Jays is tough and the Mets didn’t want to go long-term for Tucker, so why would they for Bellinger? If not him, though, where do they turn?
Still pissed about 2017
60M a season! Lmao. RIP MLB. Enjoy this last season.
Ok dude is NOT worth $60 mill a year.
60 millions per season? Nobody is worth that much. Nobody!
59MM yearly deferred.
I’m sure it is deferred out the wazoo.
What a stupid team.
What?! The Dodgers weren’t even in on the market people said for a long time. That they weren’t looking to sign him to a long term contract. I’m not surprised at all though. Because they dc an offer that crazy money short term. Mets were THIS close. But probably not.
The Dodgers get every Free agent they want. Bichette?
With the luxury tax on top they’ll be paying $126M/yr for Tucker….yikes
That is crazy 😂😂😂.
That’s more money than my entire A’s payroll and we don’t even have the lowest payroll this year.
And people say the A’s and Dodgers are fair together and nothing should be changed
What can you do though its not like you can just tell the Dodgers not to spend the money they earn.
The other major sports leagues have cap and floor, ever heard of that?
Shows how ineffective that tax actually is.
It’s effective at diverting dollars to small market teams. That’s the point.
But ineffective at leveling the playing field…
Which isn’t a consideration for owners at all. That’s a fan perspective. If it was a consideration for owners they’d take that revenue sharing and spend it.
Oh, well screw the fans then – along with their unimportant perspective. 🙂
If fans had a seat at the table they could add their grievances to the negotiation.
The fans can vote with their wallets – and they will.
I was right
60 mil a year… WOW! I wonder what Pittsburgh TOTAL payroll will be next year. Good for Tucker
No freaking way should Tucker be baseballs 1st legit $60 mil dollar player. That’s insane!!!!! Who do they think he is? Chelsea Clinton (Chris Tucker voice).
as a Dodger fan i’m stunned. way beyond anything i could have imagined. in a good way. i think. damn
F the Dodgers
This sucks for baseball.
Bichette is next.
The new evil empire
As a fan of the former Evil Empire, I do not approve this message!
Somehow eviler empire than The Evil Empire
Where have you been???
No offense people- but each market has enough people to fill the seats for each game… some teams just don’t invest in their product.
Not everyone in LA, NY, SF or Chicago care about baseball- not even close. I’d even argue that there are more distractions and places to spend $ on other than games in those markets- so the teams have to compete with other teams in the MLB as well as Theme parks, Broadway, etc.
Baseball should make the revenue share teams invest all $ on players. And the small market should be compensated to keep/sign their home grown players in some manner like not counting their salaries towards a cap, insuring the investment to pay teams if their long term commitment is a bust or something like that.
Teams need to be entertaining… that is the industry. mlb should kick teams out who don’t try or force ownership changes.
Baseball is a business. Who are you to say teams dont try? Nobody is ever kicked out.
They should be kicked out… and tell me when the As have tried last?
How many cheeks they put in the seats does not determine how much they spend on payroll. It’s media revenue and Merchandising. Large markets have large media Revenue. Small markets don’t
So we are to ignore the 350 to 400 million the Dodgers take in ticket sales each season? All revenue goes to the bottom line which determines available payroll.
I know baseball doesn’t want a salary cap but this is getting out of hand.
MLB needs to split into Super League, Normal League and the Junior League. The Super League can have the Dodgers and the… Blue Jays and the… uhh?
The regular league can have the Mets, Astros, Tigers, etc…
The Junior League can have teams like the Yankees, A’s Marlins, White Sox Rockies, etc.
as long as there is relegation
@Diggydugler
Yes, sir. And the team that finishes last in the Junior league has to sell the team.
Several problems with you leagues. The BLue Jays? Super league? The Marlins swept the Mets out of the playoffs in 2025. Yet the Mets are so special? Soto is a guy out for himself.
@robw5555
Who else you putting in the Super League? Philadelphia? LOL!
Paying a 5 WAR player 60 mil a year is absolute insanity
He was gonna get it from the Jays or the Mets if it wasn’t the Dodgers.
At least three people who get paid to run MLB player rosters thought he was worth it.
That’s the way free agency works.
Sure, I get it. But paying him the same amount of money per year that Juan Soto is getting just doesn’t make sense.
Juan Soto will be making X millions a year when he’s on the downside. What the Dodgers did was buy Tuckers prime years and paid more for those four years as opposed to spread it out over the course of his career.
Back in the ye olde dark ages (2010s), he would have gotten a 10+ year contract at $250-300M, where he’d be underpaid for the first half of it during his remaining prime years and then very overpaid in the second half of it when he turns 34 and falls off the cliff. These newfangled shorter term, higher AAV deals are just condensing the once underpaid prime with the vastly overpaid decline phase. It’s still an overpay on the whole via $/WAR, but now the team doesn’t have that albatross hanging around on the roster for another 6 years when the player gets beat up by Father Time.
This organization has no shame. I guess if the other billionaire owners are going to sit on the sidelines. Sill hard to believe.
I think I hate baseball now
I’d be more excited if they brought Farmer John’s back
I’d love to see the Cool-A-Coo back in the lineup, too.
Waiting for blue skies to defend this crap:
Shohei Ohtani: $680 million deferred from 2034-2043.
Mookie Betts: $115 million in salaries deferred from 2033-2044.
Blake Snell: $66 million deferred from 2035-2046.
Freddie Freeman: $57 million deferred from 2028-2040.
Will Smith: $50 million deferred from 2034-2043.
Tanner Scott: $21 million deferred from 2035-2046.
Teoscar Hernández: $32 million deferred from 2030-2039.
Edwin Díaz: Added to the list with payments extending to 2047.
Defend what? Any team can use deferred payments. Stop crying.
No not any team can defer over 1 billion dollars, clown. This is worst than when Astros fans were going around saying “everybody cheats”. Not every team can hold a 500 million dollar payroll. Not every team owns their own TV deal or live in large market and city like LA. Not every team can operate like this. Can this fanbase possibly find a different phrase to parrot through their echo chamber besides “EvErY oNe CaN dO iT”
@Wrian Those deferred values that yoy are posting only have meaning to the players with deferred $ and the franchises. You are not posting the key #s for the argument you are trying to make which is the.present day values.
Example of one is Ohtani and that is $46M annually. Dodgers paying $2M directly to Ohtani and $44M to fund the deferral. That is the true cost to Dodgers and it will be paid this year. From there that $ will accrue and become a realized gain to Ohtani at the time he collects. At that time it will only be meaningful to him and whoever collects the taxes on those earnings from Ohtani.
And since Ohtani was the example we might as will address another misconception. If anything of the motivation was to reduce his personal tax burden, then this $ he will collect and claim as earnings here in America as the tax burden in Japan far exceeds what it would be if collected in any state here in America.
Thanks for this. Adds some context.
What would be amazing would be if MLB eventually does implement some sort of cap, even $500M, and that the deferred salaries count against the cap in those years. The Dodgers would be forced in the next decade to spend less new money than they do now.
Capping deferrals won’t happen because the MLBPA will just go on strike. The players want deferrals as well because it’s a retirement account not terribly dissimilar from a 401k that us normal people draw from. The difference in how much money goes into theirs versus ours is vast but the idea is the same.
Penalize success. I think I read that right.
Arte Moreno is livid.The Dodgers stole all his thunder After making a 3 way trade and BOOM!! The Dodgers do this…
Yawn……..
Lol $60 mil a year for Kyle Tucker.
60 M a year for 4 years.
Ridiculously stupid that this can continue. Hey, I know it’s within the current rules, but I pray we can get Cap/Floor to the salary situation. The Dodgers aren’t blinking with the current penalties..
I love baseball but a work stoppage to fix this mess is needed to save baseball.
Otherwise it’s Dodgers all the time…. No mid market, small market team can ever compete.
But….but….media was reporting seeing him with some Toronto real estate agents….
“Dodgers aren’t ruining baseball.” Yeah, they kind of are. Nobody can really compete with a team of that many stars. It took a miracle run by the Jays to make it close, and I doubt that happens again. When a team gets close, Dodgers just super-overpay for the best FA’s at whatever position.
And yeah, I’m ticked at the Bob Nutting’s of the baseball world, too, but guys like him are ruining it for their fans. Dodgers are ruining it for everyone but Dodgers fans.
How on Earth is Kyle Tucker worth $60M a year? And the opt outs are a cute addition.
I was thinking the same thing. Dont know how the contract is structured, but, who is opting out on 60 million.
10 years, $240 million means you have Tucker making $24m at age 35-38 and have that contract around your neck the entire time.
4 years $240m means you bought Tucker’s four prime producing years and don’t have the regression years.
Think of it as a prime years tax.
Chess. Checkers. Dodger Front Office.
I’m guessing the Dodgers know there will be or are actively trying to get others on board with a salary cap when the CBA is up by spending like this. It’s not just the high payroll, it’s the deferrals too. Not only are fans outside of (mostly just Dodgers fans) the high spending teams getting more annoyed with them, but I imagine a lot of owners are too. It almost seems like they’re desperate to spend now because they know it’s not gonna last.
Dodgers will get Bichette and Skubal and there will be no salary cap.
Turning the league into a joke. Which is why a cap is needed. Tucker should be ashamed. Loser
Ashamed for making 60m and playing for a World Series Championship team x2? Don’t think so. I’m sure he is quite happy.
I’m sure the 60 million dollar man will be totally ashamed and devastated that ChrisP 2 called him a loser on mlbtr.
You are funnny.
During this season, if Tucker doesn’t hit .540/.690/.620 people will say he didn’t deserve his contract when he’s there to put the Dodgers in a much better spot offensively and defensively than last year. The Dodgers took the best RF available and signed him because they needed him while paying him handsomely. It’s the way of the world. Get the best person, pay him what the market says he’s worth. This isn’t a DEI hire and nothing needs to be fair across the board.
Imagine this…(regardless of how many WS tiles they win during this period) in the mid 2030’s to mid 2040’s they’ll be rolling with a 500 million dollar payroll and having a Bobby Bonilla day for all these guys
Most likely all that money is collecting interest before they start paying all these guys
Another Yankee or Met fan. Oh well. Cohen is blown away by LA. They eat him for lunch.
Good for Mr. Tucker. Whole Baseball season is tough and not for all. Playball, gotta love baseball.
At this point, I’ll take the Sox if the Yanks can’t get it done.
Not being critical one way or the other, just an obsevation: the Dodgers pay more in luxury tax penalties than the Yankees and Mets combined. Amazing.
Yawn… next
Perfect. This is the best spot for him. Good for baseball and for the world
What a pathetic, disgusting sport this has become.
Make it stop
Lockout? How about fans just boycott this ridiculous spending spree.
It probably becomes 40 million a year when deferrals are factored in
This would cost the Dodgers $120 mill. a seasoned with the luxury tax. Insane!
Dodgers are not paying Tucker for baseball.
They are paying Tucker to leave after 4 years of baseball.
LOL
I humbly submit this comment ^^ for MLB Trade Rumors “2026 comment of the year” award
Blue Jays better get off their a$$ and sign Bo now.
Might as well give the trophy to the dodgers now. It’s not as fun when it’s not competitive between teams
Baseball is broken I’m done
Time for new a new hobby
bye!
Yet another player to use the Mets to jack up the Dodgers. When will they learn?
The Mets are amatuers. The Dodgers can get any player they want. I think they never wanted Soto. Bichette and Skubal to LA.
OMG the Dodgers are doing everything. Although Teoscar may be on the block now.
Yeah, on the block and possibly headed somewhere like Cincinnati (with significant salary relief) to finally begin the full-time DH phase of his career.
The heck with any competitive balance! Dodgers all the way for next 10 years plus!
And as the world turns ever so slowly for the rest of baseball and as like the country, the rich get richer and the poor gets even poorer!
Can the Astros cheat to beat the Dodgers in the world series once more, thus saving MLB?
The sour grapes from some people. Who wouldn’t want to go to the Dodgers? They are a well ran organization who has the top payroll, but the top farm system. They do this because they have the smartest ownership along with the best front office in baseball.
The owners wanted this deal done. People will be screaming for a salary cap now.
Wow, what a surprise. NOT!!!
The rest of the owners seem perfectly happy collecting their share of the Dodger tax, while the Dodgers build a staggering juggernaut of a team. I’d prefer more parity but can’t blame the Dodgers for investing so heavily into their player personnel. Other owners need to step up.
Jack Dreyer is the poster. Proudly states in interviews he was guided to the Dodgers after going undrafted for their player investment. Geeks out specifically on technology used as collaborative with him as he desires.
What a coward
F. U. Tucker
David Stearns “Wake Up” and sign Bellinger right now, than Suarez, than trade Baty, Sproat, Peterson and Mauricio to Detroit for Skubal. We can still be good IF STEARNS AND COHEN does things for the fans.
Lindor, Semien, Soto, Suarez, Bellinger, Polanco, Vientos DH, Alvarez and Benge
Skubal, McLean, Manaea, Holmes, Scott and Tong
jvent: I don’t think Bellinger is nearly as good as Tucker and from what’s out there they won’t go past 4 years for anybody. So, I’d be very surprised if that happens. Your deal for Skubal would be laughed at by the Tigers. Me, I don’t want Bader or Austin Hays or another mediocrity. Play the kids and see what shakes out. I’m prepared for the Mets to win 75-80 games this year. It was foolish to let Alonso and Diaz go. My opinion of Stearns has gone way down. btw, please check Suarez’ stats after he was traded.
Everybody is complaining but this is awesome. Baseball needs a villain
So, the lineup is looking better. 1 through 5 are all stars but they need to work on that bottom of the lineup. Need an all-star CFer and an all-star 2B man.
Bo is still available.
Are Dodgers fans booing him still? Lol a former Astro lol first Mookie who cheated with Red Sox in 2018, now Tucker with Astros lol
Tucker was not on the 2017 Astros.
go ahead, throw in one more “lol” for good measure.
lol
lmao, even.
