Front office’s touch is Blue velvet for LA
Friedman and Zaidi have made moves to give Dodgers a shot at winning it all
LOS ANGELES—It happened again. They did it again.
Late innings, out of nowhere, a screaming line drive, a sprint toward home, dust flies, fans gasp, victory appears. The Dodgers’ front office did it again. The magic of this wondrous baseball team is nearly being matched, walk-off for walk-off, by the magic of the guys who have assembled it. Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi went deep in extra innings for the second time in less than three weeks Friday night, picking up October-honed outfielder Curtis Granderson from the New York Mets for virtually nothing, and now can there be any question?
In their third season here, Friedman and Zaidi understand Dodgers fans’ anguish. They connect with their desperation. They share their hope. They get it, and they’re going for it.
Even with the team steamrollering to what might be the best regular-season record in baseball histoy, possibly breaking the fabled 116-victory
mark, Friedman and Zaidi are still shaking things up, adding a veteran left-handed hitter, sending down former top prospect Joc Pederson, emphasizing that their only goal is one shared by anyone who has spent the last 29 years going out of their blue minds.
“We’ll take the 11 wins in October over the 116 wins in the regular season any day,” Zaidi, the team’s general manager, said.
Remember when everyone was worried that they were satisfied with building for the future at the expense of today? About five minutes before the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline, with nothing big happening, folks everywhere were beginning to gripe about two guys who cared more about the process than the present.
Then, boom, they walked it off with the deal for starting pitcher Yu Darvish, who has done just enough to help the team win all three of his starts. And now, wham, they have walked it off again by acquiring Granderson, a great clubhouse guy who has 18 home runs since May 1, who can still work up some serious exit velocity against right-handed pitching, who has played in 12 postseason series and two World Series.
He is a big-swinging starting outfielder against right-handers. He is invaluable bench depth on other days. He is 36, he has seen it all, he batted .389 against the Dodgers in a 2015 division series, hit three homers in the 2015 World Series, and becomes yet another gleaming chess piece that can shine under the lights.
“He has the kind of grinding mentality that plays in October,” Zaidi said.
Friedman and Zaidi have told their players and their town that having the best record in baseball, which they will have, isn’t good enough. Winning the National League West for the fifth straight year, which they’ve locked up, isn’t good enough. Making regular-season history, which they’ve already done, isn’t good enough.
This is all about a ring. That’s what they’re selling. That is their fight.
“I don’t think we’re sitting back thinking, ‘We have this great won-loss record, let’s not try to get better.’ That doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Zaidi said. “When you get to the playoffs, records don’t mean anything.”