October 22, 2025 • 50 mins
We discuss if you as a fan prefer a dynastic team that you can love or hate or if you prefer parity where you have no idea who may win the title in any given year. National MLB writer for The Athletic, Stephen Nesbitt, is conducting a national poll of fans to see if they feel the Dodgers are ruining baseball.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
All right, here we go two hours show for today,
Fred Rogan, Rodney Pete on AM five to seventy LA Sports.
The Dodgers are headed to Toronto. They are leaving today.
I have this information on very good authority. They are
probably at the airport right now.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Do you think so? I have eyes everywhere, Yes, you do.
I do know that they are off to Toronto today. Yes,
get in, get settled.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Remember, in Toronto the beer has a higher alcohol level, right,
drinks in Toronto there's more alcohol in the drinks. So
I just would like to caution everybody about that. And
if you're going to Toronto and those Molsen beers, Moulton
Canadian Logger beer, the more alcohol in it, yes, it
(00:48):
you know. And also Canada had those variations of beer too.
Remember well when there was a US beer that they
had less than five percent. It's like a three to
two beer they used to have. I never knew about
it until.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I went to high school in my senior year in
Kansas City. I never heard of three two beer and
three two beers like less alcohol than the beer, which
was you were able to sell it to nineteen year
olds as opposed to twenty one.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Year olds right, But then you could have three of
them and you'd have as much alcoholic in you as
if you had one exactly, So it never made sense,
right right, Well, now they have a non alcoholic.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Beer, Yes they do, Yes, they do, and they have.
When they first started it, it was not it was
not so great, but now they have perfected it. Companies
like Heineken and even Soaporo and Corona has non alcoholic beer,
and a lot of them, a lot of the big
chains have non alcoholic beer now and they actually taste
(01:47):
You don't lose anything on the taste. You were like,
if you're a beer drinker and you like the taste
of beer, but without the alcohol. Nowadays you can find
the Heineken zeros are just like a Heineken. You didn't
know it, right, But then you can still act drunk
if you want, correct, Freddy, if you don't want to
drink the alcohol and still act drunk. Correct. You're trying
(02:08):
to fool somebody. I had six packs. Oh I'm drinking
like crazy exactly. And then you're playing poker. You're playing
something like, oh, we got him. That guy is drunk.
He drank a six pack of heide Kid. He didn't
know it's Heineken zero. Now exactly.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Have you seen the Heineken ad campaign, which is probably
not the smartest, where a guy's drinking a Heineken zero
and a cup pulls them over and he's like, oh,
look it's an alcoholic. I'm sure it's legal and sure
you can do it. Bro probably just wouldn't tempt fate
with that. No, probably alone, you wouldn't. Just like the
whole adage.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
If you know, if a playoff officer follows you long enough,
they're going to find something wrong. And if you tease
him and taunt him, oh hey, hey he pulled me
over drinking huh, here's Heinigen zero. Yeah, he's going to
follow you for another mile and find out your your
tail lights out or you're facing dog or something's going on.
And when he does that, then he's going to cuff you.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
Two.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Absolutely, that wasn't quite as funny as you thought it
was bad.
Speaker 5 (02:58):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Let me show you what's funny.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Oh, by the way, we have in our two hour
show today we have to give three pair of tickets
away for the Charger game, three pairs of Chargers Vikings
tickets for tomorrow night. It's so far we have three.
We will give them away between now and two o'clock
as we and on the show today, Steven Nessmitt, of course,
from the Athletic, he wrote a great piece on are
(03:23):
the Dodgers ruining Baseball? One o'clock hour, Dan Waiki will
jump on here, we'll talk about the Laker opener last night.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
So as we now get closer, you hear more and
more people with the narrative that the Dodgers have ruined baseball.
The Dodgers are a dynasty, the Dodgers are evil, the
Dodgers are monsters. But as Rodney Astuteley points out, the
Dodgers haven't one back to back World Series yet that
hasn't happened this year. It should and if it does,
(03:51):
it's highly unusual. Highly unusual hasn't happened in over twenty years.
So if that happens because they figured this out, they're
ruining baseball.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
They're ruining baseball. Now.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Granted, they win their division almost every year, okay, but
other teams can win their division two And if you
look at it, this year, the Dodger regular season, and
last year, to be quite honest, didn't quite go without
any bumps and bruises along the way. They still figure
out a way to win. People are jealous, people get upset.
People claim things are unfair. And I've said this a
(04:28):
million times. Life is unfair. Life is unfair. Adam Silver
said something though, and I find this interesting. He was
asked about the NBA, and I believe in the last
seven years they've had seven different champions. And if that
is the case, did they want to create parody in
(04:48):
the league? Give everybody a chance, everybody, And to be
quite frank, they do in the NFL because of the
salary cap. Yeah, you think you know who's gonna win,
but every year it literally could be fifteen teams if
it goes their way. Baseball's different, but again, you haven't
(05:13):
had a repeat World Series champ forever. So when people
are complaining about this, it is troubling. And really, what
you have here, the Dodgers have become what the Yankees were.
They are the villain. I personally think that's a good thing.
There need to be villains in entertainment, sports or entertainment.
(05:37):
People consider the Dodgers the villain. The Dodgers draw more
fans at home. The Dodgers are the top road draw
in Major League Baseball, everybody roots against the villain, and
that's why it's so difficult to repeat. I think that's okay, Rodney.
I'd rather have the villain than parody.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
What do you think? No, I agree, I agree. And
if you look at it, the leagues with salary caps
have had more quote dynasty runs than baseball who has
no salary cap. Think about it, NFL, it's parody. In
the NFL, they all share collective party in agreement. Green
(06:17):
Bay shares the money with LA and shares the money
with Chicago, and they all get it, and they all
get a chunk and a piece of the pie, right,
so they can all compete TV deal. All of those
things are all thrown in a pot and they all
share it. And yet we've seen New England Patriots go
(06:37):
on a run like we haven't seen a long time.
We're seeing Kansas City be on a run where they've
gone to what five Super Bowls in six years? Right,
And even in basketball, we saw the Golden State Warriors
have a run. We've seen the Lakers have runs. Yet
(06:59):
in baseball, where they said there needs a salary cap
to create parody, they've had it for the last twenty
five years they've had it. The NFL necessarily hasn't because
the NFL, there's a handful of teams that are in
it every single year. And you know, Kansas City's going
to be in the mix, Baltimore is in the mix,
(07:19):
and you know Buffalo now is in the mix. But
for years, the Patriots were the team that everybody hated
and they were the villain because they were winning all
the time. Were they winning because there was no salary
cap in football? I mean, why would the Patriots so
much better than everybody else and going to every Super Bowl?
Was it a salary cap issue? No, because there is
(07:42):
a salary cap in football. So why is it that
baseball people complain and whine, oh, we need a salary
cap to create parody when it's right and there in
front of you, and the facts show that there is
parody in baseball because you don't know year in year out.
It could be the Milwaukee Brewers who had the best
(08:02):
record in baseball, Cleveland Guardians who are low on the
on the payroll total, Cincinnati made the playoffs this year.
I mean there are teams every single year that jump
in there. We saw Arizona go to the World series.
We've seen Tampa Bay go to the World Series, the
Texas Rangers win a World Series. I mean, what are
(08:23):
we talking about? And it is it's good. I agree
with you. It's good to have a villain. But let's
be honest what we're talking about. You know, you make
a great point.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
So when the Patriots went on that run with Tom Brady,
did people say the NFL needs to change the rules.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Anybody said that, Well, this is just unfair.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
We got to change the rules. And now when you
think about the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes, should they change
the rules?
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Right, Oh, they're ruining football. Why why are they ruining football? Well,
because it's unfair. Why because they're better than you? Is
that why it's unfair? Now I get in baseball? Well
you spend all the money again, you make a valid point. Okay,
Well they haven't been a repeat champion over twenty years. Yeah,
(09:11):
but just look at the money you spend. Okay, and
if you don't win, what you'll look like fools? Call
Steve Cohen in the Mets. They'll tell you how they feel.
Right now, Yeah, go call Steve Cohen, He'll tell you.
Call of Phillies, call the Phillies. They spent a ton
of money. How do you think they feel right now?
Speaker 5 (09:27):
Now?
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Are you calling them fools?
Speaker 1 (09:29):
And by the way, if the Phillies had beat the
Dodgers and we're in the World Series, would you say
the Phillies are ruining baseball?
Speaker 2 (09:37):
No, they would not, because the Phillies spent a lot
of money. Phillies are in the top five and spending money.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Right If the Mets somehow had not laid an egg
and they were in the playoffs, and the Mets got
to the World Series, would you turn around and say, well,
now the Mets are ruining baseball?
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Would you?
Speaker 4 (09:57):
No?
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Of course you wouldn't. Because of the way the Dodgers
do things.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
People are flustered because they can't be them, right, you
can't be them. You hate them because you can't be them.
And that's what it is. They can't do it that way.
That's the problem here. It's not about parody. And by
the way, I've said it a million times. Life is
not fair. It simply isn't you know. Some of us
(10:24):
have it better, some of us have it worse. Some
of us have gone through horrible for personal tragedies. Others
have not. Yet eventually everybody gets to the same place.
So life's not fair. Well, what do you say to
the fans in Pittsburgh, for example? Tough beans, That's.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
What I say. Tough being beans. Tough beans.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
You know how fans can you know how fans can
make a change. And I know you disagree with this, Rodney,
I know you do, but I really feel this way
because we saw it happen here. If you are a
fan of a team and the owner is not investing
or putting the organization together proper where you can compete,
you have one choice. Watch every game on TV. Do
(11:05):
not go to one game in person. Watch every game
on TV. You still like the team, You're just frustrated
with the owner. You understand, every time you go to
the game, you're paying the owner. So you're paying someone
you're not pleased with, and the players are going to
get theirs. That's not going to hurt the players because
their money is already guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Yeah, but then that factor into the players salaries. Soon
from a team, they're they're from the game team, but
they're spending on the on the players had nothing to
do with that reinvesting in the franchise. Oh, they should yeah, no, No,
you're not showing up, then Pittsburgh and the ownership is
not going to reinvest in the in the team, in
(11:47):
the franchise and all those.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Okay, but what you do by not showing up is
force their hand. Sell, sell, sell to somebody who will invest,
sell the team. Frank McCourt. Here, people boycotted. I've said
it a million times. I've never seen anything like that
in my life. They just didn't go. They absolutely boycotted,
(12:14):
and they planned on doing it.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
They did it. That was the end of that. That
was it.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
You can't make me sell the team. Okay, the team
was sold. You can't make me all right, right, team
was sold. If you are in a situation instead of
whining about it, the guy that owns the Cubs, I'm
sure we're just breaking even here, Okay. Is that my problem?
Is that my problem? That's your problem. You own them,
(12:40):
You figure it out. I'm paying you. If you boycott
those games, nothing will happen to the players, nothing, and
eventually the owner will either a have to reinvest or
be sell. Look at the A's for example in Oakland.
