Dodgers' spending spree rocks MLB

The Los Angeles Dodgers have conquered baseball in nearly every fashion imaginable. Armed with immense wealth from their owners and buoyed by the largest local television contract in the game, the Dodgers have spared no expense in trying to win. Their major league payroll consistently ranks at the top of the game, yes, but other line items are best-in-class, too, from their technology infrastructure to their coaching staff's compensation to the quality of the food they serve their minor league players. The Dodgers' signing of Roki Sasaki for $6.5 million -- a sum artificially deflated by MLB's rules on international amateurs that offers Los Angeles hundreds of millions of dollars in surplus value -- left front offices and fans alike gobsmacked. Watching the Dodgers pick off free agent after free agent with heavily deferred deals has built a wave of frustration. Seeing them land one of the most valuable contracts in the game -- the sort typically reserved for the worst teams via the draft -- reinforced something that has become increasingly clear. The Dodgers are no longer just a team chasing championships. They are a stress test for the game itself.