Insufferable Dave Roberts quote gives Dodgers haters all the fuel they need

The Los Angeles Dodgers have made more than their fair share of enemies over the last 18 months or so. That's what happens when you splash over a billion dollars in contracts in a single offseason, then rampage your way to a World Series, then spend the next offseason handing out even more money while simultaneously landing arguably the most team-friendly free agent in the sport. Even if you're not among those who feel that L.A. lapping the rest of the field financially has broken the sport, it's awfully easy to root against the team that everyone views as inevitable.

But just in case that wasn't all reason enough, the Dodgers have made sure to do whatever else they have to do to make sure that everyone outside of Southern California is cheering on their downfall this season. It's one thing to make no apologies about the money that you spend, and ask why the other billionaires around you aren't spending in kind. But it's quite another to act like every other team in the league hardly exists.

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Dave Roberts has Dodgers leaning a bit too far into Evil Empire status

And manager Dave Roberts veered awfully close to the latter on Wednesday. With his team reporting to spring training in Arizona this week, Roberts met with the media one more time during what's been an awfully public offseason. Naturally he was asked about the talent his team has amassed, and the attention all that talent receives. His response was ... bold, to say the least.

In fairness, it's hard to argue that Roberts is wrong here. The Dodgers have been the topic of conversation on everybody's lips this entire winter, for better or worse, and that's not even considering the fact that the team is already halfway done stamping its logo all over the entire country of Japan — one of the most baseball-mad places on Earth. Like it or not, players have made very clear that L.A. is where just about everyone wants to be right now, and they've undoubtedly gotten everyone's attention.

Of course, not all attention is good attention, as the Dodgers are no doubt about to find out during the course of a regular season in which they'll get every team's best shot and every crowd's full ire. L.A. doesn't owe anyone any apologies for trying to build the best baseball team money can buy; if other organizations don't like it, they can do something about it on the field. But Roberts and Co. are inviting even more scrutiny with each passing day, and they better be sure they're prepared to cash the checks their talk is writing.