The Dodgers have signed president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman to a contract extension, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports. Terms of the deal are unknown, but it figures to be a large payday for Friedman, whose previous deal was worth a reported $35MM over five years. At the time, that was a record-setting pact for a baseball executive.
Locking up Friedman was a long-expected move for Los Angeles, which has been overwhelmingly successful since it pried him from Tampa Bay after the 2014 season. While the Dodgers’ long-running championship drought has continued since then, they have taken the NL West in each season during Friedman’s reign and won two pennants.
Friedman was at the helm when the Dodgers hired Dave Roberts as their manager entering 2016, though some fans of the team haven’t been enamored of that move. Nevertheless, Roberts has a fan in Friedman, who stuck by the skipper after the eventual title-winning Nationals upset the club in the first round of the playoffs this fall.
Roberts has been in charge of an enviable group of talent supplied in part by Friedman, who has acquired several stars during his run in LA. Max Muncy was a waiver claim who has turned into a standout, while the valuable Chris Taylor came over in an under-the-radar trade with the Mariners in 2016. Meantime, newly named NL MVP Cody Bellinger, Corey Seager, Alex Verdugo, Julio Urias and Ross Stripling represent inherited players who have developed well in the Friedman era, and the team has drafted legitimate major leaguers such as Walker Buehler, Will Smith and Tony Gonsolin during his run. It also owns one of the majors’ premier farm systems, a group headlined by Friedman draft picks in Gavin Lux (first round, 2016) and Dustin May (third round, ’16).
Friedman has excelled at loading the ultra-rich Dodgers with cheap talent, but after coming over from a low-budget team, he has largely shied away from huge contracts. Re-signing longtime ace Clayton Kershaw (three years, $93MM), closer Kenley Jansen (five years, $80MM) and and third baseman Justin Turner (four years, $64MM) stand as the largest commitments the team has doled out under Friedman. Kershaw and Turner remain highly valuable, though Jansen has fallen off over the past couple seasons. Furthermore, free-agent signing A.J. Pollock – whom the Dodgers guaranteed four years and $60MM last winter – disappointed in his first season with the club. On the other hand, Japanese righty Kenta Maeda has delivered since the Dodgers inked him to an eight-year, $25MM guarantee in advance of the 2016 campaign.
The Dodgers have the financial might to pull off more headline-grabbing signings before next season, but it remains to be seen whether Friedman will take that route. Their most notable acquisitions may end up coming via trade, as Friedman has aggressively tried to upgrade his roster by swinging deals for the likes of Manny Machado, Yu Darvish, Yasmani Grandal and Enrique Hernandez in the past.
Regardless of how Friedman attempts to improve the Dodgers this offseason, they appear to be in good hands with him at the controls. No matter what happens in the coming months, they’ll be the clear-cut favorites to enter 2020 as NL West favorites and a team on the short list of predicted World Series winners. As such, it’s no surprise the Dodgers decided to keep Friedman under wraps going forward.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Mama June loves this.
Wait, you’re still alive?
Alive and well.
Good, It takes skill to keep a team competitive and producing a consistently good farm.
E-i-e-i-o
lol you mean 300 million. not hard to win if you spend that much.
jtvincent…clearly you have no idea how the Dodgers are being run. Do some research before you make yourself look like a fool on the internet.
Helpful! Some questions for you:
Is looking like a fool on the internet alright after doing research?
Is research required before one look like a prick on the internet?
You haven’t been paying attention the last few years.
context is important – they wouldn’t have been able to implement the low spending they are doing now without the high spending and payroll flexibility in the past. A lot of the experimenting and retention required high priced front office hires, spending on bad contracts that have since expired to stock the farm, etc. I am not saying it is totally wrong but it isn’t the straight ahead spending plan you seem to indicate
Its sad there are people that actually believe that. Happened once in 2015 Vincent, do some research.
arne23 and gravel sound like the same person. Just sayin.
Thanks for checking. I only have this one account. Cheers!
“Cheers!”
Really?
Would it have been better if I said, “GarysOldeTowneTavern!”?
Huh? The dodgers have been hovering around 175mil. Where did you get 300 from? What players have dodgers spent big money on? And we all know you can’t buy a ring anyway these days. You sounds pretty ignorant. Better to educate yourself before posting again
sounds???
NO – Freidman STARTS the season down around the $180M payroll mark but always ends VERY close to the max without tax. 2019 was $206Mill = Right there. 2020 will end near the new max around $208M. Team needs are NEVER met with top tier, WS quality talent. Mostly just has beens or long time IL guys – Freidman LOVES IL players for some reason. I HATE this extension.
You’re half right. I do agree that most championships these days aren’t bought, but some are. 2009 and 2018 are a few to mention. With that being said, they weren’t sustainable.
