Dodgers finally feeling the full impact of new ownership

It was only a year ago. Twelve months. I went to the cactus league for the first time. So many conversations. The tone was always the same.

In Surprise, taking in the Dodgers and Royals:

“You’re Dodgers fans, huh?” A combination of giddiness and sorrow on the face of the man with the “KC” hat.

Out to dinner at Grimaldi’s in Scottsdale:

“… .” Silence. It’s the worst thing you can hear from a fan of the opposition. There was virtually no trash talking. It means, we don’t care about you because you don’t pose any threat to us. Those orange and black-clad Giants fans turned out to be right too. The Giants won last year’s World Series.

New Dodgers ownership has shown willingness to take chances with players like Hyun-Jin Ryu and fans are paying attention. By Owen Main

Between last year’s spring training and the end of the 2012 season, a lot happened for the Dodgers. The team was sold to an ownership group that proved their commitment to winning almost instantly with a pair of blockbuster trades. First there was Hanley Ramirez. Then there was the  trade for Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, and Carl Crawford. In a few short months, the ownership group created a buzz around the team that endured the offseason and has fans more excited this year than any in recent memory.

“The one thing that I didn’t know coming in because it was so new is how awesome the ownership group was. They’re awesome,” said Adrian Gonzalez, who played 36 games for the Dodgers after being traded from the Red Sox. “They’ve got one thing in mind and that’s to win and it’s great to be a part of.”

Even when they made the playoffs, getting over the hump to being true contenders year after year was never in the cards. The previous ownership group seemed to want to win just enough games to keep fans coming. The new ownership group wants to win. Period. At all costs. This year, the Dodgers’ payroll is expected to top $200 million. 

After a hectic final six weeks of the season during last year’s pennant chase, the core player’s on this year’s version of the Dodgers has had more time to gel this Spring.

“Guys move around so much in the league now that everybody knows everybody,” said Gonzalez. “It was just a situation where we came in, we were a few games down in both the wild card and the division and it was like ‘you got to win, you got to win’ and that made it tough. I think we put a little pressure on ourselves and we tried too hard and things didn’t come out so it’s definitely a lot more settled knowing that we’ve got a full season to go through all the ups and downs.”

Last season, the Dodgers led the division as late as August before losing the National League West to the surging Giants, who ended up winning the World Series for the second time in two years. This year though, the Dodgers are in their first spring training with the new ownership group.

“Last spring training everybody was anticipating new ownership and all that stuff and this year everything’s more settled,” said second-baseman Mark Ellis. “The feeling’s good. Expectations are high, which is good. We accept those expectations and we’re excited to get going. I think everybody’s just anxious to get out of here and start playing the regular season.”

The team has also invested more than $100 million on stadium renovations in the offseason according to team president Stan Kasten, doing work on every level of the stadium to benefit “every single fan, whether it’s bathrooms, concessions, concourses, artwork,” said Kasten.

After testing out the new digs during the freeway series this weekend, the Dodgers will begin the season on Opening Day — April 1st — at 1:10 pm vs. the Giants.