While Manfred frets, some opposing players cheer the big-spending push of the Los Angeles Dodgers

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred shared conflicting feelings about the big-spending Los Angeles Dodgers this week, praising the franchise's competitive spirit in one breath before worrying about the financial disparity they've created in the next.

Players elsewhere around the league don't seem nearly as conflicted.

“Teams spending money is never bad for baseball and never bad for players. Ever. In any situation,” Athletics slugger Brent Rooker said.

If Manfred is looking to find some sympathy from Major League Baseball's rank-and-file regarding his worry over the sport's financial health, it's probably not going to come from the guys on the field.

MLB is the only major professional sport in America that doesn’t have a salary cap, though there are luxury tax penalties for passing certain spending thresholds. Last season, the Dodgers had a $353 million luxury tax payroll and had to pay a $103 million tax. The Athletics had the lowest luxury tax payroll at just under $84 million.

Los Angeles' spending didn't slow this offseason. The Dodgers signed two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell to a $182 million, five-year deal during the offseason and also made sizable investments in players like Teoscar Hernández, Michael Conforto, Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates and Roki Sasaki.

That came one year after the organization splurged on more than $1 billion in commitments to Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

LA's spending has dwarfed all but a few franchises. Opposing players might be envious of those fat paychecks, but it's hard to find them complaining.

Even Manfred — who said he's received emails from fans worried about competitive balance — can't fault the Dodgers' approach.

“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 that’s a great thing for the game,” Manfred said on Tuesday. “That type of competitive spirit is what people want to see.”

Walker Buehler threw the final pitch of the 2024 season, recording the final out for the Dodgers in their World Series-clinching Game 5 victory. He signed a $21.05 million, one-year with the Boston Red Sox during the winter, but the right-hander isn’t about to talk smack about his former employer.

The 30-year-old knows exactly why players are flocking to Chavez Ravine.

“I don’t think it’s odd,” he said. “It’s a first-class organization and obviously coming off a huge World Series and, I think on top of that, you layer in that on a team right now where there’s probably four or five Hall of Famers, I think it’s an attractive place to play.”

That doesn't mean there isn't some awe from players about the formidable roster that the Dodgers have built thanks to their deep pockets.

“I worked out with some guys that ended up signing with the Dodgers and was like, at a certain point, ‘I didn’t know they had room on the 40-man (roster),'" Red Sox pitcher Patrick Sandoval said.

The Arizona Diamondbacks are one of the teams trying to keep pace with the Dodgers in the NL West. They signed ace right-hander Corbin Burnes to a $210 million, six-year deal in December, but they are still projected to have a payroll that will be roughly half the size of the Dodgers.

“I don't think it's unfair at all,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “They're within the rules, they're doing what they have to do to get the best players on the field. When I was a kid, it was the Yankees, remember? George Steinbrenner was going crazy with his spending and it yielded World Championships. That's what we're all chasing.”

Lovullo makes a good point about the Yankees. Baseball has had a long history of financial disparity, particularly since free agency started in the 1970s.

Even so, there haven't been many dynasties over the past 40 years. The Dodgers are trying to become the first team to win back-to-back World Series titles since Steinbrenner's Yankees had a three-peat from 1998 to 2000.

Third baseman Max Muncy is in the eighth season with the Dodgers and says a big payroll certainly helps to build a talented roster, but it doesn't mean much once the season starts. He points to 2023, when the Diamondbacks swept the Dodgers out of the postseason in the NL Division Series despite having a much smaller payroll.

“This sport is really tough,” Muncy said. “It doesn't matter what kind of roster that you have. Time after time, teams have shown that you get into the playoffs and anything can happen.”

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AP freelancer Ken Powtak in Fort Myers, Florida, contributed to this story.

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