Amid the talk about the team “ruining” baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers were outspent by another MLB contender this season despite signing stars Kyle Tucker and Edwin Diaz.
The Dodgers issued $316.5 million in contracts during free agency, according to Spotrac, though the Blue Jays reached a total of $337 million.
In terms of payroll, however, the Dodgers still reign supreme, with the top payroll at $396.5 million, while Toronto sits at around $100 million less with $295.2 million.
The Blue Jays clearly had a good amount of wiggle room to spend, and ownership took advantage of it, signing multiple players to address the depth of the team and build around superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Among the Blue Jays’ signings were Dylan Cease, who inked a seven-year, $210 million deal. Additionally, they added Kazuma Okamoto to a four-year, $60 million deal worth $15 million per season, who can slot in at third base.
Aside from Cease, they made a concerted effort to add quality arms, including Cody Ponce, who signed a three-year, $30 million contract, and Tyler Rogers, who signed a three-year, $37 million contract.
Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins addressed the organization’s aggression.
“We’ve made it better, so we do feel good about your team. The one thing I would add is that additions at this point would cut away from playing time from players we feel are very good Major League pieces,” Atkins said.
“So we have to factor that in. But we’ve always had incredible support from ownership.”
The Dodgers’ big free agent signings
While Los Angeles did not spend as much as Toronto, it certainly made the bigger signings out of the two teams. For Edwin Diaz, the Dodgers paid $69 million over three years, a $23 million average annual value — the highest for a relief pitcher ever.
Kyle Tucker inked a four-year deal worth $240 million, the highest average annual value in baseball after deferrals.
The Blue Jays were in the race for Tucker, one of the finalists — he chose a higher salary with the option to enter free agency. If he had signed with Toronto, they could have blown the Dodgers out of the water in terms of spending, but instead, the Dodgers flexed their muscles once again.