Ever since Andrew Friedman took over as the Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations after the 2014 season, the front office has — unfairly — been criticized for not acquiring enough big-name players.
In reality, the Dodgers have added the likes of Alex Wood, Rich Hill, Josh Reddick, Yu Darvish, Tony Watson and Tony Cingrani in recent years. Nonetheless, they put all that criticism to bed on Wednesday by trading for one of the best players in all of baseball, Baltimore Orioles shortstop Manny Machado.
Los Angeles sent five prospects back to Baltimore in the deal, including one of their best in 21-year-old outfielder Yusniel Diaz.
Among those pleased that the Dodgers completed a trade for Machado is Kenley Jansen, who praised Friedman and his staff for putting the team in the position to return to the World Series, via Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports:
“You’ve got to love what the front office did,’’ Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen said. “This front office shows us how much they really want to win a championship. They’re going for it.
“We have a great chance now. This team, you get to the playoffs, I like our chances. The National League is wide open compared to the American League.’’
Jansen is right that the National League is wide open this year as going into the second half, there are seven teams all within six games of having the best record in the league.
The Dodgers, who were as many as 10 games under .500 in May, could have just separated themselves from the pack with the acquisition of Machado. They went into the break in first place in the NL West at 53-43.
Jansen hopes that the front office is not done though as he would like them to bolster their bullpen on the trade market, perhaps by acquiring Machado’s former teammate, Orioles closer Zach Britton.
As part of our efforts to help you understand how we handle the personal information you share with us, and in preparation for the new European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we’ve updated our Privacy & Cookies Policy. The updated Privacy & Cookies Policy will take effect on May 22, 2018. By using our services on or after that date, you’ll be agreeing to our updated Privacy & Cookies Policy. We recommend that you read our updated Privacy & Cookies Policy in full.
