The Dodgers’ historic spending, with a payroll approaching $400 million, has been the subject of intense debate about its impact on baseball’s fairness. However, manager Dave Roberts has decided to ignore the criticism with a defiant message,especially after his team swept the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series with a 5-1 victory in Game 4.
Criticism of teams that invest the most is something that is well established in the world of sports and baseball is no exception. It is well known that the Dodgers are a financially powerful franchise and that every season they will look to put money into achieving their goals, something that Roberts does not mind at all.
Dave Roberts’ blunt message
After securing their place in the World Series, Roberts addressed the crowd celebrating at Dodger Stadium. Remembering that at the beginning of the season many said that his team was “ruining baseball”, the manager sent his blunt message: “Let’s get four more wins and really ruin baseball!”.
Despite finishing the regular season with 93 wins, behind the Brewers (97 wins) and their modest payroll (22nd in the league), the Dodgers have turned on the playoff machinery. With an impressive 9-1 record so far, they swept the Reds in the wild-card round and the Brewers in the NLCS, losing only one game to the Phillies in the NLDS.
The team’s performance improved considerably and just as there are admirers and fans who applaud the comeback, there are also detractors who question the achievements, according to them, only by the investment of money, but that does not keep Dave Roberts awake at night.
Invest to win: The Dodgers’ motto
When asked if the organization’s wealth is synonymous with “buying championships,” Roberts defended the team’s strategy, pointing out that in a large market like theirs, the expectation is to win.
“We’re in a great market, we’re expected to win,” Roberts said. “Our ownership invests a great deal in the players and that’s the way it should be, trying to be a competitor.”
With this philosophy and their overwhelming postseason performance, the Los Angeles team is now just four wins away from winning its third World Series in the last five years, cementing its status as a sporting powerhouse that is not afraid to be labeled as “ruining baseball.”
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