The Dodgers held a press conference yesterday to officially introduce recent signee Kyle Tucker. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman spoke to the media and downplayed the possibility of anything else really notable happening in the remainder of the offseason. As relayed by reporters such as Jack Harris of The California Post and Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, he said the roster “feels pretty set” and that no further “seismic” moves are forthcoming. When asked if they are in the market for starting pitching, he said “We are not.”
It’s always possible that Friedman could be withholding information for the purposes of negotiating with other clubs or free agent players, as front office executives are known to play loose with the truth from time to time. For a Dodgers-specific example, about a year ago, general manager Brandon Gomes downplayed the possibility of a Gavin Lux trade after the club signed Hyeseong Kim. Lux was traded to the Reds three days later.
But it also wouldn’t be a shock if the Dodgers were indeed done with major moves at this point. The roster was already really good, as they just won the World Series. Most of that roster is still intact, as none of the core guys reached free agency at season’s end. They have already made two major upgrades by adding Edwin Díaz to the bullpen and Tucker to the outfield. They have few weak points, if they have any at all.
Looking at the rotation specifically, there’s plenty of talent on paper. They have Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki and Emmet Sheehan as the likely top six names on the chart at the moment.
The argument for adding would be related to the uncertainty in that group. Yamamoto was the only one of those six to eclipse 91 innings pitched in the regular season last year. Ohtani didn’t pitch in 2024 while recovering from UCL surgery, then he underwent surgery on his non-throwing shoulder at the end of that season. Sheehan underwent Tommy John surgery in 2024. Both returned to the mound in June of 2025. Snell, Glasnow and Sasaki have notable injury histories and missed time due to shoulder troubles last year.
Given the question marks in there, it could be compelling to add. The Dodgers were connected to Freddy Peralta earlier this month and were reportedly still engaged as of two days ago. He’s no longer an option for the Dodgers, however, as the Brewers traded him to the Mets last night. For the record, Friedman’s comments were made before that trade went down. Even with Peralta off the board, free agency still has Framber Valdez, Zac Gallen and others. MacKenzie Gore is one of a few theoretical trade candidates potentially still available.
Hoping for all their projected starters to stay healthy would be a risky move for the Dodgers but their depth should be better than last year. River Ryan and Kyle Hurt both underwent Tommy John surgery 2024, Ryan in August and Hurt in July. Gavin Stone missed 2025 due to shoulder surgery. Those three should be better positioned health wise going into 2026. They all have options and could be in the Triple-A rotation alongside guys like Justin Wrobleski and Landon Knack.
If Friedman is being genuine and plans to hold with the incumbent group of starters, that would be defensible since the group has the chance to be healthier than in 2025. So many of these guys were recovering from surgery for at least part of the 2025 season but those procedures are all now a bit further in the rear-view. On the other hand, new injuries are inevitable, so adding some depth via minor moves could be in order.
Photo courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio, Imagn Images
LMAO
Are the Dodgers re-signing Kike Hernandez ? I know that they were interested in a reunion, but does it change now after signing Tucker.
He’s recovering from surgery, so there wasn’t a need to sign him and take up a 40 man roster spot, since there’s no 60 day interested list until spring training.
Haha I just made a new baseball list.
The 60 day interested list.
Despite what Friedman says, I think the Dodgers feel “Why should any other team have Framber. We want him and we’ll pay him as much as he wants and defer half of it.”
Yes, seriously what could go wrong?!?!?!?!?
“There are only so many All-Stars that I can stash in AAA, so for the moment I think that we are done here”.
Let’s Go Dodgers!!!
For 700M I sure AF would hope so.
412 mill. They deferred money and lowered their tax bill.
come on man
The players and their agents deferred money.
Which dodgers agreed to and dodgers are the ones responsible for putting deferred money into the escrow account
The benefit from the dodgers perspective is deferred money lowers their tax bill. The dodgers wouldn’t agree to deferred money unless it benefitted them in some way shape or form.
Nonsense.
Do contracts without deferrals have higher lower or same aav?
Hint: “ 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.” MLBTR writer Anthony Franco
It still should count as 70M and I suspect it will after this season.
