Dodgers Territory - Will the Dodgers Make Another Move Before Christmas?

Episode Date: December 22, 2025

The rumor mill is quiet for the Los Angeles Dodgers as the 2025 calendar year comes to a close. Alanna Rizzo and Clint Pasillas dive into some of the moves that have gone on around the league (0:56) and wonder aloud if the Dodgers are done for the year or if a little last minute holiday shopping could be in the works (8:31). Alanna argues for Harrison Bader to come to LA (12:18). Clint shares his thoughts on Hyeseong Kim's future role (17:04).The Dodgers led all of baseball in payroll in 2025. And with that, their luxury tax bill came due. The hosts discuss again if the Dodgers are "good for baseball" and if this is a sustainable model (19:42).Check out DT merch for the holidays at dodgersterritoryshop.com/promo/HOLIDAYUse promo code HOLIDAY at checkout and save!Support Guidry's Guardian at guidrysguardian.orgFind Clint on YouTube at youtube.com/@alldodgersSubscribe to Dodgers Territory on YouTubeRate and review our podcast on Apple and SpotifySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Daniel Alarcon, and this is my friend. This is much more famous than I am. I wouldn't go that far, but I'm John Green, co-host at the podcast The Away End, with my old friend Daniel. On our podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the Away End with Daniel Alarcon and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Then she says, have you seen a photo of my son? And I'm like, who is this person? Welcome to the Boys and Girls podcast. Arranged Marriage is basically a reality show and you're auditioning for your soulmate. And who's judging? Only your entire family? I sacrificed myself to this ancient tradition,

hoping to find love the right way. And instead, I found chaos, comedy and a lot of cringe. Listen to Boys and Girls on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast. or wherever you get your podcast. When you feel uncomfortable, what do you put on? Biggie. You put on Biggie when you feel uncomfortable?

Because I want to get confident. This is DJ Hester Prynne's Music is Therapy. A new podcast from me, a DJ and licensed therapist. 12 months, 12 areas of your life. Money, love, career, confidence. This isn't just a podcast. It's unconventional therapy for your entire year. Listen to DJ Hester Prins, Music is Therapy.

On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. People tend to forget that it was like, they think that the Dodgers just woke up one day and be like, you know, we have a gazillion dollars and we're going to give it to a bunch of really great players. Welcome to a brand new edition of Dodgers territory. I've been with you guys for three years.

I will never get my head shot right. It is what it is. My head space and the camera, whatever the hell it's called. Welcome, you guys. Happy to be here. It is almost Christmas. We're right in the middle of Hanukkah, all the things.

Alana Rizzo, Clint Paseas. Happy to be with you guys today. Not a lot going on in terms of the Dodgers, but there's some other stuff, Clint, going on along around the league that we want to get to. Let's start with the big ticket, my friend. Let's do it. All right. So here we are.

Murakami to the White Sox. Did you think that the white socks were going to make any sort of splash for anybody? Two years, 34 million. That's a hefty payday, right? 17 million a year. Do you think this is from Mark FeinSand, Wutataka Murakami, has agreed to a two years? your $34 million deal. Jeff Passon was on at Murakami will be eligible for agency again after the 2007 season, not arbitration.

Do you think the Dodgers, A, would have been interested in something like that or should they have taken that type of offer, Clint? Yeah, I mean, it's kind of interesting. You know, we haven't seen them be really involved in a whole lot of people since, I mean, how they weren't technically involved in Edwin Diaz until that deal came together, sort of not even last minute, but even so. A guy with the type of power profiles, Murakami, that kind of price. I mean, I'm personally, it's not my money.

I'm super interested in taking that kind of flyer, saving him from the awfulness that is being a Chicago White Sock where there is no hope. There is no glimmer of a future. But maybe, you know, it's a two-year deal. Look at it as a minor league, you know, proving ground for somebody like Murakami. Probably will be traded if he's, you know, hitting well. It'll be traded. the trade deadline or something like that pretty soon. Shocking, though.

It's shocking that his market just plainly did not develop. His ability to kind of just play the corners and the infield and probably not play him well is what limited him on the market and limited him to not being a Dodger because they kind of already have a dude who is a DH and Shoah O'Hani. I hear he's pretty good. He's not bad. He's not too bad at baseball. So I do like as we're looking at the chat here.

