Mike Shildt does not share Padres fans’ outrage over Dodgers’ deferrals

As annoying as it is for San Diego Padres fans, the Los Angeles Dodgers are good at using their financial wherewithal to their benefit. It was rough enough to see Shohei Ohtani's heavily deferred and obscenely massive contract last offseason, but the Dodgers are at it again this offseason with the deal they gave to Blake Snell which includes $66 million in deferred money.

All told, that brings the Dodgers' deferred contract obligations to over a billion dollars and there are no shortage of people who have strong feelings about that. Some think that deferrals shouldn't be allowed at all while others think alterations need to be made during the next round of collective bargaining negotiations. For Padres fans, they just wish the Dodgers would settle down and reach the bottom of their seemingly endless money pit.

Padres' Mike Shildt thinks the Dodgers' contracts are fair play and reminded everyone that San Diego can still own them

Don't count San Diego manager Mike Shildt among those that has a problem with how Los Angeles is handling their business. When asked about the Dodgers' deferrals, Shildt dismissed the criticism of it and said that he was a lot more focused on how to beat them.

It would have been easy to take a cheap shot at the Dodgers and try to play the underdog, but we all know that the Padres were one of the league's biggest spenders until last season (though they haven't dipped their toes into the deferred money pool yet). Instead, he applauded LA for leveraging their advantages to try and put the best team on the field possible.

Shildt went on to remind Padres fans why they love him so much. The Padres' skipper is far more focused on figuring out how to beat the Dodgers instead of worrying about how much money they are throwing around. Shildt is fully aware of how heated the rivalry is, but is worried about what he can control.

Not one to let the opportunity pass him by, Shildt also reminded everyone that the Padres gave the Dodgers everything they could handle in 2024, saying, "We had a good regular season against them and took them to Game 5. My time and energy is to continue to figure out a way to move our mission forward to take care of business, win the NL West and ultimately get that big shiny prize at the end with the ring." You can now take a moment to run through a wall.

At the end of the day, the Dodgers won the World Series this past season, but it was with one of their most vulnerable rosters in recent memory despite all the cash they spent to build. Guys still have to stay healthy and perform. Given how well San Diego held their own in 2024, don't be surprised if LA's latest spending spree isn't enough in 2025.

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