Look away, Giants fans: MLB commissioner Rob Manfred supports the Los Angeles Dodgers' record-setting payroll.
And, yes, that’s considering the juggernaut Dodgers arguably are better heading into the 2025 MLB season than they were last year when they won the World Series.
“[The Dodgers have] gone out and done everything possible, always within the rules that currently exist, to put the best possible team on the field, and I think that's great for the game," Manfred told reporters in Phoenix (h/t ESPN's Alden Gonzalez).
Over the last two offseasons, Los Angeles has signed five players to nine-figure contracts: Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Will Smith, Tyler Glasnow and former San Francisco pitcher Blake Snell.
That said, the Dodgers’ deferred payments exceed $1 billion owed to seven players from 2028 to 2046, which includes the $680 million that 2024 NL MVP Ohtani is due from 2034 to 2043.
In efforts to close the gap, the Giants signed star shortstop Willy Adames to a franchise-record seven-year, $182 million contract in early December.
The $182 million deal is San Francisco’s most lucrative contract ever handed out by the Giants, surpassing the previous record of $167 million held bycurrent president of baseball operations Buster Posey.
San Francisco Giants
With Ohtani, Mookie Betts and World Series MVP Freddie Freeman at the top of the order, though, the inflated payroll makes the Giants’ arch-rivals World Series favorites for years to come.
With the expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement set for Dec. 2026, perhaps Manfred can redeem himself to Giants fans by advocating for a salary cap.
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