Since they don’t spend $300 million, I guess you’re the big joke, JT.
Jtvincent they are under the salary cap so it’s not a case of buying the best talent. Biggest mystery here is why they continue to put up with Roberts!
Sure, but it’d look much nicer if they had WS ring.
odd, and representative of the greater dodger brand. “Good” is good enough.
The Dodgers have been better than good.
Yup, good n’ ringless.
Like many many other teams.
lol
Well, “good” also has them averaging nearly 4 million fans each of the last 6 seasons. They may not have a ring, but they’re doing something right.
It’s all about the ring
True. A World Series Championship would give LA half a dozen.
Yup, they’ve been able to jack up ticket prices every year. Keeping that trend going at a minimum of cost is Friedman’s main task. Winning a championship for all the fans they are soaking, not so much.
To the fans and the players, it’s about the ring. To ownership it’s about the m-o-n-e-y. Thing is, the fans are starting to catch on.
Unfortunately, all owners are about the money. Teams that put solid teams that are good during the regular season just hide it better.
They don’t need to hide anything. Everybody know baseball is a business. But there’s more than one way to run the business of baseball. Compare the philosophy behind the Red Sox to the Dodgers. When Boston has a good shot they go all-in even if it means they won’t be as competitive for the next couple of years as they might have been. That approach has won their fans four championships in 17 years. An impressive record that has to be pretty satisfying to their fans, and is the reason the Red Sox broke their legendary drought. The Dodgers are being run the Kasten way, which is being good enough to win a division (in which they have little competition) every year and then hoping to get lucky in the postseason. The fans don’t get the same satisfaction. Kasten’s track record speaks for itself. As long as the Dodgers are run his way, luck is our only hope of seeing a break in our drought, which at 31 years now is also approaching legendary status. So two models of how to make money running a ball club. One of them is far more fan-friendly than the other.
The Red Sox just fired their GM because they wan’t to get under the luxury tax. In fact they have fired 2 GM’s pretty quickly after championships. The Dodgers very well could have been cheated out of a title and played in a home game with a chance to win the World Series. Had they won that game you would not be saying any of this. But sure put all the blame on Friedman and Kasten who couldn’t hit in game 7.
I am talking about results, not the backroom stuff. Whatever they are doing to get there, the Red Sox deliver for their fans on as regular a basis as any team in baseball over the last 20 years. The fact that the Dodgers don’t deliver for their fans should be indisputable by now. It’s reasonable to at least ask at this point whether management even cares, especially given the comments made by Kasten and Friedman over the years. I mean, read that article I linked. Go ahead, find something in Friedman’s thinking that gives you confidence. I’d like to know what it is.
Were the Dodgers cheated out of a championship in 2017? Maybe, we may even find out someday. But just the same, Game 7 was over in the second inning. Having actually paid to see that miserable game I can also report on the mood in stadium. It was foul, and it has never been quite the same since. I was also at the equally bad Game 5 last year, and NLDS Game 2 this year. The Dodger were totally baffled in each one of them. The fans are no longer cheering for the team to succeed, they are praying for them to not fail again. A very different atmosphere. If I have to stand in for all the disillusioned Dodger fans who actually go to games, then so be it. I’m just telling you what it’s like. Not fun.
You compared the philosophies. The Red Sox want to go to a Dodgers like philosophy and thats pretty evident now. The Red Sox have obviously had better playoff results but that stems from their players not choking and having a clutch factor the Dodgers have not. They have had a ton of role players step up and become playoff heros. It has nothing to do with an aggressive or not aggressive front office. The Red Sox had multiple valuable prospects they completely wasted who were busts around 2014. You would never think that with how you said their “philosophy” was.
The world series with the astros.That was our ring.I cryied when dodgers lost.They laugh in our face in our house.I know the game as well as you or anyone else.But do you remember jose altuve just kept moving his jaw everytime he goes back to da dugout.He wouldnt stop talking.He would walk back & forth.And i know & felt something wasnt rigth.CarlosBeltran and alex cora or i can remember his name.I think joey.Something was really fishi and it was loud.Why would someone bang to make noise.why would some one say las tortas,why would you wistle.Why didnt they suspend the astro 1st base for making comments,about Jarvis.Im sure front office sees all of this.
Yes, I did. In midseason 2018 the Red Sox were rolling but they still made three impact trades and gave up some of their future to button it up. So why did they have better playoff results, just good luck? Why do the Dodgers always seem to be so unprepared and choke, just bad luck? That’s the question Friedman was asked in effect in the article nobody seems to want to read. His answer is, basically, “I don’t know. We’ll look into it, maybe we’ll figure it out.” Wait, didn’t he just hand pick a new hitting coach who was supposed to figure it out? Oh, yeah, he did. So is it unfair to ask how that’s working out? That’s why this “it’s never Friedman’s fault” theory doesn’t cut any ice with me. It’s his team, built on his choices, for better and worse. Don’t be giving him a pass on the results, is what I am saying. Maybe his boss isn’t going to make him own them, but as fans, we should.
