Scott Boras Praises Dodgers Ownership For Spending Money, Calls Out Other Teams

Many fans across Major League Baseball heading into 2024 have labeled the Los Angeles Dodgers as the sport's villain, thanks to an impressive offseason. 

The Dodgers committed $700 million to Shohei Ohtani, $325 million to Yoshinobu Yamamoto, $136.5 million to Tyler Glasnow, $23.5 million to Teoscar Hernandez, and re-signed Clayton Kershaw despite the 35-year-old missing most of the 2024 season. Doing the math, that's an outlay of effectively $1.2 billion in guaranteed contracts. By contrast, the Oakland A's have quite literally $0 in guaranteed contracts for 2025 and beyond. That's not a misprint, it's literally zero.

It's hard to blame fans for being frustrated that the Dodgers are wielding their financial might. But they're receiving praise from one mildly surprising corner of the baseball world; agent Scott Boras.

Boras has had a contentious relationship with the Dodgers after he criticized their handling of Cody Bellinger's injury several years ago. 

READ: Scott Boras Accuses Dodgers Of Mishandling Cody Bellinger's Injury

But in a recent interview, he praised the ownership group and franchise for building a consistent, winning organization. And wielding their financial "flexibility" to do so.

"There always comes a litmus test for a franchise and it usually comes after the first world championship," said Boras to the Dallas Morning News. "If you sustain that championship level, you build the kind of legacy that few do. The Dodgers and Astros, for example, have always made the kind of move that is most difficult – the last one to a championship level for that season and beyond. It’s the kind of move that requires some [financial] flexibility in the moment; however it’s the kind of move that separates them from one-and-done champs to championship legacy."

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (left) and pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)

Boras' Comments Make More Sense Considering His Players In Free Agency 

Boras' remarks came in the context of explaining to local media what he believes the Texas Rangers need to do in order to sustain the success they found in their World Series-winning 2023 season.

And he's right; for big market teams, they should be aggressive with their revenue in order to sustain success. But with Boras, as usual, there may be a bit of an underlying motivation for praising teams willing to spend money. Jordan Montgomery is a Boras client, and remains unsigned after helping pitch the Rangers to a title.

Blake Snell, another Boras client, also represents an example of small market, cheaper teams declining to retain talent after making a World Series run. In 2020, just a few months after losing to the Dodgers in the 2020 World Series, the Tampa Bay Rays traded Snell to the San Diego Padres simply over financial concerns. 

Relatedly, Snell is also still a free agent.

It's generally true that teams need to spend money in order to be sustain success; the Rangers won in last year in large part because they signed Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Nate Eovaldi, as well as their willingness to take on expensive, risky players like Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer. But in the modern era of professional baseball, there is no one way to win a World Series, and teams are realizing it.

The 84-win Arizona Diamondbacks went to the World Series because they made the playoffs, and playoff outcomes are effectively toss ups. The Rays have excelled year after year by piecing together platoon advantages. The Padres, after their Dylan Cease trade, could easily improve by a few wins and make a deep run into October thanks to the additional wild card spot and randomness of playoff baseball. 

Spending money certainly generates fan interest and helps Scott Boras, but it may not be necessary to win.