Andrew Friedman hired by Dodgers to be President

Andrew Friedman, the general manager and Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations for the Tampa Bay Rays, has left his position and the organization. Friedman will join the Los Angeles Dodgers’ front office as their new President of Baseball Operations, while Matthew Silverman will take over Friedman’s duties in Tampa Bay, according to the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin. Silverman is currently the Rays’ President.

Ned Colletti has not been fired from the Dodgers, but will simply relinquish his role as general manager. Ken Rosenthal reports that he will remain in the organization as a senior advisor. Colletti has been the GM since 2006, and survived the change in ownership that removed Frank McCourt from power. With the Dodgers failing to advance deep into the playoffs in consecutive years despite a payroll that made them, in essence, West Coast Yankees, Colletti was moved aside for someone new. In this case, one of the game’s younger, brighter general managers.

Friedman has been with the Rays since 2004, originally serving as the director of baseball development for the then-Devil Rays, and became the general manager after the 2005 season at the age of 28. His organization’s sweeping changes since have resulted in relevant Rays teams, including the first four playoff berths in their now 17-year history. Now, he’s at the helm of the Dodgers, where he will be able to sign his own general manager, much like when former GM Theo Epstein took control of the Cubs before 2012.