To the Los Angeles Dodgers, anything under half a billion dollars is practically a drop in the bucket.
With a $410 million cash payroll, the Dodgers easily have Major League Baseball's most expensive roster. A lot of that money is deferred, but that only means LA is comfortable paying some of their players even when their Dodgers careers are over.
Still, the Dodgers have lots of shrewd front office executives, and no one is happy when they feel they've made a bad investment.
That's why it's worth scrutinizing the deal the Dodgers made this fall for Blake Snell. After giving him a five-year, $182 million contract, the Dodgers got only two starts out of the lefty before he hit the injured list with a shoulder issue.
With that in mind, Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller named Snell at number six on a list of "worst contract busts" from this past offseason, but he also couched it by saying he expected the two-time Cy Young winner to break out in the second half, much as he has in years past.
"There's no question that the Dodgers thus far have not gotten anything close to their money's worth on what is the third-highest-salaried pitcher in the big leagues," Miller wrote.
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"The good news is his shoulder has gotten the green light from the team doctors and he has been throwing for a little over a week now. He won't be eligible to come off the 60-day IL until early June, but he might be back shortly thereafter. Just in time for July and his annual second-half surge to arrive."
Snell has always been far better after the All-Star break than before it, so the Dodgers will feel great about getting him back sometime in July. He owns a 3.95 ERA in 108 career starts before the Midsummer Classic, and a 2.32 mark in 94 starts after it.
In a way, the Dodgers are the perfect home for Snell because they're always a lock to make the postseason. And even if the deal looks bad now, that will all be wiped away if the lefty leads his new squad to another World Series win.
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