CHANGE YOUR NAME NEDUARDO, FRIEDMAN IS HERE!!!

[Quake Griffin]

**** YES **** YES **** YES!!!!!!!



excellent move by our franchise.
for all the talk and laugh about how much money we have spent, we are rebuilding from the McCourt failures in the right way.

[Quake Griffin]

Looks like Colletti is promoted to senior advisor.


just stay out of Friedman's way. PLEASE

[Kilroy]

Change is good... Not really sure about the move yet. With Front Office guys, I'm never ready to call it a good move until they've made themselves felt in a positive way. He's got a lot to work with, but there's obviously a lot of work to do... Time to get busy.

[Neddy]

already posted this in Off season thread, but since nobody seems to look into that one, here it is again.

the los angeles dodgers hired the boy genius of Tampa, Andrew Freidman to become our President of Baseball Operations, aka a GM. Ned Colletti has been "reassigned" aka fired but his brand new extension is a guaranteed money so give him some ghost job and justify your payroll.

Andrew Freidman is the architect of the shoe string budgeted powerhouse that is the Tampa bay Rays. I am PUMPED!!!!

[Quake Griffin]

The Giants trade for Peavy at the deadline.
The Cardinals trade for John Lackey (and Masterson) at the deadline.

we trade for Fausto Trashmona and Kevin Correia.
we were rumored to be in on Pablo Sandoval...in typical Ned fashion...stealing Giants when theyre over the hill/done.

the last straw (for me, Ned wanted him gone forever) was the way Ned put together this bullpen. Ex-closer after ex-closer. SMFH.


this move couldn't have come any sooner.

[Neddy]

I would love to now that Ned is gone, but how do i do it?

[Quake Griffin]

I have no idea. Maybe Kilroy could help. What would you change it to?



ALSO.
check out this tweet from Olney yesterday.

Buster Olney @Buster_ESPN · 17h 17 hours ago
LAD and TB should cut a deal for Joe Maddon right now, and move forward. No sense in having that situation hang over Mattingly in 2015.

thoughts? another AL East guy. Spent most a long part of his career in Anaheim. Apparently he owns a home in Long Beach. Former Catcher. Never made it past Single A but he was a catcher. I truly wonder if the NL game is beyond him or if he's such a "genius" that the transition would be seamless.

[Quake Griffin]

Is Friedman going to hire a GM or is he going to be the GM?


looks like we just grabbed him up as fast as possible and are gonna figure out the rest later.

[Ranma]

I love the addition of Andrew Friedman as President of Baseball Operations, effectively replacing Ned Colletti as GM. It remains to be seen if he'll live up to his billing in handling the big-market Dodgers, but having him work with Stan Kasten to beef up our utilization of sabermetrics to supplement the traditional scouting, development, and other personnel management of the organization has us pointed towards an optimistic future, especially given our resources despite the current inclinination towards lowering payroll. I'm particularly encouraged with the pitching development program he had a hand in developing in Tampa Bay:

Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated (4/1/13)

The Rays work the head as much as the body. The holistic approach is guided by manager Joe Maddon, author of the "thought of the day." "The first thing most coaches want to do is change something physical," Maddon says. "Why? Because it's easier than working the mental side. The mental mechanics take more work but provide better results."
...

No franchise better understands how to identify, develop and maintain quality pitchers than the Rays. They are to pitching what Google is to algorithms, and—under owner Stuart Sternberg, president Matt Silverman and general manager Andrew Friedman, all of whom came to baseball from the investment banking world—nearly as protective of their proprietary knowledge.
...

Shields made five starts for Hudson Valley before he was moved to Class A. But his fast track took a detour when arm problems sidelined him in 2002. He pitched in '03 at High A in Bakersfield and began '04 at Double A Montgomery. Four rough starts into the season, Shields was demoted back to Bakersfield. He was 23 and had such poor arm strength that the Rays put him through tests to see if he was hurt. (He wasn't.) He was going backward.
...

Shields did more than gobble up innings. He devoted himself to the Rays' shoulder-strengthening program, a 30-minute workout using bands, dumbbells and weighted balls—the details of which the team prefers not to divulge. All teams have programs to promote shoulder health, but what the Rays have may be the secret sauce that keeps their pitchers remarkably healthy. "No matter where I pitch," Price says, "I'm taking the program with me. It's the best. I tell everybody that comes here, 'You probably won't be very good at these [exercises] for a year. It's tough on your arm at first. It makes you pretty sore. But once you get acclimated to it, it's great.' If I didn't do it now? I would feel it big-time."

Last September, when Price whiffed a batter to reach the 200-inning mark for the third time, he wheeled to look into the dugout at Shields. They made eye contact and smiled. "The 200-inning mark is such a big deal," Price says. "It's consistency. It's durability. Shields is the guy who started it with this program. The way he went about his work was the biggest thing.

The Rays Way


Seriously...read the entire article above as my citations can't do it justice. It's really impressive. I especially like the emphasis on using the changeup, their proprietary shoulder-strengthening program, and their recognition on the importance of control of pitch placement that is further complemented by defensive shifts based on analytics.

