Dodgers News: Fans And Friedman Disagree On Plan, per L.A. Times
It’s no secret: there is a significant faction of Dodgers fans around Los Angeles, and even those that reside far away from the city, are not exactly thrilled with the model and plan that current president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has put into place. They want to win, and now. But he’s stressing patience.
People hate patience.
When he says that a division title is success, fans scream at him for not saying that it’s “world championship or bust.” When he wants to spend money on international free agents, fans yell at him for not spending the money on a high-priced free agent such as pitcher Zack Greinke. It’s all part of the process, though.
ICYMI: Dodgers Hope to Lean on Depth Throughout Roster
From Dylan Hernandez, contact reporter at the Los Angeles Times:
The result is that Friedman can’t afford to fail, not even for a single season. Fans are already skeptical of him. If the Dodgers don’t make the playoffs this year, he will be branded the second coming of Paul DePodesta.
Fans are going to probably call for Friedman’s head if the team doesn’t make the playoffs, but that doesn’t mean that his model isn’t working. Then again, that’s the nature of fans in sports anyways. It’s not to take a slam at fans, but rather to show how divisive everything happens to be.
Fans want results, and they should, and if they don’t get them then heads will roll:
Though Friedman might perceive the upcoming season as the next step of a rebuilding process, it marks a potential crossroads for him. It could determine how Los Angeles defines him.
If the Dodgers fail to make the playoffs, or fail to make it beyond the first round in the playoffs, then the fanbase will likely start to grow exceedingly tired of Friedman and his analytical ways. However, if the team manages to win it all then the fans will embrace him like no other.
That’s the game Friedman is playing. He’s playing the long game, hoping to get the prospects rounded out enough to formulate a dynasty that wreaks havoc on the National League for years. But fans want the short-term results as well as the long-term results. Friedman will have to balance both to appease everyone.
Wow! Wasn’t that a special piece of work. Mr. Russo, you are really living out on the edge there.
Wow! That certainly was a
The team is weaker then when he took over, no lead off hitter, an old 2nd baseman, and a pitching staff that has alot of questions.
The fan base is already screaming… This new crew does not grasp that it has been more than a quarter of a decade since we won the WS… And the Giants have won 3 out of the last 5 to rub salt in the wound.
Yes they are playing the long game. Yes they are being prudent. Yes they are building for the future. And yes most of us cannot watch the damn game. And those of us that have Time Warner just found out the Dodger Channel is not going to carry all of the Spring Games… Can you believe it. The Dodger Channel that’s sole reason for existence is to cover the Dodgers says it is too expensive for them to cover Spring Games.
So if you need a Spring Baseball fix in LA you have to watch the Angel Games as they are covering ALL of the games..
Talk about a slap in the face. The Dodgers do not care about the fans. It is very evident they care about money period…
MrDank I think the signing of Kendrick for just the 2 years was a great move… Way better than Utley and Kike as I think Kike can play most days as a super sub as Turner, Kendrick, Puig and Pederson all can get a day off..
I do not like this Front Offices’s trades. I thought the Gordon trade severely hurt our offense and we desperately needed the speed in close games against good pitching.
The trades for Latos, Johnson etc were bad. I am not a Grandal fan….
The FA signing of McCarthy was very bad.
So far for a Front Office that is supposedly the SMARTEST in baseball they are getting a D from me…
They get an A for picking up injured players and has been players like Utley and last year Rollins and others… Signing fringe players to keep for a month and let them go… It ‘s like they are playing Fantasy baseball.
And they are stubborn they picked up Heisey twice!!!
I think the team is probably stronger overall as Maeda and Kazmir are better than Frias and Bolsinger. No one guy replaces Greinke but I predict that Maeda will drive guys nuts and Anderson will be better with a year to strengthen rather than rehabilitate. So overall I think the pitching staff is better than last year after the injury bug hit us… IF Ryu comes back at his usual pitching quality we are much better than last year as many people do not give him the credit he deserves…
And next year some of the young arms should be here. That will be great to watch…