The owner invested.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Nothing, nothing.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Yeah, they were garbage. Suddenly they're gonna move to Vegas
and now they're in Sacramento. A guy pumps like one
hundred million more into the team because he thinks he's
gonna get it back somehow, and he's forced to do it.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
You know what that tells me? He had that one
hundred million in the past, he did and didn't want
to do it. In Oakland, he wanted to get out oak.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Right, He had that money, he just didn't do it.
Why would you go to those games if you're in
a situation where your team is not investing because it's
the product you're paying to see, don't go watch on TV.
I'm not saying don't ever watch again. Sure you can
watch the guys and you hope they figure it out
and pull it off. Simply don't go there you go
(13:42):
now we fixed it. There's always a solution to these problems,
but no one ever banks on fans doing that. What
do you mean you're not gonna go. I'm not gonna go.
I'm gonna watch on TV. Not a problem.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
I'm fine. I can watch right here. I don't need
to go and pay for something that is subpar because
the organization blows. If you're an Angel fan, good luck
to Kurt Suzuki is a new manager. If you're an
Angel fan, honestly, now, I know it's great to go
to the ballpark, take the kids.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
I get all that. You know they're not getting any better, right,
you know they're only getting worse. That's what's happening. They
get worse, not better. Why the players don't care?
Speaker 2 (14:20):
No, they care. It's the organization. Well, how do you
address that? Don't go.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Watch on TV? Ardi Moreno is banking that you will go.
Ardi Moreno is banking that no matter how bad they are,
you will go. Donald Sterling when he owned the Clippers,
bet no matter how bad they were, you would pay
to go, and you did.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
You went. He made a lot of money, and he
sucked because he didn't have to do anything until again
he made a mistake and a pretty big mistake, and
then he wasn't going to sell the team, and that
was it for him. Let me ask you about the
Angels real quick, ye and you can chime in too.
What the I haven't been the Angel game. I can't
(15:04):
know how long because I have no desire from a
destination's point, Hey, I'm going down to an Angel game.
I watch it on TV. The atmosphere and set up
at the Angels in terms of, like you mentioned Fred
reinvesting into the team, the stadium, everything. When you go
to an Angel game, is it sub par on par
(15:28):
with most of the stadiums or is it wait, is
it below par? When you go to an Angel game.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
I would describe it as yeah. I would describe it
as here's something. I was like, do it like a
day game on a Sunday or something. Here's something to do.
Bring the family that the drinks and seats and all
the food is cheap, and you know after the third
or fourth inning, there's nobody down below. You said, you know,
march on down. The ushers won't stop you. It's not
that it's just a it's a thing to do, as
opposed to I'm coming here to see a great baseball
(15:56):
team put on a show. I'm here to see al
Tani pitch and hit. At the same time, I'm here
to see Mike Trout play like a superstar. A So
Sunday afternoon at one o'clock, I got nothing to do.
Let me head over to the ballpark, spend nine to
ten fifteen bucks to get into the park, chill there
for a couple hours.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
So it's not really like a planned destination, like you're
planning on a Tuesday to be there on Saturday and
Sunday at Angels Stadium. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
And I'll speak for myself, Ridn because you talk about
making the trek as someone who grew up a fan
but did not live and does not live in Orange County,
I have to plan for that.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
That's a trek, right.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
I am not planning to go out of my way
to go see that product they've been putting on the
fuel for the last ten years. I'm not doing it
and haven't done it.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
You know.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Listening to you, Kevin, you know, it makes me think
think back to the showtime Lakers. Think back to the
days at the Forum. All right, that was an event.
You went to an event. There was a basketball game
at the event, but you went to the event. The
Dodgers are very much like that.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Now.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
I'll even say the Kobe shack Lickers were like that.
I agree, Yeah, absolutely, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
The Dodgers are very much like that. Yeah, you're going
to watch the Dodgers play. You're going to an event.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Right.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
The way they have put this together with the players
and everything that surrounds it, you're going to an event.
You're going to a night out. You're not just going
to a baseball game. You're going to a night out.
When you go to Anaheim, you're going to a baseball game.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Yeah, and and what oftentimes you're you're going to that
game because of who they're playing. They're playing in the
opponent that the Yankees are in town, or they're playing
the Dodgers, or you know, the Gods. Do I say
the Astros are in town? I mean you're going sometimes
to see the opponent play. It's like the old Clipper thing,
(17:40):
as you say all the time, Fred, when they used
to put up the banners and the marquee come see
Larry Bird and uh, the Bosston Celtics take on the Clippers, right,
taking the Clippers Clippers? Do you think that Artie Moreno
and that deal they got blown up where he had
opportunity to build around the stadium and build an atmosphere
(18:00):
really stifled them and really set them way back, or
him way back in terms of him trying to reinvest
back into the Angels. That finished him. That was it.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
That was his version of Frank McCourt's cable deal that
didn't go through it that would have saved him.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Yeah, that was it. It was over at that point.
It was done.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
And now he's just holding on sort of like you
think it's going to appreciate the longer you hold on
to it.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Yeah, you know you're gonna sell it, right, you do?
You also know that when are you going to sell it? Right?
And here's the thing.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
If you've got to sell your house right now, the
reelerser will come in and say, you know what, everyone
says the exact same thing. Hey got to paint the walls, right,
we know the drill, paint the walls. And you could
fix this, and you could fix that and fix this
and fix that, and you know what, you should say, No,
I'm not doing that. And you want to know why
it's worth what it's worth on the land, that's what
(18:54):
it's worth. Your house is worth the land. And if
you've done a lot to it and it's a smagne
magnificent structure, it's going to be worth more. But the
reality is location, location, location, and it only appreciates, so
as your house deteriorates, it can appreciate if it's in
the right location. If you're on a major League baseball team,
(19:17):
you're on a very few. You're in the right location,
and that's going to appreciate. So if it's going to appreciate,
why would you invest in it? How much more will
it be worth? If the Angels won the World Series
next year and Ardi Morena went to sell the team,
would it be worth two billion dollars more?
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Absolutely not, it wouldn't. It's worth what it's worth. So
that's why he can just sit there and wait. What
does it matter?
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Sell it tomorrow, sell it in five years. In five years,
it'll be worth more no matter how they do, no
matter what he does. Probably why he just sits there
and waits, he's just counting the money at the end
of the rainbow.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
He's just waiting. Yeah, I think the owners should be regulated,
like you talk about all the time with the teams.
Owners should be regulated FRED, like the Premier League in
like overseas. They should be regulated. If they're not winning,
they're not in the conversation. They haven't made the playoffs
in five years, then their clock is starting to tick
(20:26):
and they have to sell the team at some point,
or sell portions of the team. They have to start
selling if they're not in the playoffs in five years
and a five year stretch, they have to start selling
off portion of the team, and then at some point
they're not fifty anymore, they have to start selling after
(20:47):
five years. What do you think about that? So you
got to be in once every five years. Once every
five years, you gotta be in, and then you got
to start selling equity in the team. I like it.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
I actually, you know, I like that, customer. I think
that's actually a very good idea. Let me give you this,
all right, let me give you this. You own the
business if you're not in the So let's not do
five years. You own the business if you go seven
years without making the playoffs. So we're only asking you
(21:22):
to do it one time in seven years, and it
could be the wild card, but you got to make
the playoffs. If you don't, if you don't make the
playoffs once every seven years, how about your forced to
sell the team?
Speaker 2 (21:37):
I like that too. How about that?
Speaker 1 (21:39):
I like that, cause five years might be a little hard.
You got to build your system and your organization. Every
seven years, you've got to make the playoffs. And I
don't care if you miss it by one game and
the umpire made a bad call and it's like, oh
we could have done it, but we didn't do it.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
I don't care if you don't make the injuries any
and none of that matters, doesn't matter. Get decimated by injuries. Oh,
in year six, we had a chance. We had the
best roster, we had the best this we did it.
We invested into players, but then all of our key
players got hurt. It doesn't matter. No, it doesn't matter.
(22:21):
You've got to make it once every seven years in
every sport. Yeah, if you don't make it once every
seven years, you are forced to sell a team. And
in your purchase agreement with the league it states that, yeah,
so you will make money in seven years, you'll make money,
the franchise will appreciate. But you got to make it
(22:43):
once every seven years. O, why you're not How about that?
I like that.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
So they could turn around and say, here's the argument against, Well,
we don't have enough people that want to buy.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Really, I think you'll find people. Oh today's maybe fifteen
twenty years ago now though, but now people are lined
up to buy sports franchises. Why because of the point
you just made, they're always gonna appreciate. There. They are
the rare thing in our world, in our society. That
(23:15):
is almost as close to a guarantee for appreciation than
anything else. Owning a sports franchise, you're gonna sell it
for more than you bought it for. And at Bregnheim
pay two billion for the Dodgers are worth ten pretty
good return on an investment. Yeah, it didn't appreciate thirty
(23:36):
five thousand dollars. It appreciated eight billion. That's a pretty
good return on your investment. Yeah. Think about the Bus
family where they're sitting right now. Ten billion dollars. Yeah.
And by the way, do you think the.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Very good point, very good point, you think the Lakers
are worth more than the Dodgers. No, they're not, but
they sure got the money, didn't they. Yes, Mark Walls
are to pay ten billion dollars for the Lakers and
two billion.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
For the Dodgers. Think about that.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Let's say he holds on to the Lakers ten years.
What do you think that's gonna be worth.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
From a business perspective, at least double. That's why you
buy the teams, That's why you need to invest in them.
That's why that argument he just made against doesn't hold water,
Because show me a year an era where a franchise
(24:38):
in football, Baseball, basketball. I'm not familiar with hockey that well,
but those three sports, even hockey, I would say that
hasn't appreciated. Show me an error where it hasn't appreciated.
They do. All right, let's do this.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Let's give a pair of Charger tickets away right now,
Chargers Vikings tomorrow night at SOFI Stadium eight six six
nine two five seventy eight six six ninety seven two
five seventy a pair of tickets Chargers Vikings tomorrow night
at SOFI.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Rodney would call a number I like number six.
Speaker 6 (25:15):
D Hello Rogan and Rodney listener. Did you know Am
five seventy LA Sports has a wide range of LA
Sports podcasts, shows like petros in Money. We are streaming
Matt Dodger Talk with David Vassei, the Dodger Podcast of Record,
Clipper Talk Without a Musk, follow us all and many more.
Just go to AM five seventy LA Sports on the
(25:37):
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, let's keep it moving. On a
Wednesday hump Day, Rodney, Pete, Fred Rogan, who we got Freddy?
Speaker 1 (25:46):
All right, Seawna Northard, You did it, buddy, you one.
You're going to the game tomorrow night. Get ready for
a primetime showdown under the SOFI Stadium lights. Justin Herbert
and the Chargers host Justin Jefferson and the Vikings tomorrow
Thursday Night Football. Limited tickets remain secure yours today at
charge slash Tickets. Steven Nesbitt of The Athletic is conducting
a poll and he is asking the question, have the
(26:09):
Dodgers or are the Dodgers ruining baseball?