Heck yeah my dodgers were cheated.Andrew Friedman knows that we were cheated,Maybe thats why he took rich hill out.
If the Dodgers got Kinsler and Eovaldi the fans would have called it underwhelming. No one knew Eovaldi was going to spit out gas in October so to say that was a major impact deal at the time is hindsight. And trading Jaylen Beek/Ty Buttrey is certainly not risking part of the future. The Dodgers got Manny Machado that deadline so what was that chopped liver? Is getting the best player available not impact enough for you? How else do you hold a exec accountable other than firing them? The idea of firing Friedman is downright comical. Kasten tells him what he can spend. If Kasten says you cant go over the luxury tax after losing game 7 of the world series at home what else can Friedman do but get them under? Your picking Kastens bone with Friedman.
The Dodgers didn’t need Kinsler or Eovaldi (or Pearce, who you missed), they needed bullpen help more than anything else. And who did they get? I shouldn’t have to name the names, or how they worked out, should I? And yes, Friedman takes his orders from Kasten, and Roberts from Friedman, and they are all on the same page. That is the point I’ve made so many times even I’m tired of hearing me say it.
Man you are really dodging the whole trading for Machado thing. I don’t know how anyone could seriously try and make an argument the Dodgers are not aggressive enough in the one season where they actually were. Even if you add Pearce you said the Red Sox gave up part of their future at that deadline. That is certainly not true those 3 names were all middle tier deals at best where they did not move any big prospects. If you think a bullpen arm would have impacted their chances more than Machado you are seriously lying to yourself. The Dodgers do not make the world series or even win the division without Machado and this is not debatable. And how about the NLCS ? The Brewers had a dominate vaunted bullpen and guess who’s bullpen performed far better….. Even in the World Series the Dodgers lack of offense was a bigger issue than the bullpen.
Man you are really mixing up renting a player for less than a half season (while STAYING UNDER THE SALARY TAX) and actually SIGNING a top tier player long term. Correctly classify what Freidman DID and DID NOT do. He said from the moment Machado came on board that Machado was a rental and SS belonged to the returning Seager (stupid to say that to the press by the way because Manny then played like a rental). Small Market Minded Freidman will NEVER make a long term commitment to an outside Top Tier Free Agent. Kershaw and Jansen were retained, not Bought. Freidman always “just misses” the top tier guys because he WANTS TO. If he can get them at what he thinks is below their market, he’ll take them – hence the lowball. The BIG trade will never happen because it means loosing possible decent 6 year control players for a definite long term big salary. Freidman will not do that. He has been charged with staying under the Salary Tax for FIVE years (Owners issued a prospectus stating 5 years when soliciting partners in ownership) and it has only been Two years. THAT is why the owners extended Small Market Freidman. All of you keep buying Freidman’s leaks and winks. Bottom line is that winning anything more than the Division is not the Front Office goal. If it happens they will be glad to smile, bow and take credit. If it does not, well “They just wanted too much [money/talent]. so we will go with our prospects.” 3 more years of this….at least. So expect 34 years at least, before we get another WS Championship.
Man, you are totally dodging everything I said. Did you read that article yet? Might give us something to talk about if you would just click that link.
I literally addressed everything you said about the Red Sox, their “aggressiveness” and supposedly mortgaging part of their future for mid tier trades and the Dodgers approach themselves with Machado when you said they are not aggressive and actually had the audacity to say a pen arm was a bigger need. I guess when you cant counter anything I said its “read the article”.
@bluetrue, What big free agent has been worth it? How many big Dodger prospects have come up and produced. Believe it or not I actually would agree with you if there was no track record of these things working. But over the years the amount of awful 100+ million contracts has far outweighed the good. The “prospects” have done a ton for the Dodgers. Thats why I think this year we may see a bigger move. Rendon and Cole by far the best free agent in this era. There hasn’t beem a big move because there have not been playees worth it.
Nope, you literally addressed none of it. The Machado trade was fine, and necessary. Good work. Bullpen help was equally necessary but Friedman went dumpster diving instead. Bad work. You are also trying desperately to spin my point about Boston. I won’t repeat it, but here’s a hint: I didn’t use the word “aggressive,” you did. And yes, and you still refuse to read the article, which only goes to show your intentions to avoid any information that doesn’t support your goal of giving Friedman a pass. Such as the slightly important question of why the team was so obviously unprepared for how they’d be pitched in the postseason. But who cares about that?