And again, you guys get your comments into the chat. No, Beverly, this is not pre-recorded. We are live today for you on December 22nd, Clinton and I. But Roy Estrada, 4764, makes up a good point. Murakami will be a Dodger after his two years with the White Sox. Maybe, you know, you never know. If he performs, he will be a Dodger, smart non-moved by the Dodgers because they're not paying the posting fee. Let's see what this guy can do at the big league level.

I'm fine with the White Sox taking a flyer on Murakami, because honestly, the White Sox don't take a flyer on anybody. And they need to start doing something to get that team. back to where they hope that they can be. I feel bad for Will Venable, second or third year manager there for the Chicago White Sox. That's a tough, that's a tough job to have right now. That job, the Rockies job, the Pirates job, those types of things are. But, you know, I'm okay with the Dodgers not going after him.

The St. Louis Cardinals, Clint Passius, making some moves too. Again, we always think it's going to be Nolan Aronado getting moved and he probably still will get moved. I mean, we've been talking about this for a thousand years. Dustin May, fellow Dodger, and then becoming a Red Sock for a hot second, is now a member of the St. Louis Cardinals. I believe they signed D. May to a one-year deal. And out is Wilson Contraris to the Boston Red Sox. What do you make of both of these moves?

Yeah, I mean, I don't know what the hell they're doing in St. Louis. I'm sure our friend Katie Wu will have a little bit more of an idea. I love that she's out, by the way, on the Cardinal beat. And all of a sudden, they start making some moves. It is pretty funny. But yeah, I don't know. The Wilson Contreras edition just never worked out for St. Louis. He's not even a catcher anymore.

He's playing first base there. We know the Red Sox have a needed catcher. They have a need at first base. Who knows how that works out. But yeah, to add a starting pitch, they're excited. In St. Louis, they're actually excited about Dustin May. I hope it works out for him there. I will still die on the hill that Dustin May should be a reliever in his career.

life. I think it'll play better for him. But good on him. Gets himself a nice payday there. And, you know, cards adding potential a body that could potentially be moved at the trade deadline or something like that as well. You know, it's, it's a weird time where we need to be talking, we don't need to be talking, but we are talking about Cardinals making transactions and not the Dodgers. You know, it's, it's okay. Again, we, the Dodgers have much more of a complete team than the Cardinals do. But this is what I love about the move, if I'm just looking at it from a major league baseball. perspective. This is what I love about the move for Wilson Contreras to the Boston Red Sox and Clint, you touched on it a little bit. The Boston Red Sox have a major problem at first base.

They don't know what's going to happen with Tristan Kossis. Is Tristan Kossis going to be healthy? Is he going to be able to produce at that level? Wilson Contreras obviously moved from the catching spot to first base can fill that need for the Boston Red Sox. It also fills a need to back up Narvaez at the catcher spot because Connor Wong is not the answer as your backup catcher. for the Boston Red Sox. So if that's a possibility of him, you know, having playing time in both of those places, that fills a couple of needs for the Boston Red Sox. As far as the Cardinals getting Dustin May, I will die on that hill as well. I am with you, my friend. I do think Dustin May plays better in the bullpen, but good for him. I mean, it didn't work out, obviously, for him in Boston. He wasn't healthy when he was there. He wasn't effective when he was there. Not a huge sample size, obviously getting traded around the deadline. And it, he's, he's He wasn't going to start in LA, okay? Not with the starters that LA had. So I understand why they moved him.

They actually did him a favor, I believe, and they were very honest with Dustin May. I talked to him when he was already a member of the Red Sox, and the Dodgers were very honest about wanting to give him an opportunity to start because he was going into his free agent here. So why not, right? So I'm okay with that. I'm okay with that.

All right. So the Padres, this matters, right? Because they're in the Los Angeles Dodgers division. Michael King, he's going back. That's a big get for the Padres, if you will. Maybe not a get, but a big stay, a big push, if you will. Returns to the Padres, $75 million, three years. Mark Feinstand on at first, John Heyman reporting on X.

And they also added Korean infielder Sung Moon Song on a three-year $13 million deal. I'm assuming, is that $13 per year or $13 total? Because that seems like super low. Yeah, I mean, it's pretty similar to kind of the Hessong Kim deal with the Dodgers song. coming off a really, really good year in the KBO as well. So this is a good addition for San Diego. And, of course, they've had success with Korean infielders in the past with Hassan Kim, you know, kind of becoming not a superstar, but a star in his own right as a defensive whiz

at second base and shortstop for them. So obviously, this is a Dodger show. We're not going to talk a lot about the Padres. I'm not going to praise the Padres, but I like the addition for them. They're obviously working under some serious financial constraints there. A couple of opt-outs in that Michael King deal as well because there's some injury concerns with him. But they needed some starting pitching for sure. You lose Dylan Cese.

