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It’s the Los Angeles Dodgers’ world, the rest of MLB is just living in it

By Derek Helling

Jan 7, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Kent Maeda (seconod from right) poses at a Los Angeles Dodgers press conference to announce the signing of the Japanese pitcher to an eight-year contract at Dodger Stadium. From left: Dodgers president Stan Kasten and general manager Farhan Zaidi and manager Dave Roberts and Maeda and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 7, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Kent Maeda (seconod from right) poses at a Los Angeles Dodgers press conference to announce the signing of the Japanese pitcher to an eight-year contract at Dodger Stadium. From left: Dodgers president Stan Kasten and general manager Farhan Zaidi and manager Dave Roberts and Maeda and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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A deep farm system and even deeper pockets make the Los Angeles Dodgers a powerful force in Major League Baseball.

What do you get the Major League Baseball franchise that already has the game’s best left-handed starter, an unfathomably deep pocketbook and occupies the United States’ most populous market?

For the Los Angeles Dodgers, only the top spot in the list of farm system rankings by MLB Pipeline will do.

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Outside of heralded prospects Corey Seager and Julio Urias, there are three other Dodgers pitching prospects in MLB Pipeline’s top 100. This success in stocking the minors is about much more than the Dodgers’ dominant drafting, however.

As Meja mused, it’s all about the money, and spending it wisely.

The Dodgers used their resources to outperform everyone else in MLB on the international scene, acquiring talent like Yadier Alvarez. Adding a loaded farm system to what the Dodgers are doing on the major league level seems unfair.

For other franchises, having a farm system like this means that there will be a short window that the team can hope to capitalize on. Eventually, these players will become eligible for free agency and if they fulfilled their potential in the bigs, the cost will force the front office to make hard choices. The Dodgers have the resources to keep all the talent that ends up panning out in the majors.

Another thing that the Dodgers’ revenue allows them to do is beat everyone else at their own game. Some of the aforementioned competing teams will sign young star players to long-term but heavily back-loaded deals (think the Miami Marlins and Giancarlo Stanton).

With the inevitable player attrition, those franchises end up upside-down on those deals and seek some relief in their budget from the bad contracts. The Dodgers have the financial freedom to take those bad contracts on, but not because they value those past-their-prime players. The Dodgers can extract a price of talented prospects and/or draft picks in exchange for their services.

If the acquired major-leaguer isn’t worth using a precious roster spot on, they can flip him to another team in exchange for eating the money, like they did Michael Morse in 2015. After that’s done, they still have the draft picks and/or prospects in their system.

In turn, they can use those resources to acquire major league players to help the cause of winning in-season. It’s like going to the store with someone else’s money. Speaking of which, they can also outspend anyone on the free agent market as well.

Next: Dodgers rotation faces more questions in 2016

While it’s been proven over and over that spending doesn’t guarantee World Series championships, the Dodgers have made themselves into what many other franchises wish they were: perennial contenders. With the best farm system in all of baseball and the resources to keep it running that way, there’s no reason to think that the Dodgers won’t be contending for years to come.

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