Even SF Giants CEO supports Dodgers' MLB dominance with surprising comments

The Dodgers have been leaning into their status as baseball's new Evil Empire, and why shouldn't they? As long as they keep winning (and keep making so, so much money), they have no reason to care what the rest of the sport thinks about them.

It's a lot to drown out, though, and it's almost guaranteed to have material repurcussions on the 2027 season. Angry opposing fans in their DMs or on Twitter is one thing, but angry owners are another. Many were reportedly outraged after the Dodgers signed Kyle Tucker, and it might be the straw that broke the camel's back. If we weren't already destined for a lockout, we are now.

However, the Dodgers gained an unlikely ally on Monday in the form of Giants owner Larry Baer. In an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show, he refused to fill in the blank in "the Dodgers are ______ for baseball" along the lines of the usual good/bad dichotomy. Instead, he said, "the Dodgers are a great competitor for the Giants."

"Having a dragon to slay isn't necessarily a bad thing for the sport. [...] Hats off to the Dodger organization. They've done it with high-priced players, but they've also done it with farm system and development," he said.

Giants CEO Larry Baer called the Dodgers "a great competitor" in recent interview

Baer's private support of a salary cap is more likely than not, but it speaks volumes that the Dodgers' greatest historical rival wouldn't directly fire a shot at them when prompted. Though a political answer, it was the right one; complaining about the Dodgers' spending would've only invited invited scrutiny into the Giants' dealings this offseason, which haven't exactly been productive.

They signed Harrison Bader and eternal Dodgers rival Luis Arraez, but neither of those additions really move the needle. The Giants had a period of being utterly embarrassed by failed attempts to sign star free agents, which moved into their current period of not really making an effort at all.

Former Giants president of baseball operation turned Dodgers special advisor Farhan Zaidi infamously said that the Giants couldn't spend money because they had team employees to think about.

But at least Baer's not being a bad sport about it. He reminded Patrick that the Giants won a World Series in 2014, when they came in second in the NL West to the Dodgers. "Baseball is unpredictable," he said.

And that's fair enough. The Dodgers have no reason to be intimidated by their foes up the coast, but we can respect that Baer's not doing any complaining here.