A few years ago, however, they were the laughingstock of the sport.When they won the 2020 World Series in Arlington, these same fans and outsiders called it a "Mickey Mouse ring" that didn't count.
The Dodgers then won 106 games in 2021, only to be eliminated in the playoffs by an Atlanta Braves team that went 88-73.After winning 111 regular season games in 2022, they won just one postseason game, losing in the NLDS to the 89-73 San Diego Padres who finished 22 games back in the standings.In 2023, they once again won 100 games, only to get swept in the NLDS by the 84-78 Arizona Diamondbacks.
After all these failures, fans derisively referred to the Dodgers as "chokers," without a single full-season title since 1988.In each of these seasons, the Dodgers ranked at or near the top in team payroll.They still lost in the playoffs to teams that won under 90 games.
Fast forward two years, and they are now presented as villains in a way no other team has since the late 1990s Yankees teams.And it's pretty clear they realize how poorly reasoned these complaints actually are.SMALL MARKET MLB TEAMS ARE OUTPERFORMING BIG PAYROLLS, UNDERMINING OWNERS' PUSH TO CANCEL 2027 SEASONLos Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts celebrates after their win against the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 7 of the World Series in Toronto on Nov.
2, 2025.(Brynn Anderson/AP)"My honest opinion is the majority of takes about the Dodgers couldn’t be more lazy," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY Sports this week, "that it’s just about the payroll.
It’s about the draft.It’s about layering on where we pick in the draft annually.
The player development.How we acquire international talent.
How we perform consistently at the major-league level."I actually think it’s a competitive advantage in the sense that people feel that way, and not look at themselves in the mirror and see how they can operate things better.So that’s beneficial for us."Utility man Miguel Rojas ag...