Are the Avengers being formed in LA for the 2025 season and beyond? How will this affect the future of baseball?!

     To truly get what I'm talking about, just close your eyes and imagine every superhero imaginable coming together to build a super-team. But not just any regular super-team, one that seemingly would go down in history as one of the best rosters put on paper. To a point where other evil Villains would be at a disadvantage, that it might be pointless to combat with them anymore. That's the 2025 LA Dodgers' current roster right now, and it seems they still aren't done adding just yet. 

    The Dodgers coming off of a World Series championship defeating the New York Yankees pretty easily in five games are coming off a huge successful season. With historic performances from International and newly added MVP Shohei Ohtani along with a superstar roster already it came as no surprise that this would be the team to beat heading into next season. With only a few holes on the roster and free-agent classes with high-end talent, it seemed as if the Dodgers once again would be in the running for the top players' services once again. Although no one in the sports world (yes, the sports world) would be jaw-dropped by the moves they have been able to make, something like this hasn't been seen since the late 90's- early 20's Yankees. It's something that this generation of baseball fans has never seen with the improvement of play style and culture changes since those early Yankee teams. Which has struck controversy about whether it's good for the game at all. 

     While reading the Athletic Writer Ken Rosenthal put how I feel about this discourse in the simplest way possible. "Deep in the heart of every baseball fan fuming about the spending of the Los Angeles Dodgers, there lies an uncomfortable truth: You’re just mad your owner isn’t doing the same thing." (Rosenthal, K). The conversation about this is about how the Dodgers can have the funds and ability to bring so many players from different divisions, rivals, heck even from other continents to their team. I think it's as simple as just 3 things: culture, success, and funding. While the last part isn't really a mystery for the average fan the other 2 factors play a big role as to how they're constructing their roster. Since 2013 the Dodgers are the organization that has gone above and beyond to make everything in their organization the best in every aspect. Making the playoffs for 12 straight years while winning 2 World Series titles in the process. Now if you're a free agent or even a young fan watching them play wouldn't you want to play with them also. The guys they bring in fit the culture because they've built a family that has one goal, win at all costs.

    The big thing that has people up in arms is them deferring contracts left and right. This shouldn't be too much of a conversation until you look at how much is being deferred by every player being brought in. Just last offseason Shohei Ohtani, one of the greatest players ever and former Los Angeles Angel hit the open market for the first time in his career at the age of 29 and got at the time the largest contract in major sports history at 10 years and $700 million. He most definitely deserves a one-of-a-kind player that can both hit and pitch at an elite level. However, the one thing that was put into question was the amount of money being deferred, and let's just say it's more than you and I might ever see in our lives. He will be getting paid $20 million through his entire duration playing as a Dodger while the remaining $680 million will be paid between 2034-2043. And it hasn't stopped there. Every player whether it be by an extension or signing has money being deferred.

    I don't think fans necessarily have a problem with them differing money but with them knowing that loophole in the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) the amount that is being deferred is the reason why. But there are a portion of fans that do seem to forget that contract deferments are a thing in sports, obviously not to this extent but it's nothing that was just invented by them at all. There's a day in baseball called Bobby Bonilla Day for the NY Mets every year on July 1, when he gets paid $1.1 million each year that starts in 1999 and ends in 2035. It's nothing new at all. The other part that has fans concerned is the overall unbalanced aspect that the game is in now that the Dodgers have made all these moves. Saying it's not fair that a team can take all the best players while the smaller and mid-market teams can't do anything. For most teams is false, we shouldn't be looking at the Dodgers as the true villains in this story. It should be the owners who refuse to spend money or act cheap when they have the resources to compete with them. This isn't to say that all teams so far haven't done that, because there are teams that have used their resources to get other players to help them succeed for the new year. It just comes to a point where other teams need to invest more into the product, they have right now instead of going by and claiming this is the best they can do.

    For someone who also wants their team to make a single move to help them progress forward, it's nice to know there is a team I can actively go against due to sheer competition. At the end of the day, these Evil Empires only come around once in a generation and I think this is something that can spark conversation that can put MLB really into the public eye once again. This is just like any other sport whether it was the Warriors in the mid-2010s or the Chiefs right now, baseball now has something that can be equal to those other sports, and I personally can't wait to live through this time baseball!

Rosenthal, K. (n.d.). The Dodgers have become baseball’s evil empire, but all teams should compete with the same zeal. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6076507/2025/01/21/los-angeles-dodgers-system-advantage/