The Los Angeles Dodgers signed 23 year old Japanese pitcher rookie phenom Roki Sasaki to a rookie contract and a $6.5 million signing bonus (AP News file photo)
Baseball has to change!
By Greg Lee
Critics are up in arms about changing the MLB rules because the Dodgers are currently projected to have a $375 million opening day payroll and have invested over $2 billion dollars in player salary the last two years – almost a billion of which is “deferred.”
Some even want a ‘salary cap” like the NFL or NBA. Yeah how well that works. As the always free speaking Joe Kelly said in his “Baseball is Boring” podcast, even if you “level the financial playing field” the actual sport-climate of the team and when even the geography are going to be factors. They’re factors now.
A current history of performance, a stable future, and word-of-mouth from other players. These things matter and too few teams “invest” in those things now. All three have been tentpoles since the massively wealthy Guggenheim group took over the Dodgers.
Stability? How about a perennial Top 10 minor league system? A manager who has been been there for almost a decade, thriving, growing and learning. The culture in this organization is such that when Shohei Ohtani signed his contact it had a no trade clause that becomes invalid IF Friedman (president) and one of the other owners leaves. Stability.
Reputation matters too. From finding and helping Chris Taylor and Max Muncy go from the scrap heap to All-Stars, to rehabilitating just about every pitcher (except Noah Syndergard and that stubborn closer dude lol) – the organization has a reputation for player evaluation, data analysis and SHARING with the players and working with them to help them improve.
And then there’s geography. Which is more than “location, location, location!” And it’s also not. Kelly makes the point that all other things being equal, players would rather get their money somewhere nice (say like Los Angeles, which isn’t always on fire, except when it is) than say Milwaukee or Minnesota (no offense, his examples). That tracks though right?
For players geography is more than just being able to go skiing, to the beach, to a 5-star night out, Hollywood gala or Disneyland though. Corbin Burnes one of the best pitchers in the league left $30-60 million dollars on the table to sign in Arizona, which has a good team, a reputation for developing pitchers, a healthy fanbase… and his twins that were born last summer.
Oh yeah and then there’s that fanbase. The market. That matters too. No one is going to come out and say it, except maybe Kelly (who didn’t) but despite having rabid and loyal fans, would you rather play in Boston or New York where you’re either the goat or every once in awhile the hero?
The East Coast media, which drives those passionate fans, are persistent and ruthless. And that’s not the same anywhere else, except maybe Philly. Think about the three Japanese stars who recently signed in Los Angeles: Ohtani (who is worldwide media giant), and Yohsinobu Yamamoto (who is by some accounts “less reserved” but more stand-offish publicly) and the 23-year old phenom who has already had run-ins with the intrusive Japanese media. Last year anywhere from 30+ Japanese reporters would follow the Dodgers. Imagine that scrum… AND the East Coast media. For their part, the Dodgers did an amazing job of making Sho available to satisfy the media, and no doubt grow his (and their) brand, but Yamamoto was much more sheltered, I wouldn’t say unavailable, but if I had to guess he had complete control of the access anyone got to him.
In Los Angeles these guys are heroes. When they screw up, meh. A player may take a little heat for a day or two. Maybe a week, but if they don’t lean into it and stoke the fire, like most fans – Dodger fans and the LA media, move on.
Another thing that the Dodgers do is that they absolutely run PR and they have players who are clearly comfortable in the role out playing their version of The Greatest Showman. Mookie has an interview show with (usually visiting) players, Freddie is the “family man” face of the team. Muncy and Kiké they’re the pitchmen, the hypemen. They’ll talk to anyone any time. This “PR” is good… great for fan interaction and has helped some of the players go from “role-players” or guys who might take more heat, to “fan favorites.”
So the premise of Kelly’s argument is that if money WERE (as if it’s not or couldn’t be now) that players would still pick places that in droves. The best players would still want to flock together. To win, to be successful and for their own comfort.
Final word. What I seldom see when people complain about the deferral system is any recognition that, by rule, the organization has to have the funds actually set aside in an escrow starting sometime after the first season of the contract. So it isn’t that the deferrals are kicked down the road (that far) they just don’t count wholly against the luxury tax.
Which is to say, the main point of deferrals is a luxury tax gambit. It’s not a cheat. It’s the rule, it’s been there for years and years. Why? I have no clue. My best guess, not being a math guy, is that if there are any changes in 2026’s collective bargaining agreement, it will be how deferrals are counted towards the luxury tax. A salary cap in the MLB is almost a non-starter.
The powerful players union would never stand for it, not in the face of decades of increasing salaries and profits. The Dodgers organization has taken advantage of their enormous wealth and the goal that they started with when purchasing the franchise, to win and profit. Does baseball need to change? Maybe, like the pitch clock and wider bases, maybe organizations need to evolve their strategies and their intentions if they want to change fan experience. After all, at the end of the day, that is what the Dodgers have done.
Greg Lee is a Los Angeles Dodgers analyst for http://www.sportsradioservice.com
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