“The Yankees were the best team” - Clayton Kershaw compares Dodgers’ back-to-back WS run to iconic New York dynasty

Even before the Los Angeles Dodgers won their second consecutive World Series title, they were being dubbed as the new "Evil Empire," the term used for the New York Yankees dynasty that ruled the sport in the late 1990 and early 2000s. Their aggressive approach of acquiring free agents and record spending has been a polarizing topic.

According to Dodgers veteran Clayton Kershaw, who retired at the end of the 2025 season after three World Series rings, said on the 'Literally! With Rob Lowe' podcast on its Nov. 20 episode, fans' reception of the Dodgers' spending is only helping the sport.

“I think that was the way the Yankees were. When I was growing up, the Yankees were the best team — in the World Series and winning all those,” Kershaw had said. “But I think that’s good for baseball. I really do. “Having a team that you either love, because that’s your team, or you hate because they keep winning — that’s good for baseball.”

The Yankees were dubbed the Evil Empire by then Boston Red Sox Larry Lucchino on Dec. 26, 2002, after the team acquired highly touted international players Jose Contreras and Hideki Matsui within ten days. This was an effort on the part of the Yankees to get better after they missed the World Series after four consecutive appearances from 1998 to 2001.

The changes immediately took effect as they reached their sixth Fall Classic in eight seasons in 2003. They would have made it to another if not for a resurgent Red Sox, who came back from a 3-0 deficit during the 2004 American League Championship Series.

The Dodgers' ascent has been somewhat similar. After a three-year playoff-drought breaking National League Championship Series season in 2013, the team reached the NLCS five times from 2016 to 2021. They played three World Series during that time, losing two and winning one in 2020.

To get over the hurdle of failing in the postseason, they heavily spent on their roster, deferring marquee player deals such as Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani. That star-studded roster yielded in two more World Series rings in 2024 and 2025.

Clayton Kershaw makes feelings known about Dodgers attracting Japanese viewership

The Dodgers committed more than $1 billion in salary to Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto during the 2023-24 offseason. That helped them to lure international prospect Roki Sasaki last season. The combined effect of the three Nippon Professional Baseball superstars has immensely helped the team.

Kershaw concluded that the Dodgers are helping baseball by getting more Japanese fans.

“You don’t want to be indifferent,” Kershaw said. “I think it’s good to have that. That’s what viewership is. I think this postseason — obviously with our Japan fan base, and being in Canada — it was the highest-watched postseason in a long time. So I think it’s all good for baseball.”

According to MLB, the World Series' seven games recorded an average 9.7 million viewers in Japan, with Games 6 and 7 recording 13.1 million and 12.0 million, respectively.

Edited by R. Nikhil Parshy