What is most disappointing about the latest string of moves made by SF Giants division rivals

The Los Angeles Dodgers have added four-time All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker. This continues a trend of bolstering an already large group of All-Stars on one roster, and seemingly taking the easy way out by joining the SF Giants division rivals.

What is most disappointing about the latest string of moves made by SF Giants division rivals

I do not fault the Dodgers for making these moves by any means. That have aimed to get better every offseason, and have done a better job at it than any team in baseball. Despite winning two straight titles, they are not content with that status quo and more teams should operate that way.

It is the player side that is frustrating. There is a group of recent free agents that have made the disappointing decision to join an elite organization that has won two straight World Series titles.

The most common analogy that is used is when Kevin Durant joined the Golden State Warriors after a historic 73-win season. He was a free agent, so he was free to do as he wished. On the other end, it made sense for the Warriors to aim to get better.

I felt like that analogy applied around the time that Shohei Ohtani joined the Los Angeles Dodgers. He joined a roster that already included three future Hall of Famers in Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Clayton Kershaw.

They also had some All-Stars and very good players, such as Will Smith and Max Muncy. They have a talented roster and can win 100 games with ease.

I thought that Durant analogy applied when Ohtani joined the Dodgers. Since then, they have traded for Tyler Glasnow, as well as signed Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Teoscar Hernández, Edwin Díaz, and now Kyle Tucker.

This is not to mention that they also signed Roki Sasaki during last year's international free agency cycle. Several teams tried to recruit him, including the Giants, and that proved to be just a waste of everyone's time and resources. It had been well established that he would join Los Angeles well before becoming a free agent.

Last offseason, they also signed Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates, both of whom were coming off of excellent seasons.

Any and all star players are joining the Dodgers at a rate that is just frustrating to see. The Tucker,
Díaz, and Snell signings are the most frustrating from the group. With trades, that is a different story.

Every team had a chance to sign Hernández before he joined the Dodgers prior to the 2024 season. Yamamoto signed the richest contract for a pitcher in baseball history. There was risk with this move, as it is never quite known how a pitcher coming from the Pacific Rim will adjust to coming over stateside. That contract should have been an indicator for how he was viewed by the Dodgers, and around baseball.

It is still the Snell, Díaz, and Tucker signings that are the most frustrating. Snell is a two-time Cy Young winner and joined the Dodgers on the heels of their 2024 World Series victory. That felt like taking the easy way out, and he does not really even need to throw in the regular season.

Snell completed 61.1 frames during the regular season in 2025, and he made six more appearances in the playoffs. Did it matter that he missed most of the season? His role is to be healthy for the postseason. Snell and Glasnow are essentially part-time pitchers.

The team wins during the regular season, whether they are healthy or not. It is often the elite-level talent that carries teams through the playoffs. It was surprising to see the Toronto Blue Jays take the Dodgers to seven games in the World Series. Many of their star players struggled during that series, but they have so many as is, it did not change the outcome.

The Dodgers have so much talent that some of them barely need to play. That kind of makes a mockery of the regular season.

Now, Díaz and Tucker have joined the Dodgers. Tucker is a four-time All-Star and is one of the best hitters in the game. On any given night, he might be the fifth-best hitter in the Dodgers lineup. He could go on vacation for a month, and the Dodgers would not miss a beat.

I get it with Díaz. The Dodgers' bullpen was a weakness heading into the playoffs, so they went out and added one of the best relievers on the market. He is a three-time All-Star, and coming off a season in which he posted a 1.63 ERA in 62 appearances.

The Dodgers made it through the playoffs without Díaz, and now they added one of the best relievers in the game.

This is not the Dodgers' fault. They have the financial backing in their favor, and these players are free agents. Reaching free agency is a privelege in baseball that few players truly get to enjoy. They are free to make a decision that best fits their needs, but they are not free from criticism.

The Dodgers have been the best team over the past 15 years. Shouldn't players want to try to take them down? It feels lame for all these All-Stars to continue joining a team that does not need any more help. That just feels wrong that players are continuing a trend of just joining a superteam because they do not want to carry another team on their own.

With the Tucker signing, the Dodgers went from overwhelming favorites to win the World Series to being even more of an overwhelming favorite to win the World Series. It sure is nice that Tucker helped them get over the hump.