Reds could turn Dodgers record payroll into October embarrassment

You could definitely describe the Cincinnati Reds-Los Angeles Dodgers matchup in the NL Wild Card Series as something of a David versus Goliath affair. The good news for the Reds — even after their Game 1 loss — is that all of the pressure should be on Los Angeles as the overwhelming favorite.

The Dodgers carry the burden of a hopeful repeat champion, they also have a monstrous payroll to live up to. Dodgers players and staff likely aren’t phased by the latter element much, but it’s still something to acknowledge, especially given the massive difference in payroll between Los Angeles and Cincinnati.

It’s not that the Dodgers would suddenly start hemorrhaging cash if they lost the next two games to the Reds. More so, Los Angeles’ epic $354.8 million Opening Day payroll will have ultimately been a waste, competitively speaking. By the way, the Dodgers’ “Year End 40-man” payroll is slightly lower, at $346.9 million, and yet that still dwarfs the Reds’ figure of $116.1 … by over $230 million.

A loss to the Reds would be somewhat of a financial disaster for the Dodgers

While we’re at it, the rest of the top five list of year-end payrolls in MLB looks like this: (2) New York Mets at $338.1 million (yikes!), (3) New York Yankees at $298.1 million, (4) Philadelphia Phillies at $289.7 million, and (5) Toronto Blue Jays at $254.0 million. Sorry, Mets fans.

Those are some rather large numbers, with the Dodgers carrying the most gigantic figure of them all, but here’s the beauty of playoff baseball: when Yoshinobu Yamamoto takes the mound for the Dodgers on Wednesday night against the Reds’ Zack Littell, all of those numbers don’t mean a thing. Well … for now, anyway.

If the Dodgers can handle the Reds as they are fully expected to, you won’t hear much about Los Angeles’ historically expensive roster in the coming days. On the other hand, if Los Angeles falters in a huge way and loses this series, the payroll discrepancy between the two clubs will rise to the level of a national narrative. 

People love a high-spending club, but what they love even more is to see a high-spending club fall on its face. It’s some sort of weird aspect of human nature to be both highly entertained by a star-studded team like the Dodgers while also reveling in their potential failure. 

That’s the environment we inhabit, which is exactly why Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman felt the need to “defend” his team’s expenditures before the season began. "I think we're rewarding our incredibly passionate fans,” Friedman said, per ESPN Alden Gonzalez. It’s as if spending big to defend a championship wasn't a valid enough reason already.

Alas, the Dodgers won’t be able to outrun their infamous reputation as baseball’s richest team unless they bring home a second-straight World Series title. Even then, they’d have plenty of naysayers invalidating the entire thing on the premise that championships shouldn’t be purchased.

This all sounds like nothing but music to the Reds’ ears, who don’t have to deal with any of that outside noise. Once the game begins, all that matters is who can lock in and play well when it matters most, and Cincinnati has a chance to do that as well as anyone in baseball right now, the Dodgers included.

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