Speaker 2 (26:13):
So Steven has been kind enough to join us, and
we welcome home to the program.
Speaker 4 (26:17):
Thanks for being here, of course, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Love your piece. Love the question you asked, are the
Dodgers ruining baseball or paving the way? After very early results,
what do you think?
Speaker 4 (26:31):
So, I mean, my take isn't really at the center
of this, but I think without diving into the numbers, Jack,
because I haven't seen yet the number I saw just
the very preliminary numbers from our fan our fans survey here.
I think generally fans the certainly will be favoring the
Blue Jays here, but that happens almost any time you get,
(26:53):
you know, a heavy favorite in a series or a
super Bowl or anything. But I've been interested to see
that the skills for aren' tipped as much as I
would have expected toward the Dodgers being bad for baseball,
ruining baseball. There are a lot of people from mid
and smaller markets who certainly feel that it has gotten
maybe beyond villain status and like almost tipped toward unfair
(27:15):
at this point what the Dodgers have done. But I
think there are also a lot of people who understand
this is a This is an issue far greater than
just the Dodgers, right, This is at its core, it
is sort of the spending and balance in baseball that
they're upset about. Right, The New York Mets are spending
more money this year than the Los Angeles Dodgers, and
no one's particularly upset about that here on October twenty second,
(27:36):
because the Mets crashed out in September. And so the
greater issue isn't did the Dodgers spend way more than
anybody else. They spend it, maybe more creatively than anybody else,
with all these deferrals allowing them to get so many
great players on the roster at the same time. But
it's not like they're not paying that money today. They
are certainly paying some of it every single year, and
so I think there's a lot of maybe sensitivity among
(27:58):
fans across the new and even of course Toronto being
into a second nation. But I think it's also a
fair level of respect that fans have for the way
the Dodgers have built this team. There is not all
hired hands, right, It's not all free agents and huge trades.
It also is the All Star catcher Will Smith. It's
a homegrown Clayton Kershaw that they never let go anywhere else.
(28:22):
They have a ton of talent and when they acquire it,
they hold on to it for a long time. I
think people have a lot of respects for that.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Yeah, a couple of things because when you look at
this matchup, I think Toronto is fifth in terms of
payroll and in Major League Baseball. And when also when
you look at this, there were opportunities for other teams
to acquire some of these players. Blake Snell, you know,
(28:48):
went from Tampa San Diego. The Giants basically begged to
be a Dodger, and the Dodger signed up, but other
teams had opportunities to sign it. Freddie Freeman, you know,
they decided to go in a different direction. With Matt
All had other teams had opportunities to sign them. Otani
even you know, gave the Angels an opportunity to match
what the Dodgers did or just sign him back, and
(29:09):
they didn't. So when when fans cry about the Dodgers
being the villain or or the Dodgers just buying a team,
it's it really if you dig into the facts, see
it's it's not the case. It's just the Dodgers. And
as you mentioned, how they've created the contracts and they
have the structure of these contracts that they are dare
(29:30):
I say smarter than everyone else?
Speaker 4 (29:36):
I think they they If you ask around the league,
you'd agree. You'd hear a lot of agreement from other
front offices that they are certainly among the smartest. You know,
you ask which are the best front officers in baseball,
and you'll commonly hear the Rays who typically punch far
above their weight, whether whether the payroll, and a lot
of people like Andrew Favorite have come from that raise
(29:56):
coaching tree or executive tree.
Speaker 5 (29:59):
You have the.
Speaker 4 (29:59):
Milankey Brewers who just got bounced by the Dodgers. You
have Cleveland Guardians, some teams that really know how to
do a lot with not so much. But this is
one of those organizations that has an incredible farm system
while also having the best, most talented roster and baseball
also spending almost you know, almost as much money as
anybody in baseball. That's just about as perfect of a
mix as you could ask for if you're an executive
(30:22):
and if you're a fan of that team. But also
it comes down to winning, right. The reason we're in
this spot today.
Speaker 5 (30:26):
Where people are asking the question, I guess.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
It was me today, are they ruining baseball? I wasn't
the one who came up with that idea. Literally. Dave
Roberts said it in his interview after the CS was
they said, we're ruining baseball. Let's win for more games
and really ruin baseball. And of course he's playing heel there,
he's leaning into it, he's having a good time with it.
But the fact is, because you won last year and
(30:49):
everyone says, oh, man, I thought they were going to
win last year, and you come into this year and
you spend four hundred more million dollars to bring back
to Oscar, to bring back Blake Trinan and Clayton Kershawn
Kee Caherton and as and then you reigned Blake Snell, who,
as you just pointed out, a year ago, tons of
teams could have had the opportunity to grab Blake Snell
and instead he had to go to to San Francisco
(31:09):
on sort of a creative opt out laden deal similar
to you say Alec Bregman signed this year. Guys who
teams around the country have been unwilling to give that
six year huge deal to at their age, while the
Dodgers said, sure, we'll take a chance on him this year,
and turns out they brought him healthy in October and
he's been unbelievable so far. So these are these are
(31:32):
guys that other teams had a fair shake at. Of course,
a big story in this series is that Toronto had
had a shot with Otani and had a moment where
we all thought he was headed to Toronto based on
one private plane coming out of Anaheim. I think it was,
but uh, but no, the Dodgers are the one who
amassed his talent, and because they were so active this
pass off, he's been adding so many top names it
(31:53):
didn't even menure Tanner Tanner Scott, who has not been
a relevant at in October, but Rokie Sosakti Sert has
it's an embarrassment of talents. It's an embarrassment of riches.
And they also are a team that people are upset
because it seemed pretty ardamed before the season, Right, the
predestined that they were going to make the World Series,
and here they are. But if you really look at
(32:14):
the season, as both of you know, this is not predestined, right,
This is a.
Speaker 5 (32:18):
Team that missed.
Speaker 4 (32:19):
It fell short of its targets, right, It fell short
of its goals to get a bye to well won
this division. It wasn't one of the top two teams
in the league. It had to go through the wild
card for not not to be such a difficult task
against Cincinnati Reds. I tend to play in more rounds
than either of the last two teams on the American
League side. But they've just absolutely been a buzzsaw, going
nine to one in the postseason, and so sure it
(32:41):
feels inevitable that they're here, but things could have gone
very wrong in that wildcard series. And so it doesn't
really seem to me that it's so obvious that the
Dodgers always going to We're gonna wind up here.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
Stephen Nesbitt is our guest from the Athletic Two things, Stephen. First,
you know what, Tani was never on that plane, right,
I mean you know that right, he was never going
to take that flight.
Speaker 4 (33:02):
I know that because I talk to the guy who
was on it, the guy from Shark Tank. I interviewed
him a couple days later, Robert Herzervik. No, he was
not on that plane.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
Agreed, good, want to clear that up. Second, you know
what bothers me the narrative. The narrative, Well, they're ruining baseball,
one person says it. And by the way, we have
heard that out here for some time, and they buy
their championship. It's the narrative. And you know what that does.
I think when you hear even major league owners, well
(33:28):
we just can't compete with them. Well, no, you're not
good enough to compete with them. It's not how much
money you have, although it helps, it's how you spend
your money. And we looked and saw that there are
teams that actually make more of a profit than the
Dodgers do because the Dodgers reinvest immediately. They just take
all their money and put it back on the field
and in the organization. So teams are making money, they're
(33:51):
just not investing.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
It as the Dodgers are.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
And you pointed out in Milwaukee, Cleveland, Tampa, smaller markets
that know how to get it, but the other orders
that don't know how to get a complain about it.
And I just find that very disingenuous.
Speaker 4 (34:05):
Yeah, I mean, I think we've gotten into an era
where we have fewer and fewer family owners. Right, we
had Peter Sidler of the Daniego Padres passed away two
years ago I believe it was now, and that was
someone who it was so obvious that man was desperate
to win World Series and was going to bankroll that opportunity.
You've seeing something similar in Philadelphia, where the Middleton family
(34:27):
desperately wants a World Series. But look around the league.
How many family owners really are family majority owners really
are in place? It's a winnowing number where by and
large these are larger groups, larger coalitions of owners and
private equity getting involved. Like the shape of ownership has
changed in recent years such that the thinking isn't simply
(34:51):
what will it take to win World Series? It's how
do we balance not spending ourselves into oblivion? While getting there,
and so Steve Cohen is willing to do that. The
Dodgers are willing to do what it takes to win.
And as you said, they're certainly investing a ton of
their revenues. They're also getting they're in a market in
Japan that really no other team is even close to
(35:13):
being there, and they've they've seen that the value of that,
they've taken advantage of that. They're certainly benefiting from that,
and and it means more money that they can spend
on the roster, and they spend it in very creative ways,
as we've said. So, so you're right, this is very
much a question as baseball is the only, you know,
only main sport over here in the States that does
(35:36):
not have a salary cap system instalved with a cap
and a floor. It is up to you how much
you want to spend. If you want to be the Mets,
you can spend ninety cents on every dollar basically that
you're spending over that top luxury tier. A lot of
a lot of owners are not willing to go there,
and it is of course their choice, right there's nothing
stopping them other than more taxes being levied higher the
(35:58):
higher they go from ending similarly and getting the same
players the Dodgers can and you'll find moments like when
the Dodgers signed Michael Kifford this year, was he the
X factors for this team? Did he put them over
the top? Certainly not. He has not been at all
a factor of course recently, but they were willing to
spend more money on him than anybody else wanted. But
that's a choice. Ultimately, the Pittsburgh Pirates could have gone
(36:20):
out and gotten Michael Beifford as they thought he was
going to put them over the top in Paul Skin's window,
that the race could have done it as well. But
it's a choice. Every one of these transactions is typically
a choice on both sides.
Speaker 2 (36:33):
Yeah, Steve, And you know what also bothers me is
that everybody they don't It's like the world today, you know,
and I don't want to get into other stuff, but
the world today just don't they don't look at the facts.
I mean, if the Dodgers, you know, are ruining baseball
and they're this mega team and they're doing all these
things and they're out spending that we haven't had a
(36:54):
repeat winner in the World Series since the Yankees did
it in the late nineties. We've had the Texas Rangers
win a World Series. We've had the Diamondbacks to go
to the World Series, they had Tampa Bay go to
the World Series. And you would think the way people
are reacting right now are and talking about the Dodgers
and yeah, because if the Dodgers would have fell on
(37:15):
their face, everybody would have laughed at them and said, hah,
you spend all this money and you can't win, like
they're doing the Mets right now. But when you look
at the facts, there there there is competition, there is parody.
There are teams that can get there. Milwaukee has gotten there,
you know, best record in Baseball, all these things, and
(37:37):
people seem to ignore the facts of what they're seeing
and what's happening right now. Yes, the Dodgers spend money,
but that doesn't mean that they're winning, you know, five
championships in a row. They haven't done that. Now. We
hope that they do that out here, but it hasn't happened.
It hasn't happened, and yet people ignore the fact that
there actually is some parody going on.
