Former MLB exec suggests league planning to soon stop Los Angeles Dodgers from further use of controversial deferral strategy
Yesterday at 07:08 PM
A former MLB executive recently suggested MLB is not happy with the Los Angeles Dodgers’ consistent use of their controversial deferral-filled contracts and could soon block them from doing it any further.
The Dodgers organization is still basking in the afterglow of bringing the franchise its eighth World Series title in October. From the start of the season to the final out of their championship series with the New York Yankees, LA was an unstoppable force no team could slow down.
A lot of credit for the team’s success in 2025 has to go to the front office. The group led by team president Andrew Friedman put together an outstanding roster filled with superstars and role players. However, how the organization put its team together has been a bit controversial.
Last offseason, the Los Angeles Dodgers handed out over $1 billion in contracts to players like Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Ohtani’s record-breaking deal was problematic for many around baseball because it was filled with massive deferrals that would see most of the deal paid off in 10 years.
The Dodgers used deferrals this offseason again to bring in two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell. They previously used the strategy to give Freddie Freeman the richest contract for a first baseman ever in 2021. Heading into the 2025 season, the LA has an absolutely stacked roster and over a billion dollars in deferrals.
But that problematic practice could soon be blocked by MLB.
- Los Angeles Dodgers record: 98-64
MLB to end Los Angeles Dodgers deferral strategy soon?
“The Dodgers have simply gone too far,” former Marlins executive David Samson said recently on his “Nothing Personal” podcast social account. “They’ve deferred over a billion dollars. The Dodgers are deferring so much money. Not just this offseason with Blake Snell, it started really with Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, and on to Teoscar Hernandez.
“They signed Blake Snell. They deferred a bunch of his money. Now teams are beginning to wonder, ‘What do I have to do to compete with these guys?’ … It’s what teams have hoped to do for years but haven’t really had the ability to because they don’t have the cash. And there’s going to be a rule change that will deal with this very subject.”
- Money Los Angeles Dodgers owe in deferrals: Just over $1 billion
On the current Dodgers payroll, Blake Snell ($66 million), Mookie Betts ($120 million), Freddie Freeman ($55.9 million), and Shohei Ohtani ($680 million) will receive huge sums of money in the 2030s. Obviously, the team is taking the strategy too far to build a team that can win multiple titles in the 2020s.
The fact that few other teams have followed the practice has likely emboldened MLB to take a stand against the tactic at some point before the next collective bargaining agreement starts after the 2026 season.
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