The Los Angeles Dodgers are one of the most well-run organizations in all of professional sports and many consider them the model for how every MLB club should operate.
Since Andrew Friedman took over as the president of baseball operations ahead of the 2015 regular season, L.A. has posted a record of 634-399, which is good for a 61% winning percentage. In that same time span, no other team has a win percentage above 59%.
They have also become the National League Champions three times and went on to win one World Series over that stretch.
Despite the Dodgers’ clear success, there are often criticisms of how they have done it, specifically because of their unrivaled payroll, which is an advantage as it has reached more than $316 million at its peak and is currently around $270 million now. However, it is not the main reason for their success.
What makes the Dodgers’ operation so successful is every part of the organization is a talented group of people who work together well, according to Farhan Zaidi, the former general manager and current president of baseball operations for the San Francisco Giants, via Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times:
“The Dodgers have a great team,” Zaidi said. “It’s a team that has a lot of great talent. By the way, that’s the product of good scouting, good player development, good coaching, good management, good work by the front office. So anybody that tries to diminish what they’ve done because of payroll or anything else, that’s total nonsense. So, look, I have a ton of respect for them as an organization and as a team. You know, we can have respect for them and say these nice things about them but also try to compete with them, which is what we trying to do.”
What truly shines with the Dodgers is how good their scouting and player development system is.
In the last few years it has produced many key contributors, including Corey Seager, Cody Bellinger, Walker Buehler, Julio Urias, Will Smith, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin.
Their deep farm system has also allowed them to trade talented players to acquire Mookie Betts, Max Scherzer and Trea Turner without jeopardizing their future and their scouting and development system has also found players no other team wanted who have become stars, such as Max Muncy and Chris Taylor.
So yes, the Dodgers’ payroll is an advantage because it allows them to re-sign players, but nearly every season a different team starts spending freely to bring in stars but they don’t net the same results.
Dodgers, Giants clash
Zaidi’s comments and praise came prior to the National League Division Series beginning, which is the first time the Dodgers and Giants have ever met in the postseason.
Overlap and connections between the two teams with Zaidi and Giants manager Gabe Kapler previously working for the Dodgers adds another layer of intrigue to the storied rivalry.
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