It’s not always fair to judge baseball operations leaders for free agent signings. In many cases, the biggest contracts are negotiated to varying extents by ownership. The same can hold true of major extensions. It’s just tough to know from the outside.
There’s obviously involvement from above in trade scenarios as well. But, when it comes to exchanging rights to some players for others, it stands to reason the role of the general manager is all the more clear.
In any event, for what it’s worth, it seemed an opportune moment to take a look back at the trade track records of some of the general managers around the game. We’ve already covered the Diamondbacks’ Mike Hazen, former Astros GM Jeff Luhnow, the Brewers’ David Stearns, the Angels’ Billy Eppler, the Rockies’ Jeff Bridich, the White Sox’ Rick Hahn, the Tigers’ Al Avila, the Braves’ Alex Anthopoulos, the Padres’ A.J. Preller, the Blue Jays’ Ross Atkins, the Mariners’ Jerry Dipoto and the Phillies’ Matt Klentak. It’s time to head to Los Angeles to check in on the work Andrew Friedman has done since the Dodgers hired the former Tampa Bay GM after the 2014 season. Friedman’s no longer a GM – he has an even more prestigious title as president of baseball operations, and has overseen a perennial powerhouse (albeit one that has fallen short of World Series glory) throughout his reign.
Here’s a rundown of Friedman’s key LA trades, which are in chronological order and exclude minor moves (full details at transaction link):
2014-15 Offseason
- Acquired RHP Joel Peralta and LHP Adam Liberatore from Rays for RHPs Jose Dominguez and Greg Harris
- Acquired RHP Mike Bolsinger from Diamondbacks for cash considerations
- Acquired RHP Juan Nicasio from Rockies for OF Noel Cuevas
- Acquired OF Chris Heisey from Reds for RHP Matt Magill
- Acquired C Yasmani Grandal and RHPs Joe Wieland and Zach Eflin from Padres for OF Matt Kemp and C Tim Federowicz
- Acquired LHP Andrew Heaney, INF Enrique Hernandez, C Austin Barnes and RHP Chris Hatcher from Marlins for INFs Dee Gordon and Miguel Rojas and RHP Dan Haren
- Acquired SS Jimmy Rollins and cash considerations from Phillies for RHP Zach Eflin and LHP Tom Windle
2015 Season
- Acquired RHP Ryan Webb, C Brian Ward and a 2015 Competitive Balance (Round B) draft pick from Orioles for RHP Ben Rowen and C Chris O’Brien
- Acquired INF Alberto Callaspo, RHP Juan Jaime, and LHPs Ian Thomas and Eric Stults from Braves for INF Juan Uribe and RHP Chris Withrow
- Acquired OF Jordan Paroubeck and RHP Caleb Dirks from Braves for international bonus slot worth $249K
- Acquired LHP Grant Dayton from Marlins for LHP Chris Reed
- Acquired LHPs Alex Wood and Luis Avilan, INF Jose Peraza, RHPs Mat Latos, Jim Johnson and Bronson Arroyo, and 1B Michael Morse for OF Hector Olivera, LHP Paco Rodriguez and RHPs Jeff Brigham, Victor Araujo, Kevin Guzman and Zachary Bird in three-team trade
2015-16 Offseason
- Acquired RHP Frankie Montas, INF Micah Johnson and OF Trayce Thompson for INFs Jose Peraza and Brandon Dixon and OF Scott Schebler in three-team trade
2016 Season
- Acquired INF/OF Chris Taylor from Mariners for RHP Zach Lee
- Acquired RHPs Bud Norris and Alec Grosser, OF Dian Toscano and cash considerations from Braves for RHP Caleb Dirks and LHP Phil Pfeifer
- Acquired LHP Rich Hill and OF Josh Reddick from Athletics for RHPs Frankie Montas, Jharel Cotton and Grant Holmes
- Acquired RHP Josh Fields from Astros for 1B/OF Yordan Alvarez
- Acquired C Carlos Ruiz from Phillies for C A.J. Ellis and RHP Tommy Bergjans
2016-17 Offseason
- Acquired 1B Darin Ruf and 2B/OF Darnell Sweeney from Phillies for INF/OF Howie Kendrick
- Acquired 2B Logan Forsythe from Rays for RHP Jose De Leon
2017 Season
- Acquired LHP Tony Cingrani from Reds for OF Scott Van Slyke and C Hendrik Clementina
- Acquired RHP Yu Darvish from Rangers for 2B/OF Willie Calhoun, INF Brendon Davis and RHP A.J. Alexy
- Acquired LHP Tony Watson from Pirates for INF Oneil Cruz and RHP Angel German
- Acquired OF Curtis Granderson from Mets for RHP Jacob Rhame and cash considerations
- Acquired INF/OF Connor Joe from Braves for $500K in international money
2017-18 Offseason
- Acquired OF Matt Kemp from Braves for 1B Adrian Gonzalez, LHP Scott Kazmir, RHP Brandon McCarthy and INF Charlie Culberson
