Friedman emphatic about having ‘robust farm system’

When Dodgers newly appointed President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman met with the media for the first time last Friday morning, he didn’t have answers to many of the questions posed to him. Although Friedman did say that current Dodgers manager Don Mattingly would manage the team in 2015, he dodged the question as to who, if anybody, was the front-runner to fill the vacant general manager position.

“Um… you know we’re having conversations… we’re having a lot of conversations with a lot of different people,” said Friedman. “I don’t know exactly how  things will evolve at this point but we’ll obviously keep you guys posted.”

Friedman was a bit evasive when asked if he was going to hire a general manager to replace Ned Colletti. (Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)

Friedman was a bit evasive when asked if he was going to hire a general manager to replace Ned Colletti. (Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)

Friedman toe-tapped his way around another important decision facing the Dodgers – who, if anybody, was going to fill the Director of Player Development position created when De Jon Watson left that position to become Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations for the Arizona Diamondbacks?

“Um… we started… a… you know… kinda coming up with a list and it will be another topic of conversation in the very near future,” answered Friedman.

Now granted, given the fact that Friedman has been on the job less than a week, it is certainly understandable that he isn’t up to speed on a lot of things yet, but building up the farm system through player development is clearly at the top of his ‘To Do’ list.

“If we ever have to go out to the free agent market to consistently and constantly rebuild, it’s not a viable business model, it’s not a viable situation for us to be competitive year after year,” said Friedman. “Having a robust farm system is important in a lot of different ways. It’s important to be able to supplement your major league team and it’s also important to be able to use certain guys to go out and get things that you need, whether it’s in the off-season or in July.”

When the press conference concluded, Friedman was kind enough to meet with the written media guys for a more in-depth Q and A session. I took this opportunity to delve into this “robust farm system” thing a little deeper.

“My focus is creating the best roster we can in 2015 and subsequent rosters, and putting ourselves in a position to sustain success,” said Friedman. “Each year things play out in different ways. We don’t have hard and fast rules but we’re going to do everything we can to not only win in 2015 but to put ourselves in position to sustain it over the long haul.”

Based on the tremendous successes that Friedman had in player development as general manager of the small-market Tampa Bay Rays, it’s hard not to be optimistic about what he will be able to accomplish in player development with the Dodgers. The big difference, of course, is that Friedman will now have to deal with a much higher draft pick number every year than he was accustomed to with the Rays. But regardless, you can bet that he will be very involved in the drafting process – with or without a GM or player development director.

 

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4 Responses to “Friedman emphatic about having ‘robust farm system’”

  1. Bluenose Dodger says:

    I love it when he talks like this: “If we ever have to go out to the free agent market to consistently and constantly rebuild, it’s not a viable business model, it’s not a viable situation for us to be competitive year after year,” said Friedman

    Andrew Friedman began his Tampa career in 2005. His first four first round selections were 8, 3, 1, 1. From 2009 on he drafted before the Dodgers when the Dodgers had selections only twice at 20 and 24. In the other years he picked 30, 17 (Dodgers had no pick),25,21,29 (second pick).

    Fortunately he drafted 25 in 2012 or I expect Corey Seager might not be a Dodger if he Friedman had selected before the Dodgers.He selected Richie Shaffer(3B) who the Dodgers had selected in the 25th round in 2009.

    I expect he and Logan and staff will have much to talk about.

  2. OldBrooklynFan says:

    I would hope that he will be picking high in the draft because that’ll mean the Dodgers are high in the standings. Right?

    • OldBrooklynFan says:

      By high I mean later in the draft.

    • Bluenose Dodger says:

      You are correct OBF.

      A team can get an earlier pick if another team signs a player to whom they have made a qualifying offer of $15M for one year.

      Any new team signing a player who declined a qualifying offer forfeits its first-round pick, unless it had one of the 10 worst records in the previous year – in that case it would forfeit its next -highest pick. The old team receives a supplemental pick in between the first and second round.

      For instance if Hanley Ramirez was given a qualifying offer and signed with the Mets the Dodgers would pick up a 15th pick from the Mets as well as having their own 28th first round selection.

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