No it shouldn’t and it won’t. If I pay you $100K in 2035 that’s not the same as me paying you $100K now. Ohtani’s would not have gotten a straight 10/700 w/o deferrals.
When you are getting around a luxury tax, and we all know that’s what it is, it absolutely should.
A 10 year 700 mill contract should count as a 10 year 700 mill contract
There’s really 3 options here going forward
1. Salary cap salary and floor
2. Ban deferrals
3. Cap deferrals at like 10% of 1st cbt threshold per year
No it shouldn’t, and no it won’t.
Without deferrals it’s a 10 year 460, or 46 mill per season like the CBT accounts for. 1. There won’t be a salary cap. The owners will push for it, and won’t get it. 2. I don’t know why anybody cares when a player wants his money, and 3. Do you want to ban deferrals or cap them? Make up your mind, but that won’t happen either.
I think you’re wrong, and the owners are set on a cap, and fan sentiment will be on their side this time, thanks to the Dodgers obscene spending. But we’ll see 🙂
Without deferrals it’s a 10 year 700 mill contract with a 70 aav
With deferrals it’s 10 years 460 mill with a 46 aav
Future value depreciates the current value since money is worth less in the future
1. There will some kind of restrictions made to ensure no team can outspend others by deferring 2.2 billion dollars, lower their payroll obligations from 700 million to 411 million for tax purposes, and deferring nearly 100 million a year which in 2026 SEVENTEEN teams payroll is somewhere between 50% to 100% of money deferred by the dodgers
2. The restriction made will either implement a salary cap and floor, ban deferrals, or put massive restrictions on deferrals. Issue isn’t when players get their money issue is 1 team using tax loopholes to avoid the luxury tax penalties already in place and that maybe 5 teams can actually defer as much as the dodgers out of a 30 team league. You think Pirates can resign Paul Skenes seeing that they just gave Tucker close to 60 mill aav? No and that’s a problem when other teams know they can’t compete in resigning their own players. We watched the Brewers trade Corbin Burnes and now Freddy Peralta cause they had no shot competing for their services on the open market.
See when you miss on bad contracts it’s suppose to impact you negatively. Happens in NFL happens in NBA. Happens in NHL. MLB is the only place where you can spend to get out from under a bad contract and only if you’re a select few teams. Rays Athletics sign a Tanner Scott and miss it messes up payroll significantly. Dbacks signings and losing
Corbin Burnes significantly hurt their spending elsewhere.
3. Idc one way or the other but unlimited deferrals is a major issue that will destroy baseball same way it will destroy college football in NIL money. Restrictions are needed no matter how you slice it
Most fans are dumb. Who cares what they want? It’s not keeping them from watching. Baseballs viewership is as high as it’s been in years, revenues are up, and the sport is making money. The owners that want a cap are probably the same owners that are collecting CBT money, so they’ll cave, like they always do.
Super Bowl 127 mill viewers
College football playoffs averaged more than mlb playoffs
Men’s basketball finals drew more viewers
The mlb finishes 4th in viewership
You’re losing to college sports
Dropped.. I’m not losing to anything, besides grey hair.
Ohtani specifically wanted to defer the majority of his money for a few reasons.
The Dodgers, being smart people, agreed to his request.
If he would have signed with Toronto after getting off the plane, he would likely have offered them the same deal.
Why
Funny! The Mets spend more than the Dodgers and no one says a word. The Blue Jays are right with the Dodgers in spending and no one says a word. The Dodgers really needing an outfielder get Tucker and one would think a portal to Hell opened in Los Angeles.
But you’re not really. The present value of the money counts against the tax because $ due in a decade isn’t worth the same as $ due today.
Except if the $ is being paid many years in the future it’s not worth $700m today.
AF are his initials, which is awesome.
When you least expect it, EXPECT IT.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER
Framber Valdez signing in 3… 2…. 1…
I actually doubt a major move like that will happen but re-signing Hernandez still seems likely as if not, they would have told him as a courtesy.
I don’t think they’ll actually sign Framber but it would be the funniest thing that could happen after this headline.
There a reason he hasn’t signed yet.
Yeah, his pen is out of ink.
