Jeff Passan defends old takes on Dodgers’ ‘advantage’ after revelations about owner Mark Walter

For years, as the Los Angeles Dodgers have been used as a stalking horse for the impending MLB lockout, ESPN insider Jeff Passan has been among the most vocal baseball reporters shielding the back-to-back World Series champs from blame.

After almost every big recent acquisition by the team, Passan has reminded readers that other teams are not as well-run or as aggressive as the Dodgers. Passan’s reporting on the league’s labor tensions balances the owners’ never-ending push for a salary cap with the players’ union’s refusal to give in — and has more specific numbers and arguments than perhaps any other reporter. When Passan has reported on teams’ belief that, say, the Dodgers’ back-to-back championships or their trade for ace Tarik Skubal spell doom for the sport, he explains why the sky is not falling.

At the same time, especially in posts on social media, Passan has at times appeared defensive of the Dodgers. In one post last offseason, Passan wrote that the Dodgers had “cracked the system.” In another, from late 2024, Passan wrote that the Dodgers “print cash” and that other teams “choose not to” spend at their level.

The recent news that owner Mark Walter is under federal investigation, and allegedly laundered customers’ insurance payments to enrich himself, certainly changes how L.A.’s financial situation will be viewed. Even if Walter’s group does not sell the Dodgers, the scrutiny on the team is intense.

In a new episode of his podcast Sources Tell Jeff Passan, the ESPN reporter adds to that scrutiny by also revisiting the Dodgers’ historic local television deal (which Walter reportedly tried to cash out of to address his financial troubles). Over the course of the episode, Passan reaffirms the team’s extraordinary “advantage” over most of the rest of MLB. He admits that not every team “can be just like the Dodgers” and clarifies his stance on the team’s status as momentum builds toward a lockout.

“If I could be clear for a second, that’s what it was … it was an advantage. A big advantage. And that’s vital to all this,” Passan said.

“As much as other teams could, and you could argue should be more aggressive in their pursuit of a championship, that does not mean that any team can be just like the Dodgers. I have never said that, I never would say that, because it’s not true.

“I have said that other teams should try and emulate the Dodgers’ desire to win, and that plenty have greater ability to do so than they choose to in reality. And I’ll stand by that contention all day.”

Everything you need to know about the investigation into Dodgers owner Mark Walter and Guggenheim: Why it’s happening, what it involves, how it’s tied to the Dodgers and what it means going forward. The full story that helps separate fact from fiction. https://t.co/FWrX73iR0b

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 25, 2026

While Passan is correct that he never exactly said no other team could replicate the Dodgers’ formula, he has come close to making that point.

After the team signed Kyle Tucker last offseason, Passan wrote that “nothing in the rules stops other owners from replicating the Dodgers’ behavior, other than their own willingness to deficit spend.”

This summer after the Skubal trade, Passan said on Get Up that “the Dodgers are just doing what the system encourages them to do, and that’s what this is about.”

Some online continued to pester Passan after the new podcast investigation, including one user who said Passan was “late” to his revelations about the team and its TV deal.

“Better late and thorough than early and inaccurate,” Passan responded.

Passan reports that L.A. has saved more than $1.3 billion in payments it should have made to MLB’s revenue-sharing pool due to agreements stemming from its bankruptcy under previous ownership. Combined with the questions around Walter’s fortune, and the team’s penchant for deferring large portions of its stars’ contracts, these findings understandably frustrate rival fanbases.

People love a target, and a very public reporter is an easier one than the MLB league office or even Walter. Splitting hairs over Passan’s perspective on the Dodgers doesn’g change the fact that MLB owners have pushed for a salary cap for decades not to improve the league’s competitive balance but to create cost certainty, raise franchise values, and box their labor into a more controllable system for the long haul.