The Dodgers "Evil Empire" Strikes Back Again, Further Exposing MLB's Broken System
The Dodgers signed Kyle Tucker to the highest AAV contract in present-day dollars, further reminding the baseball world who its standard-bearer is.
For the third straight offseason, the Los Angeles Dodgers reminded the baseball world who their alpha is. In a shocking move, they landed outfielder Kyle Tucker on a four-year, $240 million deal. The $ 60 million AAV is the second-highest in total dollars, and the $57 million present-day AAV ($30 million deferred) is the most.
Since the Diamondbacks swept the Dodgers in the 2023 NLDS, Los Angeles has shown how deep their pockets are. With Shohei Ohtani hitting free agency, they splurged on a 10-year, $700 million contract that’s heavily deferred, as if that matters. With the best player in the sport under their payroll, they’ve decided to protect that investment by shattering spending records.
Two years into the Dodgers’ Ohtani era, you can’t argue with the results. They’ve won back-to-back championships, despite close calls against the Padres (2024) and Blue Jays (2025). They became the first team with a $400 million CBT payroll in 2025, and appeared primed to do so again in 2026.
With their moves this offseason, the Dodgers appeared primed for a three-peat. While they’ll be blamed for the impending lockout, they are merely one symptom of the problem.
Arizona Sports Radio Host Puts Cheapstake MLB Owners on Blast
Arizona Sports radio host Dan Bickley devoted his Bickley Blast rant for January 16 to the Dodgers and Tucker.
“The Dodgers have ruined baseball! Their starting lineup looks like something you see at an All-Star Game. They are the loophole dynasty, spending over $1 billion of deferred money to create the biggest financial crisis in the history of baseball.
“At least, that’s what I’m supposed to think. But there’s another side to the story, folks. Because two-thirds of Major League Baseball, 20 of 30 owners, spend less than 50% of their revenue on payroll. Both teams in Chicago spend 36% or less. And all the cheapskate owners who are railing about the system, and who will soon vote to lock out the players, are doing so to protect their own miserly nature.
“And at times like this, I once again feel immense pride for the Diamondbacks. Because they have a general manager (Mike Hazen) who will not spend one minute feeling sorry for himself. Because their three-game sweep of the Dodgers in the 2023 postseason is what triggered all of this madness in the first place. And because the Diamondbacks spend 67% of their revenue on payroll, which ranks fifth in Major League Baseball. Which means in a climate conducive for owners to not compete, to cry poor and skim from the till, Ken Kendrick is giving it his best shot. Even though he has little chance of winning the division he shares with the Dodgers, which I respect immensely.”
While Bickley attributes their embarrassing postseason losses within the division in back-to-back seasons as the cause, that isn’t 100% true. What’s got the Dodgers going is that the most gifted player in baseball on their payroll became available, and they want to win with it. Because winning it all is the ultimate advertisement. With Ohtani, they have become arguably the biggest global brand in MLB.
What’s Wrong With Baseball?
The Dodgers will get the lion’s share of the blame for a lockout, but all they’ve done is exploit a loophole in the system. It’s no different than how Jerry Colangelo built the Diamondbacks from scratch. He took on so much debt, which the rules allowed him to at the time, to win a World Series championship in 2001. As they say, “Flags Fly Forever.”
What the Dodgers have done instead is exploit the fact that the majority of MLB owners are cheapskates. Like Bickley, I respect Ken Kendrick’s willingness to spend relative to revenues and Hazen’s creativity to try to make it work. The Diamondbacks do not financially compete with the Dodgers. Even with record payrolls in 2024-25, it’s only half of what their division rivals put out.
Other than the Diamondbacks, there are a small handful of small-market clubs trying to win. The Milwaukee Brewers serve as the best example, although they were squashed by the Evil Empire in a non-competitive NLCS. The Brewers’ ability to maximize a player’s skill sets is valuable, which is why a big-market club like the Mets poached David Stearns. New York was hoping that Stearns could have a similar impact for them as Andrew Friedman has had for the Dodgers, but it hasn’t worked out.
Baseball is slowly turning into a situation where it’s the haves vs. the have-nots. That doesn’t make the game any more exciting for fans of the have-not teams. If MLB turns into a “pay-to-win” game, which obviously commissioner Rob Manfred doesn’t care about as long as franchise values keep going up, it disenfranchises fans. They may instead move to different sports or different forms of entertainment with their time.
A lockout isn’t the answer to baseball’s woes. But I’m not going to confidently say I know what it is either. But when there’s a clear revenue and spending disparity between teams, it throws off the competitive balance of the game.
From my vantage point as a disgraced Diamondbacks beat writer, it’s clear to me both MLB owners and the union are more concerned with getting theirs vs. the health of the sport. Here’s to a great 2026 season and hopefully not a protracted labor dispute that could hurt the sport afterward.