Meow
It is Skubal or nothing
Dodgers don’t play in anything but the shallow end or the deep end for free agents. Framber is smack dab in the middle AND comes with huge clubhouse issues. The dodgers will not sign him.
They have worked diligently to vet possibly trade or free agent targets on all levels. Clubhouse culture is very high on their list of priorities.
Another reason it’s a destination team for players with choices.
The Dodgers have also increased their vetting after a disaster-contract named Trevor Bauer.
And Julio Urías.
Once Trevor was cleared, the clubhouse didn’t want him around. Neither did the players significant others.
And of course it’s bad for business regardless of the above.
It also highlights Kike’s importance to the team. He knows the gig, and is the “wild” guy to keep things loose. But within reason.
Dodgers need their catcher healthy more than they need Frambo.
That cracked me up. Thank you for the laugh — I needed it!
Which part? I’m working on my new routine for the upcoming shows.
@Another Dodgers fan. Best response to directed sarcasm I have seen in a long time.
*bows* Thank you.
People use the Dodgers as an example for competitive balance arguments, I use the best team in the NL trading their best pitcher. Teams like the Brewers are just as much a part of the problem as the Dodgers. So embarrassing to trade Peralta coming off that season.
@changed
It’s because they know they have no hopes to extend him. Why is it hard for you understand that? I’m sure they’d prefer to keep him from 2026 and beyond.
We don’t know if they tried or not. But what’s the difference if they can’t match what he’ll get on the open market?
Or the Brewers could just sign Peralta as a free agent at the end of this season, if he turns in another season like 2025, guessing 7-8 years and north of $240M.
But they won’t, because that’s just not what Brewers do with pitching at least not since Jim Slaton.
Woodruff will replace Peralta atop the rotation, Misiorowski and Sproat will develop, Priester and Patrick will fill out the rotation and the Brewers will once again win 90+ games and make the playoffs just like they did when Burnes was gone.
Jett will be their SS over Ortiz before the season ends.
Brewers scout well, develop well and win pretty consistently.
For all those jumping on the Mets won the trade bandwagon, give it some time.
The only thing embarrassing are fans who don’t understand the rigor and discipline it takes for teams like the Brewers to achieve the best record in the NL.
Trades like these ensure the Brewers will stay at the top and have a chance to get lucky against the Dodgers.
The truly mystifying thing is why anybody thinks it is an actual accomplishment when the Dodgers win. Does Andrew Friedman’s head hit the pillow every night thinking, “Wow, I really outsmarted the league today…what a bright fellow I am.”
I admired him a heckuva lot more when he ran the Rays. But evidently he can do without the league’s respect given his own payday. Deal with the devil and all…
and yet they also have the top or one of the top 3 farm systems in baseball again, despite often picking near the bottom of each round or losing top picks. And it’s not because they throw money around there, national and international scouting $ is limited. They have invested smartly in great people and scouts who draft and sign well, and develop players as well as anyone in baseball. That’s not because of their vast TV fortune and the like. There are also quite a few huge payroll teams who have not been succeeding, so if it’s all about just spending a ton of $ why aren’t they also winning every year. Assuming Friedman and Gomes and their staff are just lazy and lucky ONLY because of how much money the franchise has is a tired take; he still has to be clever about it.
Go ahead and comfort yourself “underdog,” I mean, it’s not like the best development people and the best scouts go to the place that can pay the most, right? And make sure they stay “loyal”?
Mets became a better team in 2026 with the trade, Brewers became a better team in 2027 and beyond. It’s a smart move for Milwaukee. Not ’embarrassing’ at all.
I’m a Dodgers fan but I love watching the Brewers. They lost their GM,, manager, Burnes, Williams, lost Woodruff to injury and they keep winning the division and had the best record in the NL last year. If they’d have kept playing the way they did in the first 2 games against the Cubs, I thought they’d beat the Dodgers.
The Brewers are lucky they’re in the baseball business because in most businesses under capitalism, deliberately not trying that hard to get better and unloading your most talented assets for cheap is going to destroy your business because you’re not subsidized if you fail
Never occurred to you how the Brewers are even in that position, I guess.
Jeez…fans.
SURELY those guys can find a way acquire and spend more!
Of course they can, and don’t call me Shirley.
Do you like $700m movies about gladiators?
