2013: 2
2014: 1
2015: 1
2016: 1
2017: 1
2018: 3
2019: 4
If you refuse to see the correlation between these figures and contending, then I just don’t know what to tell you. Yes, much of it goes to non-roster players, but having a top payroll means you can buy players out and move on, instead of being stuck with them for the duration of the contract. That’s a huge advantage - just look across town to see how the inability to eat bad contracts kills a team’s competitiveness. The Dodgers will ALWAYS contend with a Top 5 payroll, even more so when they have a great leader like Roberts.
And FTR I don’t give a rat’s patootie about what Correa says, he was wrong, & he’s not “my guy”.