PHOENIX — They are hated.
They are loved.
They are ruining baseball.
They are great for baseball.
They are the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Dodgers will open their spring training camp on Friday morning at Camelback Ranch as the first team in more than a quarter-century as repeat World Series champions, and the first in baseball history to have a payroll exceeding $400 million, $406.5 million to be exact.
If you include their estimated luxury tax penalties, their payroll will exceed $550 million.
Their payroll is so immense that their mere luxury tax penalties is greater than the entire payroll of 10 teams.
Why, if you consider the 110% tax penalty they’re paying for new right fielder Kyle Tucker’s $60 million annual salary, their tax bill is greater than the payroll of the Milwaukee Brewers, who won a major league-leading 97 games last season.
They are Exhibit 1-A for why the owners want a salary cap in the next collective bargaining agreement, and while they are willing to shut down the sport to obtain it.
Oh, and just in case the non-Dodger fans aren’t angry enough, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had a proclamation on Feb. 12 that will have them screaming into the night and flooding MLB fan sites.
‘This team, looking at the guys in their prime, the experience, the talent, the starters, the pen, the depth of the young players that we have coming behind them on the pitching side,’ Roberts said, ‘this probably is the best team we’ve had on paper yet.’
Yep, once again the Dodgers will treat the regular season as a dress rehearsal for their gala performance in October, using a six-man pitching staff in which $1 billion worth of players — Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto — likely will pitch just once a week.
What other team in baseball has the resources to make two free-agent blunders with closer Tanner Scott and outfielder Michael Conforto in free agency a year ago, and then replace them with the best player on the free-agent market in Tucker, and the best reliever on the market in Edwin Diaz?
Indeed, the best team in baseball got even better.
‘When we played them in the playoffs last year,’ Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona said, ‘I didn’t know whether to try to get them out or get their autographs. They just keep running guys at you.
‘I don’t blame them. They’re trying to win, and they’ve got the resources to do it. I’m just glad we’re in a different division.’
Really, it’s similar to the same mantra heard throughout the land during the Yankees’ dynasty and their payroll. Where was the outcry when Atlanta won 14 consecutive division titles? Did the Oakland A’s ruin baseball during the Charlie Finley days?
“You always have to have somebody that teams and fans enjoy disliking,’’ Roberts said, “and that’s good for sports. I was one of those guys that didn’t like the Yankees, but saw their value within the sport, certainly.
“I think what gets lost is all of the things that we do well, the scouting and player development, I think we do as good as anyone in baseball, and all of that to get superstars to play well every night, to put out a good product every single night.
“But when you’re talking about the Yankees, if you be put in the same vein of the Yankees in the 90s, you’re doing something right?’’
While MLB is using the Dodgers to argue for a salary cap, and fans will either scream at the Dodgers for their payroll or bash their own ownership for not spending, general managers and players surveyed in the Cactus League refuse to criticize the Dodgers’ extravagant spending.
They might be jealous over the Dodgers’ resources, but they rave about the Dodgers’ front office and coaching staff, recognize their ability to scout and develop players, and praise the way they play the game.
“They’re the juggernauts of the major leagues right, but you’re not going to fault the team for spending money,’’ Brewers ace Brandon Woodruff told USA TODAY Sports. “As a player, that’s what you want to see. So why would anyone get mad at them for spending money. I mean, if they can do it, they can do it.
“They have good players, and a lot of money, but what’s so impressive about them is that they play the game the right way. You go play them, and you see all of these superstars … Freddie Freeman, Mookie [Betts] and those guys, and they’re all out doing early work. They put in their work.
“They just don’t show up when the game starts. They’re good, but they put their work in. You’ve got to respect them.’’
What folks conveniently forget is that while the Dodgers are consistently picking last or next-to-last in the draft, they still are a team filled with homegrown stars, from catcher Will Smith to recently retired Clayton Kershaw, and they used their own prospects to trade for All-Star shortstop Mookie Betts, infielder/outfielder Tommy Edman and starter Tyler Glasnow.
Sure, their enormous resources allow them to supplement their roster with whatever free agents they desire, enabling them to retain their own prospects without having to trade them away, but a team like the New York Mets have spent more than the Dodgers the past five years and are still seeking their first World Series title since 1986.
“Hey, it’s not necessarily who has the best players, but who plays the best,’’ Los Angeles Angels GM Perry Minasian said. “Anybody can beat anyone on any given night. That’s the beauty of baseball. It’s 162 games. There are no Cinderella stories in 162 games. You have to earn it.
“They’ve earned it.’’
Said J.J. Picollo, Kansas City Royals president of baseball operations: “They’ve done this strategically, and have done it well. They’re capitalizing on things that are perfectly within what’s permitted. What they’re doing is fascinating, and it’s really impressive.’’
Chris Young, Texas Rangers president of baseball operations, added: “Whether somebody is having a problem with what they’re doing and questioning whether or not it’s good for the game, are two different things in my opinion. What they’re doing is completely within the rules. They’ve operated with the resources they have in a tremendous matter.’’
Really, if you want to feel sorry for anyone, you can sympathize with the other four teams in the NL West, particularly the San Diego Padres. The Padres have been to the postseason in four of the past six years, winning 183 games the past two seasons, but the Dodgers are that roadblock that keeps them from greatness.
Yep, just like the days when no matter what the Boston Red Sox did, the Yankees stood in their way.
“The difference between the Yankees teams and the Dodgers is the financial component of it,’’ said A.J. Preller, Padres president of baseball operations. “I mean, you’re talking over $500 million, and all of the deferrals. So that’s a different level.
“But we understand they’re a great team. They’ve got star players that are impactful. They just set up super high bars. If you want to get to that championship level, you’ve got to get past them.’’
Year after year after year.
So you can complain, can get mad and can scream, but in the end, the Dodgers’ rivals will tell you that there is respect, like it or not.
“The Dodgers are unquestionably awesome,’’ said Jerry Dipoto, Seattle Mariners president of baseball operations. “There are superstars all around the field. They have awesome role players. They have depth everywhere you look. So to have a team like that, and to sustain it, is so impressive.
“Really, there’s always been that team that dating back to as long as I watched or have been a fan of baseball. Look at the Yankees in the 90s and early 2000s. You had [Mariano] Rivera, [Jorge] Posada, [Andy] Pettitte and [Derek] Jeter. They were homegrown players. It was the with those great Braves’ teams. And it’s the same with the Dodgers.
“The team costs a lot more money to field, but that doesn’t take away from anything they’re doing.’’
The Dodgers aren’t about to apologize.
They plan to keep on winning.
And they dare someone to stop them.
Follow Bob Nightengale on X @Bnightengale.