The Kool-Aid Tastes Great!
Every year since Andrew Friedman took over as President of Baseball Operations for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2014, I have been called a Suck-up, Homer, Kool-Aid Drinker, and probably other uncomplimentary things. There are some people who absolutely become “unhinged” whenever…
Every year since Andrew Friedman took over as President of Baseball Operations for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2014, I have been called a Suck-up, Homer, Kool-Aid Drinker, and probably other uncomplimentary things. There are some people who absolutely become “unhinged” whenever Andrew Frierdman’s name is mentioned. Some call him “Friedbrain” and other names which we cannot mention. Leading the charge against Andrew Friedman are two wordsmiths who evidently get paid by the word to see how much they can write without substance, namely Bill Plaschke and Dylan Hernandez.
I can’t use their names again as it makes me throw up in my mouth to read the nonsense they write designed to appeal to John Q. Moron, who has no clue and worships the ground they crawled out of! As I mentioned, Andrew Friedman joined the Dodgers in time to put his stamp on the team in 2015, as the team has won over 100 games four times and has the best winning percentage in all of baseball. Here’s how they rank:
- LA Dodgers – .618 Winning %
- NY Yankees – .567 Winning %
- Houston Astros – .557 Winning %
- Cleveland Guardians – .566 Winning %
- St. Louis Cardinals – .534 Winning %
The Dodgers have the best record in that period by a landslide. It’s not even close. The Stats are through the end of June. In that time, the Dodgers have won 77 more games than the second-place Yankees. They have been to the playoffs every year. They have won their division every year except one, and in that year, they won 106 games! They should have won two World Series, but they only won in 2020 because of the Cheating AssTericks! Oh, and to top it all off, even though the Dodgers have drafted at the end of most rounds due to their excellent finishes, Andrew Friedman has built one of the Top Two Farm Systems in all of baseball.
He also told us before the season started that this was a “Transition Year,” but he never said that the Dodgers would not try and win. In fact, as we speak, the Dodgers are in first place in the NL West, and it would take a total collapse for them not to make the playoffs. A “transition year” means that the Dodgers are going to start relying more on the Farm System to produce players, not just on Trades and Free Agency. All the Dodgers Farm Teams have a winning record, and the system is full of prospects. So, when some dumbass says that I am drinking the Kool-Aid, I say, “You should drink some of it too, but first take a dose of Dumbass Vaccine.” Why?
Drink the Kool-Aid! Even though the Astros won the World Series (by cheating) in 2017, Baseball America recognized their efforts by naming the Dodgers its 2017 Organization of the Year, honoring the team’s success from top to bottom. He was selected as the winner of the MLB Executive of the Year. Baseball America also selected him the Executive of the Year and named the Dodgers the Organization of the Year for the second time in four seasons. Much of the Dodgers’ success under Friedman has been due to homegrown talent that Friedman refused to include in trades, including Corey Seager, outfielders Cody Bellinger and Joc Pederson, and pitchers Julio Urias and Walker Buehler. The Dodgers’ farm system is consistently ranked among the best in Major League Baseball. When he has traded prospects or young talent, he has the flexibility to acquire impactful talent such as Rich Hill, Yu Darvish, Manny Machado, and Mookie Betts, all of whom are expensive veterans but not with long contracts. In 2020, Baseball America called Los Angeles the model franchise in the sport.
So, do I think Andrew Friedman is perfect? Hell no! He traded away Yordon Alvarez and let Cody Bellinger walk. He signed Noah Syndergaard, so he is far from perfect, but he is so much better than whoever is in second place that you would have to have your head strategically placed where the sun don’t shine to fail to grasp that concept!
I would tell you who this is, but they already know!
Many fans mocked the Dodger’s Deadline Acquisitions. But Kike Hernandez has already been stellar, and so has Amed Rosario. Lance Lynn has shown what we might expect, and it’s not bad. Joe Kelly and Bryan Yarbrough have yet to show their impact, but here is what most fans fail to understand: They are looking at the past, and Andrew Friedman is looking to the future when making trades. Let me spell it out: Many of you wanted Ohtani or Bellinger or Thomas, while Friedman (with help from Robert Van Socyoc) was interested in acquiring Amed Rosario, who could be likened to a young JD Martinez BEFORE RVS overhauled his swing. Would it surprise you that Friedman may have acquired Rosario with the intent of turning him into a slugger? Andrew Friedman tries to get a player… before they become that player. That way, you don’t have to gut the farm!