The Dodgers love their fans. They want us to be happy.
When people here were speculating about the Yankees, Mets or Blue Jays, I said one thing. If the Dodgers want him, they have him. If the Dodgers want Bichette. he is theirs. Skubal Dodgers. Skubal gets 500 million from them? Who will win in 2026? Dodgers. They are not finished. The Dodgers didnt want Soto , or he would be there.
Over pay for a third World Series Title.
Sad! Glad for him but sad for BB! $60 million a year is unreal!
people were saying 50m is an overpay for a player of his caliber, so why the outrage over a team signing him for even more than that? now he’s dangerous because he’s on the dodgers.
This just in, Dodgers sign Tucker, All salary deferred until the 2950 season
Bring on the lockout. Bye bye baseball.
Baseballs heart loses yet another fragment.
Say what you want, this is NOT good for the game.
Some level of competitive balance benefits the sports health overall. Once 15-20 teams fans bases completely drop off the map you will have a hard time getting them back.
Baseball has already fallen far behind the NBA and NFL, and this kind of stuff further cements it.
Far and away the biggest competitive imbalance we’ve seen in any of the three major sports in my life time.
Uhhh, soccer IS a major sport even if you live in Murica.
Differant. European soccer. Multiple concurrently run competitions and relegation/promotion system give every teams fan a reason to bother. Don’t matter if you are a have or a have not and/or where you might be positioned, you got something to fight for. Not so much in baseball.
Not surprised one bit. And it’s ridiculous nonsense like this that we are staring at a crippling lockout come 2027. Dodgers have no shame in doing it and it’s ruining the game.
Dodger fan here. I feel like this is an overspend. Tucker’s good, but not $60M AAV good.
Gross overpay X 2 not to mention the salary tax.
Im just glad its not Toronto
I’m just happy the Jays or Yankees didn’t get him.
Gross
Texas Rangers will go down in history as the last team (not named LA Dodgers) to win a world series until like 2035.
Dodger Boy Manfred made it happen again.
Btw, the Lerners in Washington were deferring before deferring was cool.
Opt out? Yea, he’s not opting out
If this contract doesn’t ultimately lead to a MLB salary cap, they’ve just shot themselves in the foot. There is only so much money to go around for sports/entertainment. And people will lose interest when too many players are getting stupid money. Just look at the NBA. Every 9 point 8 rebound guy is making 9 digits. The product sucks. People will eventually lose interest.
people are losing interest in the nba because the style of play has become unwatchable. baseball is as fun to watch as ever
The players are strictly opposed to a cap. What they can try an do is change the rules and parameters of the CBT
And that’s what will happen. Amended CBT thresholds. No lost season, no cap, no floor, no change on deferrals.
They have to address the deferrals. Length and adjusting how it counts against the CBT
Example: Ohtani “AAV” is $70 million. He’s only being paid $2 million a year over the life of the contract with 680 million in deferrals. This equates to roughly $46 million a year on the CBT. That’s a loophole they have to close as well
It’s not a loophole, it’s a perception gap. The contract is taxed at the net present value. The PA and MLB agree on this. Deferrals are only an issue for fans who don’t understand them.
I fully understand them. It allows teams to sign multiple mega deals to soften future spikes. That’s why MLB ma try to limit how deferrals count or cap the length. It’s absolutely going to be on the table for the next CBA. It may not be the loophole, but it is gaming the system
Who’s going to insist on it? Not owners and not players.
It may be an easier concession than a full salary cap proposal which will not happen.
It’s going to ugly. Even if the owners agree to push for changes in the deferrals, the players have leverage and will want concessions elsewhere.
Owners and players like deferrals. It gives flexibility to both, and both sides agree that it’s taxed appropriately.
It’s literally a non-issue.
You sure about that? Owners have disliked long term deferrals because it games the system.
While it may be a more secondary issue come the new CBA negotiations, saying it’s a “non issue” is simply not correct
It’s an accounting procedure. The contracts are funded almost exactly the same way. The deferral refers to how it’s paid out to the player, not how the team funds it or the impact on the CBT.
Deferrals do not change the NPV or the CBT calculation. A deferral does not change a player from being unaffordable to affordable. Either you can afford a player at the NPV or you cannot.
I agree with you. It just reduces the short term pressure within the CBT with the taxes being lower in early years. Bottom line is it that it is seen as large market teams using flexibility other teams simply cannot match. That’s what the owners want to address.
They can’t always match the expenditure. They can and do match the mechanism giving them more flexibility. It isn’t merely a large contract tool. Any contract can be deferred assuming the player and team are in agreement on it.
Deferring Ohtani’s contract didn’t make him more affordable. It didn’t lessen the CBT hit. It didn’t fundamentally alter the Dodgers payroll commitment. It DID alter when Ohtani would receive his money.
The structure of his deal is with heavy deferrals. By doing so, the Dodgers significantly reduxed the CBT hit, compared to the “70 million AAV”. It now becomes 46 million present value average which gives them more flexibility under the luxury tax.
He’ll get every cent of his money obviously. He just gets the bulk of it well beyond his playing years. The CBT discounts that.
This is why some owners feel it undermines the intent to the CBT system which was designed to level the playing field and penalize the bigger spenders.
This new Tucker deal now brings it more into focus. T
The Ohtani contract is a $460 deal, taxed at that rate and paid by the Dodgers at that rate. It pays out to Ohtani $700M (minus his $2M annual) because he has to wait for it as it accumulates in escrow. The Dodgers pay $460M over 10 years, that’s why they’re taxed at that rate. The CBT isn’t circumvented.
It was only ever a $460M deal and not ever a $700M deal.
We’re going around in circles here I think.
For CBT, MLB treats him as a $46 million per year player because deferred payments are discounted. This structure reduces the Dodgers luxury tax while still guaranteeing Ohtani his full earnings, which is the total 700 million total
Again, this is why owners have issue with it as it goes against the original intent of the CBT. Going back to you’re earlier claim that is “literally a non issue” is not true
They aren’t discounted, that’s the actual value of the contract. Deferrals are CBT neutral. The contract is, and never was, worth more than $460M.
$460M is what the Dodgers pay. They can only be taxed on what they pay, same as any other contract for any player on any team. Ohtani gets paid more because it earns interest before it’s paid out. But that has nothing to do with the Dodgers or the CBT. .
Yes they are discounted. MLB discounts the deferred money because money paid in future is worth less than money paid today. There is no interest. 46 million over 10 years is 460. That’s not all they are obligated to pay. They are charged that 46 for the tax purposes.
In dollar terms the Dodgers will pay the full $700 million in cash over the life of the contract. The $680 in deferred pay is still their obligation in equal installments of $68 million per year. Thats after he retires. I’m not sure where you get the idea that the dodgers only pay $460 million. There is no interest. The contract is structured as such for payroll/luxury tax flexibility. This in turn allows them to spend more to avoid massive penalties.
They pay $44M per year into the escrow account. They do this for 10 years. At the end of 10 years, the Dodgers will contribute no more money into the account. The time spent between when they fund the account and when Ohtani gets paid the money earns interest.
The Dodgers are responsible for 10 years of payments totaling $460M, $2M in salary, $44M in payments into the account. That’s it.
So essentially the Dodgers will most likely pay over a billion dollars for the life of his contract + the luxury taxes.
The guaranteed contract to be paid to Ohtani is $700 million. That is a contractual obligation. Fixed and unavoidable. $700 plus 250-300 million in penalties
I have no idea where you’re getting this stuff from. It’s wrong. The escrow is a trust set up by MLB to protect the player if the team has financial issues. The dodgers clearly do not. That escrow account is only for the life of the contact. That’s locked away now for later
I’m giving you facts. You can look it all up. It’s easy.
The dodgers are responsible for the full $700 million to be paid in full. That’s the contract
Dude, the interest paid to Ohtani is spelled out in the contract. As is the payments that are made into the account. All of the interested parties are in agreement on this.
Deferrals are not a credit card, the payments are required and MUST go into account at the specified time, no later than 12 months after the season begins and every season after that, per the CBA. Nothing nefarious and no taxes avoided.
The terms are available online and widely reported.
Do you honestly think any revenue sharing club would voluntarily miss any CBT money? The reason you don’t hear any crying from them is because there’s nothing to cry about.
@Andymeyer
“There is no interest.”
Wrong.
The deferral money is put away by the team and invested at low risk, approved by MLB.
“They aren’t discounted”
MLB’s collective bargaining agreement says that “deferred compensation obligations … must be fully funded by the Club, in an amount equal to the present value of the total deferred compensation obligation, on or before the second July 1 following the championship season in which the deferred compensation is earned.” The CBA goes on to say that “fully funded” means “the Club must have funded, for the duration of and without interruption in each year, the current present value of the then outstanding deferred payments, discounted by 5% annually.” For Ohtani, it would mean that the Dodgers must fund $297 million (present value of $680 million from 2024 to 2033 using a 5% discounted rate)
Let me clarify. He doesn’t collect the interest. This goes to the team
Let me re clarify. He does get the interest. Not the team. My bad
I appreciate you clarifying. That is not usually how these conversations go.
Good luck this year.
Good luck to us all Tiny Tim.
Might as we be an AI version 2026 World Series at this point. Soul-less dodgers are ruining the league.
So childish.
Yes, this is shocking. Who would’ve thought the Dodgers? I think the lockout’s gonna be a lot longer than people think…
That is ridiculous
Will be fun to see the deferrals. Meanwhile, I can hate the Dodgers even more, along with almost everybody else.
Huge overpay that’s going to really mess up contract negotiations in future seasons. Hard to imagine a lockout not happening
The Doyers remind me of the Steinbrenner Yankees. Just buy everyone to win championships.
Sorry pal, what the dodgers are doing is nothing close to what the Yankees did and if you don’t believe me look at the salary disparity then and now.
This is disgusting
Next, Skubal to the Dodgers. This is no fun for anyone but Dodger fans. Meanwhile, the superstars are getting their money while the rest of the players fight over the scraps. Many good free agents who have priced themselves out of jobs or get comparatively low pay just to have a job.
“Scraps” still equal millions…
Let’s not forget the 66 million the dodgers will have to pay in penalties for each year on top of the 60 million salary.126 million for one player is more than a lot of teams entire roster.
Dodgers next step is to sign Bo Bichette.
Baseball died.
Salary cap, baby!
I heard the Dodgers are collecting and freezing Tucker’s sperm so that in 2525 they can birth an offspring to pay the deferrals to!!
The reason you have to pay $15 for a beer at the park. Salaries have become a damn joke
Am I the only one who WANTS a strike/lockout in 27?
I’ve been a baseball fan my entire life and watched in 94 when the WS was canceled, but remained a loyal fan throughout. I’ll always love baseball, but MLB is just becoming disgusting to follow anymore. There are a small number of teams that can spend like the Mets, Red Sox, Yankees while NOBODY can spend like the Dodgers.
Smaller market teams have a choice. Try to be competitive every year like the Indians, Rays, or Brewers and hope that you can get hot in the playoffs or go for it every once in a while and absolutely suck otherwise. Everyone who’s honest and not blinded by fandom knows this is ruining baseball. It’s sad.
We need a lockout for as long as it takes to get a salary cap and a salary floor. If it takes all of 2027, so be it. If it takes longer, then fine. But something needs to change if baseball wants to survive
Interesting. Maybe you’re on to something.
@Reno: Couldn’t agree more
I am a true capitalist. I believe in a free market and despise socialism. I cannot stand salary caps in sports because that ultimately hurts the players and I want to see the players who the fans go to watch make money. Yet these small market teams continue to pocket money and never invest back into their team. Some of the small market owners are wealthier then big market owners but do not have tv contracts so they refuse to invest any money to improve their team. So I am a true believer in a salary cap floor at 200m. But watching the dodgers just bully every team they have to have some salary cap ceiling as well (400m) and if you choose to go over you lose the ability to draft players in the first 6 rounds and lose that money as well and also you should not be able to sign international players until you go back under the 400m cap. I don’t think the tax payments should ever go back to the small market teams who don’t invest that money back into their teams but you need to penalize teams like the dodgers by taking away the ability to have a strong farm system to trade from when they continue to spend way more then every team in baseball.
I am a true democratic socialist and despise capitalism run amok. Sounds like you’re promoting some forced equity here, and rightly so. I think there should be a floor and cap and ticket prices regulated accordingly so every income level can afford to go to the ball park and partake in concessions, etc.
None of things will ever happen. Ever.
Rizzuto: I am a truer democratic socialist than you. I think po’ fokes should get into the ballpark for free and fokes who make more than 100k pay more to compensate. Concessions? A simple solution is for everyone to pay with a government-issued “equality card” so the price is automatically adjusted. The price of a beer can range from free for po’ fokes to $30 for rich fokes. I believe in equality and justice for all. Don’t you?
Dude. It’s a sporting competition. Forget ideology. You do what you have to do to enhance the competition on the field.
Salary cap floor at $200m??? Half the teams would go bankrupt. Easy way to get MLB down to 20 teams..pre-1969 era. Don’t think that is happening.
Salary floor 100MM, salary cap 310MM.
Oh boy Bellinger going to get paid now as I imagine Mets offer Bellinger 4/180 at $45 million avv to get their man. Steinbrenner will not touch that and they must now move on. 4th place here they come!
They’re definitely getting him or Bichette, I think Bo would be a much better move, tbh.
Who the Fuxx let Max Muncy in here!
But this is good for baseball lol. What a joke
He is not worth nearly that much
It’s like joining the dark side. Is their owner Emperor Palpatine? Hey Tucker you have no respect now.
