"Fixing" baseball?

[C-Unit]

Alot of talk about what the league/owners will have to "do about this." I get it but I wonder what can actually be done.

The Dodgers deferred all the Ohtani money because they knew by the time they'd have to pay it, they will have stacked revenue far beyond that. I don't know the ins and outs of how much revenue a team makes by making a WS run, but I'm assuming it's a lot therefore the Dodgers are already stacking that revenue. It's like they were able to take out a mortgage/loan against the unlimited success the franchise can achieve by making themselves the #1 landing spot for japanese talent, during what seems to be the golden age of Japanese baseball talent. They've taken out an ungodly loan, and they have all the confidence in the world they can pay it back. 28 other teams could not do this (I caveat the Yankees, because I think their fans should be looking at the owners asking why we can't do this too). It's all about the market and the brand recognition of the team worldwide. No central division team (AL or NL) is going to have it, that's for sure. The Reds, for example, even if they were able to workout the same exact 700m deal with Ohtani I don't think would be able to have the same confidence that they could go on a championship dynasty and have the revenue all come back.

So what can actually be done. Even by the time we get to this next CBA, the Dodgers already have built this super team. What can actually be done to stand in the way of all this winning and all this revenue they are set to receive? The Dodgers basically did the Ohtani deal counting on said revenue...

In other words, the Dodgers may have themselves set up to be a dynasty for quite some time. I'm talking decades. And I don't know what can actually be done about it from this point on. I guess all I can really say about it this morning, is that Yamamoto guy is an absolute freak.

[JuanAgosto]

Im not convinced the league, owners, or networks want anything to change. As some have posted, ticket sales are up. Pricing is up. TV deals generate crazy money. They are happy to have the big name teams and players playing long into October. It makes more $$$ for all involved.

[cardstatman]

The Dodgers stars are getting old. If they will be a dynasty, they will have to rebuild on the fly... and they will.

Chart below copied from free baseball america link https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories ... 01st%20%7C

This chart shows that below average payrolls have won the WS only 12% of the time in the past 25 years.
12 1st quartile (Payroll ranks 1-7)
10 2nd quartile (Payroll ranks 8-15)
2 3rd quartile (Payroll ranks 16-22)
1 4th quartile (Payroll ranks 23-30)

WORLD SERIES CHAMPION OPENING DAY PAYROLLS

Year Team Opening Day Payroll
2025 Dodgers 1st
2024 Dodgers 2nd
2023 Rangers 9th
2022 Astros 10th
2021 Braves 14th
2020 Dodgers 2nd
2019 Nationals 4th
2018 Red Sox 1st
2017 Astros 17th
2016 Cubs 6th
2015 Royals 17th
2014 Giants 7th
2013 Red Sox 4th
2012 Giants 6th
2011 Cardinals 10th
2010 Giants 11th
2009 Yankees 1st
2008 Phillies 13th
2007 Red Sox 2nd
2006 Cardinals 11th
2005 White Sox 13th
2004 Red Sox 2nd
2003 Marlins 25th
2002 Angels 15th
2001 D-backs 8th

[dugoutrex]

best WS in decades - the game is alive and well!

[C-Unit]

best WS in decades - the game is alive and well!

That I won't dispute!

[C-Unit]

The Dodgers stars are getting old. If they will be a dynasty, they will have to rebuild on the fly... and they will.

Chart below copied from free baseball america link https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories ... 01st%20%7C

This chart shows that below average payrolls have won the WS only 12% of the time in the past 25 years.
12 1st quartile (Payroll ranks 1-7)
10 2nd quartile (Payroll ranks 8-15)
2 3rd quartile (Payroll ranks 16-22)
1 4th quartile (Payroll ranks 23-30)

WORLD SERIES CHAMPION OPENING DAY PAYROLLS

Year Team Opening Day Payroll
2025 Dodgers 1st
2024 Dodgers 2nd
2023 Rangers 9th
2022 Astros 10th
2021 Braves 14th
2020 Dodgers 2nd
2019 Nationals 4th
2018 Red Sox 1st
2017 Astros 17th
2016 Cubs 6th
2015 Royals 17th
2014 Giants 7th
2013 Red Sox 4th
2012 Giants 6th
2011 Cardinals 10th
2010 Giants 11th
2009 Yankees 1st
2008 Phillies 13th
2007 Red Sox 2nd
2006 Cardinals 11th
2005 White Sox 13th
2004 Red Sox 2nd
2003 Marlins 25th
2002 Angels 15th
2001 D-backs 8th

Yeah, I mean, they were thought to be aging/injury-prone few years ago. But that core of the team included Turner, Seager, Bellinger... where are those guys now? They flipped the team by essentially being able to pickpocket other teams (Braves, Red Sox) of not just all-stars, but hall-of-fame level franchise face type players. Yeah, they'll probably do it again.

To your overall point, I suppose there was a confluence there during the last decade where the teams with the highest payrolls also happened to have highly-rated farm systems at the same time. I think of it as the era of not just the super team, but the super organization. I guess the moneyball era only lasted so long because the teams with the money realized they could just pay it to hire whoever was doing the thinking for those moneyball teams.

[Whatashame]

best WS in decades - the game is alive and well!

Best World Series to you between 2 of the top 5 payrolls in baseball. As many as 20 teams have almost no chance of playing in that series. We could just continue with the status quo or maybe try to achieve more competitive balance.

At this rate we should probably just make two divisions, maybe a 10 team league with accelerated payrolls and they could play in the real World Series and then make a lesser 20 team division and they can play for a lesser small market championship.

The distance between the haves and have nots just keeps growing. Something has to be done to get the Pittsburghs, the Cincinnatis, the Kansas Citys of baseball on the same competitive level as the LAs, the NYs, the Bostons of baseball. The longer this can is kicked down the road the longer it will take to fix the problem.

Only one team wins and everyone else loses but in November of 2025 we can already list a group of about 10 teams that will actually have a chance to win the 2026 World Series. Everyone else is just along for the ride.

[Ozziesfan41]

The Dodgers stars are getting old. If they will be a dynasty, they will have to rebuild on the fly... and they will.

Chart below copied from free baseball america link https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories ... 01st%20%7C

This chart shows that below average payrolls have won the WS only 12% of the time in the past 25 years.
12 1st quartile (Payroll ranks 1-7)
10 2nd quartile (Payroll ranks 8-15)
2 3rd quartile (Payroll ranks 16-22)
1 4th quartile (Payroll ranks 23-30)

WORLD SERIES CHAMPION OPENING DAY PAYROLLS

Year Team Opening Day Payroll
2025 Dodgers 1st
2024 Dodgers 2nd
2023 Rangers 9th
2022 Astros 10th
2021 Braves 14th
2020 Dodgers 2nd
2019 Nationals 4th
2018 Red Sox 1st
2017 Astros 17th
2016 Cubs 6th
2015 Royals 17th
2014 Giants 7th
2013 Red Sox 4th
2012 Giants 6th
2011 Cardinals 10th
2010 Giants 11th
2009 Yankees 1st
2008 Phillies 13th
2007 Red Sox 2nd
2006 Cardinals 11th
2005 White Sox 13th
2004 Red Sox 2nd
2003 Marlins 25th
2002 Angels 15th
2001 D-backs 8th

Yea they won’t have any problems they will trade prospects and money for a team to take their aging stars and just sign more