BREAKING: Andrew Friedman is leaving #Rays for #Dodgers. Matt Silverman will take over Rays baseball operations.
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) October 14, 2014
Ken Rosenthal reports that Ned Colletti has not been fired but, rather, will stay with the Dodgers as a senior advisor.UPDATE: The Dodgers have made it official:
The Dodgers have hired Andrew Friedman as President, Baseball Operations. Ned Colletti will stay as Senior Advisor to Stan Kasten.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 14, 2014
This is a major move for the Dodgers and a big, big move for Friedman himself. Long considered one of the game’s better general managers for his ability to do so much with such a low payroll with Tampa Bay, he now goes to the team with the highest payroll in baseball. He will presumably serve the same role for the Dodgers that Theo Epstein serves in Chicago, and will thus hire a general manager beneath him to be Jed Hoyer-west.
Also of note, at least potentially: Friedman’s background is not as a baseball lifer. Rather, he was an analyst for Bear Stearns before joining the Rays and is known for having a sharp analytical perspective. The last time the Dodgers had a young head of baseball ops with an analytical bent it was Paul DePodesta, who the local press decided they hated almost immediately, criticizing him in the dumbest, most stereotypical ways possible. It’ll be interesting to see if they take that tack once again. Or if, alternatively, the combination of the passage of time and the fact that Colletti staying around will cause them to actually give Friedman a chance.
