According to a report from Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles, Andrew Friedman, who is the new president of baseball operations for the Los Angeles Dodgers, has reached out to former San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Josh Byrnes to discuss the vacant Dodgers’ general manager position.
If Byrnes was given the job, he would replace Ned Colletti. Colletti was reassigned after the St. Louis Cardinals knocked Los Angeles out of the playoffs and is now the senior adviser to the team president and CEO, Stan Kasten.
Friedman had an introductory news conference on Friday and commented on the general manager position and potential discussions he has had, via Saxon, "It's still pretty recent, so as far as specifics, we don't know yet, but we're going to embrace the dynamic people that are already in place and bring people in from the outside and we're going to work together.”
Interestingly, Friedman also remarked during that press conference that he plans on retaining manager Don Mattingly next season after the Dodgers reached the playoffs in 2014. Friedman also reportedly downplayed any speculation that he would reach out to Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon after Maddon’s contract runs out following the 2015 season.
While the future general manager in Los Angeles will undoubtedly help in this aspect, Friedman was largely brought in to help the Dodgers in the draft and with developing younger players.
Los Angeles has experienced success from Matt Kemp in 2006, Clayton Kershaw in 2008 and Yasiel Puig more recently, but the list of critical contributors from the draft virtually ends there. Recently, the team has focused on signing big-name free agents.
It wouldn’t be surprising if Friedman considered the development of young players and draft successes in the hiring process for the general manager position. For now, it appears as if Byrnes is the favorite.
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