A front desk that ‘spends money well’ and a front desk that ‘just spends money’

The Los Angeles Dodgers are certain to win the National League (NL) Western Division this season.

The Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks on the 31st (Korean time) and recorded 83 wins and 49 losses with a 4-game winning streak. The ride with the San Francisco Giants, second in the district, was extended to 14.5 games. He is chasing the Atlanta Braves, who have the NL winning percentage, by four games. Atlanta can face off in the NL Championship Series, so don’t let go of the reins for home advantage.

The Dodgers were anxious until May. The line injury and sluggishness of the main pitchers led to the 2nd and 3rd places in the district. However, the Dodgers have not given up a single seat since defeating the New York Mets in the first game of the second half and rising to the top of the division. On the contrary, it evaded the San Francisco and Arizona Diamondbacks and solidified its dominance system.

Fangraphs suggests a 99.9% chance that the Dodgers will win the division championship with 30 games remaining. The Dodgers won the district championship a total of 9 times over 10 years from 2013 to last year, except for 2021. San Francisco, Arizona, and the San Diego Padres, who recently spent money like water, threw a gauntlet, but the Dodgers’ stronghold did not collapse.

The main character who made the Dodgers stay in the ranks of strong teams for a long time is baseball division president Andrew Friedman.

Clayton Kershaw does his part when he gets on the mound, despite the risk of injury. AP Yonhap News
Friedman, who joined the Tampa Bay Rays in 2004 and built a career in the operation part, accepted a scouting offer from Dodgers owner and CEO Mark Walter in November 2014 and began to accompany the historic Dodgers.

As is widely known, in 2013 and 2014, the Dodgers reached the top of the world for two consecutive years with the strongest starting trio Clayton Kershaw, Jack Greinke, and Ryu Hyun-jin at the forefront. As the executive chief who repaints the basics and fills in the blanks, Friedman begins to reveal his capabilities.

He cleared high-paying veterans Henry Ramirez, Matt Kemp, Dee Gordon, Brian Wilson, and Dan Haren, and focused on strengthening the farm system. He has parted ways with manager Don Mattingly, who is soaked in inertia, and hired Dave Roberts as new manager. Instead of leaving free agent Zack Greinke, mid-range players Scott Kazmire and Kenta Maeda were brought in to reinforce the starting lineup.

Looking at the Dodgers’ form of reinforcement since 2016, there is no signing of a major free agent. Regarding the vulnerable position, he targeted the trade and low-end free agency market. In 2018, they traded Manny Machado after Corey Seager underwent surgery and ended the season, and in early 2020, they traded Mookie Betts from the Boston Red Sox for a leadoff to revitalize their offense.

After winning the World Series in 2020, in the summer of 2021, he recruited Max Scherzer and shortstop Trey Turner from the Washington Nationals to achieve the feat of winning the district championship for eight consecutive years. He also focused on nurturing young talent. Stars from the Dodgers farm include Seager, Cody Bellinger, Zak Pederson, Julio Urias, and Walker Buehler. The Dodgers is the only team that constantly produces star players in its own farm.

For this reason, President Friedman is also evaluated as a risk-averse person. ESPN recently said, ‘President Friedman has taken a conservative stance in the free agent market. “The Dodgers have a high payroll, but they haven’t been recklessly risky contracts lately.” It is believed that President Friedman’s stance could change after Shohei Ohtani, who is likely to go to the Dodgers, suffered an elbow injury.

For Kershaw, who is at risk of injury, calmly signing a one-year contract twice, and in March of last year, when free agent Freddy Freeman broke negotiations with his original team, Atlanta, he immediately contacted him and signed a six-year, $162 million contract. The market evaluated that Friedman’s true value was revealed.

The reason I tied Betts to $365 million in 12 years right after bringing him from Boston was because I was confident in his skills and health. Betts, who was on the injured list three times in 2021 and last year, has been producing MVP-quality results this season full-time. Veteran designated hitter JD Martinez, who was brought in last winter for a year with 10 million dollars, has already done more than his annual salary, posting a batting average of 0.256, 25 home runs, 78 RBIs, and an OPS of 0.856 in 92 games before being placed on the injured list on the 23rd. In free agent contracts and trades conducted by President Friedman, success stories are much more noticeable than failures.

On the other hand, what about San Diego, which has been nominated as a strong candidate for the West Division title this year? San Diego general manager AJ Preller is nicknamed ‘Mad Man’. This is because if he sets a target, he will rush at it regardless of fire or water. He is aggressive and adventurous when it comes to recruiting players. There is a clear distinction between success and failure.메이저사이트

Preller, who worked mainly as a scout for the Texas Rangers and rose to the position of assistant general manager, began to attract attention when he took over as San Diego general manager in August 2014. San Diego advanced to the postseason as a wild card last year and advanced to the NL Championship Series. It was thanks to the performance of outside recruits such as Manny Machado, Juan Soto, Darvish Yu, and Blake Snell, who were brought in from the trade and free agent market. This, of course, includes Kim Ha-seong.

However, San Diego is regarded as the team with the most disappointing performance even though it beat the Dodgers with an opening payroll of $249 million this season and ranked third overall. The spending has been quite large lately. The players who have signed long-term contracts for more than five years in the last three years are Fernando Tatis Jr. (14 years, $340 million), Xander Bogatz (11 years, $280 million), and Darvish Yu (6 years, $180 million). Russia), Joe Musgrove (5 years, $100 million), Robert Suarez (5 years, $46 million), Manny Machado (10 years, $350 million), and Jake Cronenworth (7 years, $80 million). or become Among them, Tatis is the only player who plays his part this year. It is worth saying that it was indiscreet.

Interestingly, San Diego offered free agent Aaron Judge a 12-year, $415 million deal last December. In other words, even after recruiting Bogarts, he was planning to spend such a large amount on Judge.

As of this day, San Diego is 62-72, 22 games behind the Dodgers. We are already preparing for the offseason.