- Acquired LHP Scott Alexander and INF Jake Peter for LHP Luis Avilan, RHP Trevor Oaks and INF Erick Mejia in three-team trade
2018 Season
- Acquired LHP Logan Salow from Athletics for RHP Wilmer Font
- Acquired RHPs Dylan Floro and Zach Neal and international bonus pool space from Reds for RHPs Aneurys Zabala and James Marinan
- Acquired INF Manny Machado from Orioles for OF Yusniel Diaz, RHPs Dean Kremer and Zach Pop, and INFs Breyvic Valera and Rylan Bannon
- Acquired 2B Brian Dozier from Twins for 2B Logan Forsythe, OF Luke Raley and LHP Devin Smeltzer
- Acquired RHP John Axford from Blue Jays for RHP Corey Copping
- Acquired RHP Ryan Madson from Nationals for RHP Andrew Istler
- Acquired 1B/3B David Freese from Pirates for INF Jesus Valdez
2018-19 Offseason
- Acquired RHPs Homer Bailey and Josiah Gray and INF Jeter Downs from Reds for OFs Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp, LHP Alex Wood, C/INF Kyle Farmer and cash
- Acquired C Russell Martin and cash from Blue Jays for SS Ronny Brito and RHP Andrew Sopko
2019 Season
- Acquired RHP Casey Sadler from Rays for RHP Nathan Witt
- Acquired 1B Tyler White from Astros for RHP Andre Scrubb
- Acquired LHP Adam Kolarek from Rays for OF Niko Hulsizer
- Acquired INF Jedd Gyorko from Cardinals for LHP Tony Cingrani and RHP Jeffry Abreu
- Acquired C Jose Lobaton from Mariners for cash considerations
2019-20 Offseason
- Acquired INF Clayton Daniel from Cubs for RHP Casey Sadler
- Acquired RHP Brusdar Graterol, OF Luke Raley and the 67th pick in the draft from Twins for RHP Kenta Maeda, $10MM and C Jair Camargo
- Acquired OF Mookie Betts, LHP David Price and half of Price’s $96MM guarantee from Red Sox for OF Alex Verdugo, INF Jeter Downs and C Connor Wong
- Acquired LHP Tyler Gilbert from Phillies for OF Kyle Garlick
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Friedman has no doubt acquired plenty of notable names since he arrived in Los Angeles. How do you think he has fared in trades during his time atop the Dodgers’ front office?
(Poll link for app users)
Did you forget Heaney for Kendrick?
Yeah it was all within like 2 hours of each other iirc
My favorite part of that is Zaidi had said ONE day prior at fan fest: Dee is our starting 2B and we don’t envision any other way
Mhm. Hahaha
The best part was Andrew Heaney’s tweet
Thanks for the write up Connor
It’s been extremely interesting to watch Friedman manipulate the roster year over year and yet rarely trade his own top top prospects. Using Dee to get Heaney to get Kendrick comes to mind. He seems to ID his target, find out what the price would be of other teams prospects, and is willing to make a deal if it’s right
With that said, Friedman’s team seems to be very good at identifying their talent they are willing to trade and the talent they can develop, and getting top dollar for that talent going out. Machado and Darvish trades come to mind here. 4,5 prospects In each deal for a superstar, yet not much Damage to LA system because They kept the likes of Bellinger, Seager, Buehler etc even when everyone would demand them to start
In many ways, I feel GMs like DiPoto are trying to match Friedman’s trade prowess With their roster churning as well. First step is not having many deals you look back and say “damn wish I knew what we had”
Well looks like that thread got deleted, idk why, was perfectly civil
You were obv trolling on Kemp having any trade value or Kaz BMc so I wont proceed there- You know better than that
Far as the Rockies I wouldnt consider that competitive still- 35 outta 58 games within 3 runs??? shoulder shrug so what ? They’ve managed to go 11-28 last 2 yrs overall,(think your graph was 3 yr sample)-
They have no confidence vs us, Arrenado struggles, the pen is terrified and they hold No home field advantage as we just mash it over there
Again 30 of 39 in 18+19 were 4 runs or less
My original was 17-19, which was 44 of 58 within 4 runs or less
I said they play LAD competitively
How are those games not competitive? ESPECIALLY in Col with the Rockies+ LA offenses
Who cares the end result is skewed LAs favor. They’re a better team, it makes sense. But it Doesn’t mean the games weren’t competitive…..
