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| Friedman was with Rays since 2008. Photo Credit: Kim Klement/USA Today Sports |
The Los Angeles Dodgers will hire former Rays general Manager Andrew Friedman as their new President of Baseball Operations as reports state.
By: Michael Hanley
What this means for Ned Colletti, who had been the Dodgers general manager since 2005, he will be moved to a new role as a senor advisor to the President and CEO of the Dodgers in Stan Kasten.
In this new role, Friedman will have the power to hire his own general manager.Their is no names yet being passed around as to who could possibly be candidates for that position in LA.
This move is a major coup for the Dodgers as teams such as the Astros, Angels and Cubs have tried hard in the past to pry the 37 year old Friedman away from Tampa Bay but to only come out unsuccessfully. Its easy to see why the Dodgers and others wanted him running their baseball operations after the incredible success he generated with the Rays after that franchise had been a perennial doormat in the AL East division and in baseball overall.
He guided Tampa Bay to six consecutive winning seasons, including four playoff appearances, unheard of success for the franchise. This was done all while having to deal with the financial constraints of a small market club and its limited resources.
Now with Friedman heading to the Dodgers, no restraints exist whatsoever. This is a franchise in LA that was purchased by its new owners for $2.15 billion dollars just two years ago. Also it is one that featured the highest payroll in all of baseball at $229 million, a figure that makes the Rays meager payroll look like chump change.Friedman will have plenty of resources to work with and use as he builds this team in the vision he has for it.
The Dodgers are coming off a season in which they won the NL West division title for a second consecutive season but again were ousted from the postseason by the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLDS. This was cause for speculation for Ned Colletti to possibly lose his job over the lack of performance by the team. That was proven wrong as the team went after Friedman for a completely different reason.
Friedman's track record of drafting and developing players in the farm system is something that caught Stan Kasten's eye and melds perfectly with his vision of having a strong farm system is a huge key to long term, sustained success for a franchise. With the 37 year old on board, that vision can now accelerate even more into becoming reality.
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