3:52pm: Rosenthal's sources are skeptical that Friedman would leave the Rays. One said "he's not going" (Twitter link). Scott Miller of CBS Sports notes that Friedman has a stake in the Rays (Twitter link).
2:32pm: Friedman is the Angels' top choice, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter).
2:02pm: Andrew Friedman, the Rays' executive VP of baseball operations, recently dined with Angels owner Arte Moreno and team president John Carpino, according to Jason Collette of DRaysBay. Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com confirms that Moreno and Carpino met with Friedman in Florida this week. The Angels, who are searching for a new general manager, also interviewed Yankees scouting director Damon Oppenheimer.
Yesterday's reports indicate that the Angels will also interview Tory Hernandez from their own baseball operations department along with Kim Ng of MLB, Rick Hahn of the White Sox, Billy Eppler of the Yankees and Jerry Dipoto of the Diamondbacks (Saxon hears that Ng's unlikely to get the job). The Angels also appear to be interested in Thad Levine, the Rangers' assistant GM.
Though the Rays operate with one of the smallest payrolls in the game, they've reached the playoffs in three of the past four seasons under Friedman, who became the team's executive VP of baseball operations in 2005. The Angels are in direct competition with the Orioles. Baltimore is searching for a GM and has interviewed Dipoto.
The Angels and Rays face different offseason challenges, but both are poised to contend in 2012.
Gasp!
Hmm, imagine what Friedman could do with Arte’s money.
Now he just needs to root for Reagins to get the O’s job so he has somewhere he can dump Wells…
That’s exactly the type of guy the Halos need…someone who can build a strong farm system and organization first, but can swing intelligent trades when needed. And with a big money team, Friedman shouldn’t be handicapped in the free agent market, either.
To tell you the truth, I’m excited by a number of the names being floated for the Angels’ job… this could be a very interesting offseason.
him and epstein out of the al east.. nice
i told you AA was behind all of this
AA has gotten the most credit for do nothing!
for nothing, and for all the good moves he’s made
exclamation point!
This would be the best possible off season signing for the Angels.
…or maybe Fielder would be?
Nope!
I like your gusto.
I am sure Angel Fans will be greatly gratified if they can replace Tony Reagins with THE Andrew Friedman. I have to say that an offer from LA has to seem very appealing to Friedman since he would actually have fans, a payroll, and a extremely devoted owner.
Mabe having no fans, low payroll and a owner who isnt very divoted gives him a stiffy. You ever think of that?
Awesome.
I’m excited to see what Friedman can do in a place like Anaheim, with a bigger market team. He’s built a great baseball organization in Tampa (as a business organization, it’s dreadful) without much money, so this is intriguing if it were to happen.
The more money these Gm’s have to spend the more mistakes they make!
But it is easier to cover up those mistakes at least
I agree, but it enables him to keep a Longoria once they hit the free agent market, which he won’t be able to do in Tampa. It goes both ways, and it’s very hard to win a championship without big money. He came closer than anyone in his position, closer than Billy Beane did. That’s why I’m excited to see if it can translate in a bigger market. If it does, that’s obviously great news for Angel fans.
Longoria is under contract through 2016 with club options, so losing him to free agency isn’t too much of a concern right now.
I thought he was only under contract until 2013, I didn’t know he had club options for 3 years after that. The fact of the matter is that it was a great move to sign him while he wasn’t even arbitration eligible. But things like that also backfire, like with Grady Sizemore. It might add a year or two after he would have been eligible for free agency, but that’s about it. Shrewd move, but how long is he supposed to play while being grossly underpaid? Maybe he loves Tampa, I don’t know, but you’ve got guys who look like bums next to him making twice his money.
I used him as an example, so maybe a bad example then. How about a David Price or B.J. Upton? You can’t say, especially as a Yankee fan, that it doesn’t help to have more money and be able to retain all three of the guys mention, like the Yankees could, or Red Sox.
