Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman spoke with Casey Stern and Mike Ferrin of MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (audio link) today, and here are some of the hot stove-related highlights….
- In re-signing Kenley Jansen, Rich Hill, Justin Turner and other key pieces, retaining the core was obviously a big priority for the Dodgers this winter. “The growth from February 2016 to October was incredible. The dynamic among the group was great, it was something we felt like was really good, in terms of the environment that’s conducive to winning….We were fortunate with the support from ownership to retain this group and kind of supplement around it,” Friedman said.
- With Jansen, specifically, Friedman said that if the team hadn’t re-signed their longtime closer, they wouldn’t have extended a similarly large contract offer to other top closers on the market, such as Aroldis Chapman. The Dodgers’ familiarity with Jansen’s makeup, work ethic and obviously his ability gave the team “that much more conviction to” make their five-year, $80MM deal with the stopper. “There’s so much volatility among relief pitching in general, there are very few that are kind of bellwethers. Kenley, for us, is a guy that’s a bellwether,” Friedman said.
- Sergio Romo is already fitting right into the L.A. clubhouse, and his postseason track record was also part of the reason why the World Series-hopeful Dodgers added the veteran reliever. “He has experience getting big outs in October games, which is not nothing,” Friedman said. “There are some guys who just can’t handle that pressure, he has demonstrated that he can.”
- “Everyone was lobbying each other” to re-sign Chase Utley, Friedman joked, as “even the groundskeeper was lobbying us to bring Chase back.” Utley’s addition during the 2015 season was a major reason why the Dodgers developed such a good winning attitude last year, Friedman feels, as “I’ve never been around a guy who is more focused on winning.” Utley re-signed with the Dodgers on a one-year, $2MM deal this offseason and will get only limited at-bats since Los Angeles is set around the infield, though clearly Friedman feels Utley’s influence to the Dodgers’ success extends well beyond the field.
petrie here
“Which is not nothing.” Friedman said.
Indeed Friedman was correct in his assessment that it was not nothing. It was, in fact, something.
Veiled shot at Blanton…?
I don’t think so, Blanton was a huge part of the Dodgers even getting there and the post season stage didn’t appear to be to big for him. Rather, he just ran out of gas at the end of the season. As a dodger fan I wouldn’t have minded the Dodgers resigning him, I bet Blanton was holding out for more money than he eventually signed for and the Dodgers simply moved on.
It appears it might have been.
Interesting that Friedman used “bellwether” to refer to his team’s closer. The word originated as a castrated male sheep that wears a bell around its neck and leads a flock of other sheep.
I know it has come to mean a trend-setter or harbinger, but is the sheep reference Friedman’s ironic take on the nature of leadership and team makeup?
Take no offense, Dodger fans. Just an etymologist’s late-night musings….
None taken. Made me laugh.
Love this site!
It’s pretty sad that you have to say no offense. That provided a little chuckle.
I’ve been waiting years for a team like this. Solid 40 man roster. Even OKC will be stacked.
Its a good problem to have but it is going to be hard to make a 25 man roster with the current group. The amount of depth is by far the best in baseball
Wouldn’t go that far…
It should be pretty easy to get to the 25. It seems pretty set at this point maybe with the only question being Kikè or Taylor. It’s SVS’s job to lose at this point. He appears to be over the wrist injuries and his ability to play OF/1B is a big one.
The hard part is getting rid of some of the dead weight. There are going to be guys that are probably going to force the FOs hand to be added to the 40 man throughout the year. The main area that still needs to be addressed is the pen, but guys are starting to separate themselves.
The only real roster crunch problem will be between McCarthy. Kazmir and Ryu. No place to put the odd man out unless one or more ends up on the DL.
I’m pulling for Ryu. Both McCarthy
Well we know that won’t happen
Why is there a cubs fan here? I never go to Cubs pages. I could stomach losing to them last year because they had yet to become as annoying as Cardinals fans/players. It seems they’re on there way.
Cubs fans in central Indiana bypassed Cardinal fans last August.
So Cubs fans can’t be baseball fans and read about what’s going on in the league? That makes sense.
This comment made my day, mccl32 and greentownroyal got it down perfect. They win one WS in over 100 yrs and now they’re a dynasty. Goob- talking about the Dodgers spending when the cubs went out and bought Zobrist, Hayward, Lester, and Lackey just to name a few. At least the Dodgers didn’t have to tank several seasons to build up the farm.
***Heyward
Nothing was as annoying as Red Sox fans always referring to them selves as ‘The Nation’. Glad that went away for the most part.
“The Best Team Money Can Buy”. Just keep outspending EVERYBODY and see if anything sticks. Four straight division wins = zero championships, and laughably, not even
one pennant. For the Dodgers though, the outspending part is easy. Just sayin’.