The Dodgers have decided to take their time in filling the position left open recently by former GM Farhan Zaidi, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told reporters including Pedro Moura of The Athletic (Twitter link). A hiring search will not take place during the current offseason.
Friedman, of course, remains the top baseball operations decisionmaker in Los Angeles, so it’s hardly as if this is a rudderless ship. And the organization continues to employ former GM Josh Byrnes in a senior capacity. Another former GM, Gerry Hunsicker, remains on hand in addition to the remainder of the club’s baseball ops staff.
Still, it’s notable that the Dodgers have seen the departures of several well-known figures of late. Zaidi left to become the president of baseball operations of the Giants. Alex Anthopoulos departed to run the baseball side of the Atlanta Braves as their general manager. And Friedman’s predecessor, Ned Colletti, is no longer with the organization.
The news will allow other organizations to breathe easier, as their top non-GM execs won’t be lured by the L.A. behemoth — at least, not just yet. It seems likely that the Dodgers will, before too long, seek to bring in another voice to assist Friedman in assessing opportunities and engaging with agents and rival ballclubs.
Why not make yourself GM, President & CEO like DD was with Detroit?
In DD we trust.
Agreed! Go Red Sox!
Thanks
A deep-pocketed team like the Dodgers should hire as many talented FO people as possible. This is one of the best ways to leverage their financial might, especially since there’s no salary cap implications for non-players.
Restingmitch, good point.
Thank you. I don’t often make good points, so it’s nice when it does happen.
Funny!
Andrew needs some sleep…..
Sure looks that way, ain’t.
And what became of Ned? He leave completely, including SNLA?
Keep him as far away from decision making as possible
I’m still amazed that Peter Angelos didn’t insist on hiring him.
Layvent, Peter isn’t running the O’s these days.
Actually, totally think he’s still relevant in this era. Can strike a nice balance between analytics and additional decision making methods. Smart baseball guy.
Then why has he not been hired in the 4 seasons since being removed
Well Kenley, I trust you’re intelligent enough to figure it out.
Ned is better than most. He drafted some of the key players we still have and he made big trades. Market was much different when he was in control sure he would of changed with it like how basdball has.
GMs dont draft. Thats what the scouts are for.
Everyone knows that but like you doesn’t matter. He had final say. Also final say who he was going to trade. I’m sure you read the article about how he really liked Stripling never wanted to include him in any trades. Dodgers could take a tip from Ned singing Kershaw to an extension why are other clubs still doing this but Dodgers don’t?
I like Ned as a person but he’s definitely not “better than most.” At his best, he was competent-ish.
Yea, maybe. Think of all the other teams. All the trades didn’t trade anyone away. Made BIG trades. Got Dodgers to the playoffs first time in years.
Respectfully, your post doesn’t add up:
-The Dodgers made it to the NLDS in October 2004.
-Colletti was hired in November 2005.
The Jason Schmidt signing and how they handled it was one of the worst moves in baseball history. Ned knew he was injured before he signed him and had him play anyways. After he was awful, then he had surgery and missed the second year of the contract.
Is Zaidi’s job with the Giants a promotion from what he was doing in LA? If it’s a lateral move I honestly don’t know why he left (or why LA let him leave if they had any say in the matter).
Yes, he worked under Friedman in LA, and now is the president of baseball operations in SF.
Very hard to keep your top front office guys if you’re successful. In recent years front offices have added positions moving high profile GM’s to president of baseball operation and making their assistant GM’s the actual GM. I can’t complain about the Cardinals front office overall but this is one thing they were behind on and it cost them Jeff Luhnow to the Astros and he was a vital part of building the organization up with a modern way of thinking.
Huge brain drain from the Astros this offseason. Surprising it wasn’t prevented. Smart teams will sign their elite front office guys to long-term deals. (I think the O’s have done this with Elias, though terms of deal haven’t been announced, and likely will not be anytime soon.)
O’s and “smart” havent been mentioned in the same breath in some time.
imindless, stick around.
The rumor is that it was ethical – that guys were intensely opposed to the Osuna acquisition, for example. They had people leave, not for a promotion or even another job, they left with nothing lined up. That’s some serious warning signs.
Dead set promotion. Nothing LA could do except wish him well.
Well, they technically could have declined the Giants’ request to speak to Farhan.
Instead, they elected to let Zaidi out of his contract — which was the right thing to do.
Not sure it is the right thing to do. They’re under contract; the right thing to do is honor said contract. Orioles didn’t let Dan Duquette speak to or leave for Toronto, even though their was mutual interest. (Cue joke: “Heh heh: and we know how THAT turned out!”)
I understand where you’re coming from, especially when Zaidi left for the Giants. That stung a little.
That said, you don’t attract talent by stifling their ability to grow. For example, if I was an up-and-comer in the baseball world (I wish!!!), I’d look at the Dodgers (among many other teams) and see a wonderful opportunity to contribute while being encouraged to grow.
TLDR: stuff like this pays off in the long-run, even if it sucks in the interim.
He was still under contract, they could have been A-holes and told him he couldn’t interview with them.
Disregard that, I guess that only works with lateral moves
No, you had it right the first time. Allowing FO personnel to seek outside promotions is standard practice but is not mandatory.
They had good depth in their front office
My advice to you Ned, unstaple that dead thing from the top of your head and just let it go man.
What, and betray his animated doppelgänger of the same name???
link to ibb.co
Kim Ng!