Speaker 4 (38:01):
Typically, payroll is an off season conversation, right because who
are the big spenders of the off season, what sort
of heights in the stratosphere are they going to? What
new level or the Mets willing to go to every year.
But then by the end of the end the season
is often not such a conversation because the teams that
make the playoffs tend to be a pretty good mix.
It is, there's definitely correlation to payroll, but it's it's
(38:23):
a pretty good mix. The Rays will find themselves there,
the Brewers, the Cleveland Guardians. There is a mix of payrolls. However,
the reason this is an issue, right capital I here's
simply that the Dodgers have able to accrue talent all
at the same time at a level we have not
seen since the Yankees of that dynasty. Right, I don't
think we've seen we've seen this sort of ability to
(38:46):
pull all this talent together so quickly. Alongside the fact
they already had Mookie, they had already gotten Freddy before
this latest run. They had a Hall of Famer in
Clayton Kershaw. So they already had so much talent, and
then they're able to add and add add at the
right time. And so I think if you're a fan
who doesn't you know, like what the Dodgers have done.
(39:07):
I think you can be a smart fan and wish
that this wasn't happening. But I think your issue is
not with the Dodgers. It's it's a greater system, which
is a whole other conversation. It's the baseball mess up
and that, you know, the the union in the league
and this long long battle they've had where the the
league won or sorry, the Union won, the the the
the the right basically they not have a salary cap,
(39:29):
which is a decade long conversation. Well that's let's let
us here today right where there is sort of uncapped
although also kind of capped with the luxury taxes spending
across the league and much of the league unwilling to
go anywhere near those those tax thresholds, and then some
teams saying no, actually we're gonna we're gonna spend because
we're allowed to, when we're willing to even go over
(39:50):
the numbers in order to put the best team on
the field. And when you have that sort of separation,
is it good for parody in the league. I would
say we probably would all agree that you wouldn't start
a league today and just like allow that to happen.
Speaker 5 (40:04):
You probably set up some structure. But the fact that.
Speaker 4 (40:07):
Baseball has been dealing with for decades and you can
look at that stet you just pulled out. We have
not had a repeat winner since since the Yankees and
then before that the Jays. This is a time of
great parody in baseball. The Brewers, who have.
Speaker 5 (40:21):
A bottom what ten certainly payroll, maybe five.
Speaker 4 (40:24):
Payroll, were a better team than the Dodgers this year,
who have a top two payroll. And so you can
find examples. But also I think it's okay for people
to say I don't love where the system's at. I'm
interested to see what happens in the next CBA. If
the league is able to give the players something so
massive or pulled out or lock out for long enough
that the player is given to a salary cap, you
(40:44):
can be invested in all that. But to be upset
specifically at the Los Angeles Dodgers, I don't think is.
I think you're missing a lot of context there, largely
like if you're mat at the Dodgers, I think you
have to be more upset, if not equally upset at
the Mets, who just signed the largest contract ever in
pro sports with Juan Soto. They have a higher payroll,
and they missed the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (41:06):
So I'll tell you what Steven first. Thanks for coming on.
Here's the bottom line. In my mind, these people are
a bunch of whiners. I don't like winers. Steven, You
know what, life isn't fair? How about that life isn't fair?
Figure out a way to do it?
Speaker 2 (41:18):
And maybe you think the deck is stacked against you,
maybe it is figure out a way. What about that philosophy?
Do you think I should tell the owners that?
Speaker 4 (41:30):
Well, if you're talking to the owners, I think that's fine.
I think that's sure. So let's take the Pirates of
the example. I brought them up earlier. I covered them
for a number of years, lived in Pittsford for a
number of years, back when things were a little bit brighter.
They made the playoffs and in twenty thirteen, twenty fourteen,
twenty fifteen, and they have had the same owner for
a couple of decades now. Bob Nutting and his family
(41:52):
are generally regarded as very cheap as far as the
Major League LANCIAP goes. If Bob Nutting is crying poor
and he's saying we need a salary cap, which that
is certainly how he feels. Yeah, I mean it's totally
fair to tell them, no, you're getting revenue sharing money,
you're getting drop top draft picks. You have access to
things that the Dodgers don't have because they're not picking
at the top of the draft every year. The Dodgers
(42:12):
had absolutely no chance to get Paul Schemes, right, like
some of this elite talent they had no chance to get.
And so you know, the Pirates had more money to
give Roki Sasaki in theory, right, although that's much more
of a choice on the player's part. But if it's
their fans complaining, I don't think those are whiners. I
(42:33):
think that there are people who are stuck.
Speaker 6 (42:36):
Right.
Speaker 4 (42:36):
There are people who are wistful for a time in
the sixties, right when Clement and Stargule and the Pirates
could win World Series and we're doing it in the
nineties when Barry bonds and probably be THEIA or we're
taking them to the CS.
Speaker 5 (42:52):
And what they're stuck.
Speaker 4 (42:53):
With now is you cannot force your owner to spend money.
You cannot vote your owner out of office, right, You
can't so they are stuck behind an owner that's going
to be a bottom five payroll and a team that's
been unable to be perfect with drafting, developing, signing, and
all the other things you need to do to have
a farm system so robust you can build a World
(43:15):
Series caliber team without signing any free agency a multi
year deal. But if you're so, if you're a Pittsburgh fan.
Speaker 5 (43:22):
I can see why you think the system.
Speaker 4 (43:23):
Is broken, why you want better now, I would argue
the first problem you should be dealing with is your owner.
But if you've already dealt with the fact that you
can't change your owner, then yeah, you'd love to see
some changes in the system that gives your team a
better chance. But ultimately, is it a Bob Nutting that
will have the biggest say in, you know, in the
(43:44):
ownership meetings, in the CVA negotiations. I doubt it. They
would have to be a very large coalition of owners
wanting exactly the same thing and getting on the same page,
which is I think what will direct just how aggressive
they are in the upcoming potential lockout after next season.
Speaker 1 (43:59):
No, right, Steven, great stuff, Really appreciate you coming on.
Love the insight. All right, next hour with Dan White's
going to join the program, we'll talk about the Lakers
opener and when we come back, well, get ready for
some afternoon Delight.
Speaker 2 (44:32):
Come on now. Today's Afternoon Delight is Hard run by
the Zach Brown Band. This song debuted over the weekend
and is set to appear on the group's forthcoming album
(44:52):
entitled Love and Fear, which will drop in December. The
band will celebrate the release of the project with multiple
performances at the Sphere in Las Vegas in December and January. Again.
Today's Afternoon Delight is Hard run by the Zach Brown
Band and Afternoon Delight is brought to you by Fantasy
(45:13):
Springs Resort Casino, a premier Palm Springs gaming destination. Right
now call our number five to eight six six nine
eight seven two five seventy will win a two night stay,
dinner for two at Palm and golf for two at
Eagle Falls Golf Course at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino. Let's go,
(45:35):
all right, are you going to the games next week
at Dodger Stadium? Who's going? Who's going? You got your
ticket yet? Already got them? You got a ticket? All set.
Speaker 1 (45:44):
All right, Well you got it. You're good, You're good,
You're ready to go. Yes, listening right now? Do you
have your seats? Are you lucky enough to have them?
You can buy them? By the way, there are seats available.
I just looked it up right here for Monday's game.
Field level seats are about thirty five dollars. Holy, that's
(46:06):
the field level. Maybe the los is about twenty five
hundred dollars a seat. Uh, go up the upper levels
they're about fourteen hundred eleven hundred dollars a scene. That's good,
and the very top is nine hundred dollars a seat.
(46:27):
So if you don't have your ticket yet.
Speaker 2 (46:29):
You get them before they go up, or wait outside
the stadium so they go drastically down before you go in.
But yeah, that's what you should do. Yeah, because right
you gotta either get him now because they're going to
go up before the game starts, or if you want
of those folks, just hang out, hang out till the
first pitch. After the first pitch is thrown, you might
(46:51):
be able to get a bargain. Now, you might want
to send the dugout club. You know, those are the
seats right behind home plate. Right, you're on TV and
you get the buffet downstairs, which, by the way, is terrific.
Absolutely shout to Melissa and Melissa's food to Yeah, these
are great. She does a great job. My girl sharing
her Nandez who handles all of that in that buffet
(47:13):
down there at Dodger Stadium. And that's so far by
the way, big shout to Sharon, Love you, Sharon. I
had to get that in.
Speaker 1 (47:19):
That's all right, you'll get free food. Now we know
why you did it. Anyway, behind home plate for Monday's game.
Oh you can afford these. Oh here are the cheap
ones twelve thousand dollars a seat. Good lord, now the
more expensive ones sixteen thousand dollars a seat. And if
(47:39):
you go to Tuesday, because I enjoy doing this kind
of thing, and I've thought, well, old Tiny's gonna pitch
on Tuesday, right, Hell, they could wrap it up Tuesday, Rodney. Yeah,
if they could sweep on Tuesday, say they were about
to sweep and Otani's on the mound. That's pretty cool.
You want to be there, right, You want to sit
behind home behind home plate in that one.
Speaker 2 (47:56):
That would be very cool, Right, you want to sit
behind home plate. Let's get let's get forced so the
whole family can go.
Speaker 1 (48:02):
Fred, Oh good, well, those are only thirty five thousand
dollars a seat. What the hell has been about one
hundred and thirty thousand dollars and everybody out to the game.
Speaker 2 (48:15):
That's incredible and we've seen this guy rocket over the years. Fred,
But do you think that you know now with the
tickets that it's it's less about who the Dodgers play
than it is just about the Dodgers in the World
Series playing the World Series because Diagory, I think it's
(48:37):
more about the Dodgers in the World certain, yeah, I
agree to, you know. And short of look, they played
the Yankees last year, and obviously that's that became a
really hot ticket. But I really don't know how much
to drop off, you know, is or would have been
if they didn't play the Yankees last year, And you're
looking at it right now with the Blue Jays, who
(48:59):
I don't no. I know, in Canada, they got a
tremendous following and they got a lot of support, but
I don't know if their support is greater than say
Boston or or the Cubs or anybody else that is
out there yet. These ticket prices are thirty five thousand
(49:20):
dollars for the dugout seats that are behind the plate, right, unbelievable.
You're talking twelve thousand, right, you said twelve thousand for
field level. No, no, twelve thousand was a dugout club, boo,
dugout club.
Speaker 1 (49:35):
But not right, not Tuesday field level. No, that's nothing.
It's only thirty five hundred to tell you, only thirty
five hundred. Oh yeah, Tuesday is o tany day, right, Yeah,
that's the one that's the hot, hot, hot, hot hot ticket.
Imagine him. I'm sorry, no, I was just gonna say,
(49:57):
can you imagine him closing out to Tuesday for a
four game sweep and he's on the hill.
Speaker 2 (50:02):
I know, man, it's a Hollywood ending.
Speaker 3 (50:06):
All right.
Speaker 1 (50:07):
When we come back, we'll get you caught up on
what has happened today with its lit and then Dan
wit Gil joined us and we'll talk about the Lakers
last night.
