The Los Angeles Dodgers Are Baseball's New 'Evil Empire'

In a surprise move, the Los Angeles Dodgers announced today that they have hired Andrew Friedman away from the Tampa Bay Rays to be their new president of baseball operations. However, maybe we shouldn't be surprised as it is just another sign that the Dodgers are baseball's new New York Yankees.

In the late 1990s, the Dodgers and Yankees had comparable payrolls. But then the Yankees started to spend like crazy. Much like poaching Friedman, if there was a player the Yankees wanted, they just went out and out-spent everybody else and wouldn't take "no" for an answer.

The result was a Yankees payroll that skyrocketed in the 2000s. But since a group led by Magic Johnson purchased the Dodgers for $2 billion, the Dodgers' payroll has quickly caught up with the Yankees and even surpassed the Bronx Bombers this past season.

Baseball has a new Evil Empire and it plays baseball on the west coast.