Dodger Blue is synonymous with high expectations and success and the Los Angeles Dodgers have indeed returned to perennial playoff contender status. But, the World Series has proven elusive.
With that in mind, the recent high profile moves by the Dodgers are a necessity if they are to take the next step and go from being a contender to a champion. New general manager Andrew Friedman has wasted no time in making a major impact and garnering attention for both the Dodgers and himself. Friedman has made a total of ten trades with a free agent signing and two players claimed off waivers for a face lift of epic proportions that has made the Dodgers the “winner” of the off season.
The Dodgers appear poised to build on their 94-win season of last year with a face lift that should make them the team to beat in the National League West. Friedman arrived from Tampa Bay, the new home of “Moneyball” tactics and must have felt like he hit the lottery when he arrived in LA, where money is no issue.
The big move by Friedman last week as the trade of star outfielder Matt Kemp to the San Diego Padres. At first blush, it would appear to be a controversial high risk move but Kemp has not been a reliable glove in the outfield and good but hardly dominant at the plate. The new math crowd crunched some numbers, revealing just how costly Kemp’s poor fielding was for the Dodgers and that it took away from what he produced offensively.
The trade of Kemp is a classic case of how Friedman learned how to do business while with the Tampa Bay Rays as he traded an overvalued veteran for undervalued prospects. With the Dodgers this is even easier to do because of their seemingly unlimited budget.
One of those undervalued prospects, pitcher Andrew Heaney, was acquired from Miami, and should only add to what is among the top pitching staffs in the game.
The Dodgers may have won 94 games last year but were also among the most dysfunctional teams in Major League Baseball with an element of team selfishness and dissension that clearly frustrated the normally even keeled manager Don Mattingly. Friedman’s offseason moves not only will shore up a defense that was sub-par but also make for a much more harmonious clubhouse.
Friedman has quickly put his stamp on the Dodgers and his roster remake has dreams of a pennant dancing in the heads of Dodger fans everywhere.