So in the end it’s all about accountability. As a fan I’m not handing any one a pass and I am puzzled by why any fan would. This is where we differ, I guess, so perhaps this is where we should leave it until next time. For sure there will be a next time, and I can promise you now that my position then will be exactly the same as now: applause for good work, thumbs down for bad work. No free passes.
My opinion on da machado.Friedman made this deal go trough,For one reason.We were in need of shortstop.Seager was done for the season.Now, Arizona was going to pick Machado at the time.I saw it coming as alot of people did as well. Friedman got machado as a rental,yes, rental.But what many people dont realize he got machado too BLOCK arizona from getting him.If Friedman doesnt gat machado.Then the Dodgers would never win the division.That was a smart move.
Thunderbolt, NewsCorp and McCourt have invited you to a lunch buffet.
I bet it is for big bucks!
Jury is still out on whether he can assemble a decent pen.
Get over the pen already. A World Series winner built around a dominant bullpen last happened in 2015. Starters and bats are far more important.
If what you say is true they would not have gone after Chapman or shown interest in Velasquez. And how did using Kershaw work out as a reliever? The Dodgers using starters as relievers HAS NOT WORKED! Unbelievable.
I didn’t say neglect it entirely, you can go after good players lol. Pursuing the best LHRPs in baseball is not shocking in the least. Using starters out of the pen has worked but I never said that had to be the strategy. Maeda is fantastic out of the pen. Kershaw has more good history coming out of the pen than bad, but hey just ignore 2>1.
They had a trade in place for Chapman and Osuna before each of their domestic violence issues came to light. Yanks and Asstros had no trouble signing them, bag and baggage.
It will be interesting to see how FO’s across MLB reassess their evaluation of the value of RP with the the 3 batter rule coming into effect in 2020.
It was a near epic matchup in the WS with Cole/Verlander and Scherzer/Strasberg.
It seems Verlander’s playoff numbers aren’t too different than Kersh’s.
Maeda is fantastic out of the pen in the playoffs? Well you must be much smarter than me because I could not find the statistical splits to support this. I’m sure if you said it, then it must be true. Saw with Kershaw has more good history out of the pen? Again, where’s the data, because frankly all i can remember is that Kershaw has a history of melting down in the playoffs. Again, I’m sure you wouldn’t say it, if it was not fact.
If you don’t know how to use baseball reference thats on you. Its all spelled out there. Maeda has 1 bad series out of the pen in a 3 postseason sample size. You may dwell on Kershaw blowing it this year vs the Nats but in 2016 he got the save in a tight game 5 so thats a wash. His other outing of the pen was 4 shutout innings in game 7 of the world series. By simple math thats more good than bad. In all honesty Kersahaw should not be coming out of the pen from this point on and I never considered him a factor. But he is all you seem to consider in this topic. I think Urias, May and Gonsolin are good options for an October pen but again you think Kershaw is the only pitcher on the roster.
The Dodgers we’re interested in Chapman and Vazquez before the allegations came out on both. Do your homework.
David you should educate yourself to this team. Dodgers had a trade in place for Chapman. Then the domestic violence stuff came about and dodgers walked. Starters out of the pen works for certain scenarios. Look it up.
Actually the Chapman deal fell through before the domestic violence incident came up. It was a matter of a few days but it was before.
With Freidman ALL of them involving top tier talent fall through.
In reply to david,I would have to go back and replay all games to point it out.
This is simply not true. The deal fell through because of the allegations of DV. Look it up for yourself. Dodgers had no reason to back out of the trade.
How can you seriously look back and say they backed out of the Chapman deal for any reason but his DV incident?
Yes they are probably connected, we just don’t know how exactly. The incident occurred months before the Dodgers supposedly had a trade in place for him. If that incident had been disclosed by the Reds they very likely would never even attempted to deal for him. So, it seems, it wasn’t known to the Dodgers at that time. When they found out we don’t know for sure. It may have come up in the Dodgers’ due diligence. All we know is they apparently walked away from the deal before the public became aware of it. That’s all I am saying.
How’s that? A couple years ago dodgers had the best pen in the league. Even this last season dodgers were right around the 15th mark. Not great but not bad either.
You are wrong 2 years ago only Jansen and Morrow were good the other bullpen pitchers let a lot of inherited runners score
Should’ve saddled him with a qualifying offer. Nobody can sign him without giving up a hotdog vender and an arcade version of Excitebike…
Like the random Cheers reference.
I like this signing, but Friedman needs to hire a GM. Better decisions were made when he had a Think Tank.
