If the Dodgers today had Zack Greinke, Hisashi Iwakuma and Aroldis Chapman, they would be lambasted for spending too much.
In reality, they do not have Greinke, Iwakuma and Chapman and are being fried for spending too little. That criticism plays out like this: If you are going to offer Greinke a five-year contract for the most money ever per year, just go to six and get it done. You are the Dodgers, after all.
Of course, had they done that, they would have heard: “The Dodgers are just trying to buy a title.”
This is the damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t two-step the Yankees have faced throughout Steinbrenner ownership.