This is news? pretty set huh? Not trading for Skubal and Peralta then? what a terrible offseason
I suspect that were Skubal to come available after his hearing, this would be the exception
Friedman says the roster ‘feels pretty set.’ Makes sense, the payroll is already set too. They don’t have a year without deferrals until at least 2046.
Maybe between now and than the Padres will win their 1st WS.
If so, that’ll be a nice lesson in economics for baseball. Fingers crossed, my friend!
Padres had 8th highest payroll last year. What lesson in economics are you referring to?
AJ Preller should sit in on that. How are those Boegarts and Darvish contracts working out for you ? Machado for another seven years at $39 Million AAV after this season ?? Sound investment boys. Age 34-40 are most players prime years!! Clear some space for those banners!
Bet they wish they had thought about deferrals before signing them.
I bet they thought more about signing them before they signed them.
Haha, fair points. It is hard to argue with back-to-back rings. Still, it will be interesting to see how that financial juggling act looks in the long run. With all those deferrals and big extensions coming due, even Friedman might need a spreadsheet for his spreadsheets.
It is a fun era for Dodgers fans, for sure.
It’s definitely a fun era. But it’s one I don’t take for granted. Putting the best team on paper together doesn’t mean a world series win.
How many times did the Dodgers win the West only to be the butt of jokes when they couldn’t win? It happens. The games still have to be played.
You don’t say!
Geez you think Andrew. Are we finally getting a break?😂😂
Let’s go Andrew!
Ruin baseball some more!
I want Framber too!
I farted.
Huh huh. Cool!
He will not and should not be a dodger. They don’t sign personality question marks ever since the Bauer incident
April Fools day came early this year
Okay. Got it.
LAD said they’re set, but maybe not, because GMs can’t be trusted.
Hey good story.
That guy isn’t interested in your girl…
They need at least 2 starters and 3 more bats w/ outstanding slug
GluttonyMaxxing
Don’t believe him for a minute still have another 100 million to spend
It’s a good point.
Friedman says they’re pretty much done? Well, that cinches it: They’re signing Valdez!
This is just rage bait at this point.
No season in 2027
Salary cap in 2028
I will take that, but I would expect one side to cave before they forgo an entire season of revenue.
That side would be the owners.
Not really rage bait as much as taking a pragmatic viewpoint. I really don’t think the 27 season is happening unless the other 28 owners receive outrageous revenue sharing increases from the doyers and mets.
I just don’t see a hard “cap” being imposed because the doyers will claim to be prejudiced by their many deferrments in future years. Instead, there will ultimately be a hard salary floor with loss of revenue sharing and/or draft picks automatically imposed for failure to meet that threshold, rather than the current mlbpa grievance process.
@SD_SF_DET
Why would MLB risk losing the $12B+ they earned in 2024 (2025 unknown yet) for a squabble? Organizations will also stagnate their own ever-increasing valuations. This doom-and-gloom take by some for the 2027 season is quite amusing. There is too much money involved to miss games and revenue.
Correct YBC.
I think the cap and revenue sharing issues are even greater now than they were in 94, which also resulted in a lost season. Regarding revenue sharing, the regional network bankruptcies cost a lot of mid market teams a lot of money when their braodcasts went under mlb control, and there are a select few teams with their own networks that provide little to no revenue sharing value to other teams because the networks are under different legal entities.
Bottom line is the upcoming cba negotiation is not a simple 1 or 2 item agenda. I certainly hope both sides get their acts together so we have baseball in 27, but it’s too complex and unsettled at this point
Well I chose to be optimistic about it. I think there are too many people making too much money to throw away an entire season. They’ll play “who blinks first” and get back on the field like they did for the 21-22 lockout.
Here’s hoping, Rickey!
YBC,
No one really understands that owners value team valuations more than profits.
At least the smart ones do. The dumb ones worry about $100m when they could do things to name their franchise with hundreds of millions more valuable. Saving nickels and losing dollars.
@SD_SF_DET
The point is everyone wants a bigger piece of the MLB revenue pie. That pie grows larger in size every year. Neither side wants to oven burn and destroy that pie because they’re refusing to share.
