The Los Angeles Dodgers are 8-0.
After running roughshod over the National League and then over the New York Yankees in the World Series, the defending champions added Blake Snell, Michael Conforto, Tanner Scott, Roki Sasaki, and Kirby Yates. And, oh, they re-signed Teoscar Hernández and Blake Treinen, too.
Like it or not, players want to play for the best organization in baseball and an organization that’s willing to spend, too. WFAN hosts can rant all they want about the Dodgers signing Kirby Yates, but nothing prevented the other 29 teams from doing so.
The Dodgers have won eight straight to start the season, including a Wednesday night walk-off win over the Atlanta Braves, which led to Brandon Gaudin’s all-time depressing call. Analysts everywhere are trying to tell you why they’re bad for the sport.
That would include Stephen A. Smith, who might not watch much baseball, but that hasn’t stopped him from talking about it. While ESPN might not want to invest in Major League Baseball anymore, Smith thinks Fox should.
In the same breath, ESPN reportedly has “optimism” about reworking the MLB deal, even as Rob Manfred has lamented the network’s treatment of his league. And Manfred probably wouldn’t love what Smith had to say on Thursday’s First Take.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP3ntt4S5gs&t=2s
“The sport of baseball is in trouble if this continues,” Smith said of the Dodgers’ continued dominance. “This is reminiscent of what Kevin Durant [did] when Kevin Durant joined Golden State. It was a foregone conclusion what was going to happen — they’re gonna win the championship. You watch the Dodgers, Mookie Betts hits a walk-off, Shohei Ohtani hits a walk-off. I mean, you’re just looking at them. You saw the money they spent in the offseason, which nobody else could spend.”
Steve Cohen would beg to differ, but carry on.
“You saw the assets they’ve accumulated,” Smith adds. “You saw Shohei Ohtani deferring his money, which made things even more convenient for them to go out and get additional talent. And when they won the World Series, they had like 5-7 guys on their rotation that was on the injured list. And now that’s not the case this year. It’s like you almost find yourself asking, ‘Why am I watching?’ ‘No one can beat them.’ … They’re going to lose when they take days off. They’re going to lose when they’re apathetic. But to show up and play baseball and actually have a modicum of interest, nobody is beating this Dodgers team.”
That may very well be true, but the truth is, if you’re not adapting to the Dodgers’ model, you’re just falling further behind. The league can complain all it wants, but until they catch up, this is the standard they’ll be chasing.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.