Bill Madden: The free-spending Dodgers have spooked the rest of baseball

In his continuing vexation astatine getting the Mets to spell beyond 3 years for Pete Alonso, oregon anybody to pony up $200 cardinal for Alex Bregman, here’s a abrupt thought for Scott Boras: How astir ringing up the Dodgers? They’re signing everyone this offseason, adjacent if they don’t request them.

OK, we jest…sort of. Boras, of course, has had dialog with the Dodgers, particularly astir Bregman, due to the fact that the Dodgers person emerged arsenic the franchise with the most-est. Their Guggenheim Partners ownership has an estimated $335 cardinal value, their $7 cardinal section local tv declaration is by acold the highest successful the industry, and it would present look they person a burgeoning monopoly connected the champion players successful Japan — each of which has led to an unlimited spending fund that, with each the luxury taxation factored in, volition instrumentality their full payroll for 2025 to astir $500 million.

And adjacent though helium wasn’t needfully talking astir himself, Hal Steinbrenner sounded the alarm bell astir the Dodgers past week erstwhile helium said: “It’s hard for astir of america owners to beryllium capable to bash the benignant of things that they’re doing.” It was successful enactment with thing other helium said past twelvemonth — that clubs should not person to walk $300 cardinal to get to the World Series due to the fact that $300 cardinal payrolls “are simply not sustainable.”

Well present that’s $500 cardinal and that does not see different manufacture precocious $1.039 cardinal successful deferred Dodger wealth successful each these contracts.

Not that the Yankees, who are inactive the highest valued squad successful shot ($7.55 cardinal compared to the Dodgers’ $5.4 billion) aren’t again going to person a payroll successful excess of $300 cardinal — adjacent aft bidding $760 cardinal for Juan Soto and losing retired to Steve Cohen. I person nary uncertainty Steinbrenner is present relieved Soto rejected the Yankees and went for the astir bucks, but I besides deliberation helium was talking for his chap owners astir what has go this unbelievable payroll disparity the Dodgers person present created.

He was talking astir Bill DeWitt successful St. Louis, John Sherman successful Kansas City, Jerry Reinsdorf with the White Sox, Paul Dolan successful Cleveland, Jim Pohlad successful Minnesota, Mark Attanasio successful Milwaukee, John Stanton successful Seattle — idiosyncratic superior owners of mostly mediate marketplace teams who can’t perchance vie with the immense resources of the Guggenheims erstwhile the second determine to flex their wealth, arsenic they person present done this offseason: Blake Snell ($182 cardinal with $60 cardinal deferred), Teoscar Hernandez ($66 million; $23 cardinal deferred), Tommy Edman ($74 million; $25 cardinal deferred) and not 1 but 2 of the apical closers connected the escaped cause marketplace successful Tanner Scott ($72 million; $21 cardinal deferred and Kirby Yates ($13 million) — outbidding the Mets connected some — each connected apical of the $700 cardinal they spent past twelvemonth connected Shohei Ohtani.

As a planetary concern firm, the Guggenheims are capable to put each that deferred wealth and marque much than capable wealth connected dividends to screen the interest. Most of the different owners aren’t capable to bash that — astatine slightest to the grade the Dodgers person done with deferred money.

“This is truly bully for baseball,” insisted Dodgers president Stan Kasten past week, noting however the Dodgers, having supplanted the Yankees arsenic the astir hated squad successful baseball, volition beryllium filling visiting ballparks.

I don’t cognize of excessively galore radical extracurricular of Los Angeles who would hold with that.

What’s interesting, however, is however — the Soto sweepstakes notwithstanding and the Yankees’ consequent $218 cardinal splurge connected Max Fried — nary of the different clubs person spent large this offseason (much to Boras’ dismay). You mightiness think, with a caller corporate bargaining statement coming up successful 2026, this is simply a subtle connection that they’ve go resigned to the information the lone mode they tin vie with the Dodgers is with a wage cap.

Example: After losing Snell to the Dodgers, the Giants plunged into the escaped cause market, signing shortstop Willy Adames to a squad grounds 7 year, $182 cardinal declaration — past sat backmost and did virtually thing else, different than signing 41-year-old Justin Verlander. Are they earnestly going to spell with LaMonte Wade and Wilmer Flores astatine archetypal basal again this twelvemonth wherever Alonso would beryllium an perfect fit? It’s astir arsenic if, having proved they could onshore a large summons escaped cause aft losing retired connected truthful galore others the past mates of years, the Giants watched the Dodgers load up and conceded it wasn’t worthy spending immoderate much wealth connected improving their club. (There was besides the 6-7 beingness of archetypal baseman/right fielder Bryce Eldridge, their apical imaginable who deed .292 with 23 homers and 92 RBI successful 116 games astatine 4 levels past twelvemonth and who they present seemingly similar to play archetypal base.)

Similar to the Giants, the Blue Jays struck retired connected galore attempts to motion large escaped agents — astir notably Ohtani and Soto — earlier yet landing Anthony Santander for 5 years, $92.5 cardinal and past Max Scherzer connected a one-year, $15.5 cardinal woody past week. But astatine the aforesaid time, they made a constituent to reporters past week that they were nary longer successful connected Alonso, who would besides beryllium a bully acceptable successful Toronto and let the Jays to determination Vlad Guerrero Jr. to his favored position, 3rd base. Nevertheless, portion signing Guerrero to an hold remains the Jays’ apical priority, determination is speculation that Scherzer, besides a Boras lawsuit who wants thing much than different ring, would not person signed with Toronto without assurances they were going to walk further to amended the club.

No substance wherever Alonso and Bregman extremity up signing, astatine this constituent neither of them figures to get anyplace adjacent the wealth they were seeking astatine the opening of this offseason. As Boras has discovered, for a batch of reasons — uncertainty implicit their section TV revenue, the accrued reliance connected analytics — clubs conscionable aren’t spending this winter. It could be, too, a batch of ‘em are spooked by the Dodgers.