What It Means, or Should

The Dodgers have gone out and signed free-agent outfielder Kyle Tucker to a four-year, $240 million deal, with two opt-outs. Listen closely and you can hear the whining. Oh, the Dodgers sign everybody. We can’t compete. It’s the end of baseball as we know it. Not by a longshot, folks. If anything, every other team in baseball should thank the Dodgers for putting a bullseye on their collective backs. Any team facing LA is the underdog, every win against them that much sweeter and every series that much more of a drag on the World Series’ champs. Also consider how close the Dodgers have moved to the edge. I don’t know what the luxury tax will be for them this season, but I bet it’ll be sizable. And their minor-league system will take a hit with the loss of four draft picks and international bonus-pool money for signing Tucker and closer Edwin Diaz. You know what that means, right? First, the loss of draft picks will start to degrade the minor-league system. Second, this will be a veteran team prone to injury, with only two starters in the Opening Day lineup under the age of 30 (centerfielder Andy Pages, 25, and Tucker, 29). Aging bodies plus Southern California heat will at the very least stress the Dodgers’ system, and could very well overwhelm it. Dynasty? Maybe. Or the ’64 Yankees heading into 1965. We’ll see.