This right here is exactly why there won’t be a 2027 season. Absolutely out of control. In 5 years, it is likely the Dodgers will be paying deferrals for players that aren’t playing for them in excess of about 10 teams’ total payrolls. They are just playing with Monopoly money. Pretty ridiculous. And as a Cubs fan, I can tell you there is no way Tucker is worth $50 to $60 million per year (whatever the deferrals take it down to in AAV)
It’s really nuts to pay this guy this level of salary.
would anyone be shocked if they went ahead and signed bichette next?
MLB is boring
LOLOL at the Mets
Gee, what a shock! (sarcastic).
Cards need outfield prospects and young pitchers. Would love to see them move romero and donovan to the Dodgers for a young outfielder and a young pitcher. Would give the Dodgers the option to trade toescar for even more upgrades.
Dodgers need to sign Bichette now. Please God make it happen. That’ll be the cherry on top of this news.
All the haters and whiners would have a melt down – be funny to watch.
Ha ha. That’s a lot of coin.
Bobby has got some work to do before he rides off into the sunset.
The Yankees will always be known as the Evil Empire, the Dodgers should be known as the Evil Enterprise! Both Entirely Evil!
😈 💰 🤑💲🌟=All Stars at every position!
This is just STUPID.
Baseball is a legit JOKE!!!!!
If I’m an small market team I’ll just play my minor leaguer…
Agree. I want the Giants to spend more this offseason but I understand why the owners wouldn’t.
I’m a Mets fan and don’t mean to defend them, but I honestly believe our GM is trying to limit those super crazy contract by no offering more than 3 years to nobody specially pitchers. Soto was an exception and done directly by ownership (which I disagree by the way).
This is why so many other teams have no money. MLB has allowed the Dodgers to make a mockery of a fail payroll system. Welcome to the new Manopoly Looting Billionaires, where competitive balance is preached but some condition apply.
THIS IS BULL CRAP! MLB needs salary cap.
Hard to understand how people who like the sport can’t recognize that a floor and cap would help sustain it. Other major sports with caps are thriving and players are benefitting from that. The massive inequity in resources between MLB teams is absolutely ruining the game.
Stearns has crashed and is currently burning. Rebuild year. Look for 78 wins. Hope that either Benge or Williams or Acuna emerges as a star. Scale back your hopes, Mets fans. Way back.
Take your meds buddy. Tucker is not worth 55 million a year. Bichette is better and Bellinger might be a better fit, Chill out.
Kermit, of course he’s not worth 55M. Is anybody? If there’s one thing the Mets don’t need, it’s another infielder so why talk about Bichette (he doesn’t play first)? And given his demands, it would seem extremely unlikely Mets sign Bellinger. Glad you think the Mets are doing ok this off-season. What meds do you recommend?
You play to win the game. Plain and simple. And year in and year out, the Dodgers prove that. Other teams billionaire owners just don’t care as much. And it’s not just tossing out cash lavishly. The Dodgers are built for success from the ground up. From office jobs to A ball. They are all built on success
i hope yankee fans understand the truth of this. there’s no crying in baseball and there’s nothing stopping hal from doing the same thing (he can’t compete with la weather but everything else is fair game). congrats to dodger fans
I like that Tucker has opt outs after’27 and’28
If he opts out of that salary that would be ballsy
Enjoy your expensive ballpark experience Dodger fans.
Can we have the scraps that would have made the team signed Pirates fan
So ridiculous, MLB has to step in. $60M per for Kyle Tucker?! Good for him, but this isn’t sustainable for a league when some teams have to run payrolls @ $100M. Just making a mockery of the sport. You can enjoy if you’re a Dodgers fan but this is ridiculous for the league.
The dodgers are single handedly going to force a lockout after this season. Well done boys…you must really love this game.
Makes Hoyer’s Bregman deal look genius. He got a 4 WAR player for half the AAV.
Congratulations on your world series ring!
where are the rest of the comments?
At this particular time in history I love this thug- like deal. Dodgers dominate the league into NATO-like extinction. Light it all on fire. Bring it. Good times.
Wow. Was hoping the Mariners or Blue Jays would have signed him, ANYONE BUT THE DODGERS!
Only $30 million deferred? That’s a rookie number for the Dodgers.
waiting for the ‘every team could spend like the dodgers’ guy to chime in with his insight
Most of the country would love it if this becomes a Chris Davis situation and Tucker looks like the guy he was for the second half of the season who was one of the worst players in the league for over a month and looked like he completely forgot how to hit,
and he will still be better defensively than Teoscar Hernandez in RF, so, a net plus over the option, which was Michael Conforto in LF and Hernandez in RF.
This has to stop.
Our hope is ohtani and tucker het hurt soon rather than later while Hernandez, betts and freeman continue to show us their advancing ages.
I remember when Nolan Ryan signing for a million dollar deal was big news. Now rookies are close to making that much.
MLB has turned into a joke. It’s so sad because I use to love baseball. I’m done until there is a salary cap in place.
You may be gone a long time.
I will miss you and your morals at baseball games this season?
Non Dodgers fans gotta boycott games Dodgers play in. Just don’t watch. Don’t go.
Those are the most watched games, with the highest gate returns.
Even factoing in the deferrals, the Dodgers kind of bid against themselves, in my opinion. Obviously, we arent privy to what goes on behind the scenes, but I find it hard to believe the Mets would have paid Tucker a higher AAV than Soto. They probably wouod have topped out at 50. Just speculating.
Apparently their offer was $220 million over 4 years.
This honestly is hilarious to me. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Dodgers weren’t in on it until they realized they could get him on a four year deal. Other teams had a chance to get him and nobody really pursued him strongly enough in my opinion.
Let’s not forget the Yankees made the Blackburn signing official today.. isn’t that just as noteworthy? (S)
I think it’s safe to say professional sports does not need tax payer funded stadiums and tax breaks at this point. Just a hunch that if the employees are making 60 million a year, the owners are making 100’s of millions a year that they don’t need any additional funding. I think these players and owners are going to make it without us at this point no?
When you realize short term, high AAV is the way to go so you get the players prime years and don’t get hooked for the downside, you will realize the Dodgers are doing things that others are capable of but won’t.
I almost wish the Dodgers would get Peralta on a tiny contract to show they’re not just chucking money around. He’s on one of the best contracts in the league for the “we have no money” crew.
This is sad time for baseball. The great thing about the Dodgers is they built their teams rather than buy them. Now they have such a huge financial advantage and zero business discipline so half the teams can’t possibly compete.
Baseball needs a salary cap or the league dies.
99% of people who wake up tomorrow and see $240 million and $60 million/yr will either never hear about or else not be able to wrap their minds around the deferrals in the contract. All contracts should probably be converted to today’s dollars so that these “records” can be properly kept track of.
the deferrals have been reported and you’re way off.
Holy hell, you’re right. $57 million/yr in today’s dollars is crazy for Tucker. Not sure who the Dodgers were bidding against.
seemingly the Mets and Blue Jays
He’ll be happy and do well there. The weather is warm, and he won’t have to be the star. His walks will actually so some good, because he’ll have some great hitters batting behind him to drive him in.
The article’s description of his season with the Cubs did not capture just how bad it was–for Tucker himself, who felt he should have been more appreciated; for his teammates, who he alienated; for Cubs fans, who he disappointed; and eventually even for Cubs mgmt, which expected an inspiring leader and got an uninspired loner. But time heals all, and we wish him well.
CubsFan:I’ve seen the play numerous times. If IKF had been smart he could probably have gotten a much bigger lead off 3B and he would have easily scored to beat the Dodgers.
As a Blue Jays fan, it was especially annoying that they told IKF to take a small lead. Varsho literally never lines out to third base. I looked at his spray chart and it didn’t happen once all year. I get holding the runners at the other bases, but IKF should have had a much bigger lead.
That wasn’t on IKF though. The third base coach literally told him where to stand. It’s embarrassing that the Blue Jays coaches didn’t know their own players well enough to figure that out. Coaches on the Blue Jays have had some success with getting the most out of certain players, but they dropped the ball on that play.
Outrageous amount of money for a guy that is just pretty good..and already on the decline.
The original post has been updated with the deferral info. Far less than I expected.
$57M AAV is insane. There is no way he will opt out after 2027.
The 16 teams either still with FanDuel or with MLB for their local TV are going to vote against every potential CBA offer until the Dodgers and other large market teams to share all their TV money.
Insane.
Good for him and obviously the Dodgers. But how is this good for the sport?
I don’t want to cheer for players to be injured but……. Someone stubba toe or dozen.
Boo this man
That’s what happens when you lose 3 world series games.
Dodgers have around $88m coming off their books this off-season. So this signing somewhat fits within last years payroll. Add in world series money and they aren’t having to adjust much.
This is all about maximizing the Betts/Ohtani window.
$64m signing bonus. $30m deferred. Opt outs after years 2 and 3.
I was thinking that based on the reports, that the Mets would finally land someone. I guess that is not the case with the Dodgers around..
That’s one of the positives from this. Keep the Mets from getting anyone.
The Dodgers are run like back in the day you allowed all trades on a video game and the goal was to go 162-0 but you always ended up 161-1.
Stupid!
absolutely no reason why 75+% of the league follow the same low spending model of the pirates .. A’s .. rays(ect) .. time for teams like the padres to sell off all their expensive talent .. want to see the dodgers push their payroll over a billion
I don’t want a floor or a cap. I would like to see 4-6 teams fold.
how dare they make competition fair… just eliminate the teams that can’t escalate to insanity?
Stupid Stupid Stupid, Salaries just eent up big $$$$.
Lockout for sure, thanks greedy Dodgers, for the love of the game, right…..
Can you imagine all the players demanding to re-negotiate their former deals, 60 million, look out for Judge, Soto, Skenes negotiations, wow $$$
Ruining the sport we all loved.
It’s broken.
I usually support the players over the owners, but this wrong for baseball. A bunch of Lebron James wannabe asshats.
The Dodgers spend 75% of their revenue on payroll. The Red Sox spend 40%. Get mad at your own team’s front office.
If you look up, you’ll see the point there somewhere.
Seriously be mad at the Sox. The dodgers want to win, I wish every team in MLB thought that way. Dodgers deserve all the success that comes their way with moves like this
I agree, some teams can spend more. But let’s not kid ourselves into thinking that it’s as simple as the Dodgers just want it more so they spend more. There are teams that probably can’t double their payroll, which still wouldn’t come within ~200 million of the Dodgers. What’s so wrong with having it Eve across the board? I hate that the sport I love most is simply becoming who can afford to pay the most. My favorite team would be hurt by a salary cap btw
If they can’t keep up they should sell their team it’s as simple as that.
Thanks for keeping it real, jdgoat. You nailed it.
Or maybe they could implement a cap and floor so it’s even across each and every MLB team because we live in the real world
Yes.
@erebus
This. So much this. Not every person who has money should own a baseball team.
Even the despised Dodgers had the McCourts whose quote was “we are planning to reduce payroll next season”…which didn’t exactly go over well.
In the real world, the ones who can’t make money go out of business and sell to the bigger companies.
Luckily for the true baseball fans, there’s going to be an easy fix to this that will be implemented in the next CBA!
Well maybe this signing will help the Dodgers be competitive…😉
and who’s YOUR Daddy Dave Roberts?
ANDREW FRIEDMAN!!
He’s not worth this much
Seriously
The chart that shows every MLB team’s revenue vs. payroll is readily available. A tip of the cap to the Dodgers for investing in the product and not just padding ownerships wallet. Who wouldn’t want to work for a company that spends for quality employees to produce, rather than pinch pennies so the money flows to C-Suites.
A lot of people don’t want to see it from that perspective.
Clearly. I guess baseball is “ruined”, but not for the reasons they claim.
Everyone thank the dodgers for the impending lockout.
This is stupid. No hate toward Tucker at all, but this is bad for the game. This type of spending will ruin the mlb when fans of the other teams loose interest. Learn from the other leagues and cap this stupidity.
@It’s: I think it’s more of a problem that some fans inanely refer to “the mlb” and can’t spell “lose “
Dodger fan here. What a waste of resources. Hope he can stay on the field.
Mothertucker….is a very rich woman. Hate those damn dodgers though
Literally every single team could have afforded this. The dodgers made the best offer to the player, period. I’m a Giants fan FFS and I see through this ownership group nonsense. They all have the money the just choose not to spend it.
Dodgers appear to now be looking to also add Bichette
Absurd, wrong, and bad for the MLB! The only sport with no cap and no floor. This is very bad for the fans trying to watch or attend games – they are the real losers!!!
At this rate Juan Soto’s contract will look great.
No 15 year contract will ever look great.
@Darren.. Soto at age 30, 31 and 32 making 51 mil per vs Tucker at same age making 60? I’ll take Soto. Cost of doing business both ways.
You gotta have him making the same money 15 years from now as well when Tucker will have all the money and other contracts if he’s still playing.
The Dodgers basically paid a prime years tax to get him.
Dodgers are bums.
Does this mean the Mets will throw buckets of money at Bellinger now?
I hate to break it to many of you, but there will never be a salary cap. The players union will never allow it and many teams don’t even want one.
Probably true. Also true that the owners can afford to skip 2027 more than the players. And will.
Some owners can, none will be willing to if it means giving up their revenue sharing. The lockout is to reallocate revenue sharing more towards small market teams. It has no chance of enacting a cap and they know that.
Dang it, I had him going to the Giants in the contest.
highfly: Be happy the Giants wanted no part of this contract. Huge overpay. Been following the Giants for 65 years. Salaries have gotten out of control. I understand the owners have money to spend but no player is worth 60M a year. Dodgers gave this contract to a player who is maybe only their 5th best player. More than ridiculous at this point.
So much for parity.
Fellow Dodger fan, enjoy the ride. Even though we are the new “evil empire” I know that this has been in the making for over a decade. When Friedman came over and the ownership group locked in, it was over for everyone else.
I am happy that there is an inevitable conversation to be had about salary floor, cap, and the issues of deferred money or putting a player on “credit”. I think that there needs to be a sense of parity. It’s crazy to compare the numbers of other organizations. Players Association will not want salary cap and owners don’t want to be “forced” to spend their money. Curious to see how this all plays out.