Oh, great. Another 5 years of him wanting to have his cake and eat it too. Lets compete for a world series but not give up any top prospects in meaningful trades. I can’t wait to see the list of journeymen relievers he brings into spring training to fix our biggest need.
I’d love him to be running the Cubs and would trade the Dodgers basically anything for him. He gets the Dodgers in the playoffs every yr with home field advantage for the most part. Once your in the playoffs anything can happen. Like the Nats winning it this yr.
Also, if he was dumb enough to deal guys like MVP Bellinger and others the Dodgers would already need to rebuild. Plus you guys could have that turd Felipe Vazquez on your roster if he would’ve dealt prospects for him. The grass isn’t always greener.
One point. In the National league west, it’s not hard to get in the playoffs yearly.
2018, two NL West teams made the postseason.
2017, three NL West teams made the postseason.
2016, two NL West teams made the postseason.
2015, two NL West teams made the postseason.
2014, two NL West teams made the postseason.
Four of those five seasons, the NL West produced the NL pennant winner, and two titles. The NL West has had really good teams for years now, and not teams just picking on weaklings.
Three pennants, one title. Cubs and Mets won the other pennants.
People are acting like it’s the 90s. lol. The NL west has consistently been one of the best most competitive divisions in baseball. That is not only the opinion of everybody in the industry, but numbers back it up as well.
Imagine being mad he has a track record of holding on to prospects that become good MLB players and trading the ones that haven’t so far. Go ahead and name 1 prospect who he kept who could have got him a big return and ended up being a bust. You can’t
Right, it’s pretty idiotic for any Dodger fan to have anything negative to say about Friedman. Anyone who knows anything knows he’s the envy of pretty much all other organizations.
You need to get out more. That may be the view from Chicago but I guarantee it is not the view from Dodgerland.
You mean the 5% of Dodger fans that are vocal naysayers.
You also need to get out more. Its hard to miss how the atmosphere in Dodger Stadium has grown increasingly hostile, especially towards the end of last season. The home team is getting booed loudly, and not for no reason. This is a crowd of fans that has come to expect disappointment.
amk310 – Friedman has traded two prospects whose star rose after leaving the org. One of them, Yordan Alvarez, was traded less than a month after signing, and never played a game for the club. The rumor going around is that he was signed for the Astros in a pre-arranged deal to acquire bullpen help (that didn’t work out well).
The other is Oneil Cruz, who was a 6′-7″ stringbean, an NBA-type athlete, and they got 2+ effective months of relief pitching.
The best prospect Friedman traded was Jose De Leon, and his arm went kablooey shortly afterwards, though he seems to be back as a reliever. Maybe.
I’d love a ring. I don’t have a problem with hanging on to the Bellingers and such, for obvious reasons.
You can’t be serious? Friedman has been a MASTER in LA. Every team in MLB would want him running their baseball operations if he were available. He is hands down the best in the business! Great signing by the Dodgers owners.
I’m a Dodger fan.
Cashman hasn’t done so bad
Worked out pretty well so far. Have won the division every year, went back to back World Series. This winter I think Lux is gone. But we will see. And if not, maybe he can suck it up the way Bellinger has right? He should have been traded too. Oh wait.
The irony is that if Freidman had traded lux at MID season, we would have had MUCH better pitching for the playoffs and wouldn’t have had to rely on Jansen and iffy playoff Kersh so much. A stronger closer with spot relief by Jansen might have taken us all the way. Freidman SAYS lots of things and then doesn’t do them. He is Small Market minded and will keep holding onto those prospects for which he has 6 year control and lower payroll. When was the last time Freidman traded or signed a top tier player to a multiyear commitment/contract. He’s always “in” on everyone, but always says “we missed by that much.”
Yeah, Lux for Vazquez would’ve been great.
You have to be joking? Who on the pitching market was out there worth trading for Lux? NO ONE. You are talking straight out of your behind because Jansen was used twice in blowouts last postseason, so a non factor. What games relying on Jansen are you referring to?
I’m loathe to say it, but this is a good move by the Dodgers.
I’m a 50 year Dodger fan and I loath Scrooge Freidman. YOU think he’s smart for holding on to all the prospects. We’ve been absurdly lucky with this crop of prospects and when some begin to wither, they are worth LESS IN Exchange. 31 years since last WS Championship and I’ll bet the house 2020 will be 32. I’ll bet the car we NEVER have a WS Championship under Freidman.
Enjoy walking.
Lucky? He keeps the ones that work out, trades the ones that largely don’t, and he’s lucky, not correct in evals and succeeding with player development. Thank goodness the inmates aren’t running the asylum.
No. I think his roster construction, player development, and talent evaluation are among the top in the game.
Anyone who claims he hasn’t made a bold move at the trade deadline conveniently forgets Yu Darvish and Manny Machado.