The move of our AAA affiliate from hitter-friendly Albuquerque to the more neutral environment in Oklahoma City should help our more advanced pitching prospects, like Zach Lee and Chris Reed, but enrolling them in the development program that the Rays have employed should also do wonders for their respective development. What's funny is that one of the few times I side with Colletti in going against our internal analytics department could pay dividends with the arrival of Friedman:

Mark Saxon, ESPN Los Angeles (10/14/14)

Two trade deadlines ago, the Los Angeles Dodgers got deep into discussions with the Los Angeles Angels to acquire second baseman Howie Kendrick.

The Angels were foundering and looking to deal expensive veterans for talent that could help replenish their bereft farm system. The Dodgers, living with aging Mark Ellis as their primary second baseman, felt in need of an upgrade. In the end, the Dodgers passed on the deal because they didn't want to part with pitching prospect Zach Lee and they were worried about tampering with a team on a historic run.

According to sources, that decision widened a rift in the team's front office. It lingered for nearly a year and a half. The push-pull, in general terms, was between general manager Ned Colletti and his small group of loyalists, primarily scouts and former scouts such as Rick Ragazzo and Vance Lovelace, and an analytics group that felt its input sometimes fell on deaf ears.

Dodgers step into 21st century

[Ranma]

Friedman's search for his right-hand man is underway:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/JonHeymanCBS/status/523169019445387265[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/status/523632972311052288[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/status/523633390063734784[/tweet]

I'm personally partial to bringing back Kim Ng and Dan Evans into the fold but another reasonable candidate for consideration is Brian Cashman's top lieutenant, Billy Eppler:

Mark Saxon, ESPN Los Angeles (10/15/14)

BILLY EPPLER, New York Yankees

He finished second to Jerry Dipoto when the Angels were hiring a GM in late 2011 and many people thought he was the frontrunner in San Diego before the Padres decided to go with A.J. Preller. Brian Cashman considers Eppler, 38, to be an integral part of his operation and promoted him when the Angels tried to hire him as their assistant GM.

“I look at Billy as being in a Russell Wilson situation, a guy that got picked later in the draft than he should have,” Cashman told the New York Post. “Billy is going to be extremely good at this position.”

Eppler has spent the past 15 years working his way up through the ranks of the Colorado Rockies (2000-2004) and Yankees. His background is mostly in analytics, but he also has experience on the scouting side and, unlike Preller, is well-known within the industry.

A look at some qualified GM candidates

[Ranma]

Peter Gammons seems pretty convinced or is really advocating that Josh Byrnes should get the job.

Peter Gammons, GammonsDaily.com (10/19/14)

But after re-establishing the Dodgers as an L.A. brand, Mark Walter and Stan Kasten have turned the keys to the franchise to Andrew Friedman, who in turn has the capital to bring on a general manager steeped in every level of the game, who appears to be Josh Byrnes.
...

So Byrnes seems to be the perfect fit for what Friedman wants. Josh is a baseball purist who other than being with his family is happiest at a ballpark, be it Dodger Stadium, the S.E.C. tournament or a Friday afternoon Harvard Westlake game. He knows the N.L. West well having been the GM in Arizona and San Diego, but in both those situations was hired by one ownership and inherited by another, and never had a comfort level with the PR that predicated so many decisions, even if he can still look back at Paul Goldschmidt, A.J. Pollock, Chris Owings and his players.

With the Dodgers, Friedman and Byrnes have an experienced, talented scouting staff, headed by Logan White, and they also know Kasten deeply believes in scouting and development. They have Joc Pederson ready for the big leagues in 2015, and there are many of their people who are willing to let Corey Seager play shortstop right away. They have huge upside pitching prospects in Julio Urias and Chris Anderson, among others. By the way, Friedman is very much aware of Pederson, Seager and Urias, as his scouting people in Tampa loved them, and every time David Price’s name came up from the Dodgers, that trio was Friedman’s requested take.

With Friedman Aboard, Dodgers Are in Good Hands

[Quake Griffin]

LMAO'd at asking for those 3 for Price.

not a chance.



We're comfortable with Seager playing SS now?
I always thought we were pegging him to be an average SS but that his instincts would play better on the hot corner.
i want to be strong up the middle, not average.

[Neddy]

LMAO'd at asking for those 3 for Price.

not a chance.



We're comfortable with Seager playing SS now?
I always thought we were pegging him to be an average SS but that his instincts would play better on the hot corner.
i want to be strong up the middle, not average.

Ned signing Uribe for 2 years to time Seager's arrival was probably the best move he ever made. I wouldn't mind seager on SS but I would love him at 3B too.

one thing I am deathly worried is that Cory initially could't hit AA pitching, then went on a rampage to post better than .900 OPS but he stopped hitting home runs. I mean he completely stopped hitting home runs. I wonder if he shortened his grip to catch up to the AA pitching... if so, we have a 6-4 hot corner who hits singles and doubles... I would like to see him get his long ball back next year in AAA.