Sure ill give you they hang in there-
I actually dont think Col is that bad of a team- I know the hounds like to take cheap shots at them but its pretty hard to make the playoffs 2 years in a row and Col did that 17 & 18-
Why did that thread dissapear ?
Pretty solid track record but has an occasional dud (Alvarez trade stands out most)
That’s gotta be the biggest miss, but even that was trading a 17 year old just signed Cuban who hadn’t come to the US to play yet and was already a DH only projection, for a decent 4/5 SP with almost 4 years of control. Can’t really be upset how that one turned out. Alvarez hit his potential that most of those prospects don’t
It’s like Tatis deal. They could work out. Or it becomes the Machado deal where the headliner hasn’t moved much Up in 3 years since lol. Yeah it’s an L but if that’s not only your biggest miss But one of your only, you’re doing something right haha
I gave him a B
I agree about Alvarez. There are some other moves to consider.
Overall he is an A.
But I believe his strong suit is drafting, roster manipulation and free agency.
“Or it becomes like the Machado deal where the headliner hasn’t moved up in 3 years since” well considering that deal was a year and a half ago your comment doesn’t make much sense. Personally I like Diaz. I don’t see him as a superstar but I think he will be a decent major leaguer by the time that deal actually is 3 years old.
Okay, I messed up the years of Darvish and Machado deals. My bad. He pulls off a yearly mid summer blockbusters for spare prospect parts to LAD and I mixed them up. OOPS!
Remember you gotta look at it this way. it’s willie Calhoun instead of Cody Bellinger to Tex. It’s Buehler headlining not Diaz to Balt. It’s keeping May and Lux and Seager when every team asked for them in every deal
That’s why he’s one of the few A GMs in baseball imo
Dude, Bellinger and Buehler were already in the majors and contributing when the Darvish and Machado trades happened. Of course they weren’t included. That would have been subtracting from the major league roster.
Hey look, Jim is making claims that are wrong! who’s surprised!?
Darvish was acquired in July 2017
Buehler didn’t debut until Sept ‘17
And Bellinger was a rookie. Why is it surprising they were being demanded in rumors?… spoiler it wasn’t.
Buehler was a mid season top 20 prospect per BA and Darvish was the biggest name on the market. Tex ABSOLUTELY asked Buehler. And the rumor was Buehler, Bellinger and Verdugo on a list of potential 3rd pieces was the original package asked for from Tex
Friedman Got it down to Willie Calhoun and parts. Why are we still pretending this is anything but a heist?
I was referring to the Dodgers not including Bellinger in the Darvish trade and Buehler in the Machado trade. By the time those trades happened, the respective player was already in the majors and contributing positively. Obviously they weren’t going to trade Bellinger in 2017 because he was part of the reason they were contending in the first place. Ditto Buehler in 2018. They were no longer prospects that MAY contribute at some point down the road. They were MLB players that ARE contributing NOW.
And ask for them getting it down to Willie Calhoun and parts. The Rangers had to trade Darvish so all the Dodgers had to do was offer more than anyone else. The Rangers weren’t going to take an inferior offer from someone else just because the Dodgers refused to part with Buehler/Bellinger.
Oh and as for “making points that are wrong,” it looks like someone forgot to tell the Red Sox that they were supposed to trade for Joc Pederson.