The next CBA isn’t the end-all, be-all. The Bob Nuttings of baseball ownership may not always be profitable as they claim but their team valuations continue to increase year-over-year.
@ADF
I don’t blame some of the fans because it’s a sensitive, tone-deaf topic no owners will ever address publicly.
to your point YBC,
the two most recent franchise sales were Tampa 1.7 Billion and Baltimore. 1.75 Billion.
Small markets.
You worked really hard at that, Andrew. Take a load off babe.
Pretty set? Cy young and Babe Ruth might be out there.
In the 2030’s when they are paying the bulk of the money, will that money count against their CBT for say 2033 when Ohtani is making like 70M?
James, the deferred money will not count against their CBT in 2033 because it’s already accounted for now, at the present value. Under the formula agreed to in the collective bargaining agreement, the current value of Ohtani’s $700 million dollar contract is roughly $460 million, so the Dodgers CBT hit on that is about $46 million per year for the 10 years of Ohtani’s contract.
So it will just go against the “payroll” for 2033?
No, the deferred money paid out from escrow will not count towards team payroll.
Why isn’t everyone doing this?
They are.
This is the correct line of questioning.
The Dodgers have maximized the rule book to their advantage under the current CBA. Why others haven’t might be old dogs and new tricks thinking.
Everyone is focused on the revenue and payroll, and both are larger than most teams.
But the actual goal is to raise the teams franchise value. Current ownership night the team for $2.15b. and as of March 2025, was worth $7.73 billion.
So while everyone is focused on the Dodgers ruining baseball with payroll, everything they do is paying for itself many times over.
$5.5 billion gained in franchise value. Unlocking new revenue streams. And paying players top dollar contributes to the value.
When winning and going all in is a large part of your long term business plan, it’s nice for their fans.
You don’t say?!
But I heard someone say that Mets lineup was now the best in baseball.
Dodgers might need to do something.
You think so?
WHAT A HOOT. That is too funny, who else could they add ?
Absolute joke of an organization. If they win no one cares but the dodgers “fans” and everyone thinks well no kidding they are supposed to win. if they lose its an even bigger joke. They have really messed up baseball and MLB is to blame as well.
This attempt at logic, or whatever it is, has dived right into the arena of the unwell and unhinged. I could give you an example of a thousand other things much more important on a daily basis that affect your life than this to be angry about.
At least you’re not bitter and angry.
For an organization that hates to trade its top prospects until they are way past their high value, I believe what Friedman is saying. The long-term plan is to have some of these kids replace a few of the starters in the next 3 to 4 years.. that doesn’t mean they won’t go after free agent targets next year, Bo for example, but they don’t have any serious holes on this team anymore. The 2026 Dodgers have monster potential, especially with a few of those kid pitchers getting healthy.
HAHAHAHAHA I seriously hope so. They will be the reason I stop watching Major League Baseball.
Thanks for stopping by to tell us.
Denada.
The Dodgers 2nd string rotation is Sheehan, Wrobleski, Ryan, Stone and Knack. Better than some teams first 5.
It would be such a wild move if they started the season with those 5 and let the big guns tackle the second half and postseason.
Won’t happen but could you imagine the angst generated?
I don’t think they’re done. They love SP depth but they also love their prospect depth so I could see them make a run at Valdez or Gallen while also trading out one of the veterans bats (or arms) to stockpile more prospects.
Those respective pitchers throw too many IP for their liking. Neither have ever had 1 TJS — next!
@Nine
LAD are not going after Valdez or Gallen. Barring injury, if they pick up another starter it will be in July. And even with an injury or two, they are stacked with depth in the minors.
Red Sox, Rangers, nationals, Braves, and Astros latest ws wins mean more than any of the last 3 dodgers ones. Outspending the league makes it worthless relative to other ones…
True Dodger hate huh? When they were losing in the World Series they were chokers. When they win it doesn’t count because they spent a lot of please share with us the detailed rules for when a team winning the World Series actually deserves it according to you.
And aside from the Astros, all of those teams then self tanked or fell off and couldn’t defend their Championships because they wouldn’t or couldn’t spend sufficiently to remain competitive.
