; 42 The Virgin Islands Daily News | SPORTS Friday, November 9, 2012 i r ” r i Boras: Dodgers ‘bought store,’ Mets ‘in freezer ; é By RONALD BLUM year in a bankruptcy court auction and i The Associated Press : the lowly San Diego Padres were na a Se bought for $800 million. ~ INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — With . Since the Dodgers were bought last a Af : 4 baseball awash in record revenue as the spring by a group headed by Mark : ‘ <4 signing season starts, Scott Boras com- Walter, Stan Kasten and Magic ———— j pares the habits of teams to families Johnson, they increased their payroll Reg aaa y| I sifting through supennarket shelves. by about $35 million, adding infielder —— of | § At the winter meetings in Dallas last explained. “But there’s a lot of good, Hanley Ramirez, first baseman Adrian l c year, the agent had this to say of the longstanding products that they can Gonzalez, closer Brandon League, | Dee financially troubled Los Angeles acquire there.” pitcher Josh Beckett and outfielder Carl ee: Dodgers and New York Mets: Slugger Josh Hamilton and pitcher Crawford. ines 4 “Normally, they’re in the steaks sec- | Zack Greinke are among the top play- The Dodgers’ payroll next year jigueeee tion, and I found them in the fruits-and- _ers in a relatively weak free-agent class | might approach or surpass that of the Wall a + ¥e J nuts category a lot.” that also includes outfielders B.J. New York Yankees, who have topped wuidiuat be sf / Since then, the Dodgers have been Upton, Michael Bourn, Torii Hunter spending every year since Los Angeles ‘aq Appia ae Nay sold for $2 billion. The Mets owners and Nick Swisher; first basemanAdam —_ edged them by $1 million in 2001. ‘ _—Z Le have agreed to pay up to $162 million LaRoche; and pitchers Kyle Lohse and New York is vowing to cut its payroll ‘ ———— = — and likely much less — in a deal Rafael Sonano. ? by 2014 because of changes in the col- _ << o ie with the trustee for Bernard Madoff’s Baseball estimates revenue this year _ lecti