Andrew Friedman is smart trust in him.Ive been following andrew since college and let me tell you something,Hes going to deliver that WS in los angeles.Besides him being the master of everything in da front office,and i know he has alot going.But he needs that other person to help him,Being that his rigth hand men left his torpedo (zaidi)Andrew Friedman is looking around for the rigth candidate to fill in that hole.
perhaps the best GM in baseball. routinely provides the talent until Roberts mismanages the pen in the world series.
The Dodgers don’t have a GM. Friedman just gave Roberts a long extension. Hmmm.
Friedman is essentially the GM
I agree with that much. No point in having a GM to work under Friedman, since he clearly thinks he can do it all.
You have never explained just what Friedman did to you, Blue Sky. Take your lunch money? What?
Been listening to the same diatribe for a couple of years.
You’ve been listening to someone who’s gotten it right for the last couple of years. Well, not listening exactly. I wouldn’t go that far.
Wrong.
Wish he was running the Cubs.
As a 50 year Dodger fan, I agree, I wish he was running the Cubs.
As a 60 year Dodger fan, I must respectfully disagree. The problem is Roberts? The problem is not Friedman.
That’s silly. The Dodgers are dominant every single year and just haven’t gotten over the hump in the playoffs. 2018 they ran into a wrecking ball in the Red Sox. A front office may goal is to get into the playoffs every yr because once in anything can happen like the Nats beating the Astros (who were the obvious favorite and better team). Plus if he trades some of the great prospects you guys have there’s no way the sustained success of making the playoffs every yr would be going on. I get the frustration on not winning it, but that’s not his fault.
Just for the record, the Dodgers won the division the two seasons before Friedman was hired, and in three of the six seasons before. And those wins were accomplished with very modest payrolls, clueless and bankrupt owners and decimated scouting and farm operations. But why let the record stand in the way of Friedman adoration?
Stating his history with the team is adoring? Someone is reading too much into it.
No, I just stated the team history. This article gives him credit for everything.
Good point BlueSky
Which makes what he’s done even more impressive because he hasn’t had any high draft picks and pretty much all the talent from the playoff teams before him has been gone since he took over.
But the previous teams were winning too so the previous regime did not have high picks either but the previous regimes landed Bellinger and Seager and still have several of the Dodgers top prospects accounted for, like Verdugo, Urias and Stripling
Modest payrolls? They were close to $300M at one point in time during that stretch! Friedman got them under the cap and has acquired & developed some of the best talent in MLB.
At one point in time after the new ownership took over. Are we forgetting the bankrupt McCourts before that? Clueless Fox before that? Or the three divisions they won during that awful stretch? I’m not. Those payrolls were less than half of what the Dodgers are spending now.
It’s almost like inflation is a thing.
Except that it isn’t an inflation thing. The Dodger payrolls ranked around 10-12th in baseball during most of this period, You could look it up. At the same time Fox and McCourt also disinvested in the scouting and farm operations turning one of the strongest in baseball into one of the weakest.
Top of cycle: “Wahhh he won’t trade prospects away”
Bottom of cycle: “Wahhh he mortgaged the future trading prospects away”
Big market problems.
Yep pretty much that’s the way a lot of fans seem. Those same fans were mad that he didn’t deal away some of their top prospects for child abuser Felipe Vazquez.
Every fanbase has some who aren’t happy unless they’re miserable. Heck, even if the Dodgers had won the series, they’d be like, “Yeah, but it wasn’t the ‘right’ kimd of WS win”, or, “Awesome, now he can move on to a new challenge, right? RIGHT?”
Nope. Not even close.
In good hands as in setting on hands.
I love your comment.
Congratulation to Andrew Friedman.He has done a terrific job putting the team together.Hes one of the best if not the best.Im a big fan of Andrew Friedman.
Andy, is that you ?
So the Dodgers extend a guy who admitted that his system was geared to win the regular season & not win the post season.
Shush now. Most people don’t about about that and don’t want to know.
The fans know all of this i even know all of this for the longest Business is business.I dont hate.
Yep. Get to the postseason and the let chips fall where they may. Kasten is the team president, and he ran the Braves, did anyone expect anything different? If you did, that’s on you.
Actually, I agree, the Dodgers are being run the Kasten way. I don’t like the Kasten way or the Kasten results. This is exactly what I’ve been saying all along.
Hopefully there is more “buzz” to the Dodgers’ offseason than this. Of course the Astros may steal all the “buzz” these next few months. Buzz or trash can banging anyhow.
Well that’s one sad birthday present. Don’t count on this team winning a title any time soon.
