After signing a 12-year, $365 million extension with the Dodgers in 2020, Betts’ deal is set to expire after the 2032 campaign. So the team can expect him to continue his career for seven more seasons, assuming he stays healthy and productive enough to retain a meaningful role.

Payroll disparity has been part of Major League Baseball for decades, long before the Dodgers' recent run of success.

Dating back to their Brooklyn days, the Dodgers organization has had 31 three-homer performances in a game. They’ve also had two players tie the Major League record of four homers in a single game. There’s a surplus of great single-game hitting performances.

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ superstar shortstop has been challenged by the Los Angeles Angels’ own rising infield star.

The result is a 29-year-old star right fielder joining a lineup that already features Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith, Max Muncy and a bevy of others to round-out baseball’s most loaded team…maybe ever?

Signing free agents who reject qualifying offers comes with an additional price, one many teams often balk at paying. The Dodgers, because they exceeded the luxury tax last season, forfeited their second- and fifth-highest draft picks plus $1 million in their international bonus pool for Díaz, their third- and sixth-highest picks for Tucker.

When you think about the Houston Astros’ golden era run, many elite pitchers come to mind. Typically, those would be starters such as Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez, Lance McCullers Jr., or Gerrit Cole.