That's cute. You, Darvish, probably not going to pitch again after coming back from elbow surgery and all that. He seems like he's kind of content and maybe hanging up the spikes. And that kind of, maybe that tells you a little bit about the state of things down there in San Diego. It's a little bit of a shit show. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I don't. Yeah, I mean, Darvish hasn't made anything official.

his son, which is scary, is in college now, has signed as a pitcher, which is insane, that he already has a kid in college. They absolutely needed to make that deal with Michael King. You can't lose Dylan Sees and Michael King and expect Joe Musgrove to be your ace after coming off of a pretty serious surgery. You know, I don't know. We'll see what happens with the Padres, but that's the most recent move as far as the division is concerned. And we'll add to this quickly on it. Like we, we have been hammering this home.

It's good for Dodgers opponents in the NOS to be good because it makes the Dodgers have to be better. We need that. So this is, again, the Padreys doing anything is good for baseball. What, Diamondbacks brought back Merrill Kelly. So that's, that's good on them. You don't know if they're going to trade Catel Marte. Giants are there.

Rockies don't matter. But this is where we're at. Nothing is happening. There's no rumors. There's no links. There's no murmur of anything. that the Dodgers are doing. So, Lana, do you think the Dodgers have anything up their sleeves before we get to Christmas or even into the new year? I don't think it'll be before Christmas.

And it may honestly not even be before the new year. And I asked you this question too. I said, I mean, what is left outfielder? And I think an outfielder is important. You say outfield and field, you're fine with it either way. I don't think that there's another massive move. Again, I never, I did not see the Edwin Dia's move coming. I did not. I thought for sure. be more of an outfielder move too. But again, we've already established it, right? We've already figured it out. Just ask us, we know the best thing for this team to do, right?

You put Teasca Hernandez in left, so you bring him back, you put him in left, okay? You move Andy Pahas to right. You put Tommy Edmund in center and you don't, and you don't need to really sign anybody else. They have enough utility infielders to make this work. We know Kike's coming back in the second half of the season. That was pretty much established. And again, like, I don't think that they need to do it. And honestly, Clint history says no.

I mean, this is not a team that, with the exception of the winter meetings in San Diego, I don't remember what it was, but it was the year that basically they signed Rich Hill, Kenley Janssen and Justin Turner all to extensions. It was like, and it was all like 17 million a year. That was a bananas winter meetings and a bananas offseason. I remember Dylan Hernandez's head with the LA Times at the time.

I literally saw Dylan Hernandez his head blow off of his neck when all of these moves were going down. And he was like scrambling trying to figure this all out. And I remember Rich Hill being super emotional about the three-year deal. And obviously Kenley decided, you know, the extension in JT was five years at 17 million. So it was like three, four, and five years at 17 million apiece for those guys. But the Dodgers don't need to make anything else that's dramatic. They just don't. They're not in a position to have to do that.

Yeah, they don't have to. I think you want to. I think they want to. I know fans really, really want them to. You mentioned history says no. Recent history says no that they're not going to make any moves before the new year. Andrew Friedman had kind of alluded to the fact as well. They got some things, irons in the fire, as it were.

Everybody just need to be patient for those to maybe shine through. People want that to be Terrick Scouble. People maybe want that to be a trade for somebody like a Jaron Duran. I don't know, just throwing out random name, Stephen Quint. on. But over the last five years, obviously we just passed the anniversary to your anniversary of signing Yoshinobu Yamamoto. That happened on the 21st. So it would be nice. We can get something now, something similar, probably not happening. J.D. Martinez signed, I think, around Christmas in 2022. But otherwise, it's been mostly crickets at this time of year, which it should be.

Let the boys go out there and enjoy the fruits of their labor a little bit. But I'll disagree with you and the fact that they don't, well, they don't need, but take advantage of this window that you have of being very good and everybody is going to, they're not going to be any younger than they are right now with Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Shohayotani. But what's the piece that you would want right now? What's going to make your Christmas be just unbelievable? Yeah, I'm going with a couple of people mentioning the chat. I see Francisco Diaz, who's under a different name these days, says, give me bow. And we talked about this on Thursday.

