In 2022, the “It’s Not My Moneyball” series was created in response to the owner-imposed lockout that disrupted spring training and arguably cost Clayton Kershaw a perfect game in Minneapolis (which I had a lot of fun with). At the end of the World Baseball Classic, as the season begins, we have to revive this series because trouble looms in the distance, hanging in the air like a brick wouldn’t.
The current consensus among MLB experts is that the sport will come to an abrupt end in December 2026; my response: Where were you three years ago when I pointed to the clear writing on the wall?
This point needs to be repeated loudly because most owners are counting on the media and fans to ignore this timeless truth: There is absolutely no reason for a lockout to occur; if the current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) expires, players and owners can continue under the current system until a new collective bargaining agreement is reached. The only reason the owners imposed the lockout was to pressure the players union to accept a salary cap, which the union steadfastly rejected.
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Admittedly, I was wrong about the “culprit” for the impending shutdown, but my reasoning was generally sound, even though the owners were trying to act like they were doing something when in fact nothing was being done. Owners have stopped playing with optics and false commissions.
Back in 2023, the baseball world was trembling with fear that Steve Cohen was bullying the league with the Mets’ seemingly unlimited financial resources, and viewed Peter Seidler’s best attempt at imitating the Detroit Tigers’ Mike Ilitch (Mr.
Those concerns were misguided, as the Mets continued to find interesting ways to burn money, and like “Mr. I,” Peter Seidler’s untimely death left a trail of family trauma that rippled through the organization and is only now coming to a conclusion.
A great team was indeed on the horizon, but it wasn’t the (laughing) Mets, it was our very own Los Angeles Dodgers.
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If anything, if you want a starting point for a villain arc (other than the league’s failure to punish the 2017 Houston Astros for cheating—just a piece of metal, right?—and the 2023 Arizona Diamondbacks knocking the 2023 Dodgers nearly out of the playoffs), we need look no further than the Dodgers after one specific signing: Shohei Ohtani in the 2023 offseason.
Lest anyone forget, Ohtani structured his massive extension deal and presented it to the Dodgers (who unequivocally accepted), the San Francisco Giants (who probably should have offered more money), the Toronto Blue Jays (which is still a sore subject) and the Anaheim Angels (who declined).
Too many people forget that Ohtani came up with this structure, and part of the reason may be because on a team that features eventual first-ballot Hall of Famer Mike Trout, the Angels’ closest chance to the playoffs is buying a ticket to watch with the rest of the populace.
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In the first phase of the current CBA up until Ohtani, the Dodgers’ spending largely followed standard deviation. However, when given the chance to win with a unicorn like Ohtani, you’d be an absolute fool not to try and get the most out of your balance sheet and trophy room.
Unlike the Angels, the Dodgers read the room, read their hand, and push the chips down the middle.
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2022 – $293,330,382, including $32.4 million in luxury tax
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2023 – $268,198,867, including $19.4 million in luxury tax
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2024 – $353,015,360, including $103 million in luxury tax
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2025 – $417,341,608, including $169.4 million in luxury tax
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2026 – $538.7 million, including approximately $142.6 million in luxury tax (projected)
A team’s payroll reaching $500 million is a fever dream for players on MLB: The Show. At its core, the Dodgers debate is really three halves of the same conversation, separated below:
The Dodgers make more money than any team in baseball. So the season was over before the first pitch was thrown! So baseball needs to shut down in 2027 to stop the madness!
Half of the above statements are true, hard facts, and we’ll break them down and test them over the next two articles.
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Live the life of Scrooge McDuck—for better or for worse
The critics are right: Based on what we know publicly, the Dodgers earn more than everyone else.
Having the biggest revenue deal in baseball (due in part to the incompetence of other MLB owners), leading baseball in home and road attendance every year since the pandemic, and having a generational international star somewhere between Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth worthy of a documentary that largely ignores him can do that.
No one can credibly argue that the Dodgers are not ahead of the baseball world in making money. One just needs to look at “maybe” law and order“Extra Kyle Tucker and a true king’s ransom will be paid for at least the next two seasons. The clamor before the lockout was so high: The Dodgers were breaking baseball with wanton spending and no other team had a chance to compete. In fact, reporters like Jeff Passan were already pouring water on the position.
