Dodgers insider describes how LA is taking advantage and owning the rest of baseball

Over the last year and some change, contract deferrals have almost always been mentioned in conjunction with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Dodgers aren't the only team who have ever used them or currently used them — there's the infamous Bobby Bonilla and Chris Davis deals, and Anthony Santander's new Blue Jays contract has deferred money — but no one's ever used them at the scale and to the effect that the Dodgers have.

Almost every major deal they've struck since Shohei Ohtani in December 2023 has included deferrals, and that includes extensions. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow are notable exceptions, but Ohtani, Blake Snell, Will Smith, Tommy Edman, Tanner Scott, and Teoscar Hernández are all putting off a certain amount of money (and Hernández has done it twice now). Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman's deals also include deferrals.

There has, inevitably, been discourse surrounding this strategy, all of which sounds a little like, "We can't keep letting the Dodgers get away with this! They're buying championships and ruining baseball!" as if this strategy isn't also available for every other team. Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times offered a thoughtful, measured explanation for how the Dodgers are using deferrals to their advantage.

Jack Harris of the LA Times provides an explanation for Dodgers' deferral strategy

Harris breaks down all of the aforementioned contracts that include deferred money, but adds a caveat that's often been overlooked. Alongside all of the Dodgers' deferrals usually come massive signing bonuses; Snell got $52 million, Hernández got $23 million, and so on, to more than adequately tide players over while they wait for their delayed money to be paid out after their contracts have expired. These bonuses, unlike the deferred money, are taxed on the current year.

He also points out that any distaste surrounding deferrals and the Dodgers' use of them is mostly fan-based. Commissioner Rob Manfred has only pushed back in the mildest of ways, and the players' union is prepared to fight for members' rights to sign contracts that include deferrals if they choose.

The Dodgers clearly don't care what opposing clubs or their fans think about their way of doing business; Harris concludes his article with a quote from Friedman — "I think we’re rewarding our incredibly passionate fans" — and the current comissioner of baseball obviously isn't moved to take any preventative measures.

Deferrals aren't going anywhere, and the point that Dodgers fans and even Jeff Passan have made still stands: every team can do this. It's not the Dodgers' fault that they don't.