Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Dodgers pitchers Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani celebrate the victory against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium
The Los Angeles Dodgers looked at the best roster in baseball and determined the obvious problem was that it did not contain enough Cy Young winners. Their solution was to add Tarik Skubal and assemble a five-man rotation that costs more than the complete payrolls of half of the teams in the MLB.
Most clubs have an ace, a respectable No. 2 starter and one guy whose primary objective is reaching the fifth inning without forcing the bullpen to call an Uber. The Dodgers have five pitchers who could start Game 1 of a playoff series and nobody would ask a follow-up question.
Skubal joined Los Angeles in a blockbuster trade that sent three highly regarded prospects- Zyhir Hope, River Ryan and Brady Smith- to the Detroit Tigers.
It was not exactly a bargain-bin shopping. It was more like walking into the store, pointing at the most expensive item and telling the cashier to keep the receipt because money is a fictional concept.
The two-time reigning American League Cy Young Award winner now joins Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. That is not a starting rotation. That is the pitching staff of a 12-year-old builds in MLB The Show before turning the difficulty down to rookie.
Those five pitchers account for approximately $192.8 million in combined annual contract value:
- Ohtani: $70 million
- Snell: $36.4 million
- Skubal: $32 million
- Glasnow: $27.3 million
- Yamamoto: $27.1 million
That makes them the five of baseball’s 13 highest-paid starting pitchers. Their combined figure is also greater than the entire payroll of 19 of MLB’s 30 organizations.
Again, that is five pitchers against complete baseball teams.
The Athletics have hitters, pitchers, coaches, athletic trainers, video coordinators and presumably at least one person responsible for remembering the sunflower seeds. The Dodgers can clear their total payroll with the annual value of five arms.
The Dodgers Have Made Baseball’s Luxury Tax A Suggested Donation
The comparison comes with one very Dodgers-shaped accounting twist.
Ohtani is not actually collecting $70 million in cash this season. His famously absurd contract pays him $2 million annually while deferring $68 million per year until 2034 through 2043.
That means Ohtani is somehow simultaneously one of baseball’s most expensive players and the type of employee who appears to be working for store credit.
The Dodgers now carry a reported $1.1 billion in deferred obligations. Billion. With a “B.” The franchise has essentially created a second payroll for players to enjoy after several current Dodgers are old enough to complain about lower-back pain while getting out of a recliner.
That future bill does not appear to be bothering anyone in Los Angeles right now.
The Dodgers are chasing a third consecutive World Series championship, and Skubal arrived with a 7-5 record, a 2.79 ERA and 116 strikeouts against only 14 walks over 96⅔ innings. Apparently the defending champions needed another pitcher who treats opposing hitters like an inconvenience between commercial breaks.
Naturally, baseball fans immediately complained that the rich had once again become richer, wealthier and somehow equipped with another left-handed ace.
Skubal was not especially moved.
“Every team could trade for me,” Skubal said. “I don’t sympathize with people that blame the Dodgers for anything they’ve done.”
That is a tremendous quote when you have been employed by the Dodgers for roughly the length of one airport layover.
He is also not entirely wrong. Los Angeles did not hack into the league office and secretly assign itself the best available pitcher. The Dodgers surrendered three prospects, accepted the remaining salary and decided winning another championship was more important than protecting a collection of hypothetical future stars.
Other teams were allowed to do that too. Many simply chose the traditional MLB strategy of crying poor, hugging their prospects and releasing a statement about remaining financially flexible through 2031.
The Dodgers are excessive, annoying and operating with the financial subtlety of someone firing a money cannon through a bank window. They are also relentlessly committed to winning.
Now their fifth-best starting pitcher might be better than your favorite team’s ace.
Baseball remains a beautiful sport.