The Los Angeles Dodgers TV Deal: The Rich Get Richer

The television deal that will make the Los Angeles Dodgers rich on top of how rich they are with their new ownership group is well known by now. The big picture of the NL West is taking shape, and it appears that the Dodgers are going to be a gigantic looming presence for the foreseeable future. As such, the Rockies will face the problem of competing with a team that can spend money first and think about it later, overpay mediocre talent, and pursue seemingly every big name free agent that hits the market.

They already had it good with Vin Scully. Image: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

The terms of this new TV deal with Fox are unthinkably huge: $6 billion…that’s 6 billion, with a B, dollars. You combine that with the money from their new Magic Johnson-led owners and the immediately aggressive approach of those owners and you have a team that can truly pursue every single player if they choose to. That is not necessarily to say that is always a good thing, being able to take on virtually any contract. The first reminder of that fact for the Dodgers will almost certainly come in the form of one Carl Crawford.

Still, it is tempting to look at these developments and think the Dodgers are the team to beat in the National League West. But big spending does not automatically equal wins; for every successful version of the New York Yankees there is the New York Mets or the 2012 Boston Red Sox. Sometimes big spending results in sustained dominance, but sometimes it results in spectacularly visible failure.

So yes, the Dodgers are becoming an increasingly intimidating presence, an aspiring playground bully who is hitting the weight room. But we do not know for sure yet what will come for the Dodgers and their piles of money. Until they prove that they can successfully buy a winner, the San Francisco Giants, with their steady manager and brilliant front office, remain the gold standard which the Rockies and the rest of the division must chase.