Now een more money sharing revenue goes to those that receive it, and they will play poor saying they can’t afford certain players, because they make more momney by letting teams like the Dodgers sign good players. The more teams like LA spend the more recipients make.
Please clarify: what other teams are “like LA”? The 2026 payroll difference between the Dodgers ($550 million including CB tax) and the (second in spending) Mets ($346 million) is greater than the difference between the Mets and the Royals, The Dodgers are the only team in that league.
With deferrals accounted for, this will cost the Dodgers over $100m each year.
Someone explain to me.. like i’m a child… how a player a kin to JD Drew is worth more than 3x people like Bonds, Griffey, Pujols, Jeter, etc ever made in a season? We’re in an era where revenue IS DOWN because of TV contracts blowing up… an era where viewership is lowest its been since the 1994 strike… and a guy who slashes 20/80/.280 is getting paid 40-50 million a year?!?!? HOW…. this boggles my mind more than Shin-Soo Choo getting paid more than Lebron James 15 years ago… it makes literally no sense.
As a Dodger fan, I’ll concede that. Boggles my mind too. Then again, NBA already boggled mine a long time ago with their salaries. I mean it’s not a BAD thing for ownership to share revenue with players and make sure they get PAID and then some. But it’s bad that they regard players to be worth THAT much. 50 million+ to Tucker is super ballsy and risky. Only glad that there’s opt outs included after 2nd season and it’s only a 4 year deal. He plugs into the outfield that was clearly a deficiency especially when it comes to defense and he’s got good contact.
Dodgers aren’t hurting for money and it’s not my money. Let’s see how it plays out.
well as I pointed out in 2012 Shin-Soo Choo was making more than Lebron James… what changed in the NBA is a massive TV contract that kicked in, in 2014… that was nearly doubled 5 years later. MLB has nothing like that.. their revenue is LOWER than the NBA’s and they have twice the roster size.. this makes ZERO sense… it’s like signing an NFL running back to 100 mill a season lol
NBA salaries have a completely different structure but Choo did not make more than James in 2012. 4.9MM for Choo vs 16-17 for James.
@chin … you’re right it wasn’t 2012.. it was 2014 when Choo made 18 mill and lebron made 17 mill WITH THE MIAMI HEAT… you complete effed years there yourself.. 2012 vs. 2017? lol
what are you talking about? you’re the one that specifically mentioned 2012. I’ll quote you:
“well as I pointed out in 2012 Shin-Soo Choo was making more than Lebron James…”
in no season did Choo ever make more than James. you can see all of their yearly salaries on baseball reference and basketball reference. also on sportac.
2014:
Choo 14,000,000
James 19,000,000
in what world is 14 million more than 19 million?
lebron made 17..5 … choo made 18..5… no idea where you’re getting your numbers from. It was when Choo signed with they Rangers… it was noted by all national outlets he was now making more than lebron… lebron opted out after that season and signed with the Cavs for 20aav… so it was only true for 1 year… the entire point is a mid tier outfielder was making more than top NBA players.. and its not sustainable
no idea where I’m getting my info? I literally told you. you are going off average salary and not yearly.
just google it.
mlbtraderumors.com/2013/12/shin-soo-choo-reaches-s…
great.. you want me to be a semantic dick?… Choo made an AAV 3 million higher over 4 years than Lebron James did winning 2 MVPs, 2 NBA titles, and 4 ECF titles…. that work for you buddy?
What do you think the odds are that anybody opts out of $60 million/yr?
Well if someone is going to offer him 200m for the next 6 years, he might.
Billionaire owners.
Jays probably dodged a long-term bullet. Mets, i don’t know if this was good or bad for them but now might be the time to jump in on Bellinger
Now I have no doubt in my mind a hard salary cap is coming.
Yea… we’re heading for a lockout lol.
Freaking A man…. Now the Blue Jays will resign Bichette, Phil’s will just resign JT… and here we go again. Futility.
If you owned an entertainment venue wouldn’t you want to put on the best show? Have the best performers? As a baseball fan dont you want to watch the best players play for your team? Commentors emploring people to boycott the Dodgers when they come to your city is just ridiculous. Who doesnt want to watch the best entertainers entertain.
Wow wasn’t expecting this. Guess Dodgers will get that 3peat. Very impressive signing congrats Dodger fans
Very impressive? No it isn’t. It’s ridiculous and shows a serious flaw in MLB. Extreme actions like the dodgers creates a serious balance problem and because of it, the sport will struggle.
@BabyBoy
Don’t let the facts stand in the way of your opinions.
Maybe other owners should learn how to play the game. Dodgers are playing within the rules that every other team follows. Don’t hate the Dodgers for trying to win championships. This is good for baseball, we just need other owners to follow suit
I just saw a story that shows that when luxury taxes are accounted for, Kyle Tucker’s salary ($119 million) will be higher than the entire projected current 2026 payroll of 11 different teams. And please don’t try to give me the tired line that the other teams just need to spend more.
I guess I will just have to enjoy my final season as a fan because there is no way a strike/lockout is not coming in 2027. And I promised myself when I came back to baseball in 1998 after the 1994 strike that if another game was ever cancelled because of strike, I was done forever. I always keep my word to myself, but I will still enjoy the game until that happens.
I don’t really care what the Dodgers do or how much they spend. Not my money, not your money either. All I care about is whether my team will find a way to beat them.
They won’t.
Never say never. Dodgers almost blew it a couple times last fall.
Agree, Jay’s had them a few times. I wouldn’t be afraid of Tucker… look at his stats, other then a higher OPS… big deal. 60 mil a season, why? Not a guarantee title.
Atta boy Jarred. Good luck to your team whoever they are.
NEWSFLASH‼️Dodgers buy Greenland for $2 Trillion just so Trump can’t have it. $500 Billion to be deferred for 110 years😳
Stupid. Just ridiculous. Baseball… this is beyond dumb. There is no balance and because of that, your product sucks.
With Freeman and Mookie starting to decline some, I would say he’s their second best hitter behind Ohtani. In what world is he 6th or 7th, lol? He’s better than Will Smith and Muncy, and way better than a declining Teoscar.
Do you think most of this spending frenzy by the Dodgers is because Ohtani is only taking 2 million a year salary ?? If they had to pay him full freight, this excessive expenditure mania may not have been at such a fever pitch.
Apparently the Dodgers made back Shohei’s entire $700 million dollars last season.
“ According to financial reports from the 2025 season, the Dodgers managed to recover the equivalent of Shohei Ohtani’s entire $700 million contract value in just one year.
While his “sticker price” is $70 million per year, the financial reality of his impact was so massive that it effectively paid for the next decade of his employment before his second season even began.”
So that’s no longer a worry for anyone in case they were worried about the Dodgers going bankrupt and not being able to pay him the deferred cash.
Checkers and chess, ladies and gents.
Deal.
Where did you read that garbage? They didn’t sell enough extra tickets and other revenue producers like sponsorships to cover 2025, let alone his entire contract. All foreign based revenue is split equally by all teams. All merchandise sales profits is split equally by all teams.
Do you have a source for this? Everything I’ve read says international sponsorship money is not shared at all.
@Clayton (good name)
MLB International revenue is shared but under a special plan that uses designated teams to administer the bucks.
sportico.com/business/sponsorship/2022/mlb-interna…
Hey mets hold my beer
With the Dodgers spending like this, it is hard to blame other teams for not spending. Why stretch the budget when the goal, at best. is second best?
Yup. Sure the Pirates and others could spend $40m or $50m more, but why would they bother running their engine at the red line when there’s a Ferrari ahead of them?
Even the Dodgers/Tucker contract includes opt-outs after seasons two and three. Why? It’s really a two-season contract, followed by two single-season contracts. Teams should not include opt-outs in any contract.
If there’s a lockout, don’t blame team owners. The problem is MLBPA’s Tony Clark, who opposes a salary cap, leaving fans to pay more for skyrocketing ticket prices and everything else MLB-related.
Salaries and ticket prices are completely unrelated.
DTS: Actually, there’s a very strong, positive relationship between the two. Some simple Googling is all that’s required.
Supply and demand is the correlation. Putting a better product on the field makes teams more attractive to fans. The more attractive product is the driver of ticket prices because more demand creates scarcity.
There is a correlation between higher salaries and a better product, but the ticket price is incidental to the salary, not a result of the salary.
I hope he opts out ASAP.
Deferred money should be ilegal in Baseball….just ruin the sport. Or should count against the luxury tax….period!
That’s not at all how they work
They do count against the luxury tax.
So many comments on here that are born of ignorance.
Unbalanced power within the division or league can cause more uninteresting games to watch.
The only consolation for all you supporters of other teams is that Tucker goes missing (ala Judge) after the 162 game cycle ends and the post season begins.
I was thinking the same thing. Considering the Dodgers are a lock to make the playoffs, I’m not sure how much this really moves the needle for them. He’s great in the regular season, but regularly disappears in the playoffs.
Let it die
didn’t know the world series was for sale and not on sale.
This is just absolutely ridiculous ruining baseball they can give a s*** less might as well sign bo effing bichette while they are at it don’t let anybody else get anyone f it POS dodgers man I swear
Soooo…how are things?
Gotta laugh at fans like this. It’s within the rules, Dodgers just have the cajones to do moves like this. Be mad at the team you follows owner not the Dodgers
I don’t give a crap about them signing Tucker, but they better keep their hands off of Bo.
A complete overpay when you factor in luxury tax payments. This was purely done to keep him away from the Mets.
No one is worried about the Mets and 35 year old Juan Soto.
This was done purely to screw the other teams. Why else would you potentially spend 500M+ for 4 years of a very good player? Not from need. The thing is other comparable free agents will want similar money.
And you know this to be a fact, how exactly ?
Because it’s a dumb deal done by a very smart organization. 110% luxury tax on the deal. That is how it looks from the outside. Might say Cubs and Mets are not their competitors, but your wrong. Big market teams. Cubs made big moves, so maybe it doesn’t hurt them as much. Now the Mets needed him badly. Now the pivot of trying to take Bellinger and Bichette from big pocket teams.
Tucker is the same guy who sucked during the 2025 playoffs for the Cubs. The Dodgers just got hosed.
This will be the poster child of forcing a salary cap. Dodgers could have kept under the radar and claimed they couldn’t afford it only to spend again after the CBA was renegotiated this year. LA screwed the pooch.
Not really. There are enough owners being bribed to say no. A cap will mean a floor.
@joeflacco The Dodgers started blowing up the radar stations and carpet-bombing the the rest of their own damn league about 15 years ago now – and they’ve only doubled-down on that strategy since.
youtu.be/nuS4_du88Fg?si=yQ0g3rNKv8VTzYmw
Holy overpay, Batman!
Go to YouTube and watch Foul Territory’s instant reaction to the deal. Kevin Pillar hits the nail on the head. The league is playing checkers and the Dodgers are playing chess. Dodgers don’t have the richest owners, but they sure do have the richest business model. 29 teams need to get their own house in order. C’mon 3-peat.
They have the most revenue because they’re in a huge wealthy market and lucked out in timing their RSN deal, which they would never be offered today. Has nothing to do with their business acumen.
And by the way, they DO have the richest owner in the sport, not that it matters. They’re owned by a hedge fund, not Mark Walter personally. Only the Jays owners (a big communications conglomerate) are in the same league.
Rogers yearly revenue destroys Guggenheim.
Y’know, it’s interesting, Cubs fans, even Brett Taylor, a propagandist who rarely has anything negative to say about any Cub, alluded in his report about the Tucker signing that Tucker’s relationship with the Cubs soured over the summer because of his “aloof personality” and the fact that he had “virtually no big moments,” and also mentioned his Game 5 failures…the very things that I have been talking about for a long time. And as we all know, Brett’s a great guy and I am evil incarnate, a troll. (What a joke–I don’t even know what that means.)
I guess it’s finally OK to tell the truth. I am proud that I told it earlier. I am proud that I saw Tucker for what he was when everyone else–well, most people–were parroting the party line of Brett Taylor, Alex Cohen, and other shills.
> An extra quarter-second on Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s dash home…
Funny you should mention that. If IKF had run full speed across home plate instead of slowing himself down by sliding, there’s a very good chance that he reclaims that quarter-second and the Blue Jays win game 7. You have to slide into second or third base to avoid overrunning the base, but there’s no such risk at first base or home plate. An experienced ballplayer should know that, and I was very surprised that the broadcast team didn’t pick up on it.
I’m not going to say that his mental error cost the Jays the Series, because we have no way to replay that. Just the same, it would have been awfully close at home plate.
You raise a very good point
Please don’t tell Yordan Alvarez this !!!
Good luck King Tuck Stros miss ya man! Dodgers fans been talking trash on the Astros for years now 2/3’s of your outfield is former Astros lol!!
42 game Astro legend Teoscar Hernandez!
I don’t think I’ll watch baseball this year. Just not interesting anymore like it once was.
@AboveHockey
I can’t tell you how much you will be missed.
Dodgers to buy the Sacramento A’s & relocate them to San Jose just to stick it to the Giants.
60 million a year for Tucker. What a Joke. 😵💫😵💫😵💫
Applause MLB. Applause Dodgers.
Truly #**#%!* embarrassing.
Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Philadelphia, Toronto, etc.
MLB is a BIG JOKE and all of you know it.
I’m a Phillies fan and even I know we have no shot. Ever. This is just brutal. A strike is inevitable. And unlike 1994, Americans have a million other things to entertain themselves.
I’m a longtime Dodgers fan and I’m not thrilled at all.
How can small market teams like Cleveland, Milwaukee and Cincinnati ever hope to compete? Something’s got to give.
