Sad news for Toronto Blue Jays:I wish never to play again…

Furthermore, just four of the previous 14 World Series champions, or less than a third, have been among the top five in terms of payroll. The Houston Astros in 2017 and 2022, the only other World Series winners in the previous ten years, finished 17th and ninth, respectively, in those campaigns. Looking back to 2010, the San Francisco Giants—the team with the most World Series victories—were ranked eleventh, sixth, and seventh in terms of winning in 2010, 2012, and 2014.

Because they are the team that we are concentrating on, the Dodgers have had the largest payroll in baseball for five of the past ten years. They have only won one World Series in three trips, and that one is marked with an asterisk due to the pandemic.

You could go on forever, really. With the addition of Juan Soto this off-season, the New York Yankees could have a payroll as high as $273 million, according to Spotrac’s projections. Yawn. Since 2011, the Yankees have nine times had the highest payroll in the league and have yet to win or even advance to the World Series. As a matter of fact, the Yankees have advanced to the World Series three times, winning in 2009, and had the highest payroll in the game fourteen times since the last victory by their dynastic Core Four (2000).

Is it a positive thing for baseball that the Dodgers are taking their time becoming a super team? I mean, it would be better for marketing and merchandise if Ohtani was on a major team in the Eastern time zone. I apologize, but he should be with the Yankees. The best thing for baseball in the interim would be for Ohtani to continue playing well, sell merchandise and tickets, and play in the National League Division Series with the rest of his team.

While Ohtani’s free agency took center stage during the 2023 season, the way the game stopped apologizing to itself was at least as important.

Even though no one really wants to give the commissioner’s office credit for anything, Rob Manfred, the current officeholder, is unavoidably seen as a tremendously influential person.

Many rule changes were started by Manfred’s office, such as the addition of a pitch clock, limitations on defensive shifting, pickoff throws and mound visits, enlarging bases, and permitting electronic communication between pitchers, catchers, and fielders. The notion? Reduce the idle time in a sport that is inherently sedentary and work on improving your athleticism and action levels.

Comforting. A nine-inning game now lasts two hours and forty minutes on average, which is 24 minutes shorter than in 2022 and the lowest amount since 1985. Out of the 231 games in 2022 and the 390 in 2021, only nine games required more than three and a half hours to finish. The attempts and success rates of stolen bases increased. Left-handed batters discovered more gaps. Players continued to perform poorly. The Arizona Diamondbacks won the World Series with the seventh-lowest payroll in baseball while the Oakland Athletics continued to stink. Managers continued to be fired. Gamers made adjustments.