I’ll grant you that the pandemic’s loss of revenue, and then attendance for two years made it very very hard to make it keep payroll, and here, the Dodgers bounced back quickly but were also bounced out of three straight postseason’s, so they prioritized getting Ohtani by limiting expenditures in 2022 and 2023 and got him.
The fact that revenues have shot way up since for both Dodgers and MLB is no coincidence because Ohtani was finally unlocked by the Dodgers, he finally got the postseason exposure and rings, and Dodgers & MLB have grown like wildfire in Japan and internationally, helping to subsidize the league and small market teams. You can thank the Dodgers for their high luxury taxes and revenue generation shared with other teams to help line their pockets or spend on payroll, you ask them what they do with it (example, MIL got $96M in revenue sharing last year, part of their $336M revenue, yet spent only $123M in payroll, just 37% of revenue on payroll.)
Nobody cares what you think about how championships “are supposed to be” won, the games still have to be played, and the hottest teams, or best teams, or luckiest teams usually come up the winners, rarely does the highest payroll team win, see Mets, Yankees, and yes, even the Dodgers.
What does count is each of the 2020, 2024, and 2025 World Series Championships are in the MLB record books, no asterisks, no fan notations about being “bought”, and the Commissioner’s Trophies sit at Dodger Stadium for their 4 million plus fans to see at 81 home games and postseason games, and on stadium tours (now a true bucket list and must see for Japanese Tourists during offseason and regular season).
We’ll keep them shined up and ready for you to take a selfie with them when you visit Dodger Stadium with your team. Oh, too cheap to make the trip? Guess you’re not like Dodgers fans who travel well to see Dodgers on the road, along with local Dodgers fans in most MLB cities. Yeah, that’s right, Dodgers fans will actually spend (some say overpay) to see the Dodgers. Well, the Dodgers have repaid us with 3 Championships in 6 years, and staying competitive year in and year out during the regular season and postseasons. No, we won’t win every year, we painfully know that, but Dodgers fan appreciate that the Dodgers TRY, unlike many other clubs that don’t try, and have convinced their fans that that’s all they can do. Why do you fans accept or put up with that?
Didn’t read. Also, muting you.
Can you read?
Sorry, I guess your feelings and emotions won’t let you be challenged by a different opinion. Since you won’t see this, I’ll reply anyway.
The Dodgers and we Dodgers fans took the endless criticisms and jeers for the past 37 years, plus all the goalpost moving:
“no championships since 1988, 29-30-32 years before you got a Mickey Mouse win, doesn’t count (because our team didn’t make the postseason or WS), spend lots but can’t win 2021, 2022, 2023, Kershaw’s a postseason bum, your homegrown players haven’t delivered anything till 2020, Dodgers can’t win a full season championship, it was unfair and you shouldn’t have been allowed to get Betts or Freeman (why?), even Padres and DBacks knocked you out in NLDS 2 years in a row, Friedman isn’t anything without a huge budget, I or anyone could have managed the Dodgers better than Robert’s, your team is nothing more than a bunch of free agent bought mercenary stars, no homegrown players have ever been worth anything (Muncy, Smith, Rojas, Pages, Kiké, Rushing, Rortvedt, Dean, Kim, Call, Freeland, Sheehan, Wrobkeski, Vesia, Casparius, Knack, Ryan, Stone, Hurt, Graterol would like a word), Dodgers teams aren’t built “the right way”, Dodgers got lucky (multiple times), MLB rigged it so Dodgers could win, it’s unfair that Los Angeles has great weather, that it’s located on the West Coast, that its diversity helps it attract international players, Dodger Stadium is a dump, old and obsolete (even though it has state of the art, bleeding edge home and away team facilities, expanded fan plazas and amenities, $400 million plus in renovations over last 13 years), Los Angeles has (unfair) advantages that other cities & regions don’t (like being a slum, too much traffic, terrible freeways, too many people, smog, bandwagon fans, high ticket prices, high parking fees, too expensive to go to games, etc.) your championships don’t count because…, we don’t like you (get in line), the Lakers suck too, it’s not fair, MLB isn’t fair, it’s unfair that my team can’t make revenue or spend like the Dodgers, it’s unfair that my owners are not like the Dodgers (committed to trying, to winning, to make the team better, to hear and address fan complaints, to deliver competitive and winning teams, to TRYING), why can’t the Dodgers stop trying so other teams and fans can win?, etc., etc., etc.”