I've decided I'm all in on Bo Bichette. Here's a list, by the way. Like, I think there's six free agents in my estimation that would make the most sense for the Dodgers. And these are just free agents. Got Bichet. Yes, I threw Bregman on there because he is an infielder and he is available. Gino Swares also infielder available probably makes the least amount of sense, but I wanted it to be three and three.

And then, of course, you guys know, Cobb Tucker, Cody Bellinger, and Harrison, Bader who's likely going to be a Dodger. But if there's a Harrison Bader who does fill that center field, center field, whole need that you've mentioned, and I agree with somebody else who can play some center field. If it's

going to be Harrison Bader, I think it also needs to be somebody like a Boba Shed in there, playing second base. All of a sudden, it's just that much more dangerous of a baseball team because they struggled offensively last year pretty bad, regular season and in the post season. So, you know, the more

I mean, I don't think they're going to get bo'bush up. The more I think about the Harrison Bader move, the more I like it. Harrison Bader is a good defensive center fielder. And not only that, he is a guy that would fit in swimmingly, swimmingly with the Dodgers Clubhouse. I love his attitude. I love his work ethic. He doesn't, he's not coming in with this like unbelievable ego.

The dude still wants to play. He's a gamer. I like that move. I like that move in terms of center, unless they just decide to move Tommy had been to center field, which I'm fine with as well. But over Kyle Tucker, just purely from a money standpoint and a year standpoint, Cody Bellinger, and I don't know if this is really true or not, but, you know, the rumors of Cody asking for 400 million or Boris asking for 400 million,

I don't know if that's true or not, but that's absurd. Cody Bellinger is not getting $400 million, nor should he. But, I mean, if he gets it, good for him. I'm not trying to take money into the dude's pocket, but I just don't think that he's going to get $40 million. But I love the Harrison Bader move. I would, of course, I'd like Bobes shut. But I could start the season tomorrow and be fine with it,

be fine with this team. Yeah, again, very good roster. The addition of Edwin Diaz goes a very, very long way in helping that bullpen out. That was also a good bit of a struggle bust throughout the entirety of this season, last season, however you want to call it. But yeah, to the point to the question, too, what I think I titled this video. Dodgers have another move up their sleeve here before Christmas or before the new year? No, they don't.

For fun, though, let's have a little prediction. And guys, you can tube in or tune in, share your thoughts in the chat. When do we think the next big move happens? I mean, mooky bets happened in 2020, like February or something like that. January is usually not an exceptionally busy time, it feels like. I would not be shocked outside of like a sprinkling of a couple of moves here and there. Like a big move not happening until probably just before fan fest. So I'm going to say, screw it, January 27th, there's our big move.

What do you got? That's a prediction. So big move is that Bichette? That's a Bichet. That's a trade, more likely, some sort of trade. Cough Cough, Cof, Stephen Kwan, Jaron, Jaron, maybe. I don't know. Maybe it's an outfielder we're not even slightly thinking about.

But that's my date. I've got January 27th for some dumb reason. All right. January 27th. I'm going to go February 5th. February 5th. It's good day. It's good day.

Wait, are we on? Are we on those days? These are the important. I mean, either way, we would be on that day. February 5th, it's a Thursday. That's huge. I like that. What I say 27th.

That's a Tuesday. What an asshole I am. Picking the wrong. day. I'm John Green. You may know me as the author of The Fault and Our Stars and now I guess also is the co-host of The Away End, a brand new world soccer podcast. I'm Daniel Alarcon, a writer and journalist and John and I have known each other since we

were kids. My first World Cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old. I watched every game and I fell in love. On our new podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. For us, soccer... Football.

...is a story we've shared for over 30 years since Daniel was the star player on our high school soccer team. Very debatable. And I was their most loyal and sometimes only fan. I love this game. I love its history, its hope, its heartbreak, and above all, its beauty. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Alarcon and John Green on the iHeart. Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I went and sat on the little Ottoman in front of him. Hi, Dad. And just when I said that, my mom comes out of the kitchen. She says, I have some cookies and milk. This is a badass convict. Right. Just finished five years. I'm going to have cookies and milk at my mom.

