The Los Angeles Dodgers are in a unique position. They’ve been mocked for spending an unprecedented amount of money—over a billion dollars on contracts last offseason—only to be eliminated early in the 2024 NLDS. But now, just months later, those same critics claim the Dodgers are too dominant, too powerful, and “ruining baseball.” The shift in the narrative has sparked heated debates across the league, and one of the Dodgers’ own voices has had enough of the hypocrisy.
Dodgers play-by-play broadcaster Stephen Nelson didn’t hesitate to express his thoughts. He highlighted the inconsistency in how individuals discuss the Dodgers and questioned how they could be viewed as a joke and as a power. “I remember just last year when people said, ‘A billion dollars just to lose in NLDS?’ And now it’s, ‘Oh, they’re ruining the game.’”
Nelson added, “I don’t know what side of the mouth folks want to talk about the Dodgers through. You’ve got to pick one.”
Baseball has always had its villains—teams that fans love to hate. The Yankees of the late 1990s. The Red Sox after 2004. The Astros post-2017. Now, the Dodgers! Whether fans love them or hate them, they’ll be watching. “It’s like Pete Weber said—whether you love me or hate me, you watched,” Nelson pointed out, referring to the legendary bowler’s famous boast. “And so for the Dodgers going into 2025, you can bleed blue or you can hate blue, but rest assured, you’re going to be watching in 2025.”
“Last year after they spent a billion dollars, everyone was like “A billion dollars just to lose in the NLDS.”
“Everyone had those jokes queued up after NLDS Game 3. Less than a month later, they’re ruining baseball.”
– Dodgers broadcaster Stephen Nelson to @DMAC_LA pic.twitter.com/MM7lKd5lzt
— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) March 19, 2025
Like it or not, the Dodgers drive attendance, TV ratings, and international interest. Their blockbuster signings of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto weren’t just about winning—they were about expanding baseball’s global reach. And well, it was on full display in the 2025 Tokyo Series, where the Dodgers’ presence helped generate massive buzz in Japan.
Yet, some small-market owners, led by Dick Monfort of the Rockies, argue that the Dodgers’ spending spree proves that MLB needs a salary cap. They claim teams like Colorado can’t compete financially, and the system is broken.
But MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and Dodgers owner Mark Walter have dismissed that idea, pointing out that money alone doesn’t guarantee success. After all, the Dodgers have been World Series favorites for years—yet they’ve won only once since 1988.
Why putting a salary cap on the Dodgers wouldn’t fix MLB’s real problems
If a salary cap were the magic solution to baseball’s problems, teams like the Oakland A’s and Pittsburgh Pirates would suddenly be contenders, right? Not exactly.
The biggest issue in MLB isn’t how much teams are spending, it’s how some teams choose not to spend at all. A salary cap wouldn’t force frugal owners to invest in their rosters; it would just punish teams that are actually trying to win. We’ve seen time and again that small-market teams like the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians stay competitive without massive payrolls, while the 2024 Padres and Mets crashed despite their big budgets.
The real problem?
Some owners pocket revenue-sharing money instead of reinvesting it. The league already distributes money from big-market teams to smaller ones, but there’s no rule saying it has to go toward improving the roster. That’s why you see teams crying poor while their owners rake in profits. Instead of capping payrolls, MLB should hold owners accountable for using revenue-sharing funds to build competitive teams. Fans don’t hate big spending—they hate watching teams give up before the season even starts. If anything is hurting baseball, it’s that.
What do you think? Are the Dodgers really bad for baseball?
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