Get an ownership group that understands business
And a billion dollar tv deal
While the ownership is not great in Cleveland, the best thing they did was to get out of the way. New ownership won’t solve the problem. Cleveland will make 20 mil this year off their tv rights and won’t get the $15 mil of “I’m sorry” money the MLB gave them last year. And they only get a a portion of revenue shared money. Not sure how any team can compete when their total salary is 1/5 a team like the dodgers.
Yep, bring on the 2027 salary cap, not grand fathered in. Make them play bums like me to get compliant
Dodgers made over 1 billion dollars in gross revenue in 2025.
And are predicting higher revenues for 2026.
Smart business people make money and baseball is a business
It’s a closed loop business, area 51 – with monopoly protection, no less – from the federal government! The teams are in this thing together and are co-dependent.
The Dodgers need the league for their very own existence. It’s not like they’re some retail outfit who’d love to have whatever space they’re in all to themselves. It’s amazing to me that so many people miss that part of it.
How lame does Tucker have to be to get his championship ring this way. No interest in earning one, huh, Kyle?
Should he go to another country? Should he have to deal with the NY media and fans (the over the top ones, respectfully)?
He joined the best team for the most money. Not sure how your can fault that. Working harder for less money and dealing with unrealistic expectations can be your thing.
Mets made a great offer. Apparently so did the Jays.
@Bookbook
Comments don’t get much dumber than that one.
Do you actually watch any baseball?
While I don’t like this signing for the game, you can’t fault a guy trying to get his. Anyone who says they would not take the same exact job with a better salary is lying.
Oh you’ve gotta be kidding me…
Sooo many comments.
It’s kind of funny. Like, they know they are going to cause a lockout and are just laughing the whole time. Feels like an Andy Kaufman bit at this point.
HUGE OVERPAY! HE IS NOT WORTH 50 PLUS MILLION. This is wrong for baseball. I am all for one earning but the defferals need to stop. Baseball needs to make that clear when there is a stoppage anyone can make what they want but if you sign him its paid within that term and as far as signing bonuses go they should be made towards your cap hit as let’s face it its a salary
The guy is good, sure. But he missed 110 games the last 2 years. Last season he batted .266 with 22 home runs and according to bWAR is defensive dWAR rating was -0.7.
That’ll get you 60mil per season.
This sport is broken
Poor Naylor’sSailor
Annual MLB attendance since the pandemic:
2025: ~71.4 million total, ~29,459 avg (up for 3rd year).
2024: 71.3 million total, ~29,568 avg.
2023: 70.7 million total, ~29,295 avg (largest % growth in 30 yrs).
2022: 64.6 million total, ~26,843 avg
Making money and being competitive are not the same thing. LIV Golf for baseball, anyone?
Attendance increasing since the pandemic is hardly a surprising or convincing data point for the quality of the league today.
Those same five years have also seen the inequities and structural problems with league explode in a way that you just can’t ignore anymore.
Just read all these comments from *actual* baseball fans. This isn’t exactly a hot take…
“actual baseball fans.”
like the commenters who say things like “I am never watching baseball again.” What paragons of fandom they are. Good riddance, not that I believe them. The game is bigger than that. It’s pull on fans is strong.
You are aware are you not that the preponderance of folks who comment online are either rabid supporters of whatever the topic at hand is, or inveterate complainers. Losers/also rans and those who feel left out or jealous or envious yell the loudest. Have some perspective. There have been baseball dynasties for 150 years. Connie Mack’s Philadelphi Athletics, John McGraw’s New York Giants, the Yankees in multiple decades, the Cardinals. The A’s and Reds in the 70’s and 80’s. Great teams all. Great organizations.
We’ve had lockouts and strikes before and this next one won’t be the last. The Dodgers were 2 outs away from losing the last Series to a very good Jays team. The Padres almost knocked out the Dodgers in the early round in 2024. The Dbacks DID knock the Dodgers out of the postseason in ’23.
But now baseball is ruined because the Dodgers have won 2 chips in a row.
Please.
You miss the point. Has nothing to do with them winning 2 rings—nobody cares. It’s the fact that, as just a nice little extra add, including luxury tax the Dodgers will be spending more on Kyle Tucker next year than some other teams’ ENTIRE payroll. That’s to say nothing about the other half billion per year of allstars they have… They’ve proven the luxury tax scheme is wholly ineffective and for as much as many of us reflexively want to say other owners should spend more and not be so cheap, the reality is that most teams literally can’t compete with this.
And by *real* fans, I mean the average reader on this site cares far more about the actual sport of baseball than your average attendee to some random game. Throwing out attendance figures isn’t exactly convincing proof that there isn’t a problem.
I didn’t “throw out attendance figures.”
By your multiple references to “actual” or “real” baseball fans are you implying I’m not one? Give me a break.
Try reading my last post above.
By the way, I’d have no problem with raising the luxury tax and increasing the revenue sharing the rich teams contribute.
The attendance figures I posted were merely to illustrate the health of the overall game. I acknowledge there are teams that cannot compete financially with the giant market teams.
By Tyler Kepner
The Athletic Jan 20, 2026
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a model franchise, an empire built on countless smart decisions. They serve their fans by leveraging every built-in advantage, exactly as they should. As the old shampoo commercial says, don’t hate them because they’re beautiful.
The Dodgers want to keep winning championships, and there is nothing wrong with that. Kyle Tucker — an excellent player who has never hit more than 30 home runs or batted .300 in a season – is now wildly overpaid with a $57 million average annual salary (adjusted for deferrals). But he makes the Dodgers better. Ownership can afford him, so good for them.
It is equally foolish, though, to think that any team can operate like the Dodgers. If the Dodgers decide that they want a player and will always outbid everyone else, what can the other teams do? If you’re the New York Mets, you pick the next-best player on the market — Bo Bichette, in this case — and blow him away with three years and $126 million.
That is how free agency is designed to work. Tucker’s precedent helps Bichette make more, and Bichette’s precedent will help the next guy. It is the free market, and it has undoubtedly improved baseball overall.
Fifty years ago, when free agency started, most owners howled in protest. But soon, the benefits fanned out everywhere — to the New York Yankees, at first, but also to the Philadelphia Phillies (Pete Rose), Houston Astros (Nolan Ryan), San Diego Padres (Steve Garvey, Goose Gossage) and so on. All of those teams won as they never had before.
Fans have accepted the concept of free agency, of course, but baseball stands alone among the big four sports leagues — MLB, the NFL, NBA and NHL — as the only one without a salary cap. When the Dodgers do Dodgers things, the cries for a cap grow louder.
In the last collective bargaining agreement, the owners and players agreed on some measures to curb outright tanking and service-time manipulation. And luxury taxes on high payrolls are clearly here to stay. But nothing has changed the reality that some owners are richer and more aggressive than others.
The league needs a system that further incentivizes the low-payroll teams to spend. Give them more money, but force them to spend it on players. That sounds great in theory, but if owners raise the floor, they will want to lower the ceiling. That is a salary cap, and there’s no indication it will ever happen.
The players stood firm against a cap in 1994, striking that August before the owners could unilaterally impose one. The standoff cancelled the World Series and delayed the next season. The lesson: insisting on a salary cap is a warhead so dangerous it should never be deployed again. You can’t win a war by destroying the planet.
In simplest terms, with the CBA expiring this December, the sides need to reach an agreement without a salary cap that protects the 2027 season – while also changing the perception that the sport is fundamentally unfair.
That last part is the hardest because it’s so firmly entrenched. The subtitle of Michael Lewis’ “Moneyball,” remember, was “The Art of Winning an Unfair Game,” and that was two dozen years ago. The once-a-decade low- to mid-payroll champion — the 2003 Florida Marlins, the 2015 Kansas City Royals — has not changed the image.
Payroll disparity is not a new phenomenon. In 1992, according to the Baseball Cube, the Mets had the highest payroll at $44.3 million. The Cleveland Indians had the lowest payroll at $8.2 million, or 18.5 percent of the Mets’ outlay.
Last year, the Dodgers’ opening day payroll (not including tax penalties) was $325.9 million. The MLB-low Miami Marlins’ payroll was $69.1 million, or 21.2 percent of the Dodgers’ figure.
The game has survived these decades of inequity because the product on the field is the great equalizer. Before winning the last two World Series, the Dodgers lost in the division series two years in a row, to San Diego and Arizona. It is easy now to forget how random short series really are.
The Dodgers have adapted by deemphasizing the regular season and building such a deep roster that they basically can’t miss the playoffs. This allows them to rest talented but fragile starting pitchers for half of the schedule, using openers and placeholders instead.
If that means playing a wild-card round instead of earning a bye, so be it. Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell and Shohei Ohtani were ready when it mattered last fall, starting 70.5 percent of the Dodgers’ postseason games after starting just 26.5 percent of their regular season games.
It is not exactly sportsmanlike. But it’s smart, and shows how Andrew Friedman’s front office can innovate and adapt. Remember when the Dodgers leaned heavily on matchups, platooning half their lineup against the Red Sox in the 2018 World Series? Last year, eight position players started all seven games against the Blue Jays.
The Dodgers built that stable lineup with acquisitions that eluded other teams — playing close to the backboard, as they like to say, in case a loose ball comes their way.
Freddie Freeman wanted to stay in Atlanta, but the Braves let him go in free agency. The Boston Red Sox foolishly refused to pay Mookie Betts market value, trading him to the Dodgers (with David Price) for minimal return. The Los Angeles Angels brought Shohei Ohtani to the majors, paired him for six years with MVP-level Mike Trout and couldn’t even finish .500.
Will Smith, the catcher who smashed the winning home run in Game 7 in Toronto, was the best player taken in the first round of the 2016 draft — with the 32nd pick. He is signed for a very reasonable $14 million per season through 2033.
The Dodgers saw value in Max Muncy when the rest of the industry did not. They stole Tommy Edman in a lopsided trade with the hapless Chicago White Sox and floundering St. Louis Cardinals. And manager Dave Roberts knows how to expertly use veteran role players like Kiké Hernández and Miguel Rojas.
Yes, the Dodgers are wealthy and play in a city where players want to be. But the other team in the L.A. market is terrible. The two Chicago teams have combined for three pennants since 1946. The two New York teams have combined for one championship in the last quarter-century, while the two Missouri teams have three in that span.
Baseball, in fact, has had 16 different champions since 2000, compared to 14 in the NHL, 13 in the NFL and 12 in the NBA. In a more recent timeframe, since January 2012, 18 different MLB teams have played in the World Series, compared to 17 in the Stanley Cup Finals, 13 in the Super Bowl and 13 in the NBA Finals.
The Dodgers take swings nobody else wants to take — like giving Tucker $60 million per year, but also a combined $46 million to Michael Conforto, Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates, who flopped last season. Older, more expensive players often come with their own set of problems, just as younger, cheaper players do.
Obviously, money helps a lot. Like the Dodgers, teams in other markets — Milwaukee, Cleveland, Tampa Bay — make consistently wise decisions. They win through the summer but expire in October. Randomness has not helped them win rings.
The players and owners should find creative ways to dull the Dodgers’ edge, so other teams can come closer to matching it. But you cannot make the Dodgers dumber or less driven to win. And as long as they are smart, motivated and opportunistic, this era will belong to them.
By Tyler Kepner
The Athletic Jan 20, 2026
Next shoe about to drop Dodgers get Skubal too
They have the prospect capital.
60M per year is a joke. I like Tucker but he fleeced LAD. Nobody in baseball is worth 60M per year and especially not Tucker. He is not a superstar. And how can anyone compete when the Duckin Fodgers are paying him 10M more per year than the next closest offer for him. I think a salary cap needs to happen but it won’t. And the Dodgers still have to play the games. Even with all their highly paid players they still should have lost to Toronto. Bad base running.
They’re actually paying over 100 million for him with the luxury tax
Damn, if only they had checked in with you first, they could have saved a lot of money.
“should have lost to Toronto”
How silly.
Amazing how the market is getting out of control giving 60M a year to a player that should be around 25/30… totally overpaid but hey, whatever…
Country elected a (supposed) billionaire twice in the last 3 presidential elections but want to eschew the billionaire influence with MLB? You reap what you sow.
People get paid exactly what they are deemed to deserve by an employer when asked by an employee or potential employee.
The Dodgers did not have to pay him that, they just would risk not having him work for them. There is no number ever high enough in anyone’s imagination if someone is willing to actually pay for it.
With a luxury tax that is over the entire payroll of half the league, the Dodgers are doing well enough anyway to meet those potential employees asking prices, or surpass the competitions offers.
It only took me 10 comments before someone brought up politics. A new record. Thanks buddy.
he took the money
both bluejays & mets were used to prop up his contract
mlb does have an issue, and its majority of small mkt teams will become irrelevant
la is giving its fan base what they want, in turn it which boosts its own RSN generating more $, compared to how the team was managed & run by Mccourt prior
Back to Tucker, Boras has to be excited about this as bellinger becomes the defacto top available OF FA bat, wouldn’t put it past it that the mets are aggressive after missing out on tucker, they need reinforcements to keep their head above water in the NL.
MLB is more like a feudal system than a “league” – a reality that the Dodgers continue to relentlessly confirm for anyone that still doesn’t get it.
Bring on 2027 – come what may – and the potential for a new system that’s conducive to having an actual league of competitive peers.
Because right now, baseball’s emperors (MLBPA and MLB owners alike) have no damn clothes.
Yeah great…. Because this makes things more interesting 🙄
Kim should get the 2B job with Edman in a utility role.
W
T
F
!
The luxury tax for this payroll has to be higher than some team’s entire payrolls at this point.
Almost $170 million last year, so about $210-220 depending what came off the books? How many teams entire team payrolls are under just their tax penalty?
The only way the Dodgers can be stopped from the heist of baseball is having me as a fan. I declare I am now a Dodger fan. They can not carry me on their back to any more titles
I invite every fan who is a loser fan to join me as a new Dodger fan
Go Dodgers go. We love you. You are the best. Please trade some or your minor league scrubs for Skubal. And maybe sign Bellinger and play with 10 position players. MLB will allow it. If it is good for the Dodgers it is good for baseball. Like Jake, I have seen the light
Go Dodgers go.