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/524702455075184641[/tweet]

[Quake Griffin]

Dunno how much I should worry about Byrnes anyway.

This is Friedman's show and it looks like no deal is going down without his approval. So the question is, what does Byrnes being GM mean?

2 heads that think a like are better than one?

[Ranma]

2:35 - Comment From GG: Josh Byrnes to Dodgers GM?

2:36 - Steve Adams: I think a Friedman/Byrnes pairing would be awesome for L.A.

The Twitter reaction to that post last week was pretty short-sighted as far as I'm concernced. Lots of people laughing at the thought. You want to pair Friedman with a guy that got Tyson Ross for two DFA candidates, Jesse Hahn for Logan Forsythe and Ian Kennedy for Joe Thatcher, a middle relief prospect and a Round B Comp pick? Byrnes seems to identify pitching talent really, really well.

SOURCE: MLBTR Chat 10-21-14

[Ranma]

Dunno how much I should worry about Byrnes anyway.

This is Friedman's show and it looks like no deal is going down without his approval. So the question is, what does Byrnes being GM mean?

2 heads that think a like are better than one?

I actually agree that Byrnes' role as Assistant GM under Friedman would be mostly administrative with input provided. He seems like a more intriguing possibility as De Jon Watson's replacement given his previous experience. I still like Kim Ng, Dan Evans, and Billy Eppler better for the role as Friedman's right-hand man/woman.


Chad Moriyama, Dodgers Digest (10/22/14)

At his GM stops, Byrnes was hyped as part of the new generation of general managers, so the sabr side of things got propped up a bit more, but Byrnes was actually a record-setting collegiate player and moved his way through the ranks with the Indians as an advanced scout, assistant scouting director, and then scouting director. So while the reaction to my profile of Byrnes’ history as a general manager was understandably pretty tepid regarding his place in that role for the Dodgers, Byrnes has a much more intriguing profile on the player development side of things.

Josh Byrnes to Dodgers Rumors Heat Up, But What Will His Role Be?

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Buster_ESPN/status/525616700033466368[/tweet]

[Ranma]

I love this long article by Ramona Shelburne about the formation of the Dodgers' front office. I like how trading away a prospect like Andrew Heaney for one year of Howie Kendrick was a hard decision because it went against its nature as that was the lone component of the whirlwind trade frenzy that really bothered me. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to have Kendrick but I want the Dodgers organization to go about things intelligently while flexing their financial muscles not spend haphazardly a la the Yankees.

I'm also encouraged that Andrew Friedman spends time with Daryl Morey of the Houston Rockets to compare notes and gain insight from another personnel executive in another sport. Dean Lombardi of the Los Angeles Kings did the same thing in meeting with baseball executives when he first started, which has allowed his organization to win two Stanley Cup Championships in the past three seasons. Both Lombardi and Friedman share the same approach in wanting to build up their respective developmental farm systems and view defense as a key to winning.

The Dodgers have the advantage of being able to spend a lot of money right away due to the large TV deal and no salary cap while the Kings have to go about things with respect to a salary cap. In fact, the Kings' playoff chances this season have been hurt by salary cap complications arising from legal issues with regards to a player on trial for domestic abuse as well as long-term contract commitments to players with dwindling returns. In any case, I wish Doc Rivers would take the same approach as Lombardi and Friedman for the Clippers, but that's a topic for another forum.

Ramona Shelburne, ESPN (4/9/15)

For the past five or six years, when he's back home in his native Houston for the holidays, Friedman meets Rockets general manager Darryl Morey at the Breakfast Klub, a diner known for its wings and waffles. The intellectual cross-pollination benefits both of them. Plus, it's safer than comparing notes with a rival GM. So now it's a tradition.

"I just try to pick his brain as much as he'll let me," Morey said.

Morey would ask Friedman about the Rays' player development techniques. Friedman would quiz Morey about the complex, multiteam trades the Rockets routinely execute.

"Historically, there have been more complex trades, involving multiple teams, in basketball," Morey said. "Baseball has more of a tradition of one-to-one trades. I remember Andrew being really excited a few years ago when [the Rays] pulled off their first three-team deal."

At the time, it just seemed like Friedman had an abstract curiosity about constructing multiteam transactions, but this winter, his interest became very real.
...

The real gut check was Andrew Heaney, the 23-year-old left-hander the Dodgers had gotten from the Marlins for Gordon, who they were set to flip to the Angels for Kendrick.

"That's a trade -- in a vacuum -- that you wouldn't make in a small market," Byrnes said. "A guy like Heaney, a six-year [club-controlled] pitcher, for a one-year player? Even though Kendrick is a really good player, that's the one that went against our traditional instincts."

A smaller-market club, like the Rays or Athletics or Byrnes' former clubs, the Padres or Diamondbacks, would value the salary-controlled younger pitcher over the higher-priced veteran position player any day.

Los Angeles Dodgers' Front Office Think Tank is a Force to be Reckoned With