One of MLB’s oldest and most iconic stadiums is getting another upgrade—this time to primarily benefit the league’s most expensive roster.
Dodger Stadium, 63 years old and MLB’s third-oldest venue, has again been under extensive renovations this offseason, with work including upgrades to both clubhouses, batting cages, the weight room, and related team facilities. The roughly $100 million effort is something of a full-circle moment for the Dodgers and ownership group Guggenheim Baseball Management.
Soon after Guggenheim completed a record-setting, $2 billion purchase of the Dodgers in 2012, player facilities were a key early point of focus. After that, the team spent many years upgrading fan-facing areas at the stadium, including the substantially remade center field plaza that became a key part of operations during the 2022 All-Star Game and 2024 World Series at Dodger Stadium—also MLB’s largest and most heavily attended stadium.
The latest initiative brings the primary focus back to the players and their wellness, particularly the Dodgers’ aggressive offseason spending and MLB-leading luxury-tax payroll of $392.5 million, more than $70 million beyond the No. 2 Mets. The team’s commitments continue to reshape the league.
“I think we’re state of the art again, until five or ten years from now,” Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten said on MLB Network Radio regarding the stadium upgrades.
While the stadium renovations have been done this offseason, Dodgers stars, including Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts, were spotted working out at Los Angeles–area high schools.
No More “Walltimore”
The Orioles, meanwhile, are completing their own offseason stadium work at Oriole Park at Camden Yards by finishing an effort to move back in a left-field wall that had been the source of hefty controversy.
The team initially moved out that portion of the wall after the 2021 season, looking to have it play friendlier to pitchers. The effort, however, became seen as overly drastic, with that section becoming known as “Walltimore” and an estimated 137 potential home runs taken away by the field expansion. The latest change brings in the wall by 9 to 20 feet, depending on the specific location, and shortens it by 3 to 6 feet.
The likely increase in offense could be a boost for an Orioles team that has reached the postseason the last two years after an extended drought, and again has championship expectations.
“The feedback we received over three years of lived experience was that it was a directionally correct move, but we overcorrected,” Orioles GM Mike Elias said last fall of the prior wall movement.
