Los Angeles Dodgers: Three things we learned from Andrew Friedman

Los Angeles Dodgers President of Baseball Operations spoke to the assembled media on Monday afternoon, a post mortem for the Dodgers 31st consecutive season without a World Series title.

Friedman took his shots from the LA media answering why a 106 win Los Angeles Dodgers team didn’t win the World Series, let alone a postseason series. There were three things that stood out from Friedman’s press conference.

“At this point, it’s just finalizing it.” 

The biggest free-agent acquisition for the Dodgers this off-season might be Friedman himself. Friedman’s five-year contract is supposed to expire this winter raising speculation that Friedman might leave the team.

The latest rumor was that the Boston Red Sox would make a play to sign Friedman, but during the press conference, Friedman confirmed that negotiations had already started with Dodgers ownership. Friedman has led the Dodgers front office turning the farm system into one of the best in baseball and reducing payroll, both things ownership likes; it looks like Friedman is here to stay.

“This was a team that won 106 games. … Obviously, it was as painful a loss as I can remember, the whole thing is focusing on how we get to winning those 11 games in October and in our mind Dave is absolutely a part of that and is an additive part of doing that.”

Friedman re-confirmed that Dave Roberts isn’t going anywhere despite what pundits and fans may want. In the conference, Friedman was incredulous when the question of dismissing Roberts came up shooting the notion down saying, “Frankly, I was surprised by the question.”

Roberts is intertwined with Friedman, as he was hired in 2015 after Don Mattingly was let go. In his four seasons, Roberts has a .605 win percentage, including two NL pennants. He has a good working relationship with the front office and just signed a three-year extension. It was always far fetched that Friedman would let Roberts go.

“transition into a special assistant role.” (Rick Honeycutt)

After 14 years as the Los Angeles Dodgers pitching coach, Rick Honeycutt will be moving into a position in the front office. This was first announced by Friedman in the press conference. Bullpen coach Mark Prior will likely be elevated but those specific details have yet to be worked out.

Honeycutt has held his position since 2006 and helped nurture successful pitching staffs that were part of 10 playoff teams and two NL pennant winners. The physical demands were too much for the 65-year-old former pitcher who required back surgery this last season.

Like Honeycutt, Prior is a former major league pitcher who joined the Dodgers after last season after three years in the Padres organization. Prior is familiar with both the major league and minor league staffs if he is elevated there may be some major changes if Rich Hill and Hyun-Jin Ryu don’t re-sign as free agents.