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Cubs News

Are the Dodgers the new ‘Evil Empire’ in MLB?

3 weeks agoAndy Martinez

Jed Hoyer had a front-row seat to the “Evil Empire” Yankees of the early 2000s.

Working in the Red Sox front office early in his career, he saw their longtime rival seemingly land every big free agent, be in the World Series mix every year and serve as the envy of the league.

So, are the Dodgers — who won the World Series in 2024, have built a team of superstars and are seemingly in every free agent conversation — the modern-day “Evil Empire”?

“[The Yankees] felt different because it was in our division,” Hoyer said at Cubs Convention at the Sheraton Grand. “What did we play them, 52 times in a two-season stretch? So that felt different. Every weekend, I felt like we played them.”

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True, the Cubs don’t play Los Angeles (seven times in 2025) as much as the Yankees and Red Sox faced off — especially before the reformatted schedules.

But the Dodgers — and the Mets, to a certain extent — have raised the playing field from a financial standpoint. Both have handed out $700 million-plus contracts to players the past two offseasons and have had payrolls exceed the $300 million payroll threshold.

“It feels like we’ve got two teams in the National League, obviously, that from a financial standpoint, are able to do things other teams can’t do, I guess is the best way to say it,” Hoyer said. “And I think that kind of raises the stakes for everyone to a certain extent.”

Hoyer does think the financial aspect doesn’t paint the full picture.

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“The Dodgers, people focus on the size of their payroll and the deferment and stuff like that — but it’s just a great organization that’s kind of running on all cylinders,” he added.

Their starting catcher, Will Smith was a 1st-round pick in 2016. Max Muncy, their third baseman who’s developed into an All-Star, was signed as a minor-league free agent after he was designated for assignment by Oakland. In acquiring Mookie Betts, they sent three players to Boston, two of whom are no longer in the organization and the third, Connor Wong, is a catcher who has posted 4.0 bWAR and a .715 OPS in parts of 4 seasons.

“They do well in the draft. They do well internationally. They make smart trades. They do a good job finding value on the margins, and then also can go sign major free agents They’re doing a great job in Japan,” Hoyer said. “Just focusing on the amount of money they spend, I think, does a disservice to an organization that’s running at a really high level.”

That makes them a desirable destination for players — like Roki Sasaki, the Japanese phenom who signed with them last week and Tanner Scott, who reportedly inked a deal with them on Sunday.

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“It’s undeniable in [the Sasaki] situation the rich get richer,” Hoyer said. “But my point is you sort of miss the picture if you overfocus on the financial part.”

And Hoyer and the Cubs front office feel like they can’t concern themselves with what is going on in Hollywood. For all their might, the Dodgers have won one World Series in a full season (they won it in the 60-game, 2020 season, too) and there’s been just one franchise to win multiple World Series titles since 2014 — the Astros in 2017 and 2022.

“Kicking and screaming about it is not going to do us any good,” general manager Carter Hawkins said. “We just got to figure out where we go next and try to help make our team better.”

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