An absolutely legendary Fall Classic came to a crazy end Saturday night in the Great Blue North. The Dodgers and Jays didn’t give us an outstanding World Series; they gave us one of the greatest ones of all time.
You could look at just game 7 to find damn near everything you needed. Benches clearing, outfielders crashing, drama, sweats, and one team that said screw relievers, we don’t need them. But it wasn’t just game 7, it was all of it. Coming from someone who took a hit in the pocket by the outcome, it was absolutely incredible from game 1 to the eleventh inning of game seven. Hats off to Toronto and Los Angeles for every single moment of it.
But, then there’s this. The general aftermath reactions over the last 72 hours have been fascinating to me. The people who say, “Well, the Dodgers bought all the players, so of course they won.” Laughable, especially considering the Jays were 5th in team payroll this year.
“They’re ruining the game, I’m done with baseball.” Well, are they? The Dodgers do something your team does not when you make that kind of statement. They pay to win rings. Most people reading this will think to themselves, “Well, he’s a Dodger fan, so of course he says it’s ok that they do this.” You don’t know me. I was born in Northern California in the 80s. The first two things I learned in life were despising the Dodgers and the Cowboys.
Then there’s the “well, I guess baseball is going away after next season because this will lead to a lockout in 2027.” You may not be wrong there partially. The Dodgers doing what they do isn’t why that’s a real possibility, though. Most people say we need a salary cap in baseball, but it’s ruining the game. I say, no. We need a salary floor before we need a cap. What the Nationals, Athletics, Pirates, Marlins, Rays, Rockies, and White Sox are doing is ruining the game. When over a fifth of your league does not even hide the fact that they have zero intentions of competing, how is that good for the long-term health of the sport?
Take it a step further. If Milwaukee and Cleveland played in the World Series this year, would you have said anything about the Dodgers? Yes, you would have. The narrative then would’ve been “See, buying a championship doesn’t work.” The difference between the Brewers and Guardians and the seven bottom-feeding leeches I mentioned above? Spending money on developing players. Don’t point the finger at the Back-to-Back Champs. Point the finger at the cheap ass owner of your own team for not trying in any capacity whatsoever. If you don’t spend money to develop the talent, it’s the same as not trying to acquire any of it.
There are plenty of great players available this season in baseball. Tucker, Schwarber, Bregman, Alonso, Bichette, and Bellinger. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Amazing to think about: all 30 teams have the same chance of getting any number of them. The reality of it? A third of the league at a minimum won’t even try.
Props to the Dodgers for doing the damn thing. To the rest of baseball, now it’s up to you to try to stop them from doing it again. From a personal standpoint, please, someone stop them. Culture matters. Development matters. Trying matters. The Dodgers have ALL of that.
Free Agency opens at 5 pm Eastern on Thursday. It won’t take long to figure out who’s already not trying for next year.
Don’t hate the player, hate the ones who don’t even try to play the game.