Ruining baseball. I prefer small market teams whose owners pocket revenue sharing, keep payroll way below what they can afford, roll out an embarrassing product, and don’t seek to add outside investment, international marketing or have any plans to sell the team. That’s the baseball I love.
I get the sarcasm (or maybe see it where it isn’t)… But the Dodgers now have a pile of dough to generate to pay all these monster contracts. Will their shareholders bail at some point before the debts come due? Will they win a third, fourth, etc. or will they be the great draw every time they roll into town, and help fill the coffers or pay off debts of other teams (especially the ones who lost lucrative media income)? As long as good baseball is played, around the world, with dreams of the summit in MLB driving talents and results, does it matter if a few teams blow out their bank accounts at the top of the market? Just for the locals, maybe.
In 1992 and 1993 when the Blue Jays were the biggest spender, it paid off, but then when their owner was sold to a foreign brewery that didn’t understand baseball, they lost that biggest spender crown to the Yankees, and history. They have the best management and deepest pocketed owner since then, and appear able to respond in Dodgerian fashion. Sometimes baseball fans can enjoy the field action and the suite action, too. Round ball and round bat and all that…
Thanks to this site for all you do, including giving a forum for insights, out of sights, frumps and experts…
This off season with Dodgers signing Tucker and Edwin Diaz and the total collapse of the regional television deals for one third of the teams is the perfect storm for saving the game. A long lockout at least one season, maybe two but eventually the game will have a legitimate payroll structure in place. Eventually the players will agree to accept a pie system if all revenues and owners will open there books to show all revenues. The big issue with revenues will be what money is included in the Pie… I will miss baseball while it is gone but it needs to happen if they want the game to be watched in the 2030s…..
The problem with this is that so many owners have purchased teams in the past 10-20 years.
Purchase prices have skyrocketed so these owners had to go into debt to buy the teams.
Debt requires interest payments that must be paid whether there is a season or not.
The owners with the shallowest pockets who need a work stoppage the most are the ones who will cave first because they can’t afford it.
I like to see players get paid, but that deal is crazy. So good for him, but this could be a brutal contract. He’s good, but he not this good.
Kudos to MLB Trade Rumors and all the sources who got the rumours right about the deal announcement’s timing.
It’s an obvious overpay but when you want to string Series wins together you don’t get cold feet. History can be harsh.
Now the pressure is on Tucker to deliver so he has a chance at a bigger or longer, or bigger and longer 2nd signing a few years hence. And can the Dodgers supporting cast be one hit better again in 2026 to take all the marbles? Diaz was the huge grab, to me, this was more of a defensive signing, as I see it, to keep Tucker away from competitors, real or imagined.
Now will come the measure of the failed suitors.
Do the Mets and Blue Jays have a Plan B?
As it turns out, they are the NL and AL teams I adhere to most closely.
the Jays, I hope, will immediately respond by signing Bo Bichette, then have some other surprise signing(s) or a trade in their back pockets as they play chess with Friedman their longtime nemesis.
The Mets? Harder to call. Their owner was pushing hard on social media for Tucker, not a good look. Their GM was less obvious on what he might do, but if they don’t go after Bichette, and they don’t have the best fit with Semien already in the stable, there are smaller moves to be made that can still pay off. Meanwhile, the Dodgers will attempt a triple, and every team in the league will paint a bullseye on their backs to try to stop them. The Hot Stove Lounge just reheated…
One thing we rarely talk about is what winning does, not just winning, but continuous winning. It generates a LOT OF MONEY. It entices players who want to win. The more of the players you entice, the more you win. The more wins the more money you generate, not just at the gate, but TV, merchandise, sponsors, playoff dough, etc.
The Dodgers have the means, that is for sure, but they also realize that this is an investment in everything the brand represents.
The King Goerge Yanks knew this also. For the entire time they weren’t winning championships during his family’s ownership they have had the best record in baseball. Nothing guarantees a championship with so many variables involved, but elite spending for elite players gives the fans a belief they have a shot at a championship every year, and it racks up great records, and that racks up playoff appearances. Players flock to a chance to be a winner. Sponsors like attaching themselves to it, Nationwide broadcasters like the viewership they give them. Nearly every baseball cap on earth outside of the United States is a Yankees cap.
My Plan B advice to the Blue Jays is straightforward: it’s time to up any offer prior to today to both Bichette and Bellinger, the killer Bs.
Lock them up, short or long. The Dodgers have to fear multiple teams. Make yourself one of them.
On other hand, if the Blue Jays need my advice, something not right…
The stats that l have read don’t scream superstar or worthy of $60 million per year.
Over and under for Dodgers wins is 93 ( that’s for their reserves)
Let’s just change MLB to MLBLA. And then all the other teams may as well just fold, close up shop and disband.
Then all us fans from the other teams can have the last laugh when the Dodgers ownership goes bankrupt because they are stuck paying all of the players they bought and have no money coming in anymore because there is no other teams to play.
Is there anyone that actually thinks this is good for the health of the sport as a whole?
Probably the Dodgers fans. But that is it.
There goes another $5 a month increase in the YouTube TV (or everyone else’s) streaming or cable subscription.
Thank you Dodgers!
Obviously you are much wiser than the Dodgers Front Office. Perhaps they should be seeking your advice before signing players.
I wonder how his Dodgers teammates that are better than Tucker feel about making a lot less money. I get that the players are pumped for having another decent player on their team but animosity about a teammate that makes way more than anyone except Ohtani and has done nothing yet. The games still have to be played and success is never guaranteed but baseball has a problem that needs shored up soon. MLB is happy with the Dodgers dominating but lack of competition is becoming a huge issue. I don’t believe Tucker moves the needle much. 60M per year for a decent player is not good for baseball.
Why not just engrave the Dodgers name on the WS trophy now. $60 million per year to play baseball.
Disagree.
Postseason is still largely a crapshoot.
However, the regular season is not. Record their name as the 2026 NL West Champion.
After that, we will see.
And FTR I applaud them and would be over the moon if it was my team.
Hate the game not the player.
Dodgers are ruining the sport. Period.
Except for the most exciting World Series in recent memory, perhaps ever. Expanding attendance across the league and almost every streaming platform in on televising baseball.
The top goal of MLB owners is to expand their viewership and profit margins. Dodgers had a good TWO-year run, but prior to 2024, they were much more of a joke and a choke than ruining baseball. Heck, if Dylan Cease can just win ONE of his two starts in the 2024 NLDS, Dave Roberts gets fired and we are not having this conversation.
@$370,370 per game (I mainly just want to add to the comment total).
If he opts out after 2027 its $478,395 per game.
Wow. Imoressive stuff. I wish the Red Sox would spend a little more and plug some of their infield holes.
Just move the three outfielders into the infield and there will be much smaller holes in the infield. Then construct a super high wall at the edge of the outfield grass. Easily solved problem. Heck, maybe even have 8 bases and five outs per inning.
Baseball just gets sillier and sillier.
LOL! When all the ‘Blame the Owners’ idiots are offering their one-cent worth next year during the lockout, remember that whatever the first day on 2027’s canceled schedule turns out to be, the lockout really started today when people woke up and saw this. Even though baseball has been a key element of my entire adult life, at this point I am #TeamShutItDown
Poor Toronto. They embarrassed themselves a bit going after Ohtani who was clearly out of their league, and even Soto, but they now can’t even compete for the B-listers if the Dodgers want them too.
Astros: I doubt Tucker is stupid enough to opt out at all. No other team is going to offer anything close to the Dodgers massive overpay.
Of course he isn’t getting $60M per year but he is 99% to get over $120M guarantee by accepting a long-term offer.
Well, at least the (fill in the blank) didn’t get him! Phew!!
Ah they’re spending like they know a strike is gonna happen. It makes sense now
Two choices 10 or 12 year deal with a much lower AAV where you overpay on the back end for three or four years you really do not want:
Cost $120 to $150 extra million.
Option Two: Overpay by $20 million per season for just FOUR PRIME years.
Dodgers are paying $80 million extra surcharge and he is gone before his decline.
They’re not hoping for four, they’re hoping for two.
Major League Baseball, it’s been fun. Peace out.
Oich
I like this for the MLBPA.
So the Dodgers can afford to spend as much on one player as other teams can for all 26?!!!!
Nothing wrong here.
Maybe the powers that be will realize taking the sport out of the sport makes it a lot less fun!
Not with all the income in gambling. Nobody cares anymore. It’s sad.
MAKE SPORTS BETTING ILLEGAL AGAIN
YOU. DON’T. HAVE. A. REAL. SPORT.
Which one is? Even college football sold out to paying players and is now a complete joke. Hockey maybe??
Quddich of course!
Hockey.
Football is a draft lottery away.
Maybe basketball but I don’t watch it.
Baseball is WWE with TTO. Kabuki.
This will probably further press for a salary cap, not even to diminish player earning power, but to punish teams that can gamble, with dead cap space etc.
That salary cap is on its way. It will be called the Tucker Cap. This is ridiculous. Makes you like baseball even less.
Anything short of a 40/40 season with a Batting Title and an MVP and a ring for the Clippers in his spare time, and it’s an overpay. I know the Mets beat them to it but the Dodgers are quickly headed that way. You can’t win with 20 stupid contracts.
If the Dodgers win the next 5 championships, then maybe there’s something to be said about how much money they spend. Until then, they’ve spent $3 billion on payroll in the last 10 years and quite frankly I would be embarrassed if I spent that much and only had 2 rings and Covid season to show for it. That’s it?…..
In the last 25 years the Yankees have spent 13 trillion dollars and have one championship. Ok, exaggeration. But WAY more than $3 billion.
2nd highest AAV ever for a player who was 50th in WAR last year btw
This should be your realization that FOs dont use WAR to make their player evaluations and subsequent contract offers. bWARs overweighing of DRS is silly and the stat is close to meaningless outside of giving the fan a rough idea of the players worth.
Well, there goes 2027 I guess :(.
With current taxes, the Dodgers will be paying ~120 million a year for Tucker.
That’s more than the current 2026 payrolls of 11 teams. It means non tax paying teams will get ~$3 million a year each from this contract alone.
perfect. just what baseball needs. 26 or so teams that have no chance to win. that should ensure a salary cap.
The game is broken.
Yep, the contract is ridiculous and now gives the players union, and especially Borass, a new number they need to eclipse or else they’re not getting their “fair share”.
Sports are broken, and as I age I could just care less about them. The team mentality of sports, especially baseball, has eroded into entitled babies who actually don’t care about winning.
You’ll see players laughing it up after losing a game or getting blown out and smacking opposing players on the butt while collecting their paycheck. Fans are suckers and just filling their pockets.
Pretty lame.
Absolute insanity. After witnessing his second half last year, I have no sour grapes about the Cubs letting Tucker walk (especially at this price tag). But, even in a vacuum, this type of spending is ridiculous. Kyle Tucker is a good, borderline great player. But paying him twice as much yearly (before tax penalties) as guys like Lindor and Trea Turner, and three times as much as Jose Ramirez and Matt Olson, is preposterous. And, yes, inflation is real, and the market constantly evolves, but this goes above and beyond any of those variables.
The contracts being handed out to great, but not the elite few, players is ridiculous. $60mil/yr for that? Seriously? The Dodgers have taken the George Steinbrenner model and put it on steroids.
It’s of course crazy money. But it’s also smarter money in the sense that its not long term money. A long term contract can cripple a team’s finances when the player, for whatever reason, can’t meet expectations. Tucker, as the article says, is not at the very top of the list of superstars. He’s not getting $400M (for those looking for some solace).. It’s an interesting deal possible only for an ultra-rich team–The Dodgers know what a long playoff run/World Series is worth in dollars. But it’s not an argument for a cap. It’s unreasonable to ask a player to accept what the lowest revenue team is willing to pay. We’d never accept it in our personal lives.
Hey Mets Fans. I’m sorry, but I can’t resist.
Does anyone see the smoke that Steve Cohen was talking about? I don’t see it. Do you?
O’s gonna beat the Dodgers in seven to take it all and break all your damn hearts!
Well after all they did need 7 games to win WS, so why not buy best player available at way over his worth compared to other top players. $57 mil AAV is half the salaries of some teams. One more nail in the coffin toward a lockout/ strike.
Go Dodgers! Three-peat this thing! Send us into this MLB lockout with that image!
And sorry, but the Tigers, Brewers, and Marlins need to just to their parts and trade Tarik, Freddy, and Sandy over the Dodgers now for prospects that are ‘site unseen’.
Go Dodgers! A three-peat will be good for baseball!
we all saw this coming, right?
I predict the lockout will last 3 years
Won’t last more than 25 games
Will be a good signing tor LA -but was terrible as the main guy for the cubs down the stretch last season-failed miserable in big games
$120m a year for their 15th best player. This has got to be some sort of money laundering scheme…
This is why MLB is terrible.
At $60 million AAV then I’m fine with him going to Dodgers, no way is that reasonable.
Might open the door for a Bichette return but even if not, we had a great building off season and given our depth in every position I think we’ll be competitive for AL East and WS again
But all the deck chairs have changed new stars in new leagues etc so it’ll be a slog to win again, and that’s what’s going to make it fun.
Ngl, I love this. This is kinda hilarious to me. I bet the Dodgers weren’t even in on Tucker until they realized his best offer was going to be a short term, high AAV. I think this is incredibly smart. And good for Tucker, as he gets up front money plus can retest the market after the new CBA is set.
I love it when Tucker was with the Astros. He made the final catch on a pop up from Nick Castellanos to finish the 2022 World Series. His left handed swing generates power. Realistic 30-30 guy you have.
Still don’t think he’s worth 60MM AAV. Best of luck to you in LA Kyle. I have your jersey from a promotion.