Speaker 6 (50:14):
Make Am five seventy LA Sports a preset before you
plug in your phone. Presets in the iHeartRadio app now
available with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Just another easy
way to listen to LA's best sports talk
All right, here we go two hours show for today,
Fred Rogan, Rodney Pete on AM five to seventy LA Sports.
The Dodgers are headed to Toronto. They are leaving today.
I have this information on very good authority. They are
probably at the airport right now.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Do you think so? I have eyes everywhere, Yes, you do.
I do know that they are off to Toronto today. Yes,
get in, get settled.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Remember, in Toronto the beer has a higher alcohol level, right,
drinks in Toronto there's more alcohol in the drinks. So
I just would like to caution everybody about that. And
if you're going to Toronto and those Molsen beers, Moulton
Canadian Logger beer, the more alcohol in it, yes, it
(00:48):
you know. And also Canada had those variations of beer too.
Remember well when there was a US beer that they
had less than five percent. It's like a three to
two beer they used to have. I never knew about
it until.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I went to high school in my senior year in
Kansas City. I never heard of three two beer and
three two beers like less alcohol than the beer, which
was you were able to sell it to nineteen year
olds as opposed to twenty one.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Year olds right, But then you could have three of
them and you'd have as much alcoholic in you as
if you had one exactly, So it never made sense,
right right, Well, now they have a non alcoholic.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Beer, Yes they do, Yes, they do, and they have.
When they first started it, it was not it was
not so great, but now they have perfected it. Companies
like Heineken and even Soaporo and Corona has non alcoholic beer,
and a lot of them, a lot of the big
chains have non alcoholic beer now and they actually taste
(01:47):
You don't lose anything on the taste. You were like,
if you're a beer drinker and you like the taste
of beer, but without the alcohol. Nowadays you can find
the Heineken zeros are just like a Heineken. You didn't
know it, right, But then you can still act drunk
if you want, correct, Freddy, if you don't want to
drink the alcohol and still act drunk. Correct. You're trying
(02:08):
to fool somebody. I had six packs. Oh I'm drinking
like crazy exactly. And then you're playing poker. You're playing
something like, oh, we got him. That guy is drunk.
He drank a six pack of heide Kid. He didn't
know it's Heineken zero. Now exactly.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Have you seen the Heineken ad campaign, which is probably
not the smartest, where a guy's drinking a Heineken zero
and a cup pulls them over and he's like, oh,
look it's an alcoholic. I'm sure it's legal and sure
you can do it. Bro probably just wouldn't tempt fate
with that. No, probably alone, you wouldn't. Just like the
whole adage.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
If you know, if a playoff officer follows you long enough,
they're going to find something wrong. And if you tease
him and taunt him, oh hey, hey he pulled me
over drinking huh, here's Heinigen zero. Yeah, he's going to
follow you for another mile and find out your your
tail lights out or you're facing dog or something's going on.
And when he does that, then he's going to cuff you.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
Two.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Absolutely, that wasn't quite as funny as you thought it
was bad.
Speaker 5 (02:58):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Let me show you what's funny.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Oh, by the way, we have in our two hour
show today we have to give three pair of tickets
away for the Charger game, three pairs of Chargers Vikings
tickets for tomorrow night. It's so far we have three.
We will give them away between now and two o'clock
as we and on the show today, Steven Nessmitt, of course,
from the Athletic, he wrote a great piece on are
(03:23):
the Dodgers ruining Baseball? One o'clock hour, Dan Waiki will
jump on here, we'll talk about the Laker opener last night.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
So as we now get closer, you hear more and
more people with the narrative that the Dodgers have ruined baseball.
The Dodgers are a dynasty, the Dodgers are evil, the
Dodgers are monsters. But as Rodney Astuteley points out, the
Dodgers haven't one back to back World Series yet that
hasn't happened this year. It should and if it does,
(03:51):
it's highly unusual. Highly unusual hasn't happened in over twenty years.
So if that happens because they figured this out, they're
ruining baseball.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
They're ruining baseball. Now.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Granted, they win their division almost every year, okay, but
other teams can win their division two And if you
look at it, this year, the Dodger regular season, and
last year, to be quite honest, didn't quite go without
any bumps and bruises along the way. They still figure
out a way to win. People are jealous, people get upset.
People claim things are unfair. And I've said this a
(04:28):
million times. Life is unfair. Life is unfair. Adam Silver
said something though, and I find this interesting. He was
asked about the NBA, and I believe in the last
seven years they've had seven different champions. And if that
is the case, did they want to create parody in
(04:48):
the league? Give everybody a chance, everybody, And to be
quite frank, they do in the NFL because of the
salary cap. Yeah, you think you know who's gonna win,
but every year it literally could be fifteen teams if
it goes their way. Baseball's different, but again, you haven't
(05:13):
had a repeat World Series champ forever. So when people
are complaining about this, it is troubling. And really, what
you have here, the Dodgers have become what the Yankees were.
They are the villain. I personally think that's a good thing.
There need to be villains in entertainment, sports or entertainment.
(05:37):
People consider the Dodgers the villain. The Dodgers draw more
fans at home. The Dodgers are the top road draw
in Major League Baseball, everybody roots against the villain, and
that's why it's so difficult to repeat. I think that's okay, Rodney.
I'd rather have the villain than parody.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
What do you think? No, I agree, I agree. And
if you look at it, the leagues with salary caps
have had more quote dynasty runs than baseball who has
no salary cap. Think about it, NFL, it's parody. In
the NFL, they all share collective party in agreement. Green
(06:17):
Bay shares the money with LA and shares the money
with Chicago, and they all get it, and they all
get a chunk and a piece of the pie, right,
so they can all compete TV deal. All of those
things are all thrown in a pot and they all
share it. And yet we've seen New England Patriots go
(06:37):
on a run like we haven't seen a long time.
We're seeing Kansas City be on a run where they've
gone to what five Super Bowls in six years? Right,
And even in basketball, we saw the Golden State Warriors
have a run. We've seen the Lakers have runs. Yet
(06:59):
in baseball, where they said there needs a salary cap
to create parody, they've had it for the last twenty
five years they've had it. The NFL necessarily hasn't because
the NFL, there's a handful of teams that are in
it every single year. And you know, Kansas City's going
to be in the mix, Baltimore is in the mix,
(07:19):
and you know Buffalo now is in the mix. But
for years, the Patriots were the team that everybody hated
and they were the villain because they were winning all
the time. Were they winning because there was no salary
cap in football? I mean, why would the Patriots so
much better than everybody else and going to every Super Bowl?
Was it a salary cap issue? No, because there is
(07:42):
a salary cap in football. So why is it that
baseball people complain and whine, oh, we need a salary
cap to create parody when it's right and there in
front of you, and the facts show that there is
parody in baseball because you don't know year in year out.
It could be the Milwaukee Brewers who had the best
(08:02):
record in baseball, Cleveland Guardians who are low on the
on the payroll total, Cincinnati made the playoffs this year.
I mean there are teams every single year that jump
in there. We saw Arizona go to the World series.
We've seen Tampa Bay go to the World Series, the
Texas Rangers win a World Series. I mean, what are
(08:23):
we talking about? And it is it's good. I agree
with you. It's good to have a villain. But let's
be honest what we're talking about. You know, you make
a great point.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
So when the Patriots went on that run with Tom Brady,
did people say the NFL needs to change the rules.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Anybody said that, Well, this is just unfair.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
We got to change the rules. And now when you
think about the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes, should they change
the rules?
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Right, Oh, they're ruining football. Why why are they ruining football? Well,
because it's unfair. Why because they're better than you? Is
that why it's unfair? Now I get in baseball? Well
you spend all the money again, you make a valid point. Okay,
Well they haven't been a repeat champion over twenty years. Yeah,
(09:11):
but just look at the money you spend. Okay, and
if you don't win, what you'll look like fools? Call
Steve Cohen in the Mets. They'll tell you how they feel.
Right now, Yeah, go call Steve Cohen, He'll tell you.
Call of Phillies, call the Phillies. They spent a ton
of money. How do you think they feel right now?
Speaker 5 (09:27):
Now?
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Are you calling them fools?
Speaker 1 (09:29):
And by the way, if the Phillies had beat the
Dodgers and we're in the World Series, would you say
the Phillies are ruining baseball?
Speaker 2 (09:37):
No, they would not, because the Phillies spent a lot
of money. Phillies are in the top five and spending money.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Right If the Mets somehow had not laid an egg
and they were in the playoffs, and the Mets got
to the World Series, would you turn around and say, well,
now the Mets are ruining baseball?
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Would you?
Speaker 4 (09:57):
No?
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Of course you wouldn't. Because of the way the Dodgers
do things.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
People are flustered because they can't be them, right, you
can't be them. You hate them because you can't be them.
And that's what it is. They can't do it that way.
That's the problem here. It's not about parody. And by
the way, I've said it a million times. Life is
not fair. It simply isn't you know. Some of us
(10:24):
have it better, some of us have it worse. Some
of us have gone through horrible for personal tragedies. Others
have not. Yet eventually everybody gets to the same place.
So life's not fair. Well, what do you say to
the fans in Pittsburgh, for example? Tough beans, That's.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
What I say. Tough being beans. Tough beans.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
You know how fans can you know how fans can
make a change. And I know you disagree with this, Rodney,
I know you do, but I really feel this way
because we saw it happen here. If you are a
fan of a team and the owner is not investing
or putting the organization together proper where you can compete,
you have one choice. Watch every game on TV. Do
(11:05):
not go to one game in person. Watch every game
on TV. You still like the team, You're just frustrated
with the owner. You understand, every time you go to
the game, you're paying the owner. So you're paying someone
you're not pleased with, and the players are going to
get theirs. That's not going to hurt the players because
their money is already guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Yeah, but then that factor into the players salaries. Soon
from a team, they're they're from the game team, but
they're spending on the on the players had nothing to
do with that reinvesting in the franchise. Oh, they should yeah, no, No,
you're not showing up, then Pittsburgh and the ownership is
not going to reinvest in the in the team, in
(11:47):
the franchise and all those.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Okay, but what you do by not showing up is
force their hand. Sell, sell, sell to somebody who will invest,
sell the team. Frank McCourt. Here, people boycotted. I've said
it a million times. I've never seen anything like that
in my life. They just didn't go. They absolutely boycotted,
(12:14):
and they planned on doing it.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
They did it. That was the end of that. That
was it.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
You can't make me sell the team. Okay, the team
was sold. You can't make me all right, right, team
was sold. If you are in a situation instead of
whining about it, the guy that owns the Cubs, I'm
sure we're just breaking even here, Okay. Is that my problem?
Is that my problem? That's your problem. You own them,
(12:40):
You figure it out. I'm paying you. If you boycott
those games, nothing will happen to the players, nothing, and
eventually the owner will either a have to reinvest or
be sell. Look at the A's for example in Oakland.
