Former Astros Exec Takes Massive Shot at Dodgers for High Spending

Nov 1, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Houston Astros owner Jim Crane and team celebrate after being presented with the Commissioner's Trophy after defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in game seven of the 2017 World Series at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Dodgers have received much criticism for their whirlwind offseason which has spared no expense. Former Houston Astros executive Oz Ocampo took to social media to slam the Dodgers for their high spending.

"Didn’t cost us $1.032 billion to put it together either," Ocampo wrote, referring to Houston's success in the 2020s.

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Didn’t cost us $1.032 billion to put it together either.#globalsportsstrategy#capitalallocationstrategy#efficientexecution https://t.co/LZ2PMC2HwY

— Ocampo Global Sports (@OzOcampo) January 26, 2025

Ocampo was a part of the Astros front office during their championship run in 2017 and 2022. He also worked for the team in 2006, when Houston won the World series.

The 2017 Astros' World Series title will always have an asterisk as it is publicly known as baseball's biggest cheating scandal in the modern era. It essentially tarnished the team's reputation, but Ocampo believes the Dodgers are actually taking a page out his book.

Ocampo recently shared Houston's success was due to the strategy he used, and according to him, the Dodgers are now also using the same strategy to build their dynasty.

On the Dodgers, Sasaki, and Japan:

This is the exact strategy I employed with Houston.

Make the Astros top of mind with players, trainers, and families in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Mexico and Cuba.

Have the players and their families dreaming in Astros Blue & Orange.… pic.twitter.com/BPNkeCD0Q9

— Ocampo Global Sports (@OzOcampo) January 23, 2025

"This is the exact strategy I employed with Houston," Ocampo wrote. "Make the Astros top of mind with players, trainers, and families in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Mexico and Cuba. Have the players and their families dreaming in Astros Blue & Orange. Know that when trainers sent their players to Houston, they were maximizing their chance to represent a future Major Leaguer. And then backing it up with results. The exact approach that the Dodgers are taking in Japan, other teams can do as well in Latin America at the Major League level. But what it takes is a POBO/GM leader that that intuitively understands those markets, can build the systems to execute, and has the relationships to make it happen."

The irony of it all is the Astros were not successful because of the organization they built from the ground up, instead, the team won a championship by sign-stealing.

The Dodgers are playing by the rules, and that's what infuriarates baseball fans. It's easier to understand a team's success because they cheated, like the Astros. Their talent may have been legitimate, but their success was a facade.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers are putting together a beloved and winning organization the right way, which can be frustrating for the rest of the baseball world. No one is smarter. No one is better at what the Dodgers are doing.

No other team has cracked the code.

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