The Los Angeles Dodgers threw their financial weight at the Winter Meetings with the signing of three-time All-Star closer Edwin Díaz to a three-year $69 million deal, which set a new AAV record for relievers.

10 days after news broke of Diaz’s move to the Dodgers, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic revealed what president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told him before the deal was official.

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“We are in a really strong position right now, financially, and our ownership group has been incredibly supportive of pouring that back into our team and that partnership with our fans,” Friedman said. “As we look at things, if we were on a really tight budget, we probably wouldn’t allocate in the same way.

“But having more resources, it allows us to be a little bit more aggressive on that point. In a world where there are major constraints, that wouldn’t be an area where I personally would allocate versus other areas.”

This comment from Friedman illustrates the continued willingness of the Dodgers to commit money to the top talent in baseball. The payroll may look exorbitant to the casual fan, but the team is more than equipped to sustain and supplement it.

“To put it simply, the Dodgers are making so much money right now — off of Shohei Ohtani, off of consecutive World Series, off of their TV deal, off of everything — that their usual rulebook has gone out the window,” Ardaya wrote. “They have the resources to pay players at the top of the market, so they will.”

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“They won’t burn money for the sake of it, but when a clear-cut solution to their problem exists, their risk threshold changes.”

With another star added to a roster populated with them, it also begs the question if Los Angeles is willing to take a flier on players that do not possess the same pedigree. According to Ardaya, the answer to that question is yes.

“That doesn’t mean they won’t still pursue reclamation projects,” he added. “It turned out that their deal of Joe Jacques for Will Klein in June helped the Dodgers win a World Series.”

The signing of Díaz does not indicate that Los Angeles has an endless supply of wealth to throw at whoever it wants. The front office has to be strategic, and much of the guaranteed money going to the team’s best players will be stretched out for years. The acquisition of Díaz made the organization surpass $1 billion in deferred payments; money that is wrapped up in nine players.

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