Remember the day: On Thursday, the Los Angeles Dodgers — with their $340.9M payroll — are second in the National League West, one game behind the San Diego Padres. Screenshot that. Owners and baseball executives inevitably will try gaslighting fans and players into believing a salary cap will cure Major League Baseball’s competitive imbalance, but the free-spending Dodgers are struggling to stay atop their own division despite outspending every MLB team. The Dodgers have spent 128 days in first this season, including off days, according to Baseball Reference. They held a nine-game division lead as recently as July 3. But a disastrous 10-14 July, followed by a 5-7 start to August, dropped them from first for the first time since April 27, underscoring the importance of their three-game home series against the Padres this weekend. (The Padres will host a series with the Dodgers from Aug. 23-25.) Though FanGraphs still gives the Dodgers a 99.1% chance to make the playoffs and a 62% chance to win the division
