The writing has been on the wall for quite awhile now.
Nothing, of course, is set in stone but it seems increasingly likely that Chaim Bloom is going to take over as President of Baseball Operations once John Mozeliak steps aside, perhaps earlier than expected.
If that’s true, maybe the Cardinals should steal an idea from the Dodgers and give him a growing payroll to work with.
Now, I’m not arguing that the Cardinals should attempt to match the Dodgers’ payroll. There’s no world where the team will start handing out a billion dollars in a single offseason, even for unicorn superstars.
But turn the clock back to 2014 and perhaps there’s a lesson to be learned.
In October of that year, the Dodgers made Andrew Friedman the highest-paid front-office executive in baseball, handing him $35 million over five years (a contract that has since been extended) to take over as President of Baseball Operations. Friedman had previously been with the Rays, joining the organization in 2003 and taking over as the team’s general manager in 2005. In his time there, he led the Rays to their first playoff appearance and first World Series berth.
Friedman perfected the Rays’ now-famous approach – use smart penny-pinching decisions to find success in a tough market. He had been named Baseball Executive of the Year by The Sporting News and had enjoyed previously-unseen success in Tampa Bay.
Friedman’s analytical approach wowed the Dodgers, who must have been thinking only one question: What could this guy do with a real payroll? Since Friedman took over, here’s where the Dodgers’ payroll has ranked in baseball: First, first, first, third, fourth, first, first, first, sixth, sixth. In that same time period, the Dodgers have never won fewer than 90 games (except the 2020 COVID season, where the team went 43-17 and won the World Series).
