With Padilla filling that vacancy and veteran Jamey Carroll signed to compete with Blake DeWitt at second base, the Dodgers accomplished their major off-season goals.
The Dodgers' opening-day payroll projects to be below $90 million for the first time since 2005 and the second time since 1999. Twelve teams opened last season with payrolls above $90 million.
McCourt said he would rather look ahead to the start of spring training than look back and reconsider whether he might have spoken up sooner, in explaining how the Dodgers would focus on their young stars and sign complementary free agents rather than costly ones.
"Pundits can opine on what was smart, what was dumb, what was this, what was that," McCourt said. "But you know what? With all due respect, it's irrelevant to me. I have to do what I'm comfortable doing.
"When I was comfortable talking, I did that. I'm excited about spring training. I'm excited about the season. We're less than a month away, so I thought it was an appropriate time to address some of the issues I understood were on the fans' minds."