Yeah. On the Ceno Show podcast, each episode invites you into a raw, unfiltered, conversations about recovery, resilience, and redemption. On a recent episode, I sit down with actor, cultural icon Danny Trail, talk about addiction, transformation, and the power of second chances. The entire season two is now available to binge featuring powerful conversations with the guests like Tiffany Addish, Johnny Knoxville, and more. I'm an alcoholic. And without this trouble, I'm going to die. Open your free I-Heart radio app.

Search the Cino Show, and listen now. Hey Heart and TikTok have come together to create something new. I love it. Where the world of TikTok meets your playlist. Three words that will change your life. IHeart TikTok Radio. The biggest hits across IHeart Radio. What's trending for you on TikTok?

Tell me a sound that's better than this. IHart TikTok Radio. Plus TikTok's most influential creators all in one place. Search for IHard TikTok Radio. make it a preset and stay connected all day. Hanging out in the chat, Mario says he's got mid-January. Okay. Mr. Classic asking, can we still realistically get Kyle Tucker?

I mean, yeah, they got money. He wants money. They have a spot in the outfield open. Realistically, yeah, but it's tough. I don't think it happens. Bruce has got January 28th. Anything. You know what I mean?

They can do whatever they want. We'll talk about that in terms of luxury tax in a hot second. but they can do it if they wanted to do. It doesn't make sense, no. Yeah. Before we talk about that luxury tax, I like this question from Asonic, if you want it,

I like the name also. If you get Beau, what happens to Hessan Kim? Right. I don't know. He'll be some sort of utility role because at some point in time, Miguel Rojas is going to retire.

It's going to be after next season. Well, we know for a certain one that's going to be. Exactly. It's going to be after next season. You don't know. what the future holds with the Dodgers and Kike Hernandez and all that kind of stuff. They're going to need a utility guy. And the biggest thing that's going to help Hesson Kim outside of learning how to

consistently hit a pitch at the major league level, avoiding that high fastball and swinging under or whatever is defensive versatility. He needs to be able to figure out consistently how to play some left field, how to play to some center field. And he could kind of be maybe another version of a, you know, maybe another version of a Chris Taylor type for this team, you know, could get some big hits. He does have wheels. That will be his role, but I don't know that they view him as a starter.

I really don't. So it's where I'm at with, um, with Hesong Kim. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know that Hesong Kim plays into the picture if Bobishut's here. I mean, I don't know, you can move him. I feel like, I don't know, how do I say this respectfully? Obviously, he's a good player. I just think there's a lot of guys that can fill that void in terms of utility guy,

defensive guy kind of move around you know he's not he's not really good in one area um oh yes he can he could run for for certain but i think there's a lot of guys that can do what he does so we'll see um hopefully it keeps on getting better you know that that's the goal put in a lot of work this off season and i'm sure he wants to be a starter that's just probably not going to be in l a all right so more to come here on dodgers territory but first we have to tell you about the holiday sale going on just a couple of more days all of you procrastinators get in on the Dodgers Territory Shop swag. You can still get it for the holiday season with promo code holiday.

You can visit the store at Dodgers Territory Shop.com or you can scan that QR code. Use the promo code holiday, H-O-L-I-D-A-Y. Don't spell it like Matt and Jackson at checkout to save. Click the link in the description below. Support the show in style. Yeah, do it, guys. We still have some opportunities to get some swag out there. It helps the show.

It helps Clint. It helps myself. and we appreciate you guys very much. Yeah. Hell yeah. Do that. Get some stuff. And now let's get into behind the seams

and all of that delicious luxury tax money. I tell you, it is delicious. And this is when you know your team is incredibly fortunate. And when you're fortunate as a fan to have the owners that the Dodgers do because the Guggenheim group had to pay more in luxury tax than a lot of teams total payroll. And you know what? That's okay. And I have something to say about this as I know you'll find.

this to be shocking. I have something to say about a lot of things. I don't want to hear it anymore about the Dodgers ruining baseball. I had a conversation with a former big league player who was in the big leagues for 14 years. You can guess who it is. Why aren't we talking more about the ramp up process of what the Dodgers did? People forget or seem to forget, and I'm not saying Dodgers fans or these folks. I'm saying that there's people in the league that seem to forget that the Dodgers weren't always this good, right? In the previous ownership era, The Dodgers were not always this good. I mean, it took some time to get to where they were.

