Since Andrew Friedman took over as president of baseball operations, the Los Angeles Dodgers have been the most successful organization in baseball, winning the National League West every year and more regular-season games than any other club.
The only problem was that up until 2020, the Dodgers had not been able to finish the job and win the World Series. They came close twice, reaching the Fall Classic in both 2017 and 2018, but ultimately came up short both times.
They finally broke their championship drought this year, however, finishing with the best record in baseball before sweeping both the Milwaukee Brewers and San Diego Padres in the first two rounds of the postseason, overcoming a 3-1 deficit to beat the Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series and then defeating the Tampa Bay Rays in six games to win the World Series.
Friedman, who is now established as perhaps the best executive in the sport, worked so hard to get the Dodgers to this point. In an interview with John Hartung of SportsNet LA, he admitted that he felt more relief than joy after L.A. finally broke through and said that is a motivational factor for 2021:
“It’s something I spent a lot of time thinking about and I was really curious what that breakdown would be between joy and relief. Spent many hours, months and years thinking about it and chasing it. I can now answer the question; it was 99% relief, 1% joy. Which then I think is motivating me to do it again, because I’m hoping the second time will be the inverse of that and 99% joy.”
A lot of the Dodgers’ fanbase likely felt similarly to Friedman after all of the postseason failure in recent years. As Friedman alluded to though, hopefully now that they have won it all, the next time can be filled with more joy.
The Dodgers are returning the majority of their roster next season and certainly should be considered the favorites to win the NL West for a ninth consecutive season. That would put them in a good position to be the first repeat World Series winners since the New York Yankees won three in a row from 1998-2000.
Friedman voted 2020 Executive of the Year
In addition to winning the World Series, which is always the ultimate goal, Friedman was also recognized for his accomplishments in 2020 by being named MLB’s Executive of the Year.
Friedman is never one to get complacent, so look for him to continue his hard work this offseason to make the Dodgers’ roster even better in 2021 and beyond.
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