Giants CEO calls Dodgers a 'dragon to slay'

"I think having a dragon to slay in a sport, and if you go back, it was, you know what in the NFL was, once upon a time, the Cowboys, the 49ers, had their run," Baer said on "The Dan Patrick Show." "That's not all bad. The Yankees did that in baseball, you could say that's the Dodgers now. Having a dragon to slay isn't necessarily a bad thing for the sport. We want to beat the Dodgers, and we want to be at the top of the division, and one day we want to be the dragon to slay. Baseball is unpredictable as well. When we won three championships in 2010, 12 and 14, we weren't predicted to win any of those years, and we didn't have a top five payroll any of those years. So hats off to the Dodger organization, because they've done it with obviously high price players, but they've also done it with farm system and development."

The Dodgers had one of the best offseasons, signing outfielder Kyle Tucker (four years, $240 million) and reliever Edwin Diaz (three years, $69 million) to bolster an already star-studded roster. 

Dodgers are team to beat in National League

Other than the Padres and the Giants, the National League is chock-full of teams looking to dethrone the back-to-back world champs, with the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers offering other competition. 

Having the reigning back-to-back MVP (three straight) in Shohei Ohtani to lead their lineup and a two-time Cy Young Award winner (in both leagues) in Blake Snell leading their rotation, the Dodgers have a strong chance to three-peat as champs. However, injuries are a part of the sport, and a team like the Giants could swoop in and become the dragon Baer wants to be if the Dodgers get bitten by the injury bug.