Why The New Dodger Ownership Can Be A Good Thing

A few years ago I lived in Connecticut. Right about half-way between New York and Boston, and not too far from the ESPN campus in Bristol. It was here that really started to notice the East Coast bias of the media that we here at Left Coast Lean take personally. Over there, a baseball story is not a story unless it involves the Red Sox and/or Yankees. People who knew I was from San Francisco would casually ask "so are you a Sox fan or Yankee fan?" as if no other teams existed. I would tell myself and, if feeling up to the debate, tell others to just wait until the Giants and Dodgers are the two best teams in baseball. Then the nation will see that this rivalry is at least as strong as Boston-New York.

With the new Dodger ownership group eager to bring the franchise back to respectability, there's a good chance that the LA-San Francisco rivalry will be rejuvenated. Because I'll admit, it has lost some substance in the past few years. I've been hating the Dodgers mainly just for the sake of hating the Dodgers. Last year, aside from the Kershaw-Lincecum battles (<--- a good read), which were infuriating, there was little reason to pay attention to the Dodgers*. With the Giants winning it all in 2010, and Frank McCourt turning the Dodgers into an embarrassment, I've started to think of Dodgers as that annoying friend-who's-not-really-a-friend who won't leave you and your real friends alone. It's probably similar to how Yankees fans thought of the Red Sox prior to 2004. So, to take the high road, the rivalry is better when both teams are good. And neither team has been a real threat to the other since 2004.

So, let's assume, for the sake of this post (as well as my sanity), that the Giants sign Matt Cain to a long-term deal in the next week, and then do the same with Lincecum a year from now. That props open the Giants' title window for years. Madison Bumgarner rounds out one of the best "Big 3"s in Major League starting rotations, and the offense can be built around Sandoval, Posey, and Belt. It only takes a slightly optimistic viewpoint to think that those 6 alone make the team a contender every year. With Rowand and Huff coming off the books after this year, and Zito a year after that, the Giants should be able to continue to add the necessary pieces, along with giving raises to their young hitters and bullpen arms.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, have a long way to go, but the consensus seems to be that they will be included  (along with the Red Sox, Yankees, Mets, Phillies, and Angels) in any discussion that involves teams throwing bigtime dollars around. A big payroll doesn't correlate directly to big win totals, but it usually doesn't hurt. With the Phillies' best days behind them, there is opportunity to take over the Alfa-dog spot in the National League. Watch out for the Nationals and possibly the Marlins, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the Giants and Dodgers at each other's throats to gain superiority for the next decade.

And then maybe the nation can cool off their love affair with what many think is the only rivalry in baseball. They'll learn about this one, which has been around just as long and has survived a cross-country move. Juan Marichal went after Johnny Roseboro with a bat, for Christ's sake. Mays, McCovey, Koufax, Wills. Tommy Lasorda. Bobby Thompson. Mike Piazza. Barry Bonds. Rod Beck and Brian Johnson. Steve Finley. These names trigger either joy or disgust inside me. Very little in between.

Sox-Yankees, you are on notice. There's likely to be an arms race starting out West**.


*The Bryan Stow beating should be mentioned here. But while it does provide reason to dislike the Dodgers, it more-so provides proof that the rivalry is ultimately trivial. That incident goes above baseball.

**Don't get me wrong. I'd still much prefer the Dodgers to stay wallowing away in mediocrity. I'm still hoping the tenure of the new Dodger ownership group goes about as well as The Magic Hour.