Buehler was part of the Darvish rumors. So was Bellinger. Idk why you keep denying this or insisting it wouldn’t happen
Teams agree to overpay in July every year at the deadline. And Friedman has historically… not
Buehler was in the minors when this happened. Period. Keep swimming talking about teams you never are awake to watch. Real good look
Of course the Dodgers weren’t going to trade Bellinger for Darvish in the middle of his ROY season.
And yes, Buehler was still in the minors when the Darvish trade happened. But he wasn’t in the minors when the Machado trade happened. And he was in the middle of a season that was plenty ROY worthy but he had the misfortune of having his rookie season the same year as Juan Soto and Ronald Acuña Jr. Of course they weren’t going to trade him at that point. Trading a MLB ace with six years of control left is a big no-no regardless of what type of position your team is in.
Yordan was traded for fields, who was a rp, and only lasted 2.5 years on dodgers.
In what world was Josh Fields a starter?
That trade is already awful now but we won’t know how bad that trade really is until Alvarez has a season where he doesn’t know what pitch is coming.
Friedman’s worst trade could be for Betts and Price. Could be paying Betts for a full season and never even play the a game for the Dodgers.
Nah that’s my bad. I thought he was someone who went Inbtwn but looked it up and I was wrong. Fields is a reliever, but again had 3 years of control and threw 3 seasons of sub 3.5 era relief ball
Same as tatis with Chi. Except he was always a DH, not a blazing SS. But it happens in July
And remember who Yordan was at the time of the trade.. he wasn’t Yadier Alvarez
The fact it hasn’t happened much since is the bigger story
We can’t ding him yet with the Alvarez trade. He has to play a whole season first without trash can bangs going on in the background.
He has made some moronic trades and some good ones. Basically make a bunch of trades and break even
Oh I can’t wait. Please tell me his “moronic trades” that you think makes him break even after making LAD a consistent 100 win-quality club while simultaneously building a top 2 farm in baseball
Please. Enlighten us. Where are all these laughable trades?
Seems like your basing your moronic comment on a DH he traded at age 17 and who knew what pitch was coming in his ROY campaign. Go ahead bud
Wow calm down, he made an lazy analyst but in fairness most trades basically break even and most GM’s are going to have some trades that are great and others that are clunkers.
Was I wrong? I Didn’t think so
If you want to say Friedman is a break even trader, then how do you rank every other GM? He’s clearly been one of the most active GMs in the last 1/2 decade, but his Lone miss I see is trading… a 17 year old just signed IFA who immediately projected as a DH…. I asked what else Mr. Iknowbaseball thinks also Was moronic. Cause I don’t see it. Do you, abgb?
I give Freidman an A
No you are not wrong
Are you wrong factually about his trades? I don’t know and don’t really care, in case it wasn’t clear the majority of my statement was how you said it, not what your opinion is. Calling his opinion moronic was more what I was referring to..
Are you kidding? Moronic was his word I used because it was so over the top when talking Friedman
I am on pins and needles as well for the info on the alleged “moronic” trades.
Where are the winners at.
Grandal was a good trade
Chris Taylor was another
To be an A you have to have far more great trades to bad trades.
This is IMO.
For example TB’s current GM with the Chris Archer trade. That is a winner. A Home Run Trade.
In terms of Friedman there isn’t anything to really grab your attention besides the Grandal trade and the Chris Taylor.
When they finally do Billy Beane. You will see some bad trades but you will also see a lot of great ones as well.
Friedman.
I gave him a B because you have maybe 1-2 bad trades and only 2 great ones.
Machado for overvalued parts? Darvish? He won the trade deadline, or at least got a top 2-3 prize, without selling the real Jems of the farm.
Imagine if he gave the orioles Bellinger and Buehler. Or May, Lux and Gonsolin for Betts or Lindor
How about buying Josiah Gray and Jeter Downs?
Turning Dee Gordon into Howie Kendrick? Or how about his yearly 7-10 player trade to manipulate the CBT? And he usually ends up with the best prospect(or prospects in the Reds deal case) moving.
So what Friedman doesn’t have the hauls of a billy Beane. They’re in two different leagues. Friedman’s not selling Seager with 2 years to FA. Or Buehler 3-4 years to FA. He’s building a championship team while keeping the farm on a steady upward trajectory
You’re pretty off base here. Should I keep going?
