Shohei Ohtani is arguably a player any team would break their bank for, and surely the Dodgers are going all the way to keep him committed. And suprisingly that relates to their aggressive offseason moves. And while a lot of the baseball world continues to be critical of the Dodgers for flexing their financial muscle, everything they are doing is completely within the rules.

So, how are the Dodgers able to spend like there is no tomorrow while other MLB teams cannot keep up?

A major section would blame their massive revenue and popularity, or the ownership’s deep pockets. But according to Dodgers president Andrew Friedman, it goes beyond money. It is about a promise they made to Shohei Ohtani.

“Obviously, adding a player of Shohei’s talent helps in that quite a bit, and also the pledge that we made when we met with him about how aggressive we were going to be to try to win. We feel some responsibility and obligation to fulfill that,” DodgersBeat quoted Friedman.

If you remember, the Dodgers shattered the $700 million barrier when they made that historic offer to Ohtani back in 2024. But for a player who impacts the game at full throttle on both sides of the ball, simply committing $700 million was not enough.

According to Friedman, the Dodgers also made another key promise to Ohtani: they would build a team around him that could contend and win championships.

And the result? The Dodgers’ front office is now doing exactly that, fulfilling their word to Ohtani. So when we see the Dodgers landing one big name after another, it is not just reckless spending.

It is a calculated effort to surround Ohtani with a winning roster, backed, of course, by their financial strength. Take last season as an example. The Dodgers’ bullpen collapsed in several key games, and this year they addressed that weakness by bringing in Edwin Díaz.

Now, critics might ask how other teams are supposed to compete without similar financial firepower.

Look at the Mets. They have the richest owner in baseball and handed Juan Soto the biggest contract in the sport.

But the real question is what their roster around Soto looks like.

Look at their misses this offseason, and the contrast becomes clear. That is where the Dodgers’ front office is making the difference.

And for a player coming off a season with 55 HRs and a 2.87 ERA in 2025, the Dodgers have no reason to cut corners around him. They are all in, just like they promised.

The Dodgers’ reliance on free agency is evident

While the Dodgers’ free-agent spending spree is grabbing all the headlines, there’s a major issue simmering underneath it!

Well, as the Dodgers’ free agency transactions climb, the farm system has kind of faded into the background.

And it’s not like the Dodgers are short on minor-league talent. Last year, MLB Pipeline ranked its farm system as the best in baseball.

The difference now is that this version of the Dodgers isn’t being built from the ground up the way those earlier contenders were. They are more inclined to poach top free agents owing to their deep pockets.

Sure, the Dodgers can outspend everyone right now, but that’s not a strategy you can rely on forever.

This is an aging team, and it’s only going to keep getting older. No matter how deep the pockets are, the Dodgers can’t realistically land the top player every single offseason.

Eventually, that approach catches up with them. So, splashing big for the veterans might bring short-term glory.

However, in the long term, it might come back to haunt the Dodgers.