Andrew Friedman

Andrew Friedman

• School Tulane University

• Born November 13, 1976

Biographical Information

Andrew Friedman was an outfielder at Tulane University, although his studies were his primary occupation. Just like his father Kenneth, Andrew Friedman played for the Tulane Green Wave on a baseball scholarship. He was part of the team when in 1996 it won the inaugural Conference USA championship. Friedman played under Rick Jones briefly before injuries to his wrist and shoulder ended his playing career. He had grown up in Houston, TX as a huge fan of the Houston Astros, hanging around the Astrodome all the time and striking up friendships with players and team employees.

He worked for a time as an investment banker before joining the Tampa Bay Devil Rays after having struck a friendship with owner Stuart Sternberg. He became Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations for the Devil Rays following the 2005 season. He stayed in the position all the way until the end of the 2014 season, overseeing the team's transformation from doormats to perennial postseason contenders as the "Tampa Bay Rays". Success began with the team's change of name in 2008, when they had their first winning season and reached the 2008 World Series on the strength of a core of home-grown players, complemented by others acquired in smart trades. That same year Friedman was named Sporting News Executive of the Year. Operating on a modest budget, the Rays managed to sign a few stars to long-term contracts, most notably 3B Evan Longoria, but were mainly successful at obtaining good value through trades in return for players who were about to become too expensive. During all of this period, he worked with only one manager, Joe Maddon. There was a certain amount of secrecy behind the Rays' success,m as Friedman would not divulge the names of who all those who were working for him, some of whom were likely statistical analysts, as the Rays tried a number of unusual things over the years, such as unorthodox line-up choices and defensive shifts.

On October 14, 2014, he was hired by the Los Angeles Dodgers as President of Baseball Operations, and became the team's new GM, replacing Ned Colletti. The Dodgers had failed to take the final step to the World Series in spite of having the largest payroll in the major leagues and Friedman reporting to team President Stan Kasten, was seen as the man to take them over the hump. He explained however that his objective was to eventually hire full-time GM to work under his orders while he would concentrate on the bigger picture. On November 4th, news reports announced that he had hired Oakland Athletics assistant GM Farhan Zaidi to be the team's new GM. The Dodgers reached the World Series in back-to-back seasons in 2017 and 2018, after which Zaidi left to become GM of the San Francisco Giants. Friedman decided not to replace him, instead taking over part of the duties, and promoting former pitcher and long-time friend Brandon Gomes to assistant GM to help him out. Gomes was promoted to GM in January of 2022, as Friedman finally decided to let go of day-to-day operations, after having led the Dodger to a World Series title in 2020.

Preceded by Chuck LaMar

Devil Rays General Manager 2006-2014

Succeeded by Matt Silverman

Preceded by Farhan Zaidi

Los Angeles Dodgers General Manager 2018-2022

Succeeded by Brandon Gomes

Record as a General Manager

Draft Picks

1st Round

• 2006: 3rd overall 3B Evan Longoria - Long Beach State University
• 2007: 1st overall P David Price - Vanderbilt University
• 2008: 1st overall SS Tim Beckham - Griffin High School

Significant Trades

• December 7, 2005 traded Dewon Brazelton to the San Diego Padres for Sean Burroughs
• January 14, 2006 traded Lance Carter and Danys Baez to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Edwin Jackson and Chuck Tiffany
• June 20, 2006 traded Joey Gathright and Fernando Cortez to the Kansas City Royals for J.P. Howell
• June 27, 2006 traded Toby Hall and Mark Hendrickson to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Dioner Navarro and Jae Weong Seo
• July 12, 2006 traded Aubrey Huff to the Houston Astros for Ben Zobrist and Mitch Talbot
• July 31, 2006 traded Julio Lugo to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Joel Guzman and Sergio Pedroza
• July 29, 2006 traded Ty Wigginton to the Houston Astros for Dan Wheeler

Significant Signings

• December 15, 2006 signed Akinori Iwamura through the Posting System from Tokyo Yakult Swallows

Further Reading

• Adam Berry: "Friedman called this World Series 6 years ago", mlb.com, October 19, 2020. [1]
• Ken Gurnick: "Friedman named Dodgers' president of baseball operations: Colletti remains with team as a senior advisor", mlb.com, October 14, 2014. [2]
• Richard Justice: "Big Astros fan as kid, Friedman back for WS: Dodgers executive's father proudly rooting for son's club", mlb.com, October 27, 2017. [3]