They started building a program. They started building blocks of perennial dominance, but it didn't happen overnight. They started to win. They started to win divisions. And then they started winning division titles perennially. And in that time, they could add more pieces to where it's gotten to the point now where it looks like, oh, my God, the daughters can give somebody a $700 million contract. Well, yes. But in 2000 and, you know, 9, 10, 11, 12, or whatever it was before Ned Coletti took over, that wasn't the case. So people tend to forget that it was like they think that the Dodgers just woke up one day and be like, you know, we have a gazillion dollars and we're going to give it to a bunch of really great players. There's nothing to say that the Boston Red Sox, the Chicago Cubs, the New York Yankees, to an extent the St. Louis Cardinals, to, you know, the Toronto.

to Blue Jays who are doing it, by the way. I believe the Blue Jays are doing it the right way. There's nothing to say these teams can't start doing that too. Put the building blocks in place, have the ramp up process to get to this point. That being said, here's a luxury tax numbers. It's unbelievable, right? The Dodgers payroll, $417.3 million last season. The luxury tax was 169.4.

Yes, I understand the deferred salaries, but you guys, this is not the first team. This is not the first industry. This is not the first time in the world that there have been deferred salaries. When you're rich enough, you don't have to ask what the point is. Other teams can be doing this, you guys. Other teams can be doing this. And the Dodgers are willing to pay that massive tax to continue to give what every fan base wants. And that's a chance to win the World Series.

And the daughters have done it two straight years. And they're doing it again to try and go. for a three Pete. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. Nice to meet you, Ted. Yeah, I mean, you nailed it there. People forget the lean years for sure. A lot of us, Dodgers fans,

survived those lean years of it. But even, you know, the early years of Sportsnet and you guys covering the team there as great as you all did, and they still do in the post-Alanah Rizzo era. You know, Guggenheim had some money. they gave it to Ned to try to build up a team a little bit more. And obviously the first splash was adding some roster,

adding some payroll with Adrian Gonzalez and, of course, the legendary Nick Ponto and Josh Becking, Carl Crawford. That was the beginning of it. But they also still had some of those pieces that Ned had already started drafting, developing Matt Campos around, Andre ETH. That's what I'm talking about, right? Those are the building blocks, the Matt Cemp's, the Andre Ethier. I don't think we'll ever have an outfield that good again.

That, you know, that type of building, I mean, we look at it now when it seems obvious. But it was, it was, it was, you know, in like one of my favorite movies ever, Friday, you got to crawl before you walk. Or maybe it was boomering. Anyway, the point is it was baby steps, right? It's baby steps to get there. I mean, they were more like baby leaps in some capacities. Yeah. Sure.

But the point is this did not happen to the Dodgers overnight. Okay, and all 30 teams can spend 20 choose not. And they, you know, for a while, the Dodgers were, depending on how you view it, I'll say the Dodgers were doing it right for a while by having a majority of that team be drafted development. Clayton Kershaw being a massive factor in many of those postseason runs, the World Series runs in 2017 and 2018. But Corey Seeger was a born and bred Dodger. Cody Bellinger was a born and bred Dodger.

Jack Peterson. Yeah. Yeah, Jack Peterson, Born and Bread, Dodger. All these, it didn't work out. Of course, the Astros had something to say about that with their cheating in 2017. But they played by the everybody's rules. And now they're playing by a different set of rules, which is if you, you know, you signed Shohei Otani. Money just fucking falls into your lap.

So might as well reinvest it back into the organization. Look at some of these numbers, by the way. Again, Dodgers luxury tax assessment here from Bob Ninego, 169, what is that, billion, million dollars? Sorry, it's million dollars. But look at the names at the bottom of the list, Miami, only $86 million in payroll, White Sox, $91 million. It's embarrassing some of these clubs. And you can see the ones who don't pay, you don't make the World Series. You don't make the postseason.

With the exception of the Tampa Bay race, you can look at those names on and the brewers, because the Brewers at least, they figure out they make the most of what they have, right? Not that Mark Antonacio can't spend money. But the point is they make the most of what they have with the talent that they have. Okay. So there are some teams that, but they're very, Tampa Bay does it in the American League. The Brewers do it in the National League. But if you look at that list, if you throw it up there again, that's why Miami never wins

anything. The White Sox, give me a break. Pittsburgh doing nothing. The athletics don't even get me started. Cleveland, Washington. Now Washington's in a whole rebuild. And they kind of get a pass because they did win the World Series in the last two decades. But I mean, you take a look at this.

