The world according to Jim:
• Just checking: Have the Dodgers ruined baseball yet? …
• To hear others tell it, the Kyle Tucker signing on top of the Edwin Diaz signing earlier in the winter was the final straw, the act that almost certainly will lead to a lockout this December and quite likely will lead to a work stoppage next spring. You really think a Players Association that has steadfastly and successfully fought off previous efforts to implement a salary cap will fold this time?
Or have we all forgotten how the 1994 World Series was sacrificed for the very same reason? …
•One anonymous respondent, identified as a “high-ranking team official,” recently told ESPN’s Jeff Passan: “They (owners) are ready to burn the f—ing house down.” And who would be ruining the sport then? …
• Maybe the true motivation was given away a couple of sentences earlier in Passan’s piece, when he noted that owners’ “franchise valuations aren’t growing as quickly as those of their billionaire peers in other sports, and they blame the system that governs Major League Baseball. They don’t like it. Nearly every owner believes MLB needs a salary cap.”
Translation: They might say it’s competitive balance, but the real concern might be how much they can profit from cashing out. …
• If you root for someone else – say, a team that is consistently in the bottom third of MLB in payroll – and you want to direct your ire solely at the Dodgers, consider this: Their team would likely whip your team even with a salary cap. It’s the difference between a smart organization that spends money beyond its player payroll and uses its financial might in scouting, player development and technology, and organizations that won’t pay to build out those sectors.
Remember, these are billionaire owners we’re describing. …
• As for this notion that the Dodgers have bludgeoned everyone else in baseball with their checkbooks the last two years, one more reminder: They were a game away from elimination in San Diego in the first round in 2024 and needed a bullpen game to survive. They were on the brink of elimination in Games 6 and 7 of the World Series in Toronto – and, in fact, were two outs away from losing Game 7 before Miguel Rojas became the unlikeliest of October heroes by tying the game in the ninth with one swing, setting up Will Smith’s go-ahead home run in the 11th. …
• Again, there is a way to solve the problem without a cap, as I wrote a month ago: Full revenue sharing, including a certain portion of the big markets’ local TV revenue (including the Dodgers’ deal with Spectrum) and a percentage of other revenue, such as the income the Dodgers earn from their ties to Japan. The caveat, as I explained then, is that “a significant percentage of the shared revenue must be spent on player payroll, no exceptions.”
How much of current revenue sharing/luxury tax money – much of that coming from the Dodgers and the New York Mets – is used for player payroll by the have-nots? I think we all know the answer. …
• The demise of the regional sports network model might make that compromise feasible sooner rather than later. MLB now produces multiple teams’ broadcasts, among them the Angels, and Commissioner Rob Manfred has made no secret of his desire to ultimately fold local broadcasts into a national TV package, and in the short term to just take additional local broadcasts and add them to network/streamer inventory. Revamping the TV policy almost certainly means putting smaller markets on a more even footing. …
• Meanwhile, that cabal of ownership demanding a lockout and potential work stoppage ignores what seems to have been a huge revival of interest in their sport over the last year, especially during the postseason. You’ve got all of that potential new business, and you’re going to throw it away for pique’s sake? …
• This week’s quiz: That Game 4 in San Diego in 2024, as noted above, could have derailed the Dodgers’ dynasty before it began. Who was the starting pitcher in that game for the Dodgers, and who got the win? Answer below. …
• The column on readers’ selections for SoCal’s greatest sports moments will appear next week, but one (smart aleck) respondent who will not be identified listed his five top moments as victories by teams from New England over teams from SoCal.
Rebuttal: Since the 2020s began, this region has seven championships: Three by the Dodgers and one each by the Lakers, Rams, LAFC and the Galaxy. That region has one, by the Boston Celtics in 2024. (And by the way, thanks for Mookie!) …
• During last week’s runup to Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, much of the midweek activity took place in San Francisco, 42 miles to the north by car. (Or bus.) Next year, the Super Bowl returns to Inglewood, and assuming the NFL keeps its headquarters and media headquarters downtown, it’s 10 miles from there to SoFi Stadium. (Of course, given traditional L.A. traffic patterns, it might feel like a 42-mile journey.) …
This weekend’s NBA All-Star festivities at the Intuit Dome might represent a trial run for that Super Bowl. In this case, at least, the NBA’s planners were smart enough to use an airport hotel to house the media rather than putting everyone downtown. …
• From the “deal with the devil” file: Addressing the owners on Thursday, Manfred said his office is considering “striking formal deals” with prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket, according to Front Office Sports. The reasoning supposedly is to aid with “overall game integrity,” the report said.
No, I don’t totally buy that. It’s about the money, just as it was when leagues entered into agreements with sports betting interests. Given the scandals and suspensions already generated because of associations between players and gamblers, how would this be any different? …
• Quiz answer: Coming off a 6-5 loss in San Diego in Game 3 of the 2024 Division Series – thanks to a six-run second inning by the Padres against Walker Buehler – and with what was down to a three-man rotation running on fumes, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts started Ryan Brasier. He went 1⅓ scoreless innings as the first of eight Dodgers pitchers. Evan Phillips, their fifth pitcher, got the victory in an 8-0 win, and the Dodgers won the series with a 2-0 decision at home in Game 5. …
jalexander@scng.com
