October 16, 2014

RICH GET RICHER

The rich get richer, especially in baseball.

The Dodgers may not have won the World Series this year, but they won the executive wars.

ESPN reported that the Dodgers have hired former Rays general manager Andrew Friedman as their new president of baseball operations.

Ned Colletti, who has been the Dodgers' general manager since 2005, will remain with the club in a new role as senior advisor to the president and CEO of the Dodgers, Stan Kasten.

Sources said that Friedman, in his role as president of baseball operations, will have the ability to hire a general manager.

Landing the 37-year-old Friedman is a coup for the Dodgers. A handful of teams have tried unsuccessfully to poach the talented young executive with a Wall Street background, who piloted the small-market, budget-conscious Rays to six consecutive winning seasons and four playoff appearances after taking over in 2008.

"Andrew Friedman is one of the youngest and brightest minds in the game today and we are very fortunate to have him join our organization," Kasten said in a statement. "The success he has had over the past nine years in molding the Tampa Bay Rays team has been incredible."

 Friedman had been one of the names in management circles when Theo Epstein was hired by the Cubs. Friedman has actual experience in building a farm system for a competitive small market team. Epstein was from the big market, free spending Red Sox.