Colorado, please. I mean, St. Louis, you have no excuse. You were one of the most storied franchises in all of baseball. Stop it. At least Baltimore, you know, signed Pete Alonzo. At least they're trying to do something. You know, Detroit made the postseason. Seattle making the postseason, Arizona, whatever.

The angels, I please. You know, but you take, like, this is what happens. If you don't spend money, you tend not to win. Again, I said this a thousand times. it guarantees money guarantees that you get good players it guarantees you probably getting into the postseason it does not guarantee a world series championship by the way the movie i was thinking of was uh rush hour i don't know what the hell because you got to crawl before you won't i knew that chris tucker was in the movie i just got the wrong movie but you got to cry before you want it's a solid it's a solid chris tucker impression there uh i don't know all of these reasons tell me you know we keep having that the same question dodgers are bad for baseball or the same statement. No, this is why the Dodgers are good for baseball. They invest in the they make money.

They invest it into their team. They invested into making their, their, you know, stadium, their complex, their facilities, the best they can be for these players so they can become the best version of themselves along the way. Is this sustainable? Probably not. And we know at some point in time the front office would love to kind of, you know, kind of get back into, you know, the earlier part 10 years ago and kind of draft, develop, make their own superstars.

It's not right now. You take advantage of this window that you have, but I don't know. I'm enjoying it while I can. No, no. And there will be a period of time if there's maybe an ownership change or whatever. I mean, Guggenheim doesn't have to, you know, they don't have to reset. They can continue to do this as long as they want to own this team. You know what I mean?

Yep. So hopefully we don't have to deal with this. We don't have to take a dip back or reset because we have a great ownership group. So, all right, let's go and talk about a dog, and then we'll wrap things up right after this. I'm John Green. You may know me as the author of The Fault and Our Stars. And now, I guess, also is the co-host of the away end, a brand new world soccer podcast. I'm Danielle Alarcon, a writer and journalist.

And John and I have known each other since we were kids. My first World Cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old. I watched every game and I fell in love. On our new podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. For us, soccer, football, is a story we've shared for over 30 years since Daniel was the star player on our high school soccer team.

Very debatable. And I was their most loyal and sometimes only fan. I love this game. I love its history, it's hope, it's hard. heartbreak, and above all, it's beauty. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Alarcon and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I went and sat on the little ottoman in front of him.

Hi, Dad. And just when I said that, my mom comes out of the kitchen. She says, I have some cookies and milk. This is a badass convict. Right. Just finished five years. I'm going to have cookies and milk at them all. Yeah.

On the Ceno Show podcast, each episode invites you into a raw, unfiltered conversations about recovery, resilience, and redemption. On a recent episode, I sit down with actor, cultural icon, Danny Trail to talk about addiction, transformation, and the power of second chances. The entire season two is now available to bench featuring powerful conversations. with the guests like Tiffany Addish, Johnny Knoxville, and more. I'm an alcoholic. And without this trouble, I'm going to die. Open your free I-Heart radio app. Search the Ceno Show.

And listen now. Can I pet that dog? Can I pet that dog? Can I pet that dog? Well, Chip, we'll let you pet him. Look at this picture. Is this not the cutest thing in the world with his little burberry bow tie? This is Chip, guys.

He is a sweet, sweet boy. He's about two years old. He's a mixed breed. I have all of his breakdown of his DNA posted on our website under his highlight or excuse me on Instagram under his highlight. We're looking for an adopter. He was abandoned by the Griffith Observatory about a year and a half ago. And thankfully he's in a good foster home. But he wants a home of his own.

He's great with other dogs. He's playful. He's healthy. He's vaccinated all the things. An active family would be great. Somebody that likes to play, hike, get him some exercise. But he's a good boy. Please, if you're interested in learning more about Chip, please let me know.

No. Okay, baseball thought for the road, and we actually need you guys to help us out a little bit. We are going to have another show that is going to go on Friday. So we want to know what are your favorite moments of the 2025 season? Let us know. Put them in the comments section. Obviously, it's going to be the fact that we're World Series champs. But specific moments, right? Specific moments about the 2025 season that really made you experience joy. Yeah, I'm looking for deep cuts too.

I would love to have those deep cuts where you're like in the regular season, you know, I mean, how great it would have been if Yamamoto completed that no hitter. I think that was a huge springboard towards what eventually helped this team win the World Series in 2025. But yeah, I'm interested in knowing what stands out for people. I love the deep cuts. Anyways. Yeah, let's do it. Let us know.

