Dodgers Are Ruining Baseball

[notin]

8 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

It would be nice to bring him over so that I could see the myriad of ways that his name would be butchered on here: K'Bryan, Ke'Brian, KeBrain, Kebryan, Hays.

Chuck Jr.?

[Jasonbay44]

Kyle Tucker just signed with Dodgers 

[Old Red]

3 minutes ago, Jasonbay44 said:

Kyle Tucker just signed with Dodgers 

A great signing!

[notin]

7 minutes ago, Jasonbay44 said:

Kyle Tucker just signed with Dodgers 

As Benjamin Franklin said “there are three certainties in life - death, taxes, and the Dodgers ruining baseball thanks to their ridiculous television contract.”

[illinoisredsox]

24 minutes ago, Jasonbay44 said:

Kyle Tucker just signed with Dodgers 

4 years, $240M

No word on how much is deferred, but I’m guessing a hefty amount.

Prediction: Bichette back to the Jays.

[Old Red]

2 minutes ago, illinoisredsox said:

4 years, $240M

No word on how much is deferred, but I’m guessing a hefty amount.

Prediction: Bichette back to the Jays.

Opt-out after second year.

[moonslav59]

21 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Opt-out after second year.

and third.

[moonslav59]

29 minutes ago, illinoisredsox said:

Prediction: Bichette back to the Jays.

The Mets really wanted Tucker. I doubt the go for Bichette.

If the Yanks lose out on Bellinger, maybe they trade Chisolm and sign Bichette.

[JoeBrady]

49 minutes ago, illinoisredsox said:

4 years, $240M

No word on how much is deferred, but I’m guessing a hefty amount.

Prediction: Bichette back to the Jays.

$57.1 for CBT purposes.  Their CBT tax alone would rank as the 19th highest payroll.

[vegasbob]

The Dodgers almost absurd contract with Kyle Tucker, not a superstar,  will almost guarantee a labor problem with the next CBA negotiations , after 2026 season.   The Players Union will be  ROTFLTAO at the owners , as the labor dispute will be the Owners fighting , not the union vs the Owners.

Dodgers will force a fight among the billionaires, especially if they win the 2026 WS. It is not guaranteed in any way though. Play the games and see. 

What it does mean for Boston though is that there is talent hidden in Dodger AA/AAA who have no chance of breaking into the LAD roster.   If Craig is as smart as his degrees would imply, he will find a gem or two that Friedman would give up.  Can anybody there play 2B ?

[Tedballgame]

I started this thread after the WS and today just proves my point. The Dodgers have an unlimited budget and can afford to OVERPAY for whoever they want and this is an overpay. The guy hit .218 in  July and .244 in August. Got benched for a while. 60 million a year? Give me a break! Ted Williams would be worth 150 million a year by today's standards. 

[moonslav59]

13 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

$57.1 for CBT purposes.  Their CBT tax alone would rank as the 19th highest payroll.

Mind boggling. 11 teams have lower budgets that LA's tax, and somehow JH not spending more is the main issue.

[JoeBrady]

5 minutes ago, vegasbob said:

The Dodgers almost absurd contract with Kyle Tucker, not a superstar,  will almost guarantee a labor problem with the next CBA negotiations , after 2026 season.   The Players Union will be  ROTFLTAO at the owners , as the labor dispute will be the Owners fighting , not the union vs the Owners.

Dodgers will force a fight among the billionaires, especially if they win the 2026 WS. It is not guaranteed in any way though. Play the games and see. 

What it does mean for Boston though is that there is talent hidden in Dodger AA/AAA who have no chance of breaking into the LAD roster.   If Craig is as smart as his degrees would imply, he will find a gem or two that Friedman would give up.  Can anybody there play 2B ?

With the 110% CBT, Tucker is costing them $115,000,000 a year.  It makes you wonder why they wouldn't trade almost anyone from their minor leagues for someone like Duran or Abreu.  They won't be as good, but will likely be no less than about 1.5 WAR worse.  It's like the LAD are paying another $100,000,000 to have Tucker instead of Duran or Abreu.

[Deja Doh]

Crazy money for Tucker.  Another true pull hitter (he'll do well in LA, would have done better in Yankee Stadium with the short perch, not so good in Fenway).  I think Bregman's move to Wrigley will limit his power numbers.

 

[jad]

On 1/13/2026 at 2:18 PM, JoeBrady said:

But if I own a team, I've already made a ton of money.  And I'm not saying I'd simply ignore the P&L, but it's a bit like you saved up money in your 401k all your life, but then don't want to spend any of it in retirement.

