The Dodgers Are Annoying, Greedy — And Also Good for Baseball

In January, when the Los Angeles Dodgers signed outfielder Kyle Tucker to a four-year, $240 million contract, the sports talk radio hosts of America knew just what to do. The Dodgers, fresh off a second consecutive World Series victory, had landed the biggest prize in Major League Baseball’s free agent market. It was time to commence handwringing about competitive balance. “It’s terrible for baseball,” longtime sports yakker Chris “Mad Dog” Russo told Dan Patrick, a fellow veteran of the trade, on his show after news of Tucker’s signing broke.

Russo (a lifelong San Francisco Giants fan) then made the familiar ...