We are talking about the trades themselves
I already said overall he is an A
Regarding trades he is a B
Billy Beane, Jon Daniels and Mike Rizzo probably have more of a track record. You can see them as buyers and sellers. Plus you have more time to judge trades
Friedman hasn’t been there long enough to have a total overview with the trades.
You can’t call the Machado nor Darvish great trades
You rented a player for 3 months. That rental didn’t really change the final outcome.
Regarding Kendrick..
He did trade Kendrick for absolutely nothing
So if you value him would see that trade as a loss as well.
How is Dee Gordon better than howie kendrick?
How is trading for 2 mid season blockbusters and not giving up anyone of consequence not a win? Because Roberts Fd up in oct? Thought this was a gm trade review. But keep hating
All three Matt Kemp trades were heists.
The Marlins trade too.
Add the Chris Taylor deal and that’s five.
It is well known that Friedman controls everything with the Dodgers even the pitch hitters and pitching changes.
Can’t just throw Roberts under the bus for the playoffs
Need to be objective, bruh
If you believe Howie to be a great player and better than Dee Gordon.
Why didn’t Friedman get anything back when he traded him?
Lmfao. Thanks for confirming you have no idea what you’re talking about, Louisiana
But narratives are fun! He gives data to Roberts but Roberts has always had final say.
You’re just basing your opinion on baseless narratives.
Great job assessing a GM trade history
Have to agree with commonsense on this one. His analysis is good. He just appears to have a tendency to attack rather than persuade. Probably virus related.
Louisiana, Roberts deserves to be thrown under every mode of transportation in existence.
Once Dear Leader calls you out on the Twit machine, every racist in America comes after you.
He turned Puig into Mookie freaking Betts, he’s great at his job.
Substitute the word “trade” with “comment” and that’s you in a nutshell. The difference is you don’t come close to breaking even.
Yordan would of looked nice in a dodgers uniform
We will see with him.
His power is almost unlimited but he hits average to bad pitching right now and struggles against elite pitching.
For him to be that player he needs to hit elite pitching
He’s a DH-only, so, no, playing in the NL with no DH would expose him and drop his WAR to 2-ish, no matter the bat.
He’s pretty solid at trading, but all his FA signings have been a bust: McCarthy, Kazmir, Kelly, Pollack…
Even those are all part of the master plan. The Dodgers know they can stomach higher AAV’s for short deals, so they use that to their advantage. For all the elite talent that’s been on the free agent market, none have signed with the Dodgers. I doubt a well-ran, perennial winner in sunny LA has had trouble attracting the elite of the elite free agents the past couple of years. They have their price for every player and won’t deviate from it.
That will change with Mookie
Overpaying on meh free agents was part of the master plan?
Should have traded for the trash can
Anyone who gives him a grade lower than a B is either
A Hateful B. Jealous C Either a Giant or Padre fan.
Or D. Objective.
He’s not an A. But he certainly is a B+.
Grandal and Taylor were his biggest wins.
But he gave up a top 50 prospect in Jose De Leon for Logan Forscythe. He certainly did not get value for De Leon in retrospect. De Leon injury problems make this deal look like a lose lose for the rays and dodgers.
Gave up a potential middle rotation arm in Devin Smeltzer for a half disastrous season of Brian Dozier.
Yordan Alvarez turned into a regrettable asset to part with.
And he’s going to wind up not getting a full season of Mookie Betts despite paying for a full season of Betts. I understand that’s “not his fault” but it does bring his trade grade down some as he won’t get the return on the investment he hoped for. In the event there is no season it would be disastrous to wind up trading Verdugo downs and wong for essentially a late 1st round pick, or whatever draft compensation they receive.
Nope, he’s an A, you look at the end results, not a trade-by-trade basis and he turned the team from solid to having EASILY the most talent in the MLB. It’s a miracle how they don’t have like 3 rings under his reign by now. Super bad luck that has nothing to do with him, just small game samples in October, which are impossible to predict or build for.
GM Trade History: Dodgers’ Andrew Friedman
Not gm effectiveness or gm quality. This grade is solely on trades he’s made. Which is not A material. B/B+ is a reasonable trade grade for him.
Not drafting, developing, or signing players.
You can’t lower his rating because of something that was out of his or any GM’s. control. What’s a GM supposed to do now, take in consideration world events before pulling the trigger? Every trade is gamble. What about getting Muncy for nothing?