Tigers have no chance to extend Skubal. Might as well not even bother making any more offers.
The only way to deal with this is just stop negotiating with Scott Boras. Just don’t bother.
“Thank you for contacting us Scott about….FILL IN THE BLANK PLAYER…we will get back to you if we are interested. At this point, we are not.”
Tucker isn’t a Boras guy, if that’s what you are implying.
I know. But if anybody doesn’t think Boras’ approach is now the theme across the industry just rethink.
Now the agents are competing.
Teams are going to have to extend really early now the way the Tigers did with Colt Keith 2 years ago.
Ok… just feel the need to note a few things.
1) Last year Kyle Tucker was not even in the top 25 for WAR for hitters. He wasn’t even the top for the Cubs last year. According to fangraphs he was number 26 and number 3 respectfully.
2) A 120 million dollar investment in a single player… also according the fangraphs, 11 teams are projected to have a TEAM salary under 120 million. Also hilariously two of those teams were in the playoffs last year.
Look… I’m not screaming unfair. I’m not even suggesting it. I tend to come down on the side of the concept of free market. But this is ridiculous. Furthermore, yes… I believe it’s bad for baseball. We’re getting to a point where I’m betting for most fanbases, the playoffs won’t mean anything. There’s not going to be the excitement of can the Brewers or the Mariners finally capture the flag. There’s just the, well who’s facing the Dodgers…
Is there a solution? No clue. But clearly the luxury tax which was supposed to be the solution isn’t working. Maybe if it becomes a more exponential scale but even then…
One other thing to note… I have to wonder how many players who sign on with the Dodgers at this point will just be dismissed as cowards. Sure they’re taking the money, they have every right to. But where’s the glory in being part of a juggernaut? At this point I’d have more respect for a player who says they want to lead a franchise to victory… not just be a face in a crowd.
WAR legitimately does not matter and teams clearly do not use it for their player evaluations, as evident by every offseason. If it did, the player with the most WAR entering the offseason would get paid the most all the time. WAR, and especially bWAR, is wrongfully inflated by advanced defensive metrics that suck, like DRS. Thats why guys like Nick Punto will have more career WAR than Ryan Howard, despite Punto only hitting 19 HRs in 3700 PAs and posting a career OPS+ of 76. You should take WAR with the biggest grain of salt as elite talent evaluators in every FO that dish out millions of dollars to players are clearly ignoring it.
And to argue against myself: Ben Zobrist.
Yes, WAR does not tell the whole story but it does start making you look at everything else. Let me just ask this question… if you were to get a hundred objective baseball fans in a room and had them list out who they see at the top 100 players in the game, how high would Tucker rank? I’m not convinced Tucker would hit the top 10 for hitters.
For the record, I’m not saying he’s bad. He’s damn good and depending on your definition of elite he might fit the bill. But can anyone really say he’s worth a one year 120 million dollar investment based off of numbers alone?
Tucker is definitely not in the top ten for hitters, not even the top 25 or 30. He is definitely not elite.
I think Nick Punto (The horror…Oh…the horror) hit 1/2 his HR’s against the Tigers.
Him and Walt “No Neck” Williams haunt me.
They have to institute something that gives teams an incentive and advantage in keeping their star players they develop. Players deserve to get paid, but they need to have some type of max contract like the NBA, and limit how many mega contracts one team can have for these types of players. At least in the NFL and NBA, when players were proactively forming “super teams”, they were usually taking a discount/payout through restructuring to make it happen. This is just getting out of control, and I don’t know the perfect way to fix it, but other leagues have found ways to make a more level playing field.
I think baseball is the only sport exempt from anti-trust laws. There’s no incentive for either side to compromise.
Maybe some of us fans can convince Congress to repeal MLB’s anti-trust exemption. I don’t know if that will help. I’m usually laothe to involve government in anything.
They’re taxed at a 110% rate on spending above $304MM, so Tucker’s deal comes with a staggering $62.81MM tax hit in the first season. The Dodgers are essentially valuing Tucker’s 2026 season alone at $120MM. L.A. ended last season with a luxury tax payroll of $417MM, costing them another $169.4MM in taxes. Their tax bill alone was higher than the final payroll calculations of 12 teams. They’re trending towards a similar or potentially even greater amount in 2026 depending on what else they do this offseason and at the trade deadline.
Basically Tucker is costing Dodgers $120 million next year, that’s insanity, for a .270 hitter, and what do I know…
Where does the Dodger’s $169 million tax bill go? Divided among all the other 29 teams? To just the teams below the luxury tax?
I don’t know how many pay the tax. 4 or 5? That means, maybe, 25 teams get $8-9 million dollars? That barely moves the needle when Skubal, alone, is asking for a $22 million raise in arbitration.
GAMEN’S OVER !!!
MLB is broken. The doyers and their fans are literally a disease.
That is a lot of money to give to someone who regularly disappears in the playoffs. Over his last seven playoffs series he has hit .000, .143, .154, .154, .196, .250, and .273. That was one of the main reasons I’ve been hoping the Jays would sign Bo instead of Tucker. He’s only driven in seven runs over those seven playoff series as well. Five of those seven came in one game against Aaron Nola on a 91 mph fastball and an 86 mph change up
He also only has 3 career home runs against 97 plus fastballs (zero in the playoffs). The average fastball velocity in high leverage situations in the playoffs is 97.8. I think that’s part of the reason why he struggles so much in the playoffs. There’s a lot of elite relievers that can fire it in at high velocity. His ground ball rate in the playoffs is quite high?.
Yes. That’s the only time he’s ever hit a home run off of a fastball over 100 miles per hour.
Dodgers are desperate ! Soon their entire roster will be nothing but free agents and players from trades. There will be no one that they actually had in their system actually wear a Dodgers uniform except as a minor leaguer or in spring training, maybe.
Uh, what?
As if anyone will care where they came from after their 4th straight World Series win
Give the Dodger’s owners props for spending money. Obviously, they didn’t have to have him. But it gets harder and harder when you are trying to 3 peat. Spare me with all the crying and whining, it’s within the rules and it’s actually good to see ownership is willing to spend money instead of hoarding it. If all the teams did that…
why play the season-what a waste
I’m a lifelong Tiger fan, but live in DC so I go to a few Nats games and even up in Baltimore for a couple too. How do these teams get better if every player can just wait ’em out and sign with the Dodgers?
They have to find diamonds in the rough as 19 year olds, get them to the majors ASAP and hope they win by the time their service time is up and they can go FA.
Or trade all your homegrown stars for more prospects and hope to get lucky.
Or just hope all your average players have an above average season at the same time.
Dodgers could probably flip a couple of those prospects to Stl for Donovan so they could sit an All-Star on the bench for a couple years. It makes sense really with the aging stars to have the cheap insurance. I mean why not really?
so far word is STL’s price for Donovan is astronomical.
Dodgers Are Old! Really Old!
The 2001 D-Backs Comparison: The 2001 Diamondbacks are the gold standard for “old” champions. Their starting lineup did not feature a single player under the age of 31. The 2026 Dodgers are built similarly, with the notable exception of Andy Pages (25) and Kyle Tucker (29). Without those two, the Dodgers’ average would be a staggering 33.3.
• The Kyle Tucker Factor: Before the Tucker signing, the 2026 Dodgers were on pace to be the oldest lineup in modern history. By replacing the projected “placeholder” veterans in right field with a 29-year-old in his prime, the Dodgers actually lowered their average age curve slightly, though they remain significantly older than 90% of past champions.
• The 2025 Precedent: The fact that the Dodgers just won the 2025 World Series with an average age of 31.8 suggests that the front office has successfully identified “elite aging” stars—players like Freeman and Ohtani whose production doesn’t fall off the typical cliff.
The Risk: The “31.7” Curse
Historically, teams with an average age over 31 rarely repeat, not because of a lack of talent, but because of injury frequency. Since 2016, excluding the Dodgers’ current run, every champion has had at least two “core” starters under the age of 26 (e.g., 2016 Cubs with Bryant/Russell/Baez, or 2021 Braves with Riley/Albies). The 2026 Dodgers are essentially betting that their “Super-Vets” are physically superior to any generation that came before them.
Historically, it doesnt matter the age, repeating is vanishingly rare…
It’s sad that it is now down to 5 teams who can afford the big name free agents- Dodgers, 2 New York teams, Boston and Toronto. World Series titles are no longer feasible for 80% of the league. How is this good for the game?
Can’t fault a well run and well financed organization for doing their best with what’s allowed under the rules. But that also doesn’t mean the system isnt flawed that basically relegates several teams to being non-competetive simply as a result of creative financing. That’s not good longterm for the game. But MLB won’t change. They’ll make the money up top off the Dodgers and other teams and expand the playoffs to give other fan bases that competitive chance. But absolutely NO ONE anymore thinks of the best interest of baseball. MLB likes to mess with their product in all the wrong ways. Instead of being unique they want to be a more poorly run version of the NFL.
Dodgers pay the 110% penalty resulting in $264 million for the welfare owners to divvy up and spend poorly. And that’s just on Tucker’s deal.
Dodgers: Making lame owners rich AND look pathetic in one move.
He never wanted to be the guy, just a guy. He can now hide behind the big boys and if and when he stubs his toe and misses two months, the outcry will be smaller because LA will win regardless. Insane deal. No chance he’s worth more than Soto’s AAV. This is something only the Dodgers could do. They’ve needed another outfielder for a while, so this was always the most obvious move. They tried this with Harper back in the day to a similar extent as well (short term/ high AAV). What’s crazy about this is it even has my mets friends asking for a salary cap lol.
The dude couldn’t play up in Wrigley with that environment. Low pulse rate is ok. But he was morgue heading to science donation for the Cubs. And im not even a Cubs fan
What a crock.
Once again the Toronto fans have been used.
Why keep jerking the fans around?
Ultimately….who pays for the tickets and the hot dogs?
Bet this really ticks off Harper that he does not have an opt out. The danger of forcing these ultra- long contracts.
The dodgers and for that matter all of baseball must be questioning what’s the point of even having a regular season
The revenue
I feel old today. Remembered when everyone hated the Yankees for outspending everyone else. Yankees CBT number for 2026 is more than $100M LESS than the Dodgers.
However there is still some hope for the rest of us because there are production issues from key dodgers reaching mid to late 30s Hernandez, Muncie, betts and freeman!
The Dodgers are more over the luxury tax threshold than it takes to get to the threshold.
$414 million in 2026 CBT. $2.1 billion in total payroll on the books. Just pathetic.
How much does it cost to go to a Dodgers game? Brewers fan here. family of 4 is around 110-130$ depending on your seats.
Gets more money than anyone else, but doesn’t have the same quality as Judge or Soto or Ohtani? So, do bench players get 15 million a season now? There’s no way small market teams can compete if people like Tucker get around $60 million a year. Tucker seldom leads the league in anything, but he gets $60 million? If he led the league in numerous categories every year, Soto money could be expected, but he’s not even close to Soto, and much less than Judge or Ohtani.
Unless there’s some magic elixir being passed around in the Dodger clubhouse, I can’t see Tucker earning this contract at +\- 110 games/year. Not to mention how expensive those choppers to first are going to look come September when he’s coming off a dl stint and can’t get back into gear. Personality-wise he’s a perfect fit for the Dodgers, though.
Probably not a popular viewpoint, but…
It’s not really CLE, TB, OAK, etc that suffer because of signings like this, but teams like PHI, SF, etc that have money to spend but no longer have the free agents available to put them over the Dodgers on the field. Those teams get caught in limbo/ needing to overpay leading to unhappy fanbases and business models that don’t allow the flexiblility to adapt to markets every year.
Let’s hope for a multiyear lockout…
If Major League Baseball is locked out for an entire season, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ revenue would be drastically impacted, resulting in minimal, if any, generation from baseball-related operations. The team would likely generate zero game-day revenue, lose significant media and sponsorship revenue, but still incur substantial costs from guaranteed contracts.
And yet they’re still the team best able to deal with a lockout financially
No players get paid during a lockout. Zero. Nada. Zip.
In other news the San Diego Padres signed Nick Solak
Padres ruining baseball.
Rockies snagged Willie Castro….AND….Michael Lorenzen!!!!
Rockies are ruining baseball.
Bivouac-Sal is ruining baseball.
My pleasure. Thanks.
enjoy 2026… gonna be the last season of MLB for a couple of years – this seals the deal on a lockout
I have mused on whether this was the plan all along, that LA is acting on behalf of the rest of the owners to create a situation that will force a lockout and that the bulk of fans will be in favor of it.
lol
@28rings
Right.
There is so much money being made by owners and players there is zero chance of a lengthy lockout much less a multi year lockout.
Nah. It is so difficult for some owners to make money and/or compete they will happily sit time out to improve their lot. They only need 8 of 30 owners.
I did not say no lockout.
I said no lengthy lockout and certainly not a multi year lockout. We’ve been through this drama before.
A week ? A month ? What’s lengthy ?
It’ll be less than 30 games, most likely
Who is caving in so easily ?
The haves or the have nots ?
@Fopp
I dunno. I don’t think the season will be jeopardized. But I can’t give you a number. I’m an optimist.
Me either, but I want to know who is landing where on the issue. Hope that comes out as we move along. Fascinating stuff.
Folks need to be discussing who a possible 8 dissenters might be.
the worst part of this is that the dodgers are making it even less likely that the teams that aren’t spending ever will.The Rockies could add $150+ mil to next years payroll and still finish 3rd or 4th.
Why would they now if they wouldn’t before?
They wouldn’t
This is why we need a Cap and a Floor
A cap helps only the owners. Ain’t happening.
You conveniently left out the part about the Floor.
No one is suggesting just a Cap
Floor, cap: neither.
I can see bigger tax penalties, I can see increased revenue sharing for wealthy teams (though I can’t imagine they will open their books). But a cap/floor, very unlikely despite all the moaning that goes on here.