Get those comments in. You can tweet us. You can do all the things. Let us know what you guys want to talk about. but get them in before we do the show. So get them in today, okay? For a variety of reasons. One thing, a couple of other things before we say goodbye.

No, the Griffith Observatory does not have dogs, Alex. That's where he was dumped, Alex. A couple of things. Congratulations to Clayton and Ellen Kershaw. They welcomed in their fifth child a couple of days ago. Finally, another girl. I don't know if you guys knew this, but all of the nieces and nephews in the Kersha house,

Kersha and Melson House. household were all nephews. Callie Ann, Kershaw's first daughter, was the only girl. Out of all of the kids in that family, Callie Ann, who's nine years old, it's almost 10. Well, actually, she's probably already 10 because I remember when Clayton threw the no-hitter in 14, they were pregnant with her. So she's almost 10. Anyway, they just had another girl. Congratulations to Clayton and Ellen. So Callie Ann finally has a sister. They named her Chloe Peach. And I tell you the middle name, because if you might remember, Ellen's mom, her nickname was Peach. They would call Ellen's mom Peach.

And unfortunately, she passed away a couple of years ago after her long battle with cancer, but she always went by the name Peach. So Chloe Peach is the name of Clayton and Ellen's fifth child, second girl. And I believe Ellen said that their family is now complete. So congratulations to them, the Kirschoff fan. and obviously Clayton is retired. So he is full-time dad and full-time diaper-changer guy. All right.

That's his job. That's it. Diaper-changer guy. Man, how the mighty have fallen. Speaking of the mighty, there's something that broke during our show. It doesn't involve the Dodgers, but it does in a way. I don't know if you saw this, but Jeff McNeil traded away from the Mets going to the A's. Wow.

What the hell are the Mets doing? I think I think Unkey Stevie Cohen has had enough of anybody that was around

in the organization before him or maybe David Stearns has a problem with anybody that was in that organization

before him but it's very interesting what they're kind of doing there and a walk walk into

the Mets Clubhouse like he did when they traded away Rendone and and everybody

and Max Schurzer and Tray Turner and he's remember him He's like that with Will Smith walked into, you know, the Bel Air House. And he's like, what the hell? That's one soda walking into the Mets Clubhouse next year.

Holy crap. Maybe they're freeing up some money for something big. Kyle Tucker, you are a New York Met. I can see Cody going to Queens. It makes perfect sense because they need a first baseman and they need an outfielder. They got rid of Nimmo and they got rid of Alonzo. There's another prediction on my part. I think Belli will be in New York Met.

adding one more to our prediction pool, by the way, Francisco Diaz gave us a 499 super chat earlier. So his prediction, next move, big move, February 15th when the Dodgers consigned Kike and Evan Phillips and put them on the 60-day-L. I think there will be moves before then,

but I like those as well. That'll be the second. Yeah, I would be fine with those moves, but I say February 5th. All right, somehow we went long again. So anyway, appreciate you guys,

get your thoughts in about your favorite. moment in 2025 and Clint and I will be back on Friday. Merry Christmas, everybody. Happy Hanukkah. Yep, like, subscribe, get us for 15,000 subs. That would be our wonderful Christmas present from you guys. We'll see you then. Go Dodgers.

Bye. I'm Daniel Alarcon and this is my friend. It's much more famous than I am. I wouldn't go that far. But I'm John Green, co-host of the podcast The Away End with my old friend Daniel. On our podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football. all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important.

Listen to the away end with Daniel Auerkone and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Then she says, have you seen a photo of my son? And I'm like, who is this person? Welcome to the Boys and Girls podcast. Arranged Marriage is basically a reality show and you're auditioning for your soulmate. And who's judging? Only your entire family? I sacrificed myself to this ancient tradition,

hoping to find love the right way. And instead, I found chaos, comedy, and a lot of cringe. Listen to boys and girls on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. When you feel uncomfortable, what do you put on? Biggie. You put on Biggie when you feel uncomfortable? Does I want to get confident?

This is DJ Hester Prince's Music is Therapy. A new podcast from me, a DJ and Lerner. licensed therapist. 12 months, 12 areas of your life. Money, love, career, confidence. This isn't just a podcast. It's unconventional therapy for your entire year. Listen to DJ Hesterprin's music is therapy on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.