Stop kicking that horse. It’s dead.
Not sure why they need all of these folks. Still haven’t won anything since he came along. Great farm system builder, but can’t get ver the hump. Baseball’s version of Marty Shottenheimer. Plus how many interchangeable pieces do you need before that actually affects if you were playing everyday. I think they have witnessed that outcome.
You’re kidding right?
Nope just stating the facts.
He is not on the field playing. You really believe a team that played in 2 straight WS wasnt capable?
Can I ask you a serious question?
Do you define your favorite team’s sucesses (and the enjoyment you derive as a result) based solely on RINGZ? Because if so, I can’t understand why you’d watch this game at all.
Every single year there are 29 teams who didn’t “get over the hump.” Every season ends in heartbreak for numerous teams. Fans like you act as if the achievement of getting to the World Series is negated entirely if you didn’t manage to win it all. That’s very short-sighted, and, frankly, pretty boring.
For example, look at what MIL did last year.
They were exciting to watch. They were immensely talented. They created a boatload of incredible memories for their fans. And frankly, as a Dodgers fan they scared the living sh*t out of me.
They didn’t even make it to WS. Does that make them an adject failure, too? (Hint: no, it did not)
Typo alert: “abject [failure]”.
I agree with you to a point, The Dodgers have had great success this decade. They are the cream at the top of the division.
However, it’s sad to say different teams have different expectations. Milwaukee even making the playoffs is huge. Same goes for Seattle, San Diego, etc. However, when you’re a Dodger or a Yankee, it’s World Series or bust. You’ve got a long line of success under your belt and your expectations raise with it.
That comes down to the manager. All the GM can do is get players that can make the team succeed. Spending money doesn’t mean you automatically win chief.
Let me translate Friedman-speak for you all. “Zaidi was never really anything more than a figurehead, I made all the decisions, so no need to hire a GM quickly.”
Yeah, I’m sure that’s why the Giants hired Zaidi as their PBO — because he makes a lovely figurehead.
Tampa Bay is still operating the same maybe even better since Friedman left. Makes you think…
Under Friedman, the Rays went to the postseason four times — in ‘08 (WS appearance), ‘10, ‘11, and in ‘13.
Number of times they’ve made the postseason since his departure: 0.
Now, that doesn’t mean that Friedman was directly responsible for the Rays’ success under his watch. But it kinda blows a hole in your theory…
Not to mention the back to back WS appearances with the dodgers. Friedman gets dumped on a fair deal but he is one of the best team builders in the game
The Internet: where saying anything makes something true
Friedman likely evaluating young guys Brandon Gomes and Alex Slater who are currently filling the GM role with VP Josh Byrnes oversight. Free agency, arbitrations, Winter Meetings, roster decisions, etc. excellent opportunities to evaluate both for the GM position, or possibly splitting the position into 2 jobs for awhile. The young guys need to moved up when ready or they will find opportunities with other teams.
Can you Dodger folks please give me your thoughts on Mr. Zaidi and what we Giant fans can expect from him?
Appreciate your thoughts and comments.
100% stats driven executive; zero baseball experience outside of MLB front office. Controls information coming out of FO, methodical decision making so patience is required.
It’s hard to actually say what he had his finger on since Freidman and Zaidi both worked well together. He definitely was responsible for signing Brandon McCarthy, Muncy, and Kazmir from his days with the A’s. Just look at how the A’s are run and transform that to a much bigger budget. That’s probably what the Giants will be.
It’s also worth noting with the Ned discussion in this post that the Dodgers were in a great situation when Freidman-Zaidi took over. The roster had prime Kershaw-Greinke-Jansen, a still useful Adrian Gonzalez, and everyday players like Puig, Turner, Kemp (who had tade value at this time), along with Joc, Urias, Seager, Bellinger, PBaez, Stripling and guys they eventually traded for help in the system. I think the Giants will take a while to re-tool since they don’t have the advantages the Dodgers had with the roster already in place + Freidman/Zaidi could exploit the old CBA.
Hold on to your butts and get ready for lots of washed up ex-A’s in your rotation. In fact I’m shocked he hasn’t acquired McCarthy & Anderson already!
What Socalbum and Fred said x2
I live in the Bay Area and though a Dodger fan, follow all the Giants moves. Our rivalry is fun and great, right?!
Zaidi is exactly what the Giants have needed and now adds to the rivalry lore.
Expect intelligent, well thought out moves that work for the depth of the team vs just a position.
Expect some experimentation on guys that don’t initially seem like much. Some might not work many will be surprisingly delightful. Like getting a bunch more Travis Ishikawa moments throughout the season. All FO guys try to do it but he seems to excel at it, without costing the team much in resources.
Its been fun listening to the KNBR guys trying to figure him out. =)
The idea is to churn out baseball execs for other teams to hire in better positions a la Mark Shapiro from his Cleveland days. Theres about 5 or 6 GMs (or higher) that went through his program. Even today with the Jays both Atkins and Cherington are graduates…although why Atkins has the GM job still surprises me. I’d much prefer to see him not get a contract extension after this year and have Cherington take that job over.
Any excuse not to spend money…sounds like what a broke person would say.
So when they added all these former GMs to the FO…is it supposed to have the same affect as adding all those former closers to your bullpen?
What?
Just wait til spring training…and be like… Kershaw, and who else did we sign?