The Los Angeles Dodgers have caused baseball fans to groan and grumble all offseason long, as the narrative that the organization is ruining baseball persisted this winter.
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According to CBS Sports’ Matt Snyder, Major League Baseball’s biggest problem is how fans perceive the Dodgers’ spending. While money is no object for L.A., Snyder argues the Dodgers’ success isn’t guaranteed solely because of their massive payroll.
“The Dodgers won 93 regular-season games last year. They might have lost to the Phillies in the NLDS if Orion Kerkering made a quicker decision in Game 4 of that series. The Blue Jays had them on the ropes in the World Series multiple times and if closer Jeff Hoffman just doesn’t allow a fluky home run to Miguel Rojas, the Dodgers wouldn’t be champs. That Game 7 truly could have gone either way multiple times,” Snyder writes.
“The Dodgers are, of course, champs. It was a well-deserved title. I’m not saying they didn’t deserve it. They were amazing in the playoffs. I’m just not understanding this cloak of invincibility so many are giving them. I know that when fans get tired of teams winning titles, the drama gets ratcheted up, but the 2025 Dodgers weren’t the 1998 Yankees with 114 wins and an 11-2 record in the playoffs, including a sweep in the World Series. They weren’t the 2018 Red Sox with 108 wins and an 11-3 playoff record, either. “
What’s the Real Problem With MLB If Not Dodgers’ Excessive Spending?
The real problem with MLB is not the Dodgers, the problem lies with other teams and their owners. A prime example of what’s really ruining baseball was the Milwaukee Brewers trading their ace, Freddy Peralta, after winning 97 regular season games last season.
While dealing Peralta because he is one year away from free agency makes sense, one can’t say Milwaukee got better by trading the All-Star pitcher.
The team with the best record in baseball in 2025 dealt their ace this winter, which certainly doesn’t bode well for their chances of winning a World Series this season.
How can any team stand up to the Dodgers if owners are not investing in putting the very best product on the field? L.A. remains diligent in curating a championship roster, but can other teams say the same?
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4 Responses
Did the Yankees ruin baseball when they won back-to-back World Series in 1928-29, 1961-62, 1977-78? Or when they won four series in a row 1936-39? Or when they won five in a row 1949-53? The Dodgers have a long way to go before they can be considered a dynasty. I hope I live long enough to see it happen.
Well, a different world, time and definition of ruining baseball. To me, it’s not necessarily winning several in a row, but rather the impact of higher AAV contracts that may be unsustainable. There wasn’t even television in much of those years. And honestly, other than 77 and 78, there wasn’t even an LCS. You win the pennant, you play in the Series. Including and since LAD’s first franchise win in 1955, LAD has won 9 and NYY has won 11. More balanced than one would expect when looking at NYY overall wins that includes 16 from over 70 years ago.
I don’t know about most fans, but I’m not looking forward to average ticket prices doubling or tripling in the next 5 – 10 years as more of these contracts happen. Making the game unaffordable for many fans to attend could certainly be considered another definition of ruining baseball. Moving televised games to more streaming services also has an effect, as does increasing the number and frequency of commercials. They will have to make that revenue somewhere.
Thank You for saying that! I am 79yrs old and remember all the times the Yankees beat the Dodgers in the 50’s and 60’s and the constant ribbing i had to take as a kid from those Yankee fans! The Yankees always got the best players because they had the most money. The Kansas City Athletics back then were known as the “Yankees Kissing Cousins” because they constantly were trading players to the Yankees, so I don’t want to hear a word about the Dodgers!! It’s our time now!!
“Ruining baseball” is such a generic statement that doesn’t mean much. As a lifelong Dodgers’ fan, I have serious concerns with the impact to MLB when a guy slightly above average garners a $60M AAV contract. That one contract may not be ruining contract, but it certainly alters the landscape of competitiveness between richer/large market teams and those with smaller markets and owners who either can’t or won’t spend that kind of money. At the very least this can’t be measured now, but a few years from now after more free agents start expecting Ohtani type money ($70M per) when they are nowhere near the caliber of player that he is. This Tucker contract changes that reality, and IMO, not in a good way.