Throughout the offseason the CBS Sports MLB experts will bring you a weekly Batting Around roundtable breaking down pretty much anything. The latest news, a historical question, thoughts about the future of baseball, all sorts of stuff. Last week we discussed Roki Sasaki’s future. In this special edition roundtable, we’re going to tackle the Dodgers and their offseason (after signing Sasaki).
Is what the Dodgers are doing bad for baseball?
R.J. Anderson: Nah. Another way of asking this question goes like this: Is trying too hard to win bad for baseball? I would say a fair amount of franchise owners believe so, based on their unwillingness to muster much attempt this winter. That’s bad for baseball. I find what the Athletics, Pirates, Rays, Marlins (and so on) do much worse for the game. That’s bad for baseball. That we always ask this question about the teams that try, and not their opposites? You guessed it. That’s bad for baseball.
Matt Snyder: They have won one real World Series since 1988. They won 98 games last season, not something like 118 or 128. They were one game away from being eliminated in the divisional round. The level of outrage here for them signing a few good players is absolutely mind-boggling. We see dynasties in other sports and Major League Baseball hasn’t had one in decades. We haven’t seen a repeat champion since 2000. This discussion might make more sense if they signed Juan Soto and Corbin Burnes in addition to their other signings, but is the tipping point really a reliever and a pitcher who is very talented yet hasn’t thrown a single pitch in the majors?
Get back to me if they win a second title. Until then, the level of crying is totally unbecoming.
Dayn Perry: While I think there are some long-term concerns about revenue disparities when we get to the post-regional-sports-network era, that’s not in play here. MLB’s biggest problem is teams that don’t try, typically while pocketing revenue-sharing dollars. The Pirates, Rays, Marlins, Reds, and their ilk are bigger problems than teams like the Dodgers, who do work to improve the on-field product and, you know, win baseball games and championships. Internal competitive pressures are a good thing, particularly in MLB these days, when far too many owners see their teams as portfolio holdings instead of civic institutions.
Mike Axisa: In general, I don’t think so — fans of the other 29 teams aren’t mad the Dodgers are ruining baseball, they’re mad their team isn’t the one ruining it — though I am concerned this is inching us closer to a work stoppage that costs games. The Dodgers, and to a lesser extent the Mets and Yankees (and Phillies), are runaway spenders, and MLB and the other owners don’t like those. Add in changing regional sports network landscape, and we could be looking at some serious infighting at the ownership level when the current collective bargaining agreement expires in Dec. 2026. I don’t think what the Dodgers are doing is wrong or bad for the sport. In fact, I think it’s a good thing when baseball has a clearly defined villain. This is the entertainment business and rooting against the villain is entertaining. But I do worry this is another step toward a work stoppage that costs games, and that would be very bad.
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