Muncy wasn’t a trade acquisition.
Muncy was signed as a minor league free agent in 2017.
Why would signing a minor league free agent have any bearing on his trade history?
Far has the Betts deal. He’s not getting a full season. Whether that’s his fault or not he’s not getting what he paid for. If Mookie never plays a game in a dodger uniform and leaves via free agency to another team and all LA gets back is a draft pick blames gonna fall on Friedman. That’s just how it is. Fair or not. Dipoto took a lot of blame for signing guys like Pujols Wilson and Hamilton despite Moreno meddling in wanting those guys.
GM Trade History: Dodgers’ Andrew Friedman
We’re grading him on his trade history. Not his draft record, free agent signings, or minor league/international free agent/waiver claims.
Huge difference between an A and a B+ especially when there are no +s or -s in these grades.
He hadn’t gotten another GM fired yet
If that happens I agree with you.
I think that is the biggest win for a GM. You win a trade so much that the other GM gets fired
Like with TB/Pittsburgh and the Chris Archer trade
There was more to Neal Huntington getting fired than just the Archer trade.
These trades look great right now, but looking back in the future I suspect quite a few names are gonna’ sting. He’s still deep in the green but the careers of Montas, Cotton, Alvarez, De Leon, Verdugo, Maeda and possibly Downs are all looking quite bright at the moment, and that’s a lot of young cheap talent to have traded away. It’s the Dodgers so it doesn’t matter since they grow talent on trees, but still he won’t look like quite the genius he looks like now.
Cotton and De Leon were literally just DFA and traded. They could have brought them back for nothing if they wanted to. They got great value for Maeda and Verdugo.
Cotton was just DFA’d and traded for cash
Montas is a possible miss, but he’s also a PED guy so let’s see what his real skill is post suspension
Alvarez is the clear miss, depending how hard it is to hit when you don’t know what’s coming
De Leon had TJS and was Recently traded for just cash
They got Mookie+Price for Verdugo+Downs. Hard to be upset
Maeda is 31 and pitched for 3 years in LA… you’re really counting him here in prospects traded..?
Even if you are, then you surely need to look at what the received for the last 3 before pretending to be upset
Never understood why people won’t just say the guy does a damn good job. Your nitpicking is pretty meh dude. DFA’d, PED, TJS.. even Alvarez deserves an asterisk for his season atm…
That’s entirely fair, I suppose I am harshly grading him all things considered. I think It’s Montas’ and Alvarez’s ceilings that have me blinded. But you’re right, there should be an asterick on both of them at the moment.
Alright, I wish I could turn my B into an A, haha.
Forgot Willie Calhoun
Bad pitching is bad pitching. Alvarez crushes bad pitching.
If you can’t locate your breaking balls Alvarez can sit on your fastball.
A lot of the times the pitcher itself tips the pitches.
Calhoun and Montas are the ones to watch.
I have always liked Calhoun, but even with him.. that was a win. He was buried in LA and let’s be real, he’s a wild card. But Friedman easily could have given up Bellinger Or seager or Buehler there like the reports were saying. Calhoun+ others was a coup for the best pitcher on the July market that year
Sincere question, what is Montas? He was an out of options sort of tweener, on the outside looking in last year. Then he discovered a pitch that revived his career, and was popped for PEDs not long after. I’m not sure anyone can respectfully decipher his ceiling.
What I’m getting at here is like Cotton & JDL, Montas had no path to the rotation. There were traded when they had value and a bit of intrigue. Before last season, in which he has finally showed a sliver of what could be before his subsequent suspension, there’s not really a reason a contending team should have waited for him. It’s not the same considering they resigned him, but Hill’s playoff performance and WS outings provided significantly more value at their time of need than anything Montas could have done or has done. Hard for Dodger fan to do anything but shrug there shoulders in indifference. Then you add the emergence of May and Gray, and it shouldn’t really be on the radar. You trade a player with potential to be good, with red flags, and you receive a player that is good, with red flags, that can help you win right now.
In terms of Alvarez, I give the FO a bit of a pass. It was one of those situations we’ve seen before where they targeted a player another team liked, and used their leverage to obtain a RP. Now with that said it was a clear loss. But much the same, the overwhelming body of work speaks for itself, and misses really amount to Alvarez. But the hits especially on a guy like Muncy who the development staff turned out along with prospects that all seem to hit make it not somewhat irrelevant. At the end of the day you can’t keep every prospect. The Dodgers have done a spectacular job of knowing who to hold and who to trade. Last note, the Willie trade hurt as being a prospect follower, but it’s falls under the same idea where there’s no DH slot and nowhere he would have played.
