Dodgers Rank Among NL’s Highest Spending Teams This Offseason

Much has been made in the last couple months of how much the Dodgers can and should spend, then what kind of money they actually spread around.

The typical thinking: The Dodgers have arguably the deepest pockets in baseball, so why shouldn’t they outspend everyone else? The reality: Simply having money doesn’t mean one should throw it around like a drunken sailor.

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Fans and “experts” alike have criticized the Dodgers for their alleged frugality, but the narrative isn’t quite accurate. This chart of the NL’s highest spenders this offseason puts this into some perspective, courtesy of Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal.

As you can see by the note at the bottom, Arizona’s total doesn’t reflect the final money exchanged in their Shelby Miller trade.

When you consider the Dodgers are coming off a season in which they spent more than any other baseball team in MLB history and, for the most part, are returning the majority of the major culprits in terms of money owed.

Now, a the payroll will shrink as they have less money owed to players no longer on the team, but it’s fairly easy to understand why the Dodgers might balk at spending in ways teams in their division have in a free agent class that doesn’t fit the Dodgers’ needs perfectly.

As many have pointed out, there is no direct correlation between spending and World Series wins. While the Dodgers have spent half as much as the Giants and Diamondbacks on free agents this offseason, it’s not exactly like they’re taking minimum wage increases into account when they hand out contracts.