For the first of what is certain to be several times, according to a Brockbusper apparently unlimited list expenditure, Riders The players were questioned on the same subject of hot button last weekend.
Were they surprised to see how the rest of the sport fell in front of Winter in the team’s free wheelIn which the dodgers made half a dozen important signatures and exceeded the payroll of all the other teams?
Do they agree with the argument that has emerged in certain corners of the industry, according to which the attitude of stopping champions in title could be bad for baseball and potentially harmful for the already fragile scale of sport competitive balance?
And above all, did they feel like the new evil Empire of the MLB – bad arguments with targets on the back even before they started at the start of spring training?
Unsurprisingly, the dodgers have seen things differently. And during their first public appearance as a team on Saturday Dodgersfest fans eventThey responded with answers that painted an image different from what has become the biggest history in the league.
“I don’t consider us bad guys,” said the starting launcher Blake SnellA poster for the expenses after signing a $ 182 million contract. “I look at us as a team that wants to win. If other teams or bases want to be upset, you know what to do. Follow what dodgers do. Because they want to earn and spend money. »»
“It will be another band for the tiger”, the veteran stop stop Miguel Rojas echo. “Dodgers will always be in this hateful mode of other teams. We all know it. We all know that we are the dodgers, and we are ready to embrace everything that happens to us. »»
“Who would not want to be the objective center and do what our organization does for the city, the fans?” director Dave Roberts Added. “To be completely frank, we draw more than anyone with regard to sports, any place in the world. So when you draw 4 million fans per year, the way you go as you pass on by investing in players. And that’s what we did.
Consider them as the first of many quotes that are probably getting rid of the Dodgers clubhouse this season-the start of a narrative arc intended to underline each stage of their World Series Defense of the title.
With a luxury payroll which pushes $ 400 million and a litany of former most precious players, the winners of the Cy Young Award and the All-Stars dotting their range, the Dodgers have become the most recent big anti-hero of the baseball. They have raised alarms in a sport without a salary ceiling and vast disparities in the spending of the players. They constituted a team, a certain fear could dominate sport in the predictable future.
“It is difficult for most of us that the owners to be able to do the kinds of things they do,” insisted the president of New York Yankees Yes network. “We will see if it is paying.”
For the moment, however, the Dodgers do not apologize for the ways they have recharged. Or how they capitalized on their superstar destination status.
Of course, as a first goal player Freddie Freeman In other words, “I understand that people can be angry with us.”
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But, as a teammate Mookie Betts A Conté: “What are we supposed to do?” As a player, of course, you want to play with the best players in the world. »»
Admittedly, no Dodger expected the team to be as aggressive this winter. They looked at a collective astonishment like the team adding Snell (one of the best starters on the free agents market), Sasaki Roki (a 23 year old Japanese phenomenon), Tanner Scott (The best free agent lift available) and several other names to what was already the most talented team of the majors.
“My family and friends, they all asked:” Are the dodgers crazy? “
“The crazy part is that you think it’s like, ok, once you have signed someone, that’s it,” said Snell. “Then, we sign another guy, and you are like, that’s all. And then it continues.
“It’s incredible,” said Tyler Glasnow concurred. “It’s like the Avengers. It’s like monstars. It’s the best team I have ever done. “”
None of this, however, promises anything. Even after the memorable walking of the dodgers to the World Series, he could take the time of the team so that all the new parts adapt.
“I really don’t think you can take anything last year and expect it to continue until the start of the season,” said a veteran service man Chris Taylor said. “We have new faces. It’s a new team. It will be a new identity.
The crashoot of a season of 162 games and a format of unpredictable playoffs is still looming so, especially for a team that frequently wobble in the playoffs before finally last October.
“We all know that (all these movements) do not guarantee us the World Series,” said Rojas. “We have to go there and do our part.”
What expenses have produced, however, is a renewed motivation source among players – serving as a potential elixir for any wooden mouth of the World Series.
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“I mean as a player, whatever you want is winning, right?” Hernández said. “And when you see the front office giving you the best chance, it simply puts you in a better position, and in your mind, as a player, you go on the field and try to give 200%, just to return it What the front office gives us.
After all, while Dodgers may not consider themselves bad guys, they know how high expectations have been in another season. It will once again be the World Series or Bust. And this time, in the midst of all other meticulous examination of the offseason, the possibility of cementing a dynasty is also at stake.
“There is a buzz here,” said Freeman. “There was a buzz last year when we got Shohei (Ohtani). And there is a major buzz here. It is a testimony to our organization, our fans, our front office and our players want to come here. »»
“We are talking about inherited territory,” added Roberts. “So that’s what we are focusing on at the moment.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
