In MLB, it seems there are two types of team categories—one that spends and one that doesn’t. One who promises and doesn’t fulfill and one who does. The Los Angeles Dodgers are one team that fulfills the promises and comes out stronger than before. Their president, Andrew Friedman, had made it clear—he didn’t want to scramble mid-year. “My goal is to not buy in July,” he said. Meaning they had to make this off-season count. And true to his words, LA didn’t just dabble; they dominated.

They got Blake Snell and Hyeseong Kim, and not just that, they landed Roki Sasaki and even Tanner Scott in a matter of days. Plus, they resigned one of the most anticipated players to the team who had gone free agency—Teoscar Hernandez. They have spent a lot on acquiring their key players and have been on a roll since last year. No one can forget the massive $700 million deal of Shohei Ohtani! However, this aggressive spending has fueled a narrative that the Dodgers are the “evil empire” ruining the game. But Hernandez, who recently resigned, thinks the opposite. For him, they are improving the game, instead.

Hernandez appreciates the Los Angeles Dodgers’s spirit

As far as the Dodgers being the evil empire, not everyone buys it, especially not Teoscar Hernandez. He said, “I think it’s great. Um… it’s just that they are doing everything in their power to put together a team to win. If you go and you ask from every fan from different teams what they want their team to do,. Okay, we want to win, we want to celebrate, and we want a World Series title. The Dodgers are doing that. They are doing everything in their power to assemble a team so their fans can be happy, the city can be happy, and the players can be happy.” Clearly, he is thrilled with the Dodgers off-season shenanigans.

In fact, for Teoscar Hernandez, it will be more fun when other teams try to splurge, like the Dodgers. Although one can argue not everyone has an $8 billion+ TV deal, that takes care of much of the payroll! However, Teoscar said, “I think it’s gonna make more people watch baseball if all the teams started doing the thing the Dodgers are doing. I think it’s great for baseball.”

Well, his re-signing with the Dodgers took a little time. But it was only because the Dominican entertained contract talks from several teams. However, until lately, Teoscar Hernandez said in the Dodgers Territory podcast, “But for me, winning was the biggest thing, and going back to LA was the second biggest.”

Hence, he clinched the LA Dodgers’ $66 million offer, including a $15 million club option for 2028. $23 million signing bonus and over $23 million deferred. Yes, once again, a factor that the opposition teams will point out. However, Hernandez was clear: he loved the city, his family was comfortable there, and he wanted a winning culture.

Joe Kelly finds no sense in salary cap in MLB

The Los Angeles Dodgers signed All-Star closer Tanner Scott. He is being locked into a four-year, $72 million contract, and the dangerous roster now looks lethal. Fans of other teams are in an outcry—they want MLB to start with a salary cap. They don’t want one team to have a massive advantage while the rest don’t.

But Dodgers free agent relief Joe Kelly, who isn’t really shy about speaking his mind, recently spoke! He said salary caps don’t make sense in the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast.

According to Joe Kelly, when it comes to high-profile players, they prioritize winning teams in good destinations.“The whole entire league could pay Shohei Ohtani $10. He is coming from Japan. Growing up, watching movies—and if you just do a quick Google search, ‘best places to visit when you’re going to’ America’—Minnesota is not popping up, Pittsburgh is not popping up, Milwaukee is not popping up,” said Kelly. But not just that.

Kelly argues Dodgers are offering something that others are not. And it’s a chance to win rings, and that entices players. Like, for example, Shohei Ohtani—he was offered a $700 million deal he got from the Dodgers by other teams too. But he chose LA, to be with for a decade. Even Yoshinobu Yamamoto got an offer from the NY Mets, but he went with the Dodgers. Look at Roki Sasaki; he has whom he calls his godfather, Yu Darvish, in the Padres, but he let go of their $4 million to be in Dodgers blue this coming season.

Surely money isn’t the only factor. Even Teoscar Hernandez is back for more reasons than just money. He left $5-$6 million behind, saying, “The Dodgers, they’re different. They think about everybody. Not only the players, not only the things I can do on the field. For me, they just give me the confidence. I never got that really in the other places that I worked.”

So maybe the other teams need to buckle up and Scooby fast. Because Dodgers are here not just to compete but to build a dynasty! What do you think?