@Commonsenseslapsyou if you actually paid attention to Montas instead of just looking at his numbers and reading about his suspension, you’d know that his domination in 2019 was due to adding an unhittable splitter to his former 100 mph fastball-slider arsenal. Nothing at all to do with wanting to stay on the field via PEDs. He’s an absolute beast and Beane stole him for rentals no matter what anyone says. Watch his games from last year, there’s no way he goes back to his previous seasons results, unless he stops throwing the splitter.
I’m not hating on his talent. But anyone who was busted for PEDs but magically broke out before I’m suspect
Do it again and I’ll change my tone. Not just montas anyone. That’s just me. And no I’m not just scouting a stat line thanks
Nah, you gotta give up stuff to get stuff. Why does everyone think all trades HAVE to be a robbery. I mean, unless you dont win a ring, there isnt really an arbiter of judgements for trades.
Friedman has done “A” work on the trade market.
I believe his greatest fault is not letting his manager manage and taking such a hands-on approach to day-to-day lineup construction and in-game decisions..
Do we truly know that Friedman meddles in on-field decision making? No we do not. Getting old to blame Friedman for Roberts inability to manage his pitching staff.
Meddling is completely the wrong concept. Friedman oversees the analytics operations and Roberts was hired to implement the Friedman analytical game plan. If Roberts wasn’t doing that to Friedman’s complete satisfaction then Roberts would not have been hired in the first place and he certainly would not have been given a long extension by… Friedman. If you have an alternative theory about the relationship between the two of them, by all means let us know what that might be so we can discuss it.
Seems to be the trend now. Hire a manager with no experience and insist he use their advanced analytics guidelines in managing the roster from game to game. Experienced managers would never stand for being told by a suit how to manage. Guys with no experience are just happy to have a managers job and pay, and will just do what they are told to keep that job.
Man you are so off base and using generalizations for multiple organizations is crazy
Analytics can tell Roberts how many AB each guy tends to need to get in the grove at ST, to communicate that and not stress the guy out when he starts 0-30 but usually needs 50 to get going… that’s beneficial and helps build communication and trust with new guys
But Friedman has NEVER said “this is your lineup”. You’re just full of it otherwise
Aside from the Fields/Alvarez trade Friedman has been pretty incredible. Even that trade Fields was serviceable having ERAs around 3 while he was in LA.
Solid job no doubt
Frankie Montas is part of the rich hill deal.
Sorry, I see it now.
No matter how good a GM is, Billy Beane has most likely worked them in a trade, aha respect to the king.
I am hoping they put Billy Beane and show his entire trade history
Because even Beane made some bad trades. He gave up Tim Hudson for absolutely nothing.
Even Jon Daniels has bad trades.
Not going to hit 1000 as a GM.
Plus both those GMs have been buyers and sellers.
No matter what the individual trades say, the Dodgers are a massive beast of a franchise and have more high end talent than any org, which is much different to when he took over, so Friedman should get an A no matter what.
As a Giants die-hard it pains me to say it but this is the best GM in the game.
A lot of swings, some hits, and some misses. Kind of remarkable to see all the trades in once place and how so many of them are in the margins, little impact either way. It will be interesting to see a similar analysis of GMs around the league for comparison. Kind of difficult to give anybody a fair grade without it.
BTW, did Friedman ever hold the title of GM? I’m pretty sure he was hired as a VP and then hired Zaidi as GM. The Dodgers haven’t had a GM since he left.
Correct on your last paragraph, No Gm since, which might just be a better way of spreading out the money to “high advisers” collectively with nobody holding said title-
We have 4 guys essentially Josh Byrnes Brandon Gomes ALex Slater and Jeff Kingston all chipping in to the Gm job currently
I know the Dodgers don’t have a GM now, but the point I was making is I didn’t recall Friedman having ever held that position with the Dodgers in the first place. I double-checked, and I’d remembered right: he has the same job title today as when he was hired in 2014.