Been a Dodger fan since my first game in the colosseum with my Dad & Grandfather. The older I got, the closer I followed them. 31 F’ing YEARS since a Championship. Scum Giants have won 3 to pass us in Championships. Angels even won one. Owners get $334Mill EACH YEAR for TV alone. Dodgers have the highest MLB Attendance for 7 years in a row.- 3.9Million in 2019. Assume 1 hot dog and 1 beer, That’s $402 Million this year alone, NOT counting merchandise, radio, MLB attendance share + advertising + etc. 2019 Payroll was $206Mill. <<<THIS is why the owners renewed him. Freidman is great at dumping payroll because he is a Small Market Mindset who still thinks he's in Tampa Bay. EVERY YEAR we fail, we look to see who Freidman brings in to fix the talent holes. He leaks that he is "in" on EVERY FA and every top tier trade. BUT he NEVER signs or trades for a top tier talent. Always some guy with a nasty IL history or a has been. His only goal is 25 guys with 6 year control or just enough talent to win the Weak, Weak West. WS results never enter his mind or priorities. The big leak this year is that he's going to shake the team up. By firing Roberts…no, that didn't happen. Neither will any of the rumored acquisitions. ALL Freidman-talk. Male Bovine Excrement talk. Year 32 without a WS Championship is as good as in the books. Now that the Greedy owners have extended ole Small Market, so I doubt if I will ever see another WS Championship in LA. Thank YOU Tommy and Walt. We didn't know how good we had it with Al Campanis.
Al Campanis, the man who said African Americans don’t have leadership skills or can’t swim because of a lack of buoyancy….
Yeah foot in the mouth Campanis. Regardless LOOK at the results. 1974, 1977, 1978, 1981. THAT is Olympic level performance.
Oh, here we go. Campanis was an old man and was ambushed in that interview. Now, we are going after one of the guys in the organization who supported Jackie Robinson? Seriously?
Great birthday present! Thank you Dodgers!!!
Just a few words of inspiration from our fearless leader about why his team’s offense fell apart in the postseason:
“But it definitely fell short of my hopes in terms of how as a team the offense would kind of adapt and tackle the difficulties of October pitching. And I think hopefully it’s another one of those areas that we can focus on this offseason and continue to refine and make better as we go into next year.”
latimes.com/sports/dodgers/story/2019-10-17/dodger…
We can kind of hopefully maybe figure it out. Makes your heart sing, doesn’t it? Five more years. Can’t wait.
since the first playoff of this ownership our offense has been awful in playoffs, since Mattingly we had hr dependency I think I can count with my hands the times I saw a squeeze play or a hit and run, Friedman try to fix that with Machado and others didnt work ):He forgot in LA a lot of hitters play worse than hitters parks, but we need the whole team try to fix their weakness Corey, Joc and Belly k with breaking inside pitches in game 7 WS with runners on, and after 2 years they still chase those pitches Belly did a great improvement in those pitches but Corey and Joc look almost the same with those pitches, if Corey get a hit in game 2 maybe we sweep
Anyone who blames the FO for the players not producing is a sad creature of true BS.
Take a bow, BSLA. Then get over yourself.
You read the article, right? Have some trouble dealing with substance?
I’m a Braves fan and have really come to appreciate the Dodgers more because Anthopoulos appears to have been greatly influenced during his time in LA.
A lot of Braves fans thought we were getting the “gunslinger” from Toronto who had a reputation for block buster trades but instead we got someone more like Friedman. Anthopoulos doesnt just trade away his talent for established stars. He lets our prospects develop and mature so they can contribute. Anthopoulos Dodgers education meant that Braves fans would get to see Acuna become one of the best, most dynamic Out fielders in the game. It meana that we would get to see Albies rise to possibly the best second baseman in the NL.
There is no other GM I would prefer to Alex Anthopoulos because of how the Dodgers FO influencedmeana
Thank you!
Friedman is not going after a big name pitcher.from last time i check the only team that can get a big name pitcher is the white sox.I wish i can work in front office with Friedman.I have all his answer & missing pieces.Soo that he can deliver A WS
I TOO wish you could work in the Front Office and NOT Freidman, A WS Champ is only a pleasant side affect to him. His goal is to fill the seats each year and winning the Division and nothing more has proven to do that. His only other goal is to stay under the MLB PR Tax. Having the best team in the MLB is NOT his goal. Having the best attendance in the MLB IS HIS GOAL and we have had that for 7 straight years, so the owner$ extended his contract. Two years ago the Owners issued a prospectus for potential minority partners in the Dodgers. That prospectus COMMITTED to AT LEAST FIVE years of staying under the MLB PR Tax, so THREE more years – at least to go. That should get us to 34 years without a WS Championship. Mmmmm that’s 14 years longer than the Rams were in St. Louis. That’s 17 times longer than it took the Dodgers to win their first LA World Series.
