To the Los Angeles Dodgers, the 2025 season is just like any other. The satisfaction of last year's World Series title only lasts as long as their next offseason signing. Them going out and bringing in another star is all just a part of the plan. Their most recent re-signing of 32-year-old free agent outfielder Teoscar Hernández adds to the point that their ability to spend is unlike any other.
The Dodgers are just one season removed from signing starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (12 years, $325 million) and two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani (10 years, $700 million) while also trading for and extending starter Tyler Glasnow. With a commitment of over $1 billion in salaries just a year prior, the Dodgers are back at it again. The truly mind-boggling undertaking of money and players is what Philadelphia Phillies fans can only dream of.
Dodgers keep spending 'stupid' money Phillies fans can only dream of
Hernández signed a reported three-year, $66 million deal with the Dodgers, per MLB.com's Sonja Chen, which doesn't appear too taxing on the surface. For the Dodgers though, it adds to their enormous estimated tax payroll of now $357 million. Their way of navigating around the signings is the insane amount of deferrals the Dodgers are stockpiling after the expiration of the contracts. The total money in deferrals already surpassed $1 billion, per Alden Gonzalez of ESPN, but it's just business as usual for the machine that is Los Angeles.
The Phillies are sitting just over the fourth tax threshold at $308 million, which is nothing to scoff at, considering that they are projected to be the second-highest payroll in the sport in 2025. The Phillies locked up stars of their own, but have little to no money in deferrals. The money in deferrals could trigger the thought of the “stupid money” quote uttered by managing partner John Middleton. Especially when the push for winning was so strong at the beginning of the Bryce Harper Phillies era.
The Phillies would have had to pay the same money or more to Hernández even with his reported deferred $23 million. If their initial talks during the Winter Meetings led to him signing with Philadelphia, the tax implications could have been less if deferrals came into play.
The Phillies have payroll concerns about where things stand now and understandably so. The concerns are very noticeable when you look at the contract of $66 million and know the Phillies wouldn't be willing to spend what it would take to make him an everyday Phillies outfielder. The money would be seen as too great and inevitably left them to pick conservatively from the pool of middling free agents this offseason.
Not every franchise has the pockets the Dodgers possess, and even fewer would take the risk of deferring practically every contract signed. The Phillies could go the deferred route assuming players would be willing to accept, but if they don't, the Dodgers will just look to sign the next big star and continue to be a major problem in the NL for the foreseeable future.