The Dodgers spend in a very different way than the Yankees did when people hated them for doing it. NY would buy every superstar they could hitting FA plus pay/overpay to keep their own guys, but that approach wouldn't work in today's game. The Dodgers have used payroll to increase their depth and options, they don't hold onto obviously terrible contracts usually (AGon and Ethier excepted), they move them and take the financial hit, but the roster they're actually winning with isn't filled with big salary guys signed away from other teams.
Also teams like LAD and HOU and NYY are spending (I think) more and more money on scouting these days, scouting their opposition before they play them, scouting other teams to try to find young underachieving talent they can acquire cheaply, draft scouting to get steals in the lower rounds, etc.
keithlawVerified account @keithlaw 13h13 hours ago
This year's World Series pits the team with the largest analytics department (LAD) against the team most aggressive in using analytics (HOU)