Transparency Item: The views expressed in this article are the opinions of the writer.
So far, in the 2024 Major League Baseball offseason, the Los Angeles Dodgers have blown the rest of the league out of the water with their egregious spending.
With the recent offseason acquisitions of right-handed pitcher/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and right-handed pitcher Yamamoto Yoshinobu, to the already dodger blue utility Mookie Betts and first-baseman Freddie Freeman, fans and teams around the league see the Dodgers “buying” a superteam.
However, what the rest of the league fails to understand is every MLB team can do what the Dodgers are doing this offseason — your team owners choose not to.
Offseason Acquisitions
Before getting into MLB owners and their faults, let’s look at what the owner of the Dodgers, Mark Walter, allowed the President of Baseball Operations, Andrew Friedman, to do, according to Dodger Blue.
During the 2022-2023 offseason, the Dodgers basically punted the offseason as the big fish, Ohtani, was a free agent the following year. That offseason, the biggest acquisition made was right-handed pitcher Noah Syndergaard on a one-year contract worth $13 million, according to Dodger Nation on X.
Friedman’s plan was to go all in this offseason, as the team indicated they would be aggressive, making multiple splash acquisitions, according to Dodger Blue.
It’s safe to say that Friedman did just that, first starting with the record-shattering blockbuster signing of Ohtani to a 10-year contract worth $700 million Dec. 11, according to the MLB. They only waited four days for their next splash, acquiring right-handed pitcher Tyler Glasnow and outfielder Manuel Margot from the Tampa Bay Rays — the Dodgers would immediately extend Glasnow to a four-year contract worth $136.5 million, according to ESPN.
The big fish was off the table, but another one was making splashes in Japan — Yamamoto. This offseason was the first time MLB teams could sign his likeness, and to the shock of no one but to the anger of many, Yamamoto landed with the Dodgers on a 12-year contract worth $325 million, according to the MLB.
The most recent signing came Jan. 7, as right fielder Teoscar Hernández joined the Dodgers on a one-year deal worth $23.5 million, according to the MLB.
The Dodgers could still make some more moves, but up until this point, the team has spent a whopping $1.21 billion this offseason, according to CBS Sports.
How can the Dodgers afford this?
The short answer is simple: Walter cares enough and trusts his front office enough to spend money on a championship-caliber roster year in and year out in order to compete at the highest levels for their players on the field and fans alike. It also helps that the Dodgers averaged 47,371 fans per game in 2023, selling out 19 games and finishing with around 3.8 million fans attending throughout the year, according to Dodger Blue.
The real question every sports fan and professional athlete in the MLB should be asking is this: “Why doesn’t my team ownership care as much as the Dodgers ownership does?”
You’d think with the spending so far this offseason that Walter is the richest owner in the MLB, but he doesn’t even make the Top 5 of 2023. Out of the 18 richest MLB owners, only six of the owners can say their team made the playoffs, according to Yahoo Sports.
In the Top 10 alone, the San Francisco Giants (No. 1), St. Louis Cardinals (No. 3), New York Yankees (No. 5), Los Angeles Angels (t-No. 8), Boston Red Sox (t-No. 8) and the Detroit Tigers (No. 10) missed out on the 2023 playoffs.
Rounding out the rest of the list, the Chicago Cubs (t-No. 11), Oakland Athletics (t-No. 13), Washington Nationals (No. 15), Chicago White Sox (No. 16), Pittsburgh Pirates (t-No. 18) and the Seattle Mariners (t-No. 18) also missed out on the 2023 playoffs.
Out of all these teams in the Top 18 of 2023, the largest contract given out so far into the 2024 offseason was from the Bay, as the Giants inked a $113 million deal to Korean superstar Jung Hoo Lee, according to CBS Sports.
In total, the Giants have spent only $121.5 million despite the team being worth $3.7 billion, according to Forbes. The Yankees are ranked No. 1 on Forbes Most Valuable Team List, valued at around $7.1 billion dollars; however, the team has spent nothing during the ongoing offseason, according to Sports Illustrated.
What the Dodgers are doing isn’t bad for the game, and if anything, the Dodgers have exemplified great business decisions with the legal use of contractual deferments with Ohtani, Hernández, Betts and Freeman.
If anything, the 12 MLB owners who have the money to spend but don’t are what’s bad for baseball. Fans have already recently seen what bad owners can do to a franchise — just look at the passionate fans reverse-boycotting at the Coliseum in Oakland, pleading with their owner to “sell the team,” according to the Athletic.
Now, think back to that question and ask yourself, “Why doesn’t my team owner care?”
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Follow the Graphic on X: @PeppGraphic
Email Justin Rodriguez: justin.rodriguez@pepperdine.edu
