The world according to Jim:
• Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said it on the Yankee Stadium field late Wednesday night, after the team had sewn up the World Series with its improbable Game 5 comeback from a 5-0 deficit: This is a “golden era of Los Angeles Dodgers baseball.”
It’s hard to argue with that. In fact, anyone who remembers the shape the franchise was in on May 1, 2012, when Mark Walter and his Guggenheim Baseball group took over from Frank McCourt, would consider that a no-brainer of a statement. …
• Remember, McCourt’s payroll philosophy, according to a quote from Molly Knight’s ESPN The Magazine deconstruction of his divorce from Jamie, went like this: “This isn’t the AL East. Why would I spend $150 million to win 98 games when I can spend half that to win 90, if that’s all it takes to make the playoffs in our division?” …
• Under current ownership, of course, the Dodgers have reached 12 straight postseasons, 11 (including this year) as National League West champions. Also consider that it might have been 13, but the 2012 team was eliminated from playoff contention on the next-to-last day of the season. …
• As for where the payroll is now, Cot’s Baseball Contracts has the final tally, for luxury tax purposes, at $270.6 million, which was No. 2 in baseball. The teams they faced in the postseason were No. 3 (Padres, $242.9 million), No. 4 (Yankees, $237.1 million) and No. 11 (Mets, $183.7 million).
No. 1 was the Phillies, at $281.5 million, and they were eliminated by the Mets in the Division Series. So be careful when you talk to us about how the Dodgers “bought a championship.” Bottom line, do you want owners who try to win, and care about winning a World Series, or not? …
• This is another reminder of how lucky SoCal fans are to have teams and ownerships that are hungry to win championships and willing to do what it takes, rather than hoarding resources as is the case in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and the like:
Kyle Goon, who was this publication’s Lakers beat writer before moving back home to become a sports columnist for the Baltimore Banner website, recalled adopting the Dodgers as a fan while he was out here, as his second team. And he wrote this week about the gap between following a team that sets its sights on the World Series every year and following one – as in his hometown Orioles – that alternates between boom and bust cycles and has narrow windows in which to win. …
• What’s next for the Dodgers? From here, there are three tasks that need to be taken care of quickly.
First, they need to re-sign Teoscar Hernández, a guy who provided production on the field and an energetic presence in the clubhouse. In an interview with KABC/Channel 7 on Friday I was asked if the Dodgers should chase Juan Soto. Tough choice, true, but my answer was simple. Teoscar bet on himself by signing a one-year deal, he won big, and the Dodgers need to pay it off by bringing him back.
(The way the fan reacted when he was introduced Friday moved him to tears. Re-signing him might be the most popular things management could do.)
Second, re-sign Walker Buehler, who also is a free agent. He might not be all the way back from Tommy John surgery, but we can see it from here. It was entirely appropriate that he donned Orel Hershiser’s 1988 jersey for the celebration, given his Bulldog-like performance in closing out Game 5. And as Buehler continues to reinvent himself as a pitcher, it needs to happen here.
Third? An extension for Dave Roberts. Do it now. Do not let him be a lame-duck manager. And forget the critics. This man might well be on the way to Cooperstown as a manager, and if that’s the case it had better be with a plaque that has the interlocking L.A. on his cap. …
• More on Roberts: Only three managers in the history of a franchise that was formed in 1883 have won World Series championships. Walter Alston won four (1955, ’59, ’63 and ’65).Tom Lasorda won two (’81 and ’88). And now Roberts also has two (and should have one from 2017 as well, but no need to go there now.)
“Humbling,” Roberts said when it came up after Game 5. “Never thought I would be in that same conversation. I’m a part of a great organization, a lot of great people around me supporting me, and we’ve won a lot of ball games. This is something I really wanted. I wanted this one.
“There were some guys that were here with me in ’20, and you hear some naysayers, and so we didn’t get the parade that I’ve been talking about the last week. I’m proud of a lot of guys. The list goes on for the players that put me in this position.” …
• Over 120 World Series, only 22 managers have won multiple championships, headed by the Yankees’ Joe McCarthy and Casey Stengel with seven apiece. Roberts is the 12th manager to win two. (If you were wondering, Tony La Russa, Sparky Anderson, John McGraw and Miller Huggins have won three, so Roberts has something to shoot at.) …
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• The crowd for the parade and a nearly full house at Dodger Stadium for the post-parade celebration is yet another indication: In the most diverse (and fickle) sports market in North America, the Dodgers are at the top of the heap.
And team president Stan Kasten said this at the celebration: “Every one of you cares as much about being here today as every one of us on this stage.”
What that tells me? Dodgers management gets it, in a way not everyone in professional sports does.
• For the record, 22 position players and 40 pitchers appeared in games for the Dodgers this year, from the 159 that Ohtani played in to one pitching appearance each for Eduardo Salazar and Connor Brogdon.
Give ’em all rings.
jalexander@scng.com