If your jaw dropped when you heard that the Los Angeles Dodgers signed free agent Kyle Tucker to a contract that hit the border this week, you weren’t alone. Now that we know the Dodgers payroll will top $400 million next season, it’s more important than ever that Chaim Bloom and his team get this rebuilding of the St. Cardinals going. Louis well done to fight again soon.
Just for reference, here is the Los Angeles Dodgers payroll from the last ten years:
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2015 – $266.1
2016 – $235.9
2017 – $227.8
2018 – $177.4
in 2019 – $206.0
in 2020 it is 221.6 US dollars
2021 – $237.0
2022 – $263.5
2023 – $210.6
2024 – $277.5
2025 – $354.8
The Dodgers’ payroll for the 2026 season is estimated at $413.6 million dollars. Now, let’s all take a deep breath and try to find our own happy place because this Dodgers spending spree shouldn’t be scary. It should be encouraging because I believe we have a management team now that can take down bullies (and I’m not talking about the San Francisco kind). I can’t remember which of my favorite Cardinals writers said this, but I think it was Bernie Miklasz. It’s not the amount of your payroll, but what you do with it that matters. Yes, the Los Angeles Dodgers spent their money to capture almost every star within reach, but the decisions they made were smart and the program management by Dave Roberts was masterful.
One of our fine writers recently explained that the Cardinals of St. That’s part of the key to the St. Louis Cardinals. Louis has been rebuilt, which means he’s a fighting machine capable of taking down big-spending teams like the Dodgers again. In 2014, the Los Angeles Dodgers had a revenue of $235 million which was the highest in 12 years. What was the payroll of St. Louis Cardinals in 2014? A total of $111 million. Hang on while I dream about Clayton Kershaw’s response to that Matt Adams home run in the 2014 NLDS again. Good times, good times.
My point on this is St. Louis Cardinals used it well in developing new big players and then adding the right pieces during the offseason and trade deadline to fill needs and develop strength. Our beloved team has lost that vision over the past half decade. It doesn’t matter if you want to blame the ownership or the previous president of baseball activities, the important thing is that our farm system did not develop as much as it needed to be real competitors against big market teams like Los Angeles. After seeing the moves Chaim Bloom made this offseason, I’m a believer again. He has accomplished almost everything he said he wanted to do and that should be applauded.
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There is history that proves that if the Cardinals of St. Louis is doing this rebuild well done, a big payout won’t stop us from climbing back up to a place where we always fight for penalties again. Remember the lowly 2003 Florida Marlins who won the championship with the minor league payroll? The 2007 Tampa Bay Rays (formerly the Devil Rays) made it to the World Series with a team that likely included buy one, get one free coupons. The Kansas City Royals 2015 World Series title was accomplished with just over $112 million in earnings. Even the late 2023 Arizona Diamondbacks made a deep playoff run with a budget of only $116 million to $119 million. Having a world championship level team with a non-stratospheric payroll has been done in the past and will be done in the future. Let’s hope there are birds in bat uniforms that make that happen. Help yourself, Dodgers. It’s only a matter of time before you explain to your Hollywood fans how a small marketing team took you down. Ask Clayton Kershaw how that feels. He remembers it well.
