The Dodgers spent $310 million-plus on payroll this season, yet were on the brink of elimination going into Tuesday’s Game 4 of the NL Division Series because they prioritized the future.
It fit the dichotomy of a team that is a mix of what was established by a previous ownership and baseball operations and the current regimes. The organization spent in 2015 as if the future was now, and protected its best prospects as if tomorrow mattered more.
The mixed message led to the Dodgers having Brett Anderson starting and Alex Wood in long relief Monday in Game 3 at Citi Field, a combination whose failures were central to a 13-7 loss that gave the Mets a two-games-to-one edge.