Correct, it was an amazingly great move on Friedman’s part, and yes sometimes these kinds of deals backfire, but Sizemore isn’t the greatest comparison. Grady was guaranteed more money, 23.45MM to Longoria’s 17.5MM and the Indians only were able to get one club option on him that became a player option if traded, while the Rays tacked 3 club options on Longoria that don’t become player options. (Although they do have to decide on the ’15-’16 options by 11/2014)
Yes, Price would be a much better example, and I never said it doesn’t help to have more money, but the flip side of that is what if Tampa was able to offer a competitive enough contract for Crawford to stay this year and he still puts the horrible season? I’m not saying that Crawford can’t still bounce back, but that sometimes not having the money to make mistakes can be beneficial.
I absolutely agree with that. I think more money can be a curse, because it often becomes about butts in the seats. With places like Tampa, there really isn’t any money there anyway, and they have to focus solely on player development, scouting and drafting. But at the same time, you can’t afford draft busts.
And I think Crawford is a small market guy. I’m not a shrink or anything, but he had problems dealing with a bigger media market. Maybe it’s an adjustment period, but he could go through slumps in Tampa and the old folks who actually showed up would still think they are at an equestrian show until some guy reminds them that Tampa actually has a pretty good baseball team.
I’m still interested to see if Friedman can bring a slightly different mentality to a big market team like the Angels.
why do the dodgers employ ned colletti.
life is so unfair
dont do it friedman
As a Giants fan, I’d like to laugh at you and insult you in this situation, but of course there’s no way I can. Glass houses and all that. I feel exactly the same way you do, but about Sabean.
If Friedman does become to the GM of the Angels, that will mean one more stodgy old team gone, yet another smart, intelligent, modern team in. I am so jealous…
I read an article talking about Colletti and Sabean being great GMs. It went on to say that they would “be here to stay”.
Made me chuckle rather heartily.
Sigh. Friedman would have been my top choice for the Cubs, but I just thought he was uninterested in leaving the Rays. I was always worried the they were fixating too much on Epstein. Maybe he’s the best man for the job, but to bring him in without even talking to Friedman makes me want to strangle somebody.
Gah. Oh well. I’m really interested to see what Friedman can do with a strong payroll.
Would you take ned colletti instead? I will trade with you.
friedman would be a great choice
Boooo! If he’s available, screw Cherington (No offense, I like Cherington, but it’s Andrew freakin’ Friedman).
Seriously, though, this is about the single best decision Moreno could make for his team.
Friedman made his claim to fame when the Rays were getting top 10 draft picks this will not be the case with the Sox or Angels. Everyone knows that unless you a picking in the top 10 you are not going to get a top player, the next 500 picks are random.
you are the stephen colbert of baseball news, except you’re not in on it
Dude, have you taken a minute to look at the Red Sox’ draft history in the first round/supplemental the last decade? From 2002-2006 alone they got Lester, Pedroia, Bard, Ellsbury, Buccholz and Lowrie.
Or maybe you could take a look at the Rays’ draft history. Of the last ten players they’ve draft to reach the MLB only three were first rounders: Price, Nieman and Longoria. Guys like Hellickson and Jennings could’ve been snagged by anyone.
With Friedmann, the GM position in LA would stop being a mere figurehead and the “genius behind the courtain”, Mike Scioscia, would stop doing stupid things like trading for Vernon and dumping Napoli.
Keep telling yourself that Scioscia was the one who pulled the trigger on the Vernon Wells trade.
As for Napoli…
Yes, it was well-documented that Scioscia and Napoli butted heads on more than one occasion, particularly due to Nap’s unwillingness to put in the extra work behind the dish.
It’s far too easy to look at Napoli’s success in Texas this year and direct a bunch of question marks towards Scioscia, but what did you expect, that a 20 home run guy WOULDN’T do better in a ballpark where the ball jumps out, or in a line-up as stacked as the Rangers’?
