San Francisco Giants President Praises Dodgers Against 'Ruining Baseball' Narrative

Dec 12, 2024; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants president and chief eexecutive officer Larry Baer after the introductory press conference for shortstop Willy Adames (not pictured) at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images | Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

Multiple years of claims the Los Angeles Dodgers are a modern day version of the New York Yankees dynasty from the turn of the millennium have particularly rung true the last two years with back-to-back World Series titles.

Their on-field success coupled with lavish spending in free agency has drawn the ire of several other fanbases and team owners. It's further been magnified with the 2026 season being the final year of the current collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

But against a backdrop of increased claims that the Dodgers have ruined baseball, they seemingly have an unexpected ally in San Francisco Giants president and CEO Larry Baer.

During an appearance on the "Dan Patrick Show," Baer shared why he believes a team like the Dodgers is ultimately beneficial for Major League Baseball and in other sports as well.

"The Dodgers are a great competitor for baseball, for the Giants. It's an interesting discussion, and I think you've probably talked to the commissioner about this and others.

"Let's just take all the sports. Here we are at Super Bowl week, I think having a dragon to slay in a sport, if you go back in the NFL, once upon a time it was the Cowboys, the 49ers had their run. That's not all bad.

"The Yankees did that in baseball. You could say that's the Dodgers now. Having a dragon to slay isn't necessarily a bad thing for the sport. We want to beat the Dodgers and we want to be at the top of the division. One day we want to be the dragon to slay. Baseball is unpredictable as well.

"When we won three championships in 2010, '12 and '14, we weren't predicted to win any of those years. And we didn't have a top-five payroll any of those years.

"So hat's off to the Dodgers organization, because they've done it with obviously high-priced players but also they've done it with farm system and development."

The Dodgers fielded the most expensive roster in MLB history last season with a $417.3 million payroll. It far and away exceeded the $241 million luxury tax threshold for 2025.

It was the a fifth consecutive year the Dodgers exceeded the luxury tax, and for that they incurred additional surcharges. All told, the Dodgers' luxury tax bill for 2025 was $169.4 million.

When taking into account their 2024 total, the Dodgers have paid $272.4 million in luxury tax penalties while winning their back-to-back World Series.

Projected 2026 Dodgers payroll

As it currently stands, the Dodgers' payroll for the 2026 season is projected to be $402.6 million. That's without factoring in the potential, if not likely, re-signing of Kiké Hernández.