Sorry misunderstood………Yes President of Baseball Ops from day one till now- Z was named Gm and Byrnes a former Gm himself was brought in immediately that year as well from Sd as a high exec- This was all 2014
Brandon Gomes – Is a player dev guru came to us in 2016- He is considered a rising star in the industry
Slater- Is a scouting guru came to us in 2014
Kingston – specializes in player acquisitions and negotiations- came to us in 2018 from Sea where he was Gm for the last 2 months
So they have an all around force rather than one guy so to speak which each guy kinda having a special skill
Jeez. No one is perfect,. but when you look at his track records vs. other GMs assessed as part of this ongoing gimmick, then you have to give him an A.
At best I would give Friedman a C grade on his trades & free agent acquisitions for the simple fact most of his trades have been highly questionable.
Andrew Friedman has a small market mentality & he would rather have a team made of misfits. Friedman prefers a pitching staff that resembles a M A S H Unit instead of a capable pitching unit
What is highly questionable?
All these complainers have nothing they actually point to. Just baseless complaints
Great example of circular logic. i.e. ” his trades & free agent acquisitions for the simple fact most of his trades have been highly questionable.”
One thing he has not done to his credit is trade Belly, Seager, Walker, et al. for a quick fix. He truly understands the concept of young assets, perhaps sometimes he goes too far in keeping say 3 top catching prospects when the pen has needed help for the past few years, but by and large you cannot argue with the outcome of his trades.
Bit of a dumb comment for a HOF
Legend Mr. Ruth.
Solid B , not enough juice from the lemon to give an A but thats ok, Dodgers bread and butter is scouting/player dev/drafting-
Looks like they strike the better end of their deals in-season rather than the off-season- Seems you can better flex a large payroll in-season if you have room under the CBT and willing as playoff hopes are dashed from the sellers
Machado trade worked 2 fold for us – Kept the pennant streak alive and got a look/feel for long-term fit mega deal-; mission accomplished…No thanks
I dont really expect too many trades in the near future from this team, I think they are ready too see the maturation of the pitchers and keeping all the depth in arms that comes with it . They will look to Free agency for a couple big bats as our ledger gets real clean starting next year and beyond – 3B and an OF preferably both right handed hitters
No team ever trades for a player to “get a look/feel for long-term fit mega deal.” The Dodgers traded for Machado because they had just lost Corey Seager for the rest of the season and the pressure was on them to win a championship now.
Sure No team ever wants to get a look at a fit before investing 300,000$ on someone for 10 years- What was I thinking…..
In other news……..
BMW has stopped letting people test drive their cars due to the rising cost of crude oil
Your so bad Jim, anybody who follows the Dodgers knows we had been eyeing Machado for years to be that young/Rh/inf/middle of lineup bat- We were going to pay him more than Sd until ……….well………. we got a look at the fit……if Bal was stubborn and didnt deal him to us hes probably a Dodger today
A smart GM like Andrew Friedman certainly isn’t going to give up any top 100 prospects (plus MORE) to “get a look at a fit.”
LA didn’t sign Machado because they didn’t need to. The left side of their IF was already set with Seager and Turner. They would have never even talked to Baltimore about him if Corey Seager hadn’t gone down with Tommy John surgery. And Machado was a fine fit on the Dodgers. He played well and was well-liked by teammates and fans. But they aren’t going to pay a guy $300m when they already have an All Star at both of the positions he plays. There are other places they could spend all that money that would produce more of a marginal upgrade.
Lastly, my what is so bad?
Well liked by fans? Your obv not a Dodgers fan so ill just stop the nonsense here
He showed us who he was and that was a gift all b/c of the trade
All the Dodgers fans I’ve talked to liked him. And his teammates sure seemed to as well.
Again. No team is giving up Yusniel Diaz and Dean Kremer just to “get a look at a guy.”
I never realized they could’ve had Cruz added to their already stacked farm.
He’s actually made some really solid moves. Turned this team not only into a win now team but a team that’s built for the future. Really done a great job. Sometimes we get frustrated because he won’t go get the guy or guys we want but he clearly knows what he’s doing based on the success they’ve had and how well they are set up for the future as well
where is the chase utley trade??? that surely should be a trade of significance , right???
Good catch. Seems like the Utley trade should have been included in the list. And the Jeopardy answer is “Darnell Sweeney.”