And now that the Dodgers won 1 Mickey Mouse Championship that doesn’t count in your eyes, they (finally) won a full season championship, beating the Padres, Mets, Yankees, New York and East Coast Bias (top AL seed too with MVP Judge), were strong / lucky / resilient enough to win another (full season) championship in 2025, beating the #1 overall and #1 MIL and #2 NL PHI seeds and the #1 AL seed & champ (BTW #5 payroll) by a hair (so it wasn’t an easy win because you spent so much?, got lucky, the better team didn’t win, Dodgers ruined baseball!! WAH! WAH! ?) and did something that hasn’t been done in 25 years and you’re all going ballistic some more?
I guess you did read some of what I had written because you immediately went into denial, muted me, because you don’t want to hear anything different. That’s your right, and your coping mechanism. Dodgers fans have been dealing with everything everyone has dished out since 1988, we’ve barely matched our Giants rivals of 3 championships in 2000’s and trying to match Boston’s achievement of 4 championships, (but I never hear complaints about them), and we’re well aware of how hard it will be to win again.
So TL:DR again, you’ll still be in denial. And thanks to anyone who read my long rant, sorry for the length.
I agree with 99% of this. But for the record Rortvedt,Dean, kiké and Call were not developed by LAD.
Sorry Kike was of course.
Amazing after spending what seems like billions, they still have holes in their lineup. They’re also setup for massive injuries.
Most teams are not setup for injuries, which is why the AAAA player is a thing. Most teams I think, are probably a few injuries away from having to punt their seasons (would need to research that).
Captain Obvious could not have said it better.
Red,
The difference is Captain Obvious can get you a discount on your travel plans to visit Dodger Stadium.
Or other MLB destinations.
No sh…
Sounds like the exact thing they would say right before showing up and giving Framber Valdez $400m/10 years with 360m deferred.
I hope not. There are other arms and attitudes that would suit them better.
Sorry Folks there was a communications glitch what the Dodgers meant to say was SORRY EVERYONE OUR MONEY PRESS RAN OUT IF INK
I hear they may trade for Vlad Jr & Soto.
Friedman said the same thing right before signing Edwin Diaz, so that means he’ll sign Framber Valdez lol
Soon:: “dodgers land skubal for 3 lottery tickets”
shame the dodgers couldn’t figure it out on their own .. had to steal friedman from tampa in 2014 .. and when that didn’t work right away .. give him a blank checkbook.. only then were they able to “figure it out” .. congrats on those shrewd maneuvers
Couldn’t figure it out on their own? Are they supposed to raise a GM from birth or something?
Awww, you haven’t followed baseball much have you. Literally every time a new owner or POBO comes in, hopefully they look to hire the best baseball people they can, after evaluating what they had or have.
Guggenheim inherited Claire and Colletti from McCourt and gave them 2 years and a big bag to spend from. They remade Dodgers into competitors again, but there was a lot more to do including get modern with analytics, rebuild the farm systems, and get a lot better efficiency in spending in the long term. Who would President Stan Kasten choose from, some newly minted MBA or assistants, or experienced baseball people with solid track records? Friedman was available to every franchise (like deferrals, get it?) yet nobody was bidding for his services or tried to pry him loose. Kasten saw he fit exactly what the Dodgers wanted to do in the long, long run, so hired him away, like 95% of all teams have done with their POBO, GM’s and front office people. And you must know only 1/30 teams win each year with no repeats since 2000 so it’s super hard to climb the mountain every year and be competitive consistently, yet that what the dodgers goals were set to, expected, and now executed.
You somehow expect ANY team to homegrow their front office like from prospects? That’s a a laugh and shows how out of touch with reality and the business of baseball you are. And even when plucking execs from other teams, it guarantees nothing, especially if owners get involved, interfere, limit spending, or otherwise screw with the processes.
Was hiring Friedman a gamble? Sure, he’d not won with TB, and here he’s coming to a team and fanbase with super high expectations, and of course budget. He got the Dodgers to 2017 & 2018 World Series, won the 2020 in a difficult environment, bounced out of 3 straight years 2021-2023, and came back hard to win 2024 & 2025. Plenty of other teams spending close to, higher than Dodgers during those times to and they too fell short.