The owner invested.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Nothing, nothing.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Yeah, they were garbage. Suddenly they're gonna move to Vegas
and now they're in Sacramento. A guy pumps like one
hundred million more into the team because he thinks he's
gonna get it back somehow, and he's forced to do it.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
You know what that tells me? He had that one
hundred million in the past, he did and didn't want
to do it. In Oakland, he wanted to get out oak.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Right, He had that money, he just didn't do it.
Why would you go to those games if you're in
a situation where your team is not investing because it's
the product you're paying to see, don't go watch on TV.
I'm not saying don't ever watch again. Sure you can
watch the guys and you hope they figure it out
and pull it off. Simply don't go there you go
(13:42):
now we fixed it. There's always a solution to these problems,
but no one ever banks on fans doing that. What
do you mean you're not gonna go. I'm not gonna go.
I'm gonna watch on TV. Not a problem.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
I'm fine. I can watch right here. I don't need
to go and pay for something that is subpar because
the organization blows. If you're an Angel fan, good luck
to Kurt Suzuki is a new manager. If you're an
Angel fan, honestly, now, I know it's great to go
to the ballpark, take the kids.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
I get all that. You know they're not getting any better, right,
you know they're only getting worse. That's what's happening. They
get worse, not better. Why the players don't care?
Speaker 2 (14:20):
No, they care. It's the organization. Well, how do you
address that? Don't go.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Watch on TV? Ardi Moreno is banking that you will go.
Ardi Moreno is banking that no matter how bad they are,
you will go. Donald Sterling when he owned the Clippers,
bet no matter how bad they were, you would pay
to go, and you did.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
You went. He made a lot of money, and he
sucked because he didn't have to do anything until again
he made a mistake and a pretty big mistake, and
then he wasn't going to sell the team, and that
was it for him. Let me ask you about the
Angels real quick, ye and you can chime in too.
What the I haven't been the Angel game. I can't
(15:04):
know how long because I have no desire from a
destination's point, Hey, I'm going down to an Angel game.
I watch it on TV. The atmosphere and set up
at the Angels in terms of, like you mentioned Fred
reinvesting into the team, the stadium, everything. When you go
to an Angel game, is it sub par on par
(15:28):
with most of the stadiums or is it wait, is
it below par? When you go to an Angel game.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
I would describe it as yeah. I would describe it
as here's something. I was like, do it like a
day game on a Sunday or something. Here's something to do.
Bring the family that the drinks and seats and all
the food is cheap, and you know after the third
or fourth inning, there's nobody down below. You said, you know,
march on down. The ushers won't stop you. It's not
that it's just a it's a thing to do, as
opposed to I'm coming here to see a great baseball
(15:56):
team put on a show. I'm here to see al
Tani pitch and hit. At the same time, I'm here
to see Mike Trout play like a superstar. A So
Sunday afternoon at one o'clock, I got nothing to do.
Let me head over to the ballpark, spend nine to
ten fifteen bucks to get into the park, chill there
for a couple hours.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
So it's not really like a planned destination, like you're
planning on a Tuesday to be there on Saturday and
Sunday at Angels Stadium. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
And I'll speak for myself, Ridn because you talk about
making the trek as someone who grew up a fan
but did not live and does not live in Orange County,
I have to plan for that.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
That's a trek, right.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
I am not planning to go out of my way
to go see that product they've been putting on the
fuel for the last ten years. I'm not doing it
and haven't done it.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
You know.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Listening to you, Kevin, you know, it makes me think
think back to the showtime Lakers. Think back to the
days at the Forum. All right, that was an event.
You went to an event. There was a basketball game
at the event, but you went to the event. The
Dodgers are very much like that.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Now.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
I'll even say the Kobe shack Lickers were like that.
I agree, Yeah, absolutely, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
The Dodgers are very much like that. Yeah, you're going
to watch the Dodgers play. You're going to an event.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Right.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
The way they have put this together with the players
and everything that surrounds it, you're going to an event.
You're going to a night out. You're not just going
to a baseball game. You're going to a night out.
When you go to Anaheim, you're going to a baseball game.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Yeah, and and what oftentimes you're you're going to that
game because of who they're playing. They're playing in the
opponent that the Yankees are in town, or they're playing
the Dodgers, or you know, the Gods. Do I say
the Astros are in town? I mean you're going sometimes
to see the opponent play. It's like the old Clipper thing,
(17:40):
as you say all the time, Fred, when they used
to put up the banners and the marquee come see
Larry Bird and uh, the Bosston Celtics take on the Clippers, right,
taking the Clippers Clippers? Do you think that Artie Moreno
and that deal they got blown up where he had
opportunity to build around the stadium and build an atmosphere
(18:00):
really stifled them and really set them way back, or
him way back in terms of him trying to reinvest
back into the Angels. That finished him. That was it.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
That was his version of Frank McCourt's cable deal that
didn't go through it that would have saved him.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Yeah, that was it. It was over at that point.
It was done.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
And now he's just holding on sort of like you
think it's going to appreciate the longer you hold on
to it.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Yeah, you know you're gonna sell it, right, you do?
You also know that when are you going to sell it? Right?
And here's the thing.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
If you've got to sell your house right now, the
reelerser will come in and say, you know what, everyone
says the exact same thing. Hey got to paint the walls, right,
we know the drill, paint the walls. And you could
fix this, and you could fix that and fix this
and fix that, and you know what, you should say, No,
I'm not doing that. And you want to know why
it's worth what it's worth on the land, that's what
(18:54):
it's worth. Your house is worth the land. And if
you've done a lot to it and it's a smagne
magnificent structure, it's going to be worth more. But the
reality is location, location, location, and it only appreciates, so
as your house deteriorates, it can appreciate if it's in
the right location. If you're on a major League baseball team,
(19:17):
you're on a very few. You're in the right location,
and that's going to appreciate. So if it's going to appreciate,
why would you invest in it? How much more will
it be worth? If the Angels won the World Series
next year and Ardi Morena went to sell the team,
would it be worth two billion dollars more?
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Absolutely not, it wouldn't. It's worth what it's worth. So
that's why he can just sit there and wait. What
does it matter?
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Sell it tomorrow, sell it in five years. In five years,
it'll be worth more no matter how they do, no
matter what he does. Probably why he just sits there
and waits, he's just counting the money at the end
of the rainbow.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
He's just waiting. Yeah, I think the owners should be regulated,
like you talk about all the time with the teams.
Owners should be regulated FRED, like the Premier League in
like overseas. They should be regulated. If they're not winning,
they're not in the conversation. They haven't made the playoffs
in five years, then their clock is starting to tick
(20:26):
and they have to sell the team at some point,
or sell portions of the team. They have to start
selling if they're not in the playoffs in five years
and a five year stretch, they have to start selling
off portion of the team, and then at some point
they're not fifty anymore, they have to start selling after
(20:47):
five years. What do you think about that? So you
got to be in once every five years. Once every
five years, you gotta be in, and then you got
to start selling equity in the team. I like it.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
I actually, you know, I like that, customer. I think
that's actually a very good idea. Let me give you this,
all right, let me give you this. You own the
business if you're not in the So let's not do
five years. You own the business if you go seven
years without making the playoffs. So we're only asking you
(21:22):
to do it one time in seven years, and it
could be the wild card, but you got to make
the playoffs. If you don't, if you don't make the
playoffs once every seven years, how about your forced to
sell the team?
Speaker 2 (21:37):
I like that too. How about that?
Speaker 1 (21:39):
I like that, cause five years might be a little hard.
You got to build your system and your organization. Every
seven years, you've got to make the playoffs. And I
don't care if you miss it by one game and
the umpire made a bad call and it's like, oh
we could have done it, but we didn't do it.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
I don't care if you don't make the injuries any
and none of that matters, doesn't matter. Get decimated by injuries. Oh,
in year six, we had a chance. We had the
best roster, we had the best this we did it.
We invested into players, but then all of our key
players got hurt. It doesn't matter. No, it doesn't matter.
(22:21):
You've got to make it once every seven years in
every sport. Yeah, if you don't make it once every
seven years, you are forced to sell a team. And
in your purchase agreement with the league it states that, yeah,
so you will make money in seven years, you'll make money,
the franchise will appreciate. But you got to make it
(22:43):
once every seven years. O, why you're not How about that?
I like that.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
So they could turn around and say, here's the argument against, Well,
we don't have enough people that want to buy.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Really, I think you'll find people. Oh today's maybe fifteen
twenty years ago now though, but now people are lined
up to buy sports franchises. Why because of the point
you just made, they're always gonna appreciate. There. They are
the rare thing in our world, in our society. That
(23:15):
is almost as close to a guarantee for appreciation than
anything else. Owning a sports franchise, you're gonna sell it
for more than you bought it for. And at Bregnheim
pay two billion for the Dodgers are worth ten pretty
good return on an investment. Yeah, it didn't appreciate thirty
(23:36):
five thousand dollars. It appreciated eight billion. That's a pretty
good return on your investment. Yeah. Think about the Bus
family where they're sitting right now. Ten billion dollars. Yeah.
And by the way, do you think the.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Very good point, very good point, you think the Lakers
are worth more than the Dodgers. No, they're not, but
they sure got the money, didn't they. Yes, Mark Walls
are to pay ten billion dollars for the Lakers and
two billion.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
For the Dodgers. Think about that.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Let's say he holds on to the Lakers ten years.
What do you think that's gonna be worth.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
From a business perspective, at least double. That's why you
buy the teams, That's why you need to invest in them.
That's why that argument he just made against doesn't hold water,
Because show me a year an era where a franchise
(24:38):
in football, Baseball, basketball. I'm not familiar with hockey that well,
but those three sports, even hockey, I would say that
hasn't appreciated. Show me an error where it hasn't appreciated.
They do. All right, let's do this.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Let's give a pair of Charger tickets away right now,
Chargers Vikings tomorrow night at SOFI Stadium eight six six
nine two five seventy eight six six ninety seven two
five seventy a pair of tickets Chargers Vikings tomorrow night
at SOFI.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Rodney would call a number I like number six.
Speaker 6 (25:15):
D Hello Rogan and Rodney listener. Did you know Am
five seventy LA Sports has a wide range of LA
Sports podcasts, shows like petros in Money. We are streaming
Matt Dodger Talk with David Vassei, the Dodger Podcast of Record,
Clipper Talk Without a Musk, follow us all and many more.
Just go to AM five seventy LA Sports on the
(25:37):
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, let's keep it moving. On a
Wednesday hump Day, Rodney, Pete, Fred Rogan, who we got Freddy?
Speaker 1 (25:46):
All right, Seawna Northard, You did it, buddy, you one.
You're going to the game tomorrow night. Get ready for
a primetime showdown under the SOFI Stadium lights. Justin Herbert
and the Chargers host Justin Jefferson and the Vikings tomorrow
Thursday Night Football. Limited tickets remain secure yours today at
charge slash Tickets. Steven Nesbitt of The Athletic is conducting
a poll and he is asking the question, have the
(26:09):
Dodgers or are the Dodgers ruining baseball?
Speaker 2 (26:13):
So Steven has been kind enough to join us, and
we welcome home to the program.