At any rate, and I will say it again, Andrew Friedman is not perfect. I wish the Dodgers had kept Cody Bellinger, but we will never know if he would have had the success in LA, he has in Chicago. You are free not to like Andrew Friedman, and you are free to question his moves, but he has built and is continuing to build a sustainable juggernaut! You cannot argue with the results! Tell me: Which organization has been better over the past ten years? SCOREBOARD!
I think the naysayers could be very surprised at what this team can do. I am enjoying this ride, and one final thing: I hope you don’t have your hearts set on Ohtani!
P.S. Don’t look now, but the Dodgers bullpen is still the best in baseball since June 20th, and the relievers are now at #18 for the year. The pitching was so bad at one time that there is no way it is going to look good for the year, but now it’s crunch time, and what happens here on is all that counts.
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Discussion (103)
Disagree, not disagreeable
What is the point of this? Semi-vitriolic if you ask me.
Would have preferred if Bobby Miller started tonight over Julio.
Tough assignment for a rookie to pitch at SD in a pennant run. Plus Julio apparently has a finger problem , so the extra day of rest might have benefitted him.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!11
2020 may have been the hardest WS to EVER be won.
Get out of here with that crap Hondo…..
I agree with all of this, good post!
Okay, the world is changing, time for the Dodgers to approach things differently. In the past the Dodgers assessed their team and made trade deadline changes to improve. But with all the additional teams believing they may have a chance to compete, realistic or otherwise, the Dodgers can no longer count on smashing trades at the deadline. Less players available, more teams in the market to add and costs of gaining talent increasing, it’s time they move in a different direction. They need to focus more on adding in the winter.
Even Andrew Friedman admitted that he didn’t want to overpay, which is why some potential deals didn’t happen.
The best time to make moves was the off season, JP Hoornstra pointed out this morning in the Daily News, for all the above reasons.
You can probably make minor moves at the deadline, but if you want impact talent it had better be done in the winter.
His column today is a good analysis along with Jack Harris in depth review in the LA Times of what happened. Both worth reading.
An example of the Dodgers frustration with prospect costs to make a deal can be found in one of their early targets Lucas Giolito when the Angels outbid the Dodgers to make the deal.
The Dodgers thought they had a good shot to land Justin Verlander until Houston owner Jim Crane entered the fray.
Obviously, the fall back to Eduardo Rodriquez, who stunned them by blocking the deal, was a huge setback. That’s on the Tigers for not getting that waived before the trade talks advanced to that point. But looking back, was Rodriquez really somebody you wanted?
Now, I realize the disappointment for LA fans, but honestly how many trade deadline deals work and get a team into the World Series or help the team win a championship?
I can recall two winter deals that were difference makers for the the Dodgers, one for Kirk Gibson and the other for Mookie Betts. One of the Dodgers best winter trades ever was signing Freddie Freeman.
Now look back at the potential deals the Dodgers were looking at the deadline. Giolito got rocked yesterday and so did Dylan Cease.
Even getting Max Scherzer and Trea Turner at the deadline didn’t result in a World Series title and that was a great trade.
So yes, I think the Dodgers will realize that focusing on big improvements in the winter and lesser ones at the deadline will make more sense moving forward. Otherwise the costs will only grow for impact talent. Obviously, Friedman didn’t want to pay those prices and who can blame him?
Thanks for the article Mark. Andrew Friedman is a great GM, and indeed has a stellar record. I think he is a top 5 GM in the sport and could possibly be the best. But regular season record is not the only metric to gauge GM performance. Friedman took over a good team that had won two straight divisions and 94 games in 2014. The roster he inherited included Kershaw, Greinke, Ryu, Urias, Haren, Beckett, Jansen, Baez, Stripling in the Pitching staff. The position players included Seager, Turner, Bellinger, Pederson, Verdugo, Gonzalez, Kemp, Ethier, Puig, Rojas, Farmer, Ramirez.
Friedman was also given the largest payroll in the MLB for his first 8 years in charge and the largest international budget in the sport by far.
