Shane Greene, a former major league pitcher, offered a defense of the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 2021 and 2022, he was part of the organization that's now coming under criticism after it traded for pitcher Tarik Skubal and increased its already mammoth player payroll.
The Dodgers have a payroll of $312 million, second only to the New York Mets with $317 million, according to Spotrac.
“The Dodgers are ruining baseball, they say. Well, coming from somebody who's been in that locker room, they're doing the opposite of ruining baseball,’’ Greene said in a video posted to Instagram. “They're actually making it better, at least for the players.
“I played for a lot of enormous teams. The Yankees, the Tigers, the Braves, the Dodgers, and the Cubs. Pitched
for all of them in the big leagues, sat in all their pitchers’ meetings. The Dodgers do it the best, man.’’
Greene, who last pitched in the major leagues in 2023 with the Cubs, was 24-29 with a 4.50 ERA and a 2019 All-Star appearance during his 10-year career.
During his time with the Dodgers, Greene pitched 8 2/3 innings with a 3.12 ERA while allowing three runs in 10 games.
“I was a Dodger for 20 seconds and they sat me down and said I've been tipping my slider for the last three years." Greene said. “Tipping my slider, that's been my best pitch. Imagine if I wasn't tipping my slider for three years.
“After my first outing as a Dodger, I was sitting in the food room and one of the guys walked up to me, put their phone on the counter with a picture of me and said, ‘This is what you were doing when you were throwing your change up,’ and then swiped to the next picture and said, ‘This is what you were doing when you were throwing your fastball.’ They're just the best, man.’’
Greene also said, “They give you the most information and they translate that information the best as well.’’
In a separate video, Greene mentioned the Mets in context of the criticism being directed at the Dodgers.
“But nobody's talking about the Mets,’’ he said. “The Mets payroll, how much money they're spending and they stink. … just because you spend money doesn't mean you win.’’
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Former All-Star defends MLB's villains: 'Dodgers do it the best, man'
