RedState Sports Report: Don't Hate the Dodgers

Greetings from the sports desk located somewhere below the main deck of the Good Pirate Ship RedState. Sammy the Shark and Karl the Kraken have just informed me they are happily setting the proper mood for the main story of the day…

You do not know how thankful I am it is not a hot dog eating contest.

Anyway, with the major league baseball trading deadline fast approaching, the Los Angeles Dodgers have already made their move, picking up the sport’s best pitcher, one Tarik Skubal, from the Detroit Tigers in return for three top minor league prospects. Before the wailing and gnashing of teeth begins — look, I’m a San Francisco Giants fan, I get it — a sober look at the scenario enabling such a trade suggests itself.

The Dodgers are rightly taking full advantage of two factors in their favor. They can trade for a player of Skubal’s caliber knowing full well they have very little to worry about in terms of re-signing him to a lucrative long-term contract. Skubal is an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season. Los Angeles has also spent the time and resources to build a superb minor league system loaded with talent that has zero chance of making the Dodgers’ roster due to the plethora of high-flying talent on the parent team’s club, said talent acquired through a combination of savvy trades such as the one that just landed Skubal, free-agent signings such as Shohei Ohtani, and the occasional home-grown product. It is far too easy to look at the payrolls of MLB teams as the be-all and end-all of why some teams shine while others wither on the vine. Certainly it plays a part. However, the teams that invest wisely in their scouting and developmental departments, i.e., minor leagues, can, to a degree, compensate for the big boys’ ability to spend willy-nilly by forming a body of major league-level talent without breaking the bank. Whether this is sufficient to get over the hump is another matter, given how teams following this path, such as the Tampa Bay Rays, are usually quite good but invariably not quite good enough.

Spending money in and of itself is no guarantee of success. The New York Mets are a shining example of this truism, as their payroll this season (2026) actually exceeds the Dodgers’ outlay. Granted, a massive contributing factor in this is how much of Ohtani’s salary is deferred to a time when he will long be retired. But they’re still spending the big bucks. Have you seen their record?

Does Los Angeles have advantages? Of course. They are one of the few teams in MLB that still enjoy the fruits of a lucrative local television broadcast agreement. In contrast, most teams have seen their originally similarly laid-out plans collapse in a heap of broadcast network bankruptcy and league takeovers, resulting in teams now bringing in pennies where once there were dollars. Also, success breeds success. Who wouldn’t want to play for a team where every season is World Series champion or bust, one that lavishes the lucre on top talent plus flashes the cash on all organizational levels?

Much has been made of the looming lockout following the conclusion of the Dodgers winning their third straight World Series this October (I may be getting ahead of myself here, but I doubt it). Some baseball insiders are saying the owners are willing to sacrifice the entire 2027 season to secure the desired financial concessions from the players, primarily a salary cap. While it wouldn’t hurt, some other far less flashy measures would go just as far, if not farther, to create a more level playing field.

Nationalize all television broadcast agreements. Everyone gets the same amount regardless of location. Fair? Sort of. Is it fair that in football the Jacksonville Jaguars get as much TV money as the Los Angeles Rams? Not really. But if it makes for a better overall product, putting the onus on each team to draft/trade for and develop the best talent rather than simply flashing the cash, so be it. A sidenote: I am a Rams fan. In general manager Les Snead and head coach Sean McVay, I trust. And did you see where Aaron Donald may come back to team up with Myles Garrett? Okay, back to baseball.

Set a hard amount on what each team must spend on their minor league and developmental system. Pick a dollar amount. Every team must spend every dollar of that amount on all factors involved with the support structure. Expenses of supporting, or running outright, minor league teams, including all player and staff salaries, facility construction and maintenance, marketing, and so on. Scouting. Development camps — the whole kit and caboodle. Come in over or under the designated amount? Slap the offending organization with a fine that would make even Elon Musk think twice. In short, force all teams to compete not only at the major league level but at the minor league level as well — no more cheapskates skating by.

Hard salary floor and ceiling at the major league level. Sorry, players, but it’s time to realize the other three major professional sports in this country have got it right, regardless of how byzantine the structure can become. For an example of this, try figuring out the NBA arrangement sometime. Back to baseball. No more sleight of hand, such as deferred payments or signing bonuses. You have to spend this much, and you cannot spend more than this much per year. Period. Again, this is more to force the teams devoted to doing everything on the cheap to actually reward their long-suffering fans by spending a few bucks to try to acquire or keep a few players who genuinely enhance said team’s chances of winning now and then.

Don’t hate the Dodgers because they take full advantage of what is presented to them. Hate the other teams for letting such a mess exist in the first place.

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