A new week for baseball in Southern California.

A week ago, we asked how the Dodgers did at the Winter Meetings. You weren’t impressed.

My, how things can change in a week.

Consider the following:

  • Including the contracts of Zack Greinke and Ryu Hyun-Jin, the 2013 Dodgers  will have the highest payroll of any team in baseball history, believed to be around $225 million before the payouts for Manny Ramirez and baseball’s competitive balance tax.
  • The Dodgers’ starting rotation includes two former Cy Young Award winners, while their projected starting lineup has collectively appeared in 15 all-star games.
  • In the last 13 months, the Dodgers have added $800 million worth of contracts through salary, free agency and trades.

Not to be outdone — and there’s reason to believe the timing had as much to do with PR as Josh Hamilton’s availability — the Angels agreed to terms with Josh Hamilton yesterday. About those Angels:

  • Since the end of the 2011 season, they’ve added $550 million worth of salary (assuming Hamilton passes his physical today).
  • Their projected starting pitchers have combined to appear in five all-star games (three for Jered Weaver, two for CJ Wilson) and their projected starting lineup 17. There are two former MVPs (Hamilton and Albert Pujols) on the roster and another who should have been (Mike Trout).

Doing the math, BusinessInsider.com added up every contract worth more than $1 million signed since the end of 2011 and determined that the Angels and Dodgers have combined to shell out $1.4 billion over 105 years worth of contracts. (Insert Cold War analogy here.)

The real measure of the teams’ success will be in the standings. But for now, considering just this off-season (Greinke, Ryu, Schumaker, Hamilton, Blanton, Madson, Burnett), who do you think came out ahead?


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About J.P. Hoornstra

J.P. Hoornstra covers the Dodgers, Angels and Major League Baseball for the Orange County Register, Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Torrance Daily Breeze, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star-News, San Bernardino Sun, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Whittier Daily News and Redlands Daily Facts. Before taking the beat in 2012, J.P. covered the NHL for four years. UCLA gave him a degree once upon a time; when he graduated on schedule, he missed getting Arnold Schwarzenegger's autograph on his diploma by five months.