My point isn’t to criticize Friedman, but to put into context the advantages of the Dodgers franchise when he took over. Ned Colletti was a pretty good GM before getting fired. In the 8 years since Friedman took over, the Dodgers have won a world championship and three NL titles. A great record to be sure, but not the best performance in MLB. In 2014, the Astros won 70 games and were a much worse baseball team than the Dodgers. Since that time, the Astros have won 2 world championships and 4 AL titles. Yes, one of their titles is tainted, but the improvement they have made since 2014 is greater than the Dodgers, and as you put it: Scoreboard!
I would also argue that Alex Anthopolous record in ATL is at least equal to Friedman’s record. ATL won the WS in 2021 with a payroll of $142 million compared to the Dodgers $266 payroll. And the current ATL roster is better and well positioned for the future. AA has done a great job of locking up the best young brave players, whereas Friedman tends to let players go to free agency like Seager or opt out like Greinke.
The Tampa GM, Erik Neander has kept them competitive with a bottom 5 payroll, and is another good GM.
Again, I think Friedman is a great GM but he is also operating with the most resources in the MLB and he took over a good team in 2014.
Need a good one from Julio tonight
Let’s continue the Rosario talk. Don’t you think it is funny Amed is batting cleanup this last 2 games in JD absence from the lineup??
AF got Rosario but not to play SS but to play 2B against Lefties. Stop it right there.
Rosario CAREER Numbers against lefties:
BA OBP SLG OP
.303 .342 .477 .819
In june there was the cry/rant that we need a bat against LHP. We got him but go unnoticed because everybody thinks Amed is coming to play SS, not 2B. Mark stated the AF has vision for the future. Don’t you think this past summer, Dodgers Brass ( and Mark, lol )envisioned similar performance from MVargas that what Amed will bring at 2B ?
Just a bad reply, Bear. The guy takes so much shit around here for coming up with off the wall trades that to me seem like he’s just spitballing ideas (what’s so wrong with that) He finally gets one right and you still try and rip him. I don’t why you have such a problem with him , but I like Rosario too and I think he has a chance to help this team more than Rojas does.
I have to give Bradley some credit because there aren’t many guys who would have stuck around as long as he has with the amount of crap he gets.
Lots of complaints about Andrew not getting the players people wanted. He could have gotten any of them. All he had to do is include Bobby Miller and the cream of our minor league prospects. I wonder how people would react to that.
From The Athletic:
“ Rodriguez spent two months on the restricted list last summer dealing with a marital issue.
However, according to team sources briefed on the discussions, Rodriguez and Mato asked for financial and contractual enhancements for the pitcher to join the Dodgers, one of 10 teams to which he is contractually permitted to block a trade. When those enhancements were not granted, he invoked his no-trade protection.“
Good stuff, Mark.
Everybody can line up to get some from us.
So far, the quietest, under the radar pickup, that I believe has been great for us is Ryan Brasier.
17 games with us, 18 ip total, and a 1 ERA?? I know we used him as a closer once, when Phillips wasn’t available, but I’d love to see what he can continuously do in late game leverage situations (see if he’s an option in Oct)
Nice win last night! Pitching only gave up 6 hits, but also issued 6 walks. Thought I read somewhere that when Clayton comes back and with all the options Doc will have , Bobby Millers innings may be cut way back. You agree with that Mark? Also read Yarbrough may be the sneaky good deal of trade deadline! Maybe used as an opener, also piggy back with Gonsolin, as a spot starter too. I don’t believe in all my years of being a dodger fan I’ve ever enjoyed 2 players hitting back to back as much as Mookie and Freddie! I often think what if Cody was number 3 , healthy and like the Cody of 2019! No other team could match that 3! Oh well, I can dream. I don’t like Koolaid so I ain’t drinking any! But at the end of the day , Friedman is the guy for the Dodgers. I know the chess and checkers thing, sometimes I’d like a rook and a castle instead of pawns! Pouring in Charlotte, headed to New Hampshire in 1 hour. Piss on the Friars!
Mark –
Great article!
You have presented an excellent case for why the Dodgers have been the winningest team in baseball over the past decade – Andrew Friedman!
A key point you made is that Friedman is always “looking to the future.” That is what true leadership is all about!
Regardless of what some fans or media think this is what guides his decision-making in his role as the Dodger baseball leader.
As for the hacks at the LA Times, I have a suggestion. You should hire Andrew Friedman to run your newspaper before you go out of business!