The Dodgers are officially the team the rest of baseball dreads

Who’s afraid of the big, bad wolf? Apparently everybody.

The Dodgers are planning to take over the universe, or at least that portion that resides in Major League Baseball. And if the rest of baseball only suspected or feared the possibility, it’s all out there now.

The Dodgers had what you might consider a pretty good weekend. They huffed and they puffed, and then went out and landed two more starting pitchers. Which only gives them eight, but who’s counting? Not these guys.

Could Anibal Sanchez be next? Hey, why not? The more the merrier. They always say you can never have too much good pitching, though the Dodgers seem intent on testing that maxim.

News came out late Saturday night that the Dodgers had all but signed free-agent plum Zack Greinke, at the tidy rate of $147 million for six years.

Then came the ticking clock Sunday afternoon, the Dodgers having until 2 p.m. to sign South Korean left-hander Ryu Hyun-jin, for whom they’d already posted a $25.7-million fee to his home team just to negotiate with him.

A few minutes after 2 p.m., the Dodgers had another starter. I guess it was suspenseful for someone, but really, was there ever a doubt? These are the new black-hole Dodgers, consuming everything in their path.

The Dodgers now have a possible rotation of Clayton Kershaw, Greinke, Chad Billingsley, Josh Beckett and Ryu. Then there are holdovers Ted Lilly, Chris Capuano and Aaron Harang. Guess the team’s going to survive losing Joe Blanton in free agency to the Angels.

Ryu remains something of an unknown, with no South Korean ever coming directly to the major leagues before. It’s also possible that the Dodgers could at least start him in the bullpen. Regardless, they should now have at least two starters available for trade, likely Capuano and Harang.

You would think they could fortify their bench dealing those guys.

Meanwhile, everybody not cheering the Boys in Blue is bemoaning the financial behemoth that is the new Dodgers. Hey, whine until you lose your voice. Anyone who stood by the Dodgers through the last few years of Frank McCourt and his embarrassing bankruptcy has earned this moment.

The Dodgers reportedly signed Ryu for six years at $36 million (which means $62 million total) and will now assuredly have the first National League payroll over $200 million. And they will likely surpass the Yankees for highest payroll in baseball, which might have last happened when Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis was around.

Hey, it’s only early December. What’s next? Not sure, but if the Dodgers start huffing and puffing again, it’s look out below.

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