Who besides Ned Colletti would give $21 million to Brandon League?

As a D Back fan I would love to sit back and chortle, but after the Heath Bell trade, I think I'll just sit down and shut up.

Who besides Ned Colletti would give $21 million to Brandon League?

I know. Bless that man.


On a more serious note, deals like these make me somewhat sympathetic to Bud's decision to load the ranks of ownership with highly leveraged cronies like McCourt rather than guys with money to burn and the willingness to do so.

The Dodgers keeping and extending Colletti was almost as good the the Giants as winning the World Series. He'll be the GM till they have to get under the cap, so the Dodgers are squandering their best chance to take over the division. I would be infuriated beyond words if I was a Dodger fan.

Who has the energy for fury? Right now they fit very well into my general human null state of disaffected blasé.

, they still would be the first non-Yankee team since the 1988 Baltimore Orioles to lead the majors in payroll.

Nuh uh.

I assume 1988 is a typo for 1998. Then it's roughly correct (according to Doug P's old business of baseball) although in 2001, the Yanks, Red Sox and Dodgers are in a virtual tie. The Yanks didn't really start to pour it on until 2002-3. They went from $109 in 2001 to $149 in 2003.

I assume 1988 is a typo for 1998.

I was thinking the same thing - I seem to remember the Blue Jays payroll topping the majors in the early '90s

they still would be the first non-Yankee team since the 1988 Baltimore Orioles to lead the majors in payroll.

Although false, the idea of the 1988 Orioles leading the majors in payroll - or anything other than losses - is quite humorous.

Although false, the idea of the 1988 Orioles leading the majors in payroll - or anything other than losses - is quite humorous.

The '03 Mets had the second worst record in the NL (and fourth worst overall) despite having the second highest payroll in baseball. I think that's still the defining season for lack of return on investment.

The '03 Mets had the second worst record in the NL (and fourth worst overall) despite having the second highest payroll in baseball. I think that's still the defining season for lack of return on investment.

Both the 1992 Mets ("The Worst Team Money Could Buy") and the 2002 Mets have better claims to this title, whatever the numbers are. Everyone knew that the '03 team sucked from day one and they started tearing it down mid-season. Both the '92 team and the '02 team, on the other hand, were constructed fantasy baseball style the previous winter and created a huge amount of hype. I remember reading an article on MLB.com on whether or not the 2002 Mets, after adding Mo Vaughn, Burnitz, Alomar and Cedeno, were likely to score 1,000 runs.

Although false, the idea of the 1988 Orioles leading the majors in payroll - or anything other than losses - is quite humorous.

Hey, I was a huge fan of that team. It led the majors in ERA, errors, games played by Jeff Stone, you name it.

I seem to remember the Blue Jays payroll topping the majors in the early '90s

The Royals had a higher payroll than the Yanks in the early 90s (for a year). But, ironically enough, the Yanks did have the highest payroll in 1988.

The '03 Mets had the second worst record in the NL (and fourth worst overall) despite having the second highest payroll in baseball. I think that's still the defining season for lack of return on investment.

It's fun to look at different eras and see the payrolls from then until now. Whitey Herzog led the Cardinals to a last place finish in 1990 with the 7th highest payroll in baseball, while complaining that the team wouldn't spend to win. Of course 1990, the Kansas City Royals led the league in payroll(according to bb-ref) with a 24mil payroll. (Cardinals were less than a mil behind the NL lead spending juggernaut, Dodgers)

iirc, a lot of the payroll that the dodgers are committed to in 2013 is coming off the books at the end of that season. the article mentions manny ramirez, but i think they still owe andruw jones some deferred money, or jason schmidt or something ... so its possible 2013 is an anomaly.

but there's nothing to stop ned from taking on another bunch of large contracts, especially if the dodgers win, so ... youneverknow.