Admittedly, his batting average and improved defensive skills came as a surprise. Perhaps a change of scenery did wonders for him. If you seriously expected that kind of production from Napoli had he stayed with the Angels, you’re only fooling yourself.
Never mind the fact that 17 of Napoli’s 30 HRs came on the road…
I didn’t say it was the ONLY contributing factor to Napoli’s emergence, simply that it certainly didn’t hurt. Perhaps his hitting coach tweaked his swing. Maybe he developed a new approach at the plate. Maybe he played with a massive chip on his shoulder simply to spite Scioscia. I don’t know.
What I DO know is that relations had soured beyond repair in Anaheim.
I doubt he leaves.
and having more money might not necessarily make him a ‘better’ GM..
I don’t know. Being able to actually hold on to the cream of the impressive talent he’s shown a knack for drafting might make him unstoppable. Certainly would be interesting to watch at any rate.
To play devil’s advocate, not being able to afford to hold on to guys past arbitration could simply be doing wonders for him.
How so? You think he’ll lose his ability to evaluate and project talent just because it isn’t as necessary that he do so?
Likely? No. Entirely possible? Well, yeah. The Rays ownership knew what they had in regards to revenue stream and that gave Friedman a much higher level of freedom, in all likelihood. In a large market, he may feel more pressure to make a big splash now and again which could hinder we simply don’t know whether it’s a strength of his yet or not. To be entirely fair, his player evaluation did manage to completely miss what was going on with Manny.
Ask yourself this question, would the Rays have been a better team with Matt Garza this year or the players they got for him? Are these players going to impact the Rays in the future!
With Hellickson still in the minors?? Trading Garza opened a spot in the rotation for Hellickson. The C they got already played in the bigs. Guyer got some time. Lee’s a top 25 prospect at SS.
The Rays also were at a draft disadvantage. How many compensation picks have the Yanks and Red Sox had?? The Rays??
Though it now occurs to me, I’m really interested to know how much of the Rays’ free agent moves have been Friedman’s ability versus Maddon’s ability. A lot of guys they’ve pulled in looked veritably cooked and it’s hard to say iof Freidman saw something in them no one else saw or if Maddon managed to coax extra effort out of them.
It’s possible that one would become lazy with higher payroll flexibility, but I just don’t get that impression from Friedman.
Well said Obsessions, but you’d have to think that Friedman would’ve dealt several of the players regardless.
Matt Garza wasn’t really viewed as a rotation cornerstone.
Soon-to-be-traded Upton’s legacy will be the guy with unprecedented talent that was never quite able to harness it.
Hindsight is 20-20 with Crawford, but I’m confident Friedman wouldn’t have thrown 20 million/year at him had he the resources to do so.
Friedman is too smart to justify the 10 million Pena got in Chicago while hovering around the Mendoza line.I think the only component(s) of any Rays team over the last 3 years that Friedman would’ve retained is some bullpen pieces.
You won’t get the same talent picking 20th a you would picking 1st., example David Price!
By not holding onto guys in the past he has recieved more draft picks!
I just had a thought:
After all the hand-wringing and shouting and anger from my fellow Red Sox fans and I over the Theo drama, I found myself thinking “how will Rays fans react.”
I immediately thought “wait, what Rays fans” and came here to see how many Rays fans were in a panic over this.
*Sigh* And this is why I wouldn’t blame Friedman one bit for leaving.
Couldn’t agree more. The Rays need to relocate, plain and simple.
Only question is where?
The Northeast is jam-packed. California can’t support a 6th team. Maybe Texas (3 NBA teams play there). In a better economy New Orleans would be really neat. Realistically I think Oregon, Oklahoma or Utah would be the three strongest relocation spots.
We would love to have the Rays in Vegas, and I believe we can support a team nicely.
No, most Rays fans just aren’t worried.
Best news for Angel fans in the past 12 months. Finally there MIGHT be light at the end of the tunnel.
i imagine a sticking point for friedman will be autonomy
you know that this is just another step in Friedman’s progression as a genius
He trades himself to the Angels for Weaver plus 80 million..
