Spending has become a commodity of building a World Series champion. Of the last 10 World Series champions, all but the 2017 Houston Astros have had payrolls in the top half of teams, with seven spending amongst the top 10 in the league. Buying big name superstars tends to help a team’s success.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have become accustomed to being big-time spenders. Dating back to 2013, the Dodgers have had the highest payroll in eight of those seasons. In that time span, Los Angeles has made the postseason every year, won the NL West in all but 2021, had five 100+ win seasons and have had four World Series appearances, winning it all in 2020 and 2024.
However, the rate they’ve acquired players in the last two seasons has never been seen before. Just days after trading for right-handed flamethrower Tyler Glasnow, the organization inked him to a lofty $136 million deal, before ever throwing a pitch in Dodger blue. This was just the beginning. In the same off-season, Los Angeles stole two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani from the neighboring Angels, scored overseas sensation Yoshinobu Yamamoto and slugger Teoscar Hernández, after a down season in Seattle.
The spending totaled over $1.1 billion, pairing the new additions with an already star-studded team, with the likes of Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith. This resulted in the franchise’s eighth World Series title, their second in the last five seasons, with Ohtani hoisting his third MVP.
Los Angeles didn’t waste any time this off-season, continuing to spend at an unprecedented rate. The Dodgers added two-time Cy Young award winner Blake Snell, re-signed Hernández, viable slugger Michael Conforto, lockdown reliever Blake Treinen, Korean middle infielder Hyeseong Kim, scoring lights out lefty Tanner Scott and retaining postseason hero Tommy Edman.
This is all before mentioning the Dodgers scoring the most touted free agent pitcher, Roki Sasaki. The 23-year-old lefty had been rumored with the Dodgers all off-season, but with the amount of additions, it was curious on how much Los Angeles could keep pushing the envelope.
The interesting bit about Sasaki is his age. Most international free agents are above the age of 25, as they’ll be able to earn as lucrative a deal as teams are willing to offer. With Sasaki being under the age threshold, he’ll receive the rookie salary, along with his signing bonus. Instead, the Dodgers pay a posting fee to the Chiba Lotte Marines for his early exit.
Apart from Sasaki, Los Angeles continued to break the bank this year, begging the question: how can they afford all of this?
The MLB doesn’t have a salary cap. Instead, franchises pay a luxury tax, which the Dodgers have proven that they don’t mind paying. Along with the willingness to pay the fine, Los Angeles has relied on deferring money in many of the contracts.
Deferred money isn’t something new for baseball. However, in past years, it has usually been smaller increments of money. The Dodgers have deferred money at a pioneering rate. It started with Ohtani’s deal.
His contract was a 10-year deal, worth $700 million, which would equate to an annual average salary of $70 million. Unlike many of the mega million dollar deals signed in the sport, the deal owes Ohtani just $2 million every season of the contract, with $68 million due from 2034 to 2043.
Though not at the same clip, Snell’s and Edman’s deals have plenty of deferred money. Between that trio and Betts, Freeman, Smith and Hernández from his original contract with Los Angeles, the Dodgers eventual dues eclipses one billion dollars.
With the way Los Angeles has conducted business, they’ve only added to the superteam they had last season. Between that and the unrelenting mindset of spending, teams truly can’t match what the Dodgers are doing. This is without mentioning the constant injuries that plagued the roster, as Yamamoto and Glasnow combined for just 40 starts, not to mention the rest of the carousel of injuries hindering the starting rotation: Betts missing nearly 50 games nursing a hand injury, Edman making just 37 regular season appearances and Freeman battling through an ankle injury for the tail end of the season.
While Los Angeles will expect nothing less than consistent World Series titles, if the Dodgers continue to have a chokehold on the World Series trophy, the MLB as we know it could be ruined.
Contact the writer: [email protected]