It might if the owners committed to opening the books and guaranteeing the players get 50:50 split. I highly doubt that would happen unless Congress withdrew MLB’s anti-trust exemption.
We don’t need a cap, just a MUCH higher penalty for overspending.
Anyone suspect collusion between LA and the rest of the league? LA is creating a situation where the fans will WANT A LOCKOUT and a salary cap. The very thing the owners and league wants. The Dodgers actions are rallying the vast bulk of fans to the owners side as they too want a salary cap now.
Hank:
There is a sale on tinfoil hats at Costco.
You’re joking right?
Dodgers finally have an ownership that will spend money unlike McCourt and Fox and you guys are crying tears of jealousy. The Dodgers are developing players and spending money on free agents. Dodgers spend money on scouting and development.
I hope the Dodgers rattle off 10 WS in a row.
This is getting ridiculous. Isn’t the Cardinals roster down to $60 million total?? Smh.
All yours Dodgers! 60million a year for this guy cmon!
Imagine what true past superstars would have gotten in today’s money! What a joke
Dodgers will have him for only 2 years. Prospect outfielders will replace him and Dodgers will be younger
All this money but owners cant pay for their own stadiums? Wild
Don’t tell us baseball isn’t broken.
OK
And right now, there is nothing that can fix it without some sort of salary cap. The players union says it will not agree to any kind of cap, but in MLB the future of their league could keep going as his and create impair able damage to the financial status of MLB. The rating for baseball is not great as is, that is why MLB is giving out TV contract to more than just ESPN, they have to find other revenue or raise ticket prices to the point where attendance starts dropping off and viewership and interest starts declining. Maybe they need a work stoppage in 2027, just to get this payroll crap fixed once and for all.
This shows exactly why a salary cap is badly needed. How do smaller markets even think to compete.
60mil a year cmon! Plus the huge tax hit. Ridiculous
MLB doesn’t need a salary cap, just a much higher luxury tax. Quadruple the luxury tax, and the Dodgers wouldn’t be just throwing money at players. That’s what they did with Tucker: it’s a massive overpay.
Quadrupling the luxury tax would prevent 28 teams from even attempting to keep up.
But sure…..
Tucker will play two years with the Dodgers and then opt out and become a free agent again. The Dodgers purposely offered a short contract in years, because they have four outfielder prospects who should be ready by the time Tucker opts out. A few other contracts will be up and Teo will be gone. Money off the books and the Dodgers team will be younger.
Dodgerfan: Why would he opt out? Are the optouts for player and team? If the team has an optout after 2 years it would make better sense to me. I might have missed that in my initial shock.
Look at Bregman. He walked away from two 40 mill years with Boston then signed a big deal with the Cubs
I get your point but there’s a really big difference between 40M and 60M. Why would he opt out of one of the most ridiculous contracts ever. No team will pay him anywhere near 60M if he opts out. Tucker went from a quiet and aloof player to a player that has a target on his back now.I would love to be in his shoes, while hating to be in his shoes.
We’ll see. I don’t say he will opt out. But we don’t know the future lay of the land. We do know there will be a paucity of big name OFers next free agent season. He might look to lock in his forseeable baseball future while still 30.
Glad the Jay’s didn’t get. Great player, but not at that price.
We are all glad the Jays didn’t get him.
More proof why there should be a salary cap in MLB.
The proof would be the other leagues if your goal is to flatten the playing field a bit. I am not a fan of telling businesses what to do with their money though. So, no hard cap. Some ownerships are inept in all sports but barring league meddling towards the teams that bring bigger revenues for the league, there is a better chance for smaller market teams to compete in other sports with real caps. I just can’t back forcing teams not to make the best team possible for their fans when they are capable and willing.
Listen, the reality is that half the teams are basically eliminated already. it takes a lot of luck for a small market team to gather enough home-grown talent, and land enough gambles in trades and reclamation projects to make a winner.
It is possible for small market teams to catch lightning in a bottle for a few short years, but it is a fact that a small market team, if it does build that talent pool, cannot keep it. They simply cannot afford to sign this level of talent we are seeing signed to astronomical amounts or even resign and keep their own players if they happen to reach that level. We talk about these mega contracts all the time from larger markets, but the truth is, it is the loss of those talents from the smaller teams that creates the stark imbalance.
There have been a few runs by small market teams, bordering on potential dynasties I have seen ended. The 70’s Reds, Oakland several times, the Expos had an all-star filled team that nearly ended up being a huge chunk of the actual all-star games for every other team in the mid to late 90’s, and many fans here can point to their Twins, Royals, etc not being able to hold on to their core players because of nothing other than the financial realities they face.
Did you know that with this Tucker signing the Dodgers have now 9 players being under contract making 9 figures.
Did you know that the Dodgers have now a 2026 payroll that exceeds 356 million dollars.
Did you know that with the payroll they have right now they will be paying an additional payroll tax at over 440 million dollars.
Now you know why MLB will be having a total work stoppage for the 2027 season, MLB have clauses in there 2027 season for their TV contracts that will not hurt the networks or MLB. The pressure will be on the Players Union to make some concessions when it comes to payroll that MLB wants. If not, MLB cannot go on like this, something has to give.
I agree. Something needs to stop this runaway train and in a hurry!
Must be nice to buy whatever you want, whenever you want.
Sometimes you just need a reminder that professional sports is a fantasy land where logic and reason just don’t apply.
I love baseball, but I can’t stand what MLB has become…
The financial dominance of the dodgers is not good for the game. A salary cap and revenue sharing must happen so there is real competition. The NFL is the model to follow.
I agree. Works well with the NFL and NHL
Totally agree, what is wrong with what the NFL has right now, good competitive balance throughout the league. The NFL model is the way to go, not the trash the MLB has right now one team in a major market out spends the rest of the league twice over. Parody is the way to go, any team having a legitimate shot at a payroll that makes it even for everyone.
Revenue is the goal, not parity. Parity is a fan perspective. As long as revenue is up, and it is, all they’ll do is reconfigure the CBT with some adjustments on drafts.
Starting to dislike the Dodgers the rich only get richer, the Yankees of the west coast. This looks in becoming a dynasty When will we see some parity in baseball?
Good for them. Too many owners who do not reinvest in the team. The cheap owners should be embarrassed to have payroll under 150 mil
I don’t think you know what you’re talking about.
The other thing is the Dodgers have top minor league prospects who they can allow to ripen on the vine while other teams take longer to develope if at all.
And with 9 players making 9 figure contracts how many of those top minor league prospects will the Dodgers be able to put on their 26-man roster in 2026..
All of that deferred money is going to hit the Dodgers eventually.
Doesn’t work that way, kid.
Enjoy it while you can Dodger fans, because history always repeats itself except you are going to have a HUGE bill due when most teams reset. Even the Yankees have never went down the path of deferring that amount of money. Deferred money isn’t tradable, so you get a bad contract you’re stuck with it.
Deferrals are paid the same as regular contracts, just into a different account. There is no reckoning coming. It’s already accounted for and paid.
@Dropped
Don’t confuse economic dummies with facts please
My bad
I guarantee in this next cba which is why a lock out is coming, a salary cap and no more differed money will be in it
I think MLB needs a re-alignment. This year the World Series should just be the Dodgers against a team made up of the best players from everyone else.
Honestly, at this point, I’m rooting for the lockout.
Good idea. Take your ball and go home.
From bankrupt to ruin baseball in less than 15 years. I guess the team that is raising teams franchises values is the one to blame.
It’s an overpaid for sure and Im not sure they had to go that high, but the window is wide open and its going to be harder every time.
Players must be happy, they are getting the $ but not the length they want.
This happened in the 90’s with the Yanks. As much as I do not like the Dodgers getting all the players, it is the players who in the end decide where they go. If a team has a lot of money or they do not, that does not mean a championship. If they can afford it, I do not blame them for trying to buy every player they can to help them win that. Do not just fault the owners, it is the players as well.
Yankees in the late 90s had developed players like Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera or they traded for many of the other key players like Paul O’Neill, Tino Martinez, Scott Brosius, Chuck Knoblauch
Exile, I agree, but I am stating that money is there and the Yankees in the day had the cash just like the Dodgers who also have a good farm system. People thought the same thing about the Yanks.
To keep the sport entertaining and make it worth watching mlb needs to do some about the massive disparity been the wealthiest teams and the poorest.
“Bichette wouldn’t be a great fit for the Mets ….”
Apparently Stearns/Cohen disagree.
Does anyone thing Dave Roberts changes his number for Kyle Tucker? Or will Tucker have a new number?
I very much doubt Doc is changing his number. My guess is Tucker takes 33 since Diaz took 3 (Tuck’s first #).
I don’t think pitchers should be allowed to have single digit numbers. It just doesn’t look right. Certain numbers don’t fit for a pitcher. 25 is another one that should go to the big slugger on the team.
Probably a weird thing with I have a issue with.
Someone here will argue with you over it.
The question is, are Dodgers fans happy, or disappointed they did not get both Tucker and Bichette? Wow. Glad to hear this in a way, now there is almost no reason to follow baseball until they go on strike. Or after for that matter. Dodgers ruining competitive balance in the sport.
Baseball needs: a salary cap, a salary floor, a date by which free agents have to sign, no more deferrals and contracts, and one less team in the Wild card for playoffs.
So lemme get this straight……. .266, 22 hr, 73 rbi, and 133 hits gets 60 million dollars a year……..?🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️🤔🤔🤔🤔. Um. Yeah mlb has a big problem. If that amount of production gets that much money than what does ab actual star player get? Cause i would be willing to bet kyle tucker doesn’t even sniff the HOF when he calls it a career. I mean hes an above average player, but he ain’t great
So you’re happy that the Dodgers are wasting their money so that your team can deploy its resources more efficiently. Got it.
Oh for crying out loud!
It’s kind of interesting–and, for me, vindicating–that a lot of the Cubs media–Brett Taylor, Evan Altman, others–are writing things about Tucker that are very much like what I wrote all season. Now that he is outta town, they seem to finally have the guts to point out his lack of energy and commitment, his aloofness, his discomfort with being expected to perform at star level (because he can’t), his disregard for his teammates, his overall weird affect. I saw all that almost from the start–not because I’m a genius, I’m not, but because I have been watching baseball a long time and know a lot about it, and because I have been watching PEOPLE for a long time,and know a lot about them. I could tell there was something off about Tucker from the start, and now others are agreeing.
How some of you raked me over the coals for revealing the nudity of the emperor! But I don’t want your apologies. I just hope you have learned something from the whole Tucker disaster. Life is not about being perfect; life is about getting better. Carry on, kids.
It wasn’t lost on me from the jump either.
So…Skubal IS getting traded to the Dodgers.
Am I the only Dodger fan (50 + years) who is not enjoying this? Buying championships just seems wrong. I didn’t like it with the Yankees either. Not to mention the fact that the affordability to watch the game in person in a decent seat is ridiculous. Same thing I felt when the Olympics allowed pros. I understand all the “whys”, I just don’t agree with it. Even playing fields make for better competition IMO.
I have never had so much fun.
(Been a Dodger fan since the 50’s)
No, the fun part will come for all us non-Dodgers fans when baseball ends in 2027.
Such an intelligent comment.
I’m officially done with MLB. I will never watch another game or go to the park. You might as well make it a 10 team league because they could care less about the vast majority of their smaller cities. It’s basically unwatchable anyway. Just strikeouts, homers, walks, and hardly anyone hitting above .250. Seriously who the hell outside of NY LA CHI and a few other scattered places even cares or has a chance. If you like watching paint dry, you’ll love NASCAR and MLB!
Hey, don’t dawg in NASCAR like that! Lol
Unless the Dodgers get Skubal their offseason will be viewed as a failure by most of their fanbase., LOL. Decent chance they’ll get him too, we’ll see.
Friedman learned how to really build a team with constraints when he was with Tampa Bay. He has now learned how to buy a team without constraints with the Dodgers. Lots of hard work with Tampa Bay. But not so with the Dodgers.
Like h=ll.
MLB is killing itself , so sorry for those fan of small market’s team. It’s not worthy to watch any upcoming season’s games untill they make a hard salary cap like NBA and NFL.
MLB isn’t doing a very good job of it since viewership and revenue are up.
Remember when previous dodgers ownership couldn’t afford to pay player salaries? Man, it feels good to see poverty franchises win sometimes. Good on you, Dodgers!
The McCourt Divorce Case Discovery and Depositions revealed that the McCourts were using the substantial Dodgers yearly revenues
as their own personal ATM machine and not spending Dodger team funds and profts on the actual Dodgers team.
The rise of Hedge Funds and Investment banks owning MLB teams
is turning MLB into a 2 or 3 or 4 tiered spending league.
Next up, the fans in smaller markets could bail out on their MLB teams seeing their home teams” with no chance of competing for and winning championships and those fans decide to shift their entertainment dollars
to other options.,
Teams start filing for bankruptcy and the entire present MLB spending system implodes.
Gayest thing you’ll see all day. FTD!
From other Sports Outlets: Vast Majority of MLB Owners are furious!
They say they will do whatever it takes to get a salary cap in MLB.
It takes only 8 MLB owner votes to block any labor settlement,
Enjoy the 2026 MLB Season!
2027 Season is likely gone and maybe 2028 too!
There is always Minor League baseball to watch!
Wait until the other shoe drops:
Skubal will be traded to either the Mets or the Dodgers.
If it is the Dodgers, then the MLB Owners Earthquake will
be substantial.
Los Angeles Oligarchs
Still do not like the dodgers. In bred from being a giants fan when I was 10. They sure do have money and they sure do have a grate front office.
Falafel just had to run through home base, or slide head first, or get a proper lead off of third. Baseball is like world wrestling. It’s scripted. Therefore, you have the gifted World Series, from the blue jays to the dodgers. When it’s your team who cares. Remember sho lie ohtani.