Along these lines, the Dodgers’ recent financial success is why players like Max Muncy, Enrique Hernandez, and Evan Phillips were able to enjoy reunions, while players like Justin Turner and Cody Bellinger were (justifiably!) shown the door. When you build a sponsorship engine equal to half the league’s size, when you build a franchise that could potentially bring in a billion dollars in annual revenue, a team can flex its financial muscles and avoid saying goodbye to veterans who might have been allowed to leave before Ohtani’s era.
Even in hindsight, would not spending $102 million on a meaningless signing pay positive dividends down the road? Who knows! The team is believed to be the first MLB team to generate over $1 billion in annual revenue and even sold the naming rights to the ballpark, something no one other than Joe Davis, Stephen Nelson and others could do. Will always use.
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Yes, the Dodgers have arguably perfected an imperfect system, much to the chagrin of the other 29 fans. Yes, the Dodgers are the first team in 25 years to defend the title. But that’s not to say the team’s assault on the league over the past 24 months has gone unpunished.
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The Dodgers’ 2024 postseason rotation includes “rookie” Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jack Flaherty (who’s hit and miss between starts), Walker Buehler (who’s been terrible in 2024), and Landon Knack (bar trivia personified)
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Tommy Edelman (’24 NLCS) and Freddie Freeman (’24 WS) have gone through a series of endeavors throughout their lives that have propelled themselves to greatness.
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The 24th New York Yankees managed to outdo themselves (Game 1) and defeat themselves in historic fashion (Game 5), securing the Dodgers’ first full-season championship since 1988.
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Orion Keckling. That’s the point. (Though let’s be honest, the Philadelphia Phillies are pretty good in 2025.)
If any of these points are twists and turns instead of twists, the Dodgers aren’t kings of the league. Dave Roberts doesn’t necessarily get a job in a place like Cooperstown. Lex Pryor ring Published an article covering these financial perspectives primarily from the scold’s perspective, rather than from my standpoint as a Dodgers fan and writer.
The Dodgers had no intention of winning 120 games in the regular season just to lay an egg in the Division Series. They’re on this terrible path in 2022, which is arguably the last time the Padres make a difference. Even under relatively equal circumstances (such as the Sasaki Riki draw), the Dodgers still Defeated the Alliance. The Dodgers win 93 games in 2025, which is good enough for a No. 3 seed, and as a bonus, nearly everyone is in peak form.
Did those facts prevent the offense from being largely absent after the wild-card round? That wasn’t the case, but judging by the performance, one would have thought the Dodgers went 13-0 instead of being pushed to the breaking point against the Blue Jays. If the Dodgers get to 120 wins (they won’t) and sweep the playoffs (alas), I’ll take another look at whether the salary disparity is actually bad for baseball.
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Baseball does have a perception problem right now, one that threatens to engulf the sport soon.
The party may end this December
The Ringer’s Ben Lindbergh summed up the current state of MLB aptly:
Are the Dodgers bad for baseball? perhaps. But more accurately, they are becoming the bad guys look For baseball. And they don’t seem to care about their appearance as long as they win.
The sport is experiencing a renaissance, with audience numbers and ratings steadily rising. Game 7 of the 2025 World Series was the most watched baseball game in more than 30 years, attracting approximately 24.3 million viewers in the United States and Canada. If Japan is included, that number rises to 51 million viewers.
By comparison, the 2026 World Baseball Classic final drew a tournament record of 10.784 million viewers, but was still only one-fifth of Game 7’s viewership. Baseball should be enjoying this era of success, but like a disease that’s been ignored for too long, it’s less than 260 days away from coming to an abrupt end.
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Like a dog chasing a chased car, nothing good will come of the perception that the Dodgers have somehow ruined baseball. It takes eight owners to ruin a deal, and I’ve seen at least a dozen owners who would rather burn the sport to the ground in the name of short-term thinking than improve the existing system.
Ownership is therefore on the verge of unleashing a Pandora’s box of self-harm and stupidity as it caters to the idea of ​​inequality rather than its roots. I encourage everyone to savor every drop of the 2026 season, because while colleagues like Eric Stephan believe no games will be lost in 2027, I don’t share their optimism.
Stupidity and greed are getting worse, I would really be shocked if we got even half A season next year. I have not lost a case or a night’s sleep from underestimating people’s greed and stupidity. Next article, we’ll take a look at 12 franchises that could put the sport on the back burner in nine months. I’m more than willing to make mistakes, but after all it’s not my money (ball).