Ha ha!  And when you finally find yourself in this situation, (as many of us have), hanging on to every nickel of that so you can (what? pile it on your own gravestone?) suddenly seems perfectly rational.    (More rational, say, than thinking that the franchise that got the best players, put out the best product, attracted the most fans,  paid its employees the most, won the most is somehow "ruining" the sport,)

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

9 hours ago, notin said:

As Benjamin Franklin said “there are three certainties in life - death, taxes, and the Dodgers ruining baseball thanks to their ridiculous television contract.”

Franklin: not just another whiny elite fan who got off by electrocuting himself flying a kite connected to a metal key in a lightning storm. At least he invented the woodstove, which is what saved me after losing electricity for weeks in two different weather catastrophes.

Ben was also smart enough to invent the library, so future generations would have a place to go to use computers. He also thought the national bird should be a turkey instead of an eagle (he knew what was coming).

If hired by the Red Sox front office, Franklin would erect a statue of Ben Affleck for robbing sacks of money from Fenway Park, which made all games cashless from now on,

[mvp 78]

8 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Mind boggling. 11 teams have lower budgets that LA's tax, and somehow JH not spending more is the main issue.

JH not spending WAS OUR ISSUE. Did you enjoy '22, '23 and '24? Wouldn't last year have been nicer if the team was more complete and didn't get smoked in Games 2 and 3 in Yankee Stadium 3? 

[notin]

10 hours ago, illinoisredsox said:

4 years, $240M

No word on how much is deferred, but I’m guessing a hefty amount.

Prediction: Bichette back to the Jays.

And not the Dodgers?

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, notin said:

And not the Dodgers?

Bidding wars are fun if your team is not involved. 

[Old Red]

4 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

JH not spending WAS OUR ISSUE. Did you enjoy '22, '23 and '24? Wouldn't last year have been nicer if the team was more complete and didn't get smoked in Games 2 and 3 in Yankee Stadium 3? 

Maybe even doing a little addition at the trade deadline would have been something.

[mvp 78]

Bo to PHI

Bellinger to NYM

Duran to NYY

[notin]

2 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Maybe even doing a little addition at the trade deadline would have been something.

That was what got Bloom fired (as far as I can tell).  But I don’t think firing Bloom meant abandoning relying on the farm…

[notin]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Bo to PHI

Bellinger to NYM

Duran to NYY

Duran for who?

[Hugh2]

9 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Mind boggling. 11 teams have lower budgets that LA's tax, and somehow JH not spending more is the main issue.

 

22 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

JH not spending WAS OUR ISSUE. Did you enjoy '22, '23 and '24? Wouldn't last year have been nicer if the team was more complete and didn't get smoked in Games 2 and 3 in Yankee Stadium 3? 

I think we can hold our beloved team to a higher standard, demand more investment without comparing them to the Dodgers as the archetype of spending.  

[mvp 78]

26 minutes ago, notin said:

Duran for who?

Jazz and a prospect.

[mvp 78]

12 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

 

I think we can hold our beloved team to a higher standard, demand more investment without comparing them to the Dodgers as the archetype of spending.  

They are the archetype of winning at the moment. Until the Sox are in the playoffs year in and year out, we need to hold them to something. 

[Hugh2]

26 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Bo to PHI

Bellinger to NYM

Duran to NYY

 

24 minutes ago, notin said:

Duran for who?

Not a serious prediction but the only guy who makes sense for us to receive back is Anthony Volpe, which makes ZERO sense for NY unless they sign Bo Bichette, which also doesn't make much sense, but if they lose out on Bellinger it does make sense for them to add a bat, and if they spend on Bo, and trade Anthony to fill that OF need it can make sense on paper.  NY and Boston have been surprising frequent trade partners in recent years. 

I think Mets match up better with Boston.  Jet Williams and Brett Baty are both interesting figures. 

[Hugh2]

4 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

They are the archetype of winning at the moment. Until the Sox are in the playoffs year in and year out, we need to hold them to something. 

How about the Yankees? more realistic, in our own league. 

Got to get to the World Series to play the Dodgers in the world series. 

[moonslav59]

55 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

JH not spending WAS OUR ISSUE. Did you enjoy '22, '23 and '24? Wouldn't last year have been nicer if the team was more complete and didn't get smoked in Games 2 and 3 in Yankee Stadium 3? 

I hated '22-'24. Why does it have to be either or?

[moonslav59]

20 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Jazz and a prospect.

Could Duran then be NYY's next Jake?