Freddie Freeman admits the Dodgers are 'going through it' after the 73 million Marlins took the series in $500M-plus LA.

This past season, the talk and speculation surrounding Major League Baseball was that the Los Angeles Dodgers would be responsible for destroying the sport and the 2027 season.

The Dodgers, relative to other organizations, are aggressive in trying to improve the team, spending money on free agents even after winning the World Series. This waste of money has led to increased anger and frustration among some fans and members of the media.

And most importantly, the concern that some organizations will use their money to enforce the wage tax in future labor negotiations. Pressure that could jeopardize the 2027 regular season if both sides dig in their heels.

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Well, this week in Los Angeles, the richest team and the “poorest” team in Major League Baseball played a three-game series. A chance, albeit a small sample, to test the theory that teams with small salaries are hopeless against the big, bad, scary Dodgers.

The Marlins beat the Dodgers, shutting down LA's expensive offense

This series seems to be a good fit for the Dodgers. At home in LA, their top three starters will face the lowly Marlins.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the reigning World Series MVP and Cy Young candidate, started Monday. Shohei Ohtani, chasing the Cy Young himself, entered his scheduled start on Tuesday with a 0.38 ERA. And Tyler Glasnow on Wednesday, who has been one of the best pitchers in baseball to start the season.

Against Chris Paddack, 30-year-old Janson Junk and Sandy Alcantara, who had a 5.36 ERA in 2025.

Sounds like a recipe for a Dodgers sweep, right? However, the high-powered LA team, with Kyle Tucker, Freddie Freeman, Ohtani, Max Muncy, Teoscar Hernandez and Will Smith, scored a total of 8 runs in the three-game series. They scored just four runs off those three starting pitchers.

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And while coming from behind in the ninth inning to win 5-4 on Monday, the Marlins won the next two games 2-1 and 3-2 to secure the series victory. Wednesday's game, in particular, ended in a strange twist when Xavier Edwards turned a rare unassisted double play with the bases loaded and Freddie Freeman at the plate.

Miami Marlins second baseman Xavier Edwards tags out Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani at first to complete a two-run game in the ninth inning at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif., on April 29, 2026. (Photos by Kiyoshi Mio/Imagn)

After the game, Freeman spoke about the issues, saying they were “getting over it” as a team.

“I mean, we've been going through it, I'd say, as a team. Fortunately, we have a really good pitch, and that's where we are right now. I mean, we were good at the beginning of the season offensively, just going through it right now,” Freeman said.

“And our run has been amazing. I don't want to praise them, because they are the reason why we have a chance to win every game. But as an offense, the last few games were not where we want them to be. So hopefully one day, we will get back to it.”

Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Shohei Ohtani leans on the dugout railing against the Miami Marlins at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, on April 29, 2026. (Photos by Kiyoshi Mio/Imagn)

So the Marlins won the series, on the road, against the Dodgers. The Marlins, who have an estimated $73 million payroll this season, won the series against the Dodgers, who have Shohei Ohtani on a ten-year, $700 million contract, Kyle Tucker on a four-year, $240 million contract and more than $500 million in financial obligations this year between payroll and luxury taxes.

If ever there was a sign that baseball doesn't need fixing, this is it.

This is just one thread. It's representative of a small sample, and obviously doesn't mean the Marlins are a better team or will have a better regular season record than the Dodgers. But it's an indication that structural baseball doesn't need a salary cap to be competitively balanced.

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The gap between teams and players in small samples is not that big. A bounce here or there, a pitcher or hitter getting hot at the right time, any variable can affect an outing. On Wednesday, the Marlins' expected batting average was .145. The expected batting average for the Dodgers was .246. However, the Marlins had six hits and three runs, the Dodgers had seven hits and two runs. That's baseball.

This is also why the postseason is so predictable. Playoff series are the epitome of small sample sizes, which is why making game-changing decisions based on those results makes no sense. Either team can beat the other. We just saw that this week. We hope the owners remember when the time comes to decide whether or not to blow this game up.