The Dodgers were thought to have been "hoping to bring payroll down" in the future, but new deals with P Kenley Jansen and 3B Justin Turner will bring the team's future salary it has committed to this offseason to $192M, according to Bill Plunkett of the ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER. Jansen has agreed to a five-year, $80M deal and Turner is nearing a four-year, $64M contract. That comes after Rich Hill signed a three-year, $36 deal last week. Team payroll is "expected to be in the neighborhood" of $250M next season -- "well over the luxury-tax threshold for a fifth consecutive season" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 12/13). In L.A., Andy McCullough notes the Dodgers "spending surprised rival executives who predicted an off-season of frugality" from the team as the they "attempted to avoid luxury-tax penalties." The splurge "demonstrated the team’s internal belief in its roster" (L.A. TIMES, 12/13). MLB Network’s Joel Sherman said, “This is really about the Dodgers and the difficult tightrope they're always walking. They so badly want to get younger. They want to get more financially strict and sound long-term." They are also "going to be over the luxury tax for the foreseeable future even when the new luxury tax rules go into effect because they're trying to win now” ("MLB Now," MLB Network, 12/12).
MONEY IS NO OBJECT? In N.Y., Tyler Kepner notes the Dodgers can still "spend aggressively despite a mandate" by MLB to "reduce their debt." The Dodgers have averaged almost $300M a year in payroll and luxury taxes over the last four seasons (N.Y. TIMES, 12/13). MLB Network's Kevin Millar said, "I know all this luxury tax thing for 2017 is going to be in. ... But when you’re looking at a big money team where finances aren’t a problem, I don’t think they’re worried about paying the extra 20% and the 30% and the 40% once they go over the luxury tax" (“Intentional Talk,” MLB Network, 12/12). USA TODAY's Bob Nightengale writes of the Dodgers, "No matter how much they want to believe they’re different, they’re nothing more than a modernized version of the old-school Yankees" (USA TODAY, 12/13). YAHOO SPORTS' Jeff Passan writes the Dodgers are the "rich kids, and the rest of baseball’s job is to figure out how to be more clever than them." Passan: "The Dodgers are sprinting past the luxury tax -- again -- with the countenance of a shrug emoji. Cost of doing business. Price to pay. Etc." (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 12/13).