Speaker 4 (26:17):
Thanks for being here, of course, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Love your piece. Love the question you asked, are the
Dodgers ruining baseball or paving the way? After very early results,
what do you think?
Speaker 4 (26:31):
So, I mean, my take isn't really at the center
of this, but I think without diving into the numbers, Jack,
because I haven't seen yet the number I saw just
the very preliminary numbers from our fan our fans survey here.
I think generally fans the certainly will be favoring the
Blue Jays here, but that happens almost any time you get,
(26:53):
you know, a heavy favorite in a series or a
super Bowl or anything. But I've been interested to see
that the skills for aren' tipped as much as I
would have expected toward the Dodgers being bad for baseball,
ruining baseball. There are a lot of people from mid
and smaller markets who certainly feel that it has gotten
maybe beyond villain status and like almost tipped toward unfair
(27:15):
at this point what the Dodgers have done. But I
think there are also a lot of people who understand
this is a This is an issue far greater than
just the Dodgers, right, This is at its core, it
is sort of the spending and balance in baseball that
they're upset about. Right, The New York Mets are spending
more money this year than the Los Angeles Dodgers, and
no one's particularly upset about that here on October twenty second,
(27:36):
because the Mets crashed out in September. And so the
greater issue isn't did the Dodgers spend way more than
anybody else. They spend it, maybe more creatively than anybody else,
with all these deferrals allowing them to get so many
great players on the roster at the same time. But
it's not like they're not paying that money today. They
are certainly paying some of it every single year, and
so I think there's a lot of maybe sensitivity among
(27:58):
fans across the new and even of course Toronto being
into a second nation. But I think it's also a
fair level of respect that fans have for the way
the Dodgers have built this team. There is not all
hired hands, right, It's not all free agents and huge trades.
It also is the All Star catcher Will Smith. It's
a homegrown Clayton Kershaw that they never let go anywhere else.
(28:22):
They have a ton of talent and when they acquire it,
they hold on to it for a long time. I
think people have a lot of respects for that.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Yeah, a couple of things because when you look at
this matchup, I think Toronto is fifth in terms of
payroll and in Major League Baseball. And when also when
you look at this, there were opportunities for other teams
to acquire some of these players. Blake Snell, you know,
(28:48):
went from Tampa San Diego. The Giants basically begged to
be a Dodger, and the Dodger signed up, but other
teams had opportunities to sign it. Freddie Freeman, you know,
they decided to go in a different direction. With Matt
All had other teams had opportunities to sign them. Otani
even you know, gave the Angels an opportunity to match
what the Dodgers did or just sign him back, and
(29:09):
they didn't. So when when fans cry about the Dodgers
being the villain or or the Dodgers just buying a team,
it's it really if you dig into the facts, see
it's it's not the case. It's just the Dodgers. And
as you mentioned, how they've created the contracts and they
have the structure of these contracts that they are dare
(29:30):
I say smarter than everyone else?
Speaker 4 (29:36):
I think they they If you ask around the league,
you'd agree. You'd hear a lot of agreement from other
front offices that they are certainly among the smartest. You know,
you ask which are the best front officers in baseball,
and you'll commonly hear the Rays who typically punch far
above their weight, whether whether the payroll, and a lot
of people like Andrew Favorite have come from that raise
(29:56):
coaching tree or executive tree.
Speaker 5 (29:59):
You have the.
Speaker 4 (29:59):
Milankey Brewers who just got bounced by the Dodgers. You
have Cleveland Guardians, some teams that really know how to
do a lot with not so much. But this is
one of those organizations that has an incredible farm system
while also having the best, most talented roster and baseball
also spending almost you know, almost as much money as
anybody in baseball. That's just about as perfect of a
mix as you could ask for if you're an executive
(30:22):
and if you're a fan of that team. But also
it comes down to winning, right. The reason we're in
this spot today.
Speaker 5 (30:26):
Where people are asking the question, I guess.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
It was me today, are they ruining baseball? I wasn't
the one who came up with that idea. Literally. Dave
Roberts said it in his interview after the CS was
they said, we're ruining baseball. Let's win for more games
and really ruin baseball. And of course he's playing heel there,
he's leaning into it, he's having a good time with it.
But the fact is, because you won last year and
(30:49):
everyone says, oh, man, I thought they were going to
win last year, and you come into this year and
you spend four hundred more million dollars to bring back
to Oscar, to bring back Blake Trinan and Clayton Kershawn
Kee Caherton and as and then you reigned Blake Snell, who,
as you just pointed out, a year ago, tons of
teams could have had the opportunity to grab Blake Snell
and instead he had to go to to San Francisco
(31:09):
on sort of a creative opt out laden deal similar
to you say Alec Bregman signed this year. Guys who
teams around the country have been unwilling to give that
six year huge deal to at their age, while the
Dodgers said, sure, we'll take a chance on him this year,
and turns out they brought him healthy in October and
he's been unbelievable so far. So these are these are
(31:32):
guys that other teams had a fair shake at. Of course,
a big story in this series is that Toronto had
had a shot with Otani and had a moment where
we all thought he was headed to Toronto based on
one private plane coming out of Anaheim. I think it was,
but uh, but no, the Dodgers are the one who
amassed his talent, and because they were so active this
pass off, he's been adding so many top names it
(31:53):
didn't even menure Tanner Tanner Scott, who has not been
a relevant at in October, but Rokie Sosakti Sert has
it's an embarrassment of talents. It's an embarrassment of riches.
And they also are a team that people are upset
because it seemed pretty ardamed before the season, Right, the
predestined that they were going to make the World Series,
and here they are. But if you really look at
(32:14):
the season, as both of you know, this is not predestined, right,
This is a.
Speaker 5 (32:18):
Team that missed.
Speaker 4 (32:19):
It fell short of its targets, right, It fell short
of its goals to get a bye to well won
this division. It wasn't one of the top two teams
in the league. It had to go through the wild
card for not not to be such a difficult task
against Cincinnati Reds. I tend to play in more rounds
than either of the last two teams on the American
League side. But they've just absolutely been a buzzsaw, going
nine to one in the postseason, and so sure it
(32:41):
feels inevitable that they're here, but things could have gone
very wrong in that wildcard series. And so it doesn't
really seem to me that it's so obvious that the
Dodgers always going to We're gonna wind up here.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
Stephen Nesbitt is our guest from the Athletic Two things, Stephen. First,
you know what, Tani was never on that plane, right,
I mean you know that right, he was never going
to take that flight.
Speaker 4 (33:02):
I know that because I talk to the guy who
was on it, the guy from Shark Tank. I interviewed
him a couple days later, Robert Herzervik. No, he was
not on that plane.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
Agreed, good, want to clear that up. Second, you know
what bothers me the narrative. The narrative, Well, they're ruining baseball,
one person says it. And by the way, we have
heard that out here for some time, and they buy
their championship. It's the narrative. And you know what that does.
I think when you hear even major league owners, well
(33:28):
we just can't compete with them. Well, no, you're not
good enough to compete with them. It's not how much
money you have, although it helps, it's how you spend
your money. And we looked and saw that there are
teams that actually make more of a profit than the
Dodgers do because the Dodgers reinvest immediately. They just take
all their money and put it back on the field
and in the organization. So teams are making money, they're
(33:51):
just not investing.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
It as the Dodgers are.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
And you pointed out in Milwaukee, Cleveland, Tampa, smaller markets
that know how to get it, but the other orders
that don't know how to get a complain about it.
And I just find that very disingenuous.
Speaker 4 (34:05):
Yeah, I mean, I think we've gotten into an era
where we have fewer and fewer family owners. Right, we
had Peter Sidler of the Daniego Padres passed away two
years ago I believe it was now, and that was
someone who it was so obvious that man was desperate
to win World Series and was going to bankroll that opportunity.
You've seeing something similar in Philadelphia, where the Middleton family
(34:27):
desperately wants a World Series. But look around the league.
How many family owners really are family majority owners really
are in place? It's a winnowing number where by and
large these are larger groups, larger coalitions of owners and
private equity getting involved. Like the shape of ownership has
changed in recent years such that the thinking isn't simply
(34:51):
what will it take to win World Series? It's how
do we balance not spending ourselves into oblivion? While getting there,
and so Steve Cohen is willing to do that. The
Dodgers are willing to do what it takes to win.
And as you said, they're certainly investing a ton of
their revenues. They're also getting they're in a market in
Japan that really no other team is even close to
(35:13):
being there, and they've they've seen that the value of that,
they've taken advantage of that. They're certainly benefiting from that,
and and it means more money that they can spend
on the roster, and they spend it in very creative ways,
as we've said. So, so you're right, this is very
much a question as baseball is the only, you know,
only main sport over here in the States that does
(35:36):
not have a salary cap system instalved with a cap
and a floor. It is up to you how much
you want to spend. If you want to be the Mets,
you can spend ninety cents on every dollar basically that
you're spending over that top luxury tier. A lot of
a lot of owners are not willing to go there,
and it is of course their choice, right there's nothing
stopping them other than more taxes being levied higher the
(35:58):
higher they go from ending similarly and getting the same
players the Dodgers can and you'll find moments like when
the Dodgers signed Michael Kifford this year, was he the
X factors for this team? Did he put them over
the top? Certainly not. He has not been at all
a factor of course recently, but they were willing to
spend more money on him than anybody else wanted. But
that's a choice. Ultimately, the Pittsburgh Pirates could have gone
(36:20):
out and gotten Michael Beifford as they thought he was
going to put them over the top in Paul Skin's window,
that the race could have done it as well. But
it's a choice. Every one of these transactions is typically
a choice on both sides.
Speaker 2 (36:33):
Yeah, Steve, And you know what also bothers me is
that everybody they don't It's like the world today, you know,
and I don't want to get into other stuff, but
the world today just don't they don't look at the facts.
I mean, if the Dodgers, you know, are ruining baseball
and they're this mega team and they're doing all these
things and they're out spending that we haven't had a
(36:54):
repeat winner in the World Series since the Yankees did
it in the late nineties. We've had the Texas Rangers
win a World Series. We've had the Diamondbacks to go
to the World Series, they had Tampa Bay go to
the World Series. And you would think the way people
are reacting right now are and talking about the Dodgers
and yeah, because if the Dodgers would have fell on
(37:15):
their face, everybody would have laughed at them and said, hah,
you spend all this money and you can't win, like
they're doing the Mets right now. But when you look
at the facts, there there there is competition, there is parody.
There are teams that can get there. Milwaukee has gotten there,
you know, best record in Baseball, all these things, and
(37:37):
people seem to ignore the facts of what they're seeing
and what's happening right now. Yes, the Dodgers spend money,
but that doesn't mean that they're winning, you know, five
championships in a row. They haven't done that. Now. We
hope that they do that out here, but it hasn't happened.
It hasn't happened, and yet people ignore the fact that
there actually is some parody going on.
Speaker 4 (38:01):
Typically, payroll is an off season conversation, right because who
are the big spenders of the off season, what sort
of heights in the stratosphere are they going to? What
new level or the Mets willing to go to every year.
