Let's start this off with a disclaimer: I am a serious Los Angeles Dodgers fan. I grew up in LA and baseball is the sport that inspired my passion. As you can imagine, the news of the mega deal involving the Dodgers and Red Sox which brought Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, and Nick Punto to Southern California was a bit jarring. This comes after the Dodgers picked up Hanley Ramirez and his 30 plus million dollar contract along with Shane Victorino, Joe Blanton, Randy Choate, and Brandon League for the rest of the season.
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| Courtesy Sports Illustrated |
It may be hard to understand for non Dodgers fans, but the ownership transition and ability to spend money appropriately for a team in the second largest market is a complete shift in what fans are used to. While the Dodgers had a decent payroll for a number of years before and sometimes during the McCourt era, it was never close to what is appropriate for the market size. In the last two years, clouded by the Frank McCourt soap opera divorce, along with his pillaging money from the team, LA operated like it was in Minneapolis.
When I saw the amount of money the Dodgers would be taking on (near 300 million) in addition to giving up two great pitching prospects in Ruby De La Rosa and Allen Webster, my first reaction was fear. Adrian Gonzalez is well worth his contract, but Carl Crawford (and his 100 million dollar deal) has struggled in the past two seasons and just had surgery. Josh Beckett was no longer welcome in Boston, but even if he recovers in a new atmosphere, he's not worth 15 million dollars each of the next two seasons.
I trust Stan Kasten, the new team president who helped lead the Atlanta Braves to a decade of domination. When I listened to his interview and explanation for the move it alleviated my concerns a bit. The thinking of the Dodgers front office and ownership is as follows: The LA farm system, scouting, and international player development departments have been devastated. The lack of financial support due to McCourt using that money to buy mansions number four and five will make rebuilding a long term process.
Principal owner Mark Walter, Magic Johnson, and company want to win now. They paid an astronomical price of over two billion for the franchise and will not hold back on spending in any way to improve the team. In the eyes of Kasten and general manager Ned Colletti, this move gave them an elite hitter and first basemen for the foreseeable future in Adrian Gonzalez. They believe Carl Crawford, playing in a more relaxed environment and finally injury free, will return to the all-star form he showed while in Tampa Bay. Josh Beckett could be a solid pitcher, but no one expects him to regain elite status. When you have pockets as deep as these new Dodgers, taking on an extra 30 million seems to be no big deal.
I still am not totally sure how I feel about the trade. I'm happy to hear that the move was done in part to compete, while focusing on rebuilding and revamping a badly depleted farm system. In baseball there is no better way to create a constant winner than by drafting smart and dominating the international market. There is no doubt the Dodgers overpaid, but seemingly, with the new ownership group, LA has stepped into the upper echelon of wealth alongside the New York Yankees. It's hard for me to complain about a lineup that could look like this: Carl Crawford, Mark Ellis, Matt Kemp, Adrian Gonzalez, Hanley Ramirez, Andre Ethier, A.J. Ellis, Dee Gordon. I mean...WOW that's just incredible.
There is one thing that is definite after the flurry of moves and revamping of the Dodgers roster which has already led to an image of the "Yankees West" in terms of wealth. The expectations have changed mightily. I won't say LA needs to make the playoffs this year because everything happened so suddenly, but many fans will label anything but a deep October run a failure. In my mind, the Dodgers now must reach and probably win a World Series within the next five years or these moves were a flop. By taking such a risk, and adding salary near equivalent to what the previous owner spent to buy the team, massive pressure is on everyone wearing blue.
If you want to spend like the Yankees, you better win like the Yankees. Welcome to a new era in Dodger Baseball.
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