Nope. No light. Just a Vernon Wells road block.
Bc Rays Fans arent paying no attention to this Rumor talk bc thats what it is RUMOR! Andrew isnt goin anywhere !! When he does he will go to whatever team his Father owns ( Astros) dont know if his father purchased them yet last i heard he had a group of investers ready???
More often than not the rumors/whisperings/rumblings posted on this site hold significantly more credence than you’re willing to acknowledge.
MLBTR isn’t saying it’s 100% bound to happen…but I’ll have you know that the Epstein/Cubs love affair was posted on this site months ago before the epic Red Sox collapse. This info comes from reputable sources, many from the higher ranks of the organizations.
Don’t get your panties in a bunch just because a bunch of hungry Angels fans are speculating.
Oh, and to set the record straight…
Andrew Friedman’s dad is part of a rival investment group recently assembled to make a bid on the Astros SHOULD negotiations with Jim Crane (who has an exclusive negotiating window currently) fall apart (not likely).
Rays fans??
I can’t imagine Friedman leaving the Rays, but this report is good news in general for the Angels and their fans. It shows that Arte Moreno is serious about getting someone with a brain into the GM position and righting the ship that Reagins almost sunk.
Really, most of the names being thrown around for the Angels’ GM position are solid choices… it looks like we’ll hopefully come out on top no matter who were hire. But getting Friedman would be the best move for the organization, IMO.
Somewhere in the world, Alex Anthopoulos just had an orgasm.
One threat down, two to go.
Something tells me the other two will be harder to dethrone.
I don’t really see Cashman as a threat if that’s who you were talking about. I would see Tony LaCava as a threat if the Orioles signed him, and I’m really hoping they don’t.
The guy who signed John Lackey and Carl Crawford is gone. The Red Sox got better…
Dream on Jays fans! Your still 4th place for the next 5 years!
Is that you ‘angry3’?
TMI
Friedman didn’t like how everyone jumped on the Anthopoulos bandwagon after the Wells trade..
So he’s going to go to the Angels, and will trade wells for an even better return, plus cash.
Just to show everyone who’s boss
You think winning on $40mm is hard, try winning while paying Gary Matthews, Scott Kazmir and Vernon Wells. His toughest challenge yet.
Scott Kazmir and Gary Matthews are officially off the payroll.
Finally!
The Jays and the Angels are two teams that have missed the boat lately! The Angels are light years away from the Rangers and the Jays well they’re still the Jays a fourth place team who traded away pitching and picked up mediocore players. Dave Duncan is the man who got the most out of Dotel, and Zip something the Jays couldn’t do. It’s all about results.
If he remains independent in decision making and not influenced so much by Scioscia, I’m all for it. Would the Angels give compensation? Cots doesn’t have a listed contract of Friendman so I’m not sure how that works.
I think the Angels have a lot of very good candidates for the Job. I would be happy with Friedman, Hahn, and Ng. Even Oppenheimer and Eppler sound really impressive. It will be interesting to see what happens
The ONLY thing these “sources” KNOW is that the 3 dined….END of story….
2:32pm: Friedman is the Angels’ top choice, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports
How does he know this?????The Angels are ALWAYS extremely tight lipped about deals of this type and make sure that whoever they are dealing w/ take the same approach…Ken is only speculating that he is the top choice b/c of his qualification and the good fit he’d have w/ the club….
Oh man C’mon please come over.. This will be the biggest offseason thing Angels do.. Also Angels already have money and more might be coming from a Contract from Fox.. So Friedman is a perfect fit for Angels.. All he has to say is “I Do”.. Lets go Andrew we need you!
Would the Angels owe compensation to TB???
IDk depends.. But i dont think so.. Because Cubs didn’t owe Bosox anything.. and if they would then i would give it im pretty sure Arte would give it as-well