But then by the end of the end the season
is often not such a conversation because the teams that
make the playoffs tend to be a pretty good mix.
It is, there's definitely correlation to payroll, but it's it's
(38:23):
a pretty good mix. The Rays will find themselves there,
the Brewers, the Cleveland Guardians. There is a mix of payrolls. However,
the reason this is an issue, right capital I here's
simply that the Dodgers have able to accrue talent all
at the same time at a level we have not
seen since the Yankees of that dynasty. Right, I don't
think we've seen we've seen this sort of ability to
(38:46):
pull all this talent together so quickly. Alongside the fact
they already had Mookie, they had already gotten Freddy before
this latest run. They had a Hall of Famer in
Clayton Kershaw. So they already had so much talent, and
then they're able to add and add add at the
right time. And so I think if you're a fan
who doesn't you know, like what the Dodgers have done.
(39:07):
I think you can be a smart fan and wish
that this wasn't happening. But I think your issue is
not with the Dodgers. It's it's a greater system, which
is a whole other conversation. It's the baseball mess up
and that, you know, the the union in the league
and this long long battle they've had where the the
league won or sorry, the Union won, the the the
the the right basically they not have a salary cap,
(39:29):
which is a decade long conversation. Well that's let's let
us here today right where there is sort of uncapped
although also kind of capped with the luxury taxes spending
across the league and much of the league unwilling to
go anywhere near those those tax thresholds, and then some
teams saying no, actually we're gonna we're gonna spend because
we're allowed to, when we're willing to even go over
(39:50):
the numbers in order to put the best team on
the field. And when you have that sort of separation,
is it good for parody in the league. I would
say we probably would all agree that you wouldn't start
a league today and just like allow that to happen.
Speaker 5 (40:04):
You probably set up some structure. But the fact that.
Speaker 4 (40:07):
Baseball has been dealing with for decades and you can
look at that stet you just pulled out. We have
not had a repeat winner since since the Yankees and
then before that the Jays. This is a time of
great parody in baseball. The Brewers, who have.
Speaker 5 (40:21):
A bottom what ten certainly payroll, maybe five.
Speaker 4 (40:24):
Payroll, were a better team than the Dodgers this year,
who have a top two payroll. And so you can
find examples. But also I think it's okay for people
to say I don't love where the system's at. I'm
interested to see what happens in the next CBA. If
the league is able to give the players something so
massive or pulled out or lock out for long enough
that the player is given to a salary cap, you
(40:44):
can be invested in all that. But to be upset
specifically at the Los Angeles Dodgers, I don't think is.
I think you're missing a lot of context there, largely
like if you're mat at the Dodgers, I think you
have to be more upset, if not equally upset at
the Mets, who just signed the largest contract ever in
pro sports with Juan Soto. They have a higher payroll,
and they missed the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (41:06):
So I'll tell you what Steven first. Thanks for coming on.
Here's the bottom line. In my mind, these people are
a bunch of whiners. I don't like winers. Steven, You
know what, life isn't fair? How about that life isn't fair?
Figure out a way to do it?
Speaker 2 (41:18):
And maybe you think the deck is stacked against you,
maybe it is figure out a way. What about that philosophy?
Do you think I should tell the owners that?
Speaker 4 (41:30):
Well, if you're talking to the owners, I think that's fine.
I think that's sure. So let's take the Pirates of
the example. I brought them up earlier. I covered them
for a number of years, lived in Pittsford for a
number of years, back when things were a little bit brighter.
They made the playoffs and in twenty thirteen, twenty fourteen,
twenty fifteen, and they have had the same owner for
a couple of decades now. Bob Nutting and his family
(41:52):
are generally regarded as very cheap as far as the
Major League LANCIAP goes. If Bob Nutting is crying poor
and he's saying we need a salary cap, which that
is certainly how he feels. Yeah, I mean it's totally
fair to tell them, no, you're getting revenue sharing money,
you're getting drop top draft picks. You have access to
things that the Dodgers don't have because they're not picking
at the top of the draft every year. The Dodgers
(42:12):
had absolutely no chance to get Paul Schemes, right, like
some of this elite talent they had no chance to get.
And so you know, the Pirates had more money to
give Roki Sasaki in theory, right, although that's much more
of a choice on the player's part. But if it's
their fans complaining, I don't think those are whiners. I
(42:33):
think that there are people who are stuck.
Speaker 6 (42:36):
Right.
Speaker 4 (42:36):
There are people who are wistful for a time in
the sixties, right when Clement and Stargule and the Pirates
could win World Series and we're doing it in the
nineties when Barry bonds and probably be THEIA or we're
taking them to the CS.
Speaker 5 (42:52):
And what they're stuck.
Speaker 4 (42:53):
With now is you cannot force your owner to spend money.
You cannot vote your owner out of office, right, You
can't so they are stuck behind an owner that's going
to be a bottom five payroll and a team that's
been unable to be perfect with drafting, developing, signing, and
all the other things you need to do to have
a farm system so robust you can build a World
(43:15):
Series caliber team without signing any free agency a multi
year deal. But if you're so, if you're a Pittsburgh fan.
Speaker 5 (43:22):
I can see why you think the system.
Speaker 4 (43:23):
Is broken, why you want better now, I would argue
the first problem you should be dealing with is your owner.
But if you've already dealt with the fact that you
can't change your owner, then yeah, you'd love to see
some changes in the system that gives your team a
better chance. But ultimately, is it a Bob Nutting that
will have the biggest say in, you know, in the
(43:44):
ownership meetings, in the CVA negotiations. I doubt it. They
would have to be a very large coalition of owners
wanting exactly the same thing and getting on the same page,
which is I think what will direct just how aggressive
they are in the upcoming potential lockout after next season.
Speaker 1 (43:59):
No, right, Steven, great stuff, Really appreciate you coming on.
Love the insight. All right, next hour with Dan White's
going to join the program, we'll talk about the Lakers
opener and when we come back, well, get ready for
some afternoon Delight.
Speaker 2 (44:32):
Come on now. Today's Afternoon Delight is Hard run by
the Zach Brown Band. This song debuted over the weekend
and is set to appear on the group's forthcoming album
(44:52):
entitled Love and Fear, which will drop in December. The
band will celebrate the release of the project with multiple
performances at the Sphere in Las Vegas in December and January. Again.
Today's Afternoon Delight is Hard run by the Zach Brown
Band and Afternoon Delight is brought to you by Fantasy
(45:13):
Springs Resort Casino, a premier Palm Springs gaming destination. Right
now call our number five to eight six six nine
eight seven two five seventy will win a two night stay,
dinner for two at Palm and golf for two at
Eagle Falls Golf Course at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino. Let's go,
(45:35):
all right, are you going to the games next week
at Dodger Stadium? Who's going? Who's going? You got your
ticket yet? Already got them? You got a ticket? All set.
Speaker 1 (45:44):
All right, Well you got it. You're good, You're good,
You're ready to go. Yes, listening right now? Do you
have your seats? Are you lucky enough to have them?
You can buy them? By the way, there are seats available.
I just looked it up right here for Monday's game.
Field level seats are about thirty five dollars. Holy, that's
(46:06):
the field level. Maybe the los is about twenty five
hundred dollars a seat. Uh, go up the upper levels
they're about fourteen hundred eleven hundred dollars a scene. That's good,
and the very top is nine hundred dollars a seat.
(46:27):
So if you don't have your ticket yet.
Speaker 2 (46:29):
You get them before they go up, or wait outside
the stadium so they go drastically down before you go in.
But yeah, that's what you should do. Yeah, because right
you gotta either get him now because they're going to
go up before the game starts, or if you want
of those folks, just hang out, hang out till the
first pitch. After the first pitch is thrown, you might
(46:51):
be able to get a bargain. Now, you might want
to send the dugout club. You know, those are the
seats right behind home plate. Right, you're on TV and
you get the buffet downstairs, which, by the way, is terrific.
Absolutely shout to Melissa and Melissa's food to Yeah, these
are great. She does a great job. My girl sharing
her Nandez who handles all of that in that buffet
(47:13):
down there at Dodger Stadium. And that's so far by
the way, big shout to Sharon, Love you, Sharon. I
had to get that in.
Speaker 1 (47:19):
That's all right, you'll get free food. Now we know
why you did it. Anyway, behind home plate for Monday's game.
Oh you can afford these. Oh here are the cheap
ones twelve thousand dollars a seat. Good lord, now the
more expensive ones sixteen thousand dollars a seat. And if
(47:39):
you go to Tuesday, because I enjoy doing this kind
of thing, and I've thought, well, old Tiny's gonna pitch
on Tuesday, right, Hell, they could wrap it up Tuesday, Rodney. Yeah,
if they could sweep on Tuesday, say they were about
to sweep and Otani's on the mound. That's pretty cool.
You want to be there, right, You want to sit
behind home behind home plate in that one.
Speaker 2 (47:56):
That would be very cool, Right, you want to sit
behind home plate. Let's get let's get forced so the
whole family can go.
Speaker 1 (48:02):
Fred, Oh good, well, those are only thirty five thousand
dollars a seat. What the hell has been about one
hundred and thirty thousand dollars and everybody out to the game.
Speaker 2 (48:15):
That's incredible and we've seen this guy rocket over the years. Fred,
But do you think that you know now with the
tickets that it's it's less about who the Dodgers play
than it is just about the Dodgers in the World
Series playing the World Series because Diagory, I think it's
(48:37):
more about the Dodgers in the World certain, yeah, I
agree to, you know. And short of look, they played
the Yankees last year, and obviously that's that became a
really hot ticket. But I really don't know how much
to drop off, you know, is or would have been
if they didn't play the Yankees last year, And you're
looking at it right now with the Blue Jays, who
(48:59):
I don't no. I know, in Canada, they got a
tremendous following and they got a lot of support, but
I don't know if their support is greater than say
Boston or or the Cubs or anybody else that is
out there yet. These ticket prices are thirty five thousand
(49:20):
dollars for the dugout seats that are behind the plate, right, unbelievable.
You're talking twelve thousand, right, you said twelve thousand for
field level. No, no, twelve thousand was a dugout club, boo,
dugout club.
Speaker 1 (49:35):
But not right, not Tuesday field level. No, that's nothing.
It's only thirty five hundred to tell you, only thirty
five hundred. Oh yeah, Tuesday is o tany day, right, Yeah,
that's the one that's the hot, hot, hot, hot hot ticket.
Imagine him. I'm sorry, no, I was just gonna say,
(49:57):
can you imagine him closing out to Tuesday for a
four game sweep and he's on the hill.
Speaker 2 (50:02):
I know, man, it's a Hollywood ending.
Speaker 3 (50:06):
All right.
Speaker 1 (50:07):
When we come back, we'll get you caught up on
what has happened today with its lit and then Dan
wit Gil joined us and we'll talk about the Lakers
last night.
Speaker 6 (50:14):
Make Am five seventy LA Sports a preset before you
plug in your phone. Presets in the iHeartRadio app now
available with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Just another easy
way to listen to LA's best sports talk
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