Dave Roberts vows to further ‘ruin baseball’ in the World Series

Throughout the season, Los Angeles Dodgers have faced the popular perception that the team is “buying a championship.” Los Angeles was stockpiling talent in an offseason spending spree that some fans felt was bad for baseball. The manager Dave Roberts defended the organization when the Dodgers payroll was triggered before Game 4 of the NLCS. But after LA advanced to its second straight World Series, Roberts he leaned into the narrative.

“I’ll tell you, before the start of this season they said, ‘The Dodgers are destroying baseball.’ Let’s get four more wins and really destroy baseball!” Roberts yelled during the tag team championship ceremony, per B/R Walk-Off.

The Dodgers finished off the Milwaukee Brewers in spectacular fashion on Friday. Milwaukee entered Game 4 of the NLCS in an 0-3 hole. With Shohei Ohtani on the mound, the Brewers faced an insurmountable task.

Ohtani’s otherworldly performance proved too much for Milwaukee to handle. Los Angeles won Game 4, ending the championship streak from the Brewers. The team with the best regular season record in baseball stomped on the team with the highest payroll in the sport.

Shohei Ohtani eliminates the Brewers with a historic NLCS Game 4

If fans didn’t talk about money influencing baseball before, they certainly did now that Roberts pushed the issue to the forefront. The Dodgers’ payroll is smaller than the Brewers’ relatively modest total in the small market. LA spends nearly $230 million more than Milwaukee. The payroll gap nearly exceeds the luxury tax threshold of $241 million.

During spring training, the Dodgers’ spending was a pressing issue. However, a seemingly never-ending string of injuries prevented Los Angeles from reaching its potential in the regular season. The Dodgers were forced to battle the San Diego Padres for the division crown. And LA ended up taking over the #2 seed in the National League.

But the Dodgers recovered in time for the playoffs and their opponents discovered what that money bought the team. Los Angeles’ starting rotation dominated the postseason. Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Ohtani combined to allow two runs on nine hits with 35 strikeouts in 28.2 innings during the NLCS.

If you pass the beginners, it just brings more headaches. While pitching used to be LA’s biggest weakness, it’s now a strength. The bullpen has become elite in the playoffs. Managing an embarrassment of riches, Roberts managed to move away from the struggling Tanner Scott in favor of Rocky Sasaki in the closer role. The Brewers failed to score more than one run against the Dodgers in any game during the NLCS.

Now Los Angeles awaits its World Series opponent. Whether the Seattle Mariners or Toronto Blue Jays advance to the Fall Classic, a Dodgers repeat is inevitable.