Don’t care if you feel Dodgers success is only because they spent more. They have improved everything they can and then some to get where they are today. Shouldn’t every team be doing that within their resources? Kasten, Friedman, Gomes (Formerly Anthopolis, Byrnes, Zaidi, Kepler), et. Al. All had hands in this and keeping it going.
And TB has still benefitted from what Friedman had created with them, stayed generally competitive so they’ve survived (even took Dodgers to game 6 in the 2020 World Series, better than what the Yankees could do 5 years later).
Seriously? The Dodgers roster is set! Articles like this are offensive to many of us baseball fans from small markets.
I may believe them after they trade for Skenes.
Don’t forget Skubal.
I like AF understands who signs his checks and who he has to be fully transparent with. And it isn’t the media.
If you watched Friedman’s press gaggle yesterday (I did) he seemed to be completely forthcoming and truthful when asked about future plans. He was a little playful when asked about whether the Dodgers were still in the market for a SP, but clearly said “no.”
I’d say “You sure, Satan?”, but that would be petty, cliche, and immature.
So I won’t say it.
Finally. A respectable team they can field
Translation: “We’ve bought all the star players that we can.”
Translation: “we signed the specific and best players that filled needs and weaknesses we had” “We paid market value to sign them, but we also declined to sign other players that we felt were not worth the value or didn’t match up with our needs and time frames.”
Friedman didn’t sign everyone, not even most all FA. The market presented lots of options, some of whom others were pursuing hard as well. Was Cease worth $210M/7yrs? Is Bo worth $126M/3yrs, Vlad $500M/14yrs, Alonso & Schwarber $150M/5yrs, Bellinger $162M/5yrs, etc?
Dodgers targeted Diaz & Tucker, maybe overpaid Tucker to beat Mets overpay offer of $220M/4yrs, so you can blame the Jays for their $350M/10yrs and Mets for their offer to push LA to their $240M/4yrs with two opt outs. If Tucker fills the needs and helps Dodgers win at least one WS in his first two years, then IMO, it was worth it, only less so if the team falls short. Will be up to him if take an opt out then.
Dodgers only signed 2 major players, have filled in mostly role players, and still have Kiké to resign later. Probably done for now.
What did your front office do to improve their team?
Oh does it?
Why is this news? We all know their roster is set.
Its a freakin All-Star team
Pretty set huh?
smh
This is code for we got something big coming
I love baseball but I’m a hater of all this nonsense.
I would rather watch Golden Girls reruns than a Dodgers game.
That’s fine, you’ll get plenty of laughs.
Meanwhile, you’ll miss out on competitive baseball games, played to packed houses (#1 home and away team in attendance), where most teams are bringing it every game trying to knock out or measure themselves against the Dodgers. Remember, the Angels (6-0), Brewers (6-0), Astros (3-0) all swept the Dodgers last year, and 4 other teams had winning records vs LAD. And maybe the Dodgers will struggle again for the third year in a row with pitching injuries, slumps, and bad luck (like Conforto, Yates, & Scott being busts).
@hot corner
51 million people worldwide missed the Golden Girls rerun that aired during Game 7 of the 2025 World Series. Ask around. Word is it was a barn burner. The game, not the Golden Girls.
Not to get political here , but tax loopholes have been a huge part of American business. Wealthy folks exploit these well in their own tax filings ,at the end of the day that is what the Dodgers are doing here. I know salary cap will be an issue , but a floor is as well. These multi billionaires do great when the sale of a franchise occurs especially. Don’t feel too bad for them lol
Just for kicks, I think the Dodgers should go radical and have a starting rotation of Sheehan, Ryan, Stone, Wrobleski, and rotate the remaining starters for the last two slots of a six man rotation.
Then flip it around at mid-season.
They won’t, but it could be a fun way of keeping Yamamoto, Angel, Ohtani, Glasnow, and Sasaki fresh.
No Shet.
Soak it in Dodgers fans the ride doesn’t last forever but this is an all-time dynasty.
One season at a time. One game at a time. Enjoying every minute.