What the Dodgers are doing is not good for baseball

Well, with not millions, but billions pouring in through their megabucks television contract, the Los Angeles Dodgers had to put that money somewhere. They could have used it instead on firewood to warm themselves, but I guess this seemed like a better plan. The Dodgers agreed to give pitcher Zack Greinke a six-year deal worth $147 million on Saturday. Last season, they acquired a total of $260 million in contracts when they added Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford. It wasn't that long ago that Matt Kemp signed a $160 million deal. No truth to the rumor that the club will now use gold, not white baseballs in BP or that the water fountains will actually feature not water but champagne next season at the ballpark. Let's try to forget for a minute that Greinke's 3.83 ERA the last three seasons makes him a good but not great pitcher and not at all worth that amount. This is not good for baseball, having a team spending like drunks at last call. Even the Yankees think the Dodgers are out of control. They need a payroll intervention. "This is something unlike what the sports world ever has seen: a franchise with seemingly no limits," Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports wrote. Somehow over the years, Major League Baseball has still thrived despite being a sport of haves and have nots and a lot of teams, like say, the Orioles, somewhere in the middle. The good news for any team not named the Dodgers is this: Spending big doesn't ensure winning. It allows you a lot more mistakes than others, but teams like Tampa Bay and Washington have won without spending recklessly and the Orioles won 93 last year and paid around $85 million to get that far. No offense L.A., but I'm now rooting for anyone else in the NL West. I want the Dodgers to lose. I'm not impressed and have never been by checkbook baseball. I think a lot of fans will agree with me. The Dodgers have become the Yankees. Don't even bother saying the sport should put a cap on what a team can pay its players. That ship has sailed and they can't get it back. The Dodgers have become the evil empire, National League version. I hope they lose.