This might have been dismissible as nothing more than a rant if Kasten had not already said that he judges success by how many tickets the Dodgers sell. Not winning, not championships. Ticket sales.
They are both real good but neither had won a championship either. Until they do you cannot validate their holding all their prospects
What you think about dodgers getting a relief pitcher from the bronx.Im trying to think of his name.So that he can protect kenley jansen when he gets into a jam.Let me get his name.
What you think about dodgers getting a relief pitcher from the bronx.Im trying to think of his name.So that he can protect kenley jansen when he gets into a jam.Let me get his name.
Andrew Friedman is smart trust in him.Ive been following andrew since college and let me tell you something,Hes going to deliver that WS in los angeles.Besides him being the master of everything in da front office,and i know he has alot going.But he needs that other person to help him,Being that his rigth hand men left his torpedo (zaidi)Andrew Friedman is looking around for the rigth candidate to fill in that hole.
To bluesky maybe the dodgers will fire dave Roberts once they find a relief pitcher someone that can protect kenley Jansen when he gets into a jam.some one like Damaso Marte.
Never happen. Friedman gave Roberts a nice big extension for the same reason Kasten just gave Friedman a nice big extension: they are doing the company’s business.
Yeah; “They are doing the Comapany’s Business” is exactly RIGHT….socking hundreds of Million$ away into the bank each year while avoiding even the smallest amount of MLB PR Tax and winning the West, but not much else…other than losing the WS twice – After which, Freidman did NOTHING to bring in top tier talent to improve the team. Why does Freidman love to give money to players with deep IL history?
Im sure Friedman is going after a acroos the ocean,for a relief pitcher.
Perennial playoff losers.
Who signed Joe Kelly? Only once in his last 8 years in the majors has he had an era under 4.
He is a disaster. Only Friedman would give a guy like this a 3 year $25 million contract.
Friedman signed Clayton Kershaw 3 years $93 million. He is a Dodger Legend and a good pitcher.
He might win 15 games regular season. But now has an 89 mph fastball and post season meltdowns.
That $93 million could buy some great players.
Kenley Jansen 5 Year $80 million. Kenley has been great .
But he is having injury problems and his cutter ain’t cutting.He might have 30 saves next year. but if he blows saves in the playoffs that $80 million could be better spent
A.J. Pollock – 4 year contract $55 Million?
In his 8 seasons in mlb he only once drove in over 70 rbi’s and has a history of injuries.
A 2 year $10 million contract was as high Friedman should have offered for this average player.
Friedman’s biggest mistake was this year before the allstar game..It was the last chance to get a quality relief pitcher. Friedman did nothing!
The Kelly signing has been a complete disaster so far, especially with the need at the back end being so great. No idea what Friedman saw in him. Maybe the Friedman-huggers can explain that signing and how it’s better than it looks.
Jansen’s days as the door-slammer are over. What’s the plan for that role next year, and the year after that?
Feel like Pollock will probably turn out to be a reasonable signing in the long run. He sure looked feeble in the postseason but then pretty much everybody did.
Kershaw should be a Dodger for life, and I don’t care how much they spend to make that happen, but he is a number three starter now on any team that wants to win in October. Who’s #1 and 2? Beuhler is one of them, but who’s the other?
If business is trying to understand how improvements in corporate culture affect employee turnover,Then the business will need to do more than simple build.A classifier for predicting engagement based off diffrent dimensions of culture.With that being said..if you see that a company has high culture predicting turnover OR turnover predicting culture?
Jansen has been great? That dude has been hot garbage. I don’t know how you justify 8 blown saves and losing the manager’s confidence in you in the postseason qualifies as “great”. Money wasted!!!!!
The Braves are on it… meanwhile the Dodgers do nothing as usual.
I just hope that Friedman and company are working towards a replacement for Jansen as the club’s closer. Maybe they can groom May or via trade, just somebody that the team can have confidence in cause Jansen is not the man anymore. Seen too many games that Jansen has blown the lead or save only to have the dodgers bail him out. Jansen gots to go
I want to know Andrew Friedman next move.Maybe he is going after a relief pitcher from japan.Maybe he is going after Damaso Marte.I think he is going to sign Josh Donaldson
If business is trying to understand how improvements in corporate culture affect employee turnover,Then the business will need to do more than simple build.A classifier for predicting engagement based off diffrent dimensions of culture.With that being said..if you see that a company has high culture predicting turnover OR turnover predicting culture?
That’s weird???? Start making comments about all these “OK Boomers” whining about Friedman and all your comments get deleted without any explanation. Geeez little sensitive
Fire Dave Roberts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Stop whining OK Boomers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Who is this
Exactly,thats weird.Who is this?