Andrew Friedman does not care about the concerns of fans who feel the Los Angeles Dodgers are ruining baseball by racking up good players.
Friedman joined “The Jim Rome Show” for an interview on Friday. He was asked by Rome about the notion that the Dodgers are ruining the concept of fair competition by signing so many top players. The Dodgers president gave a passionate response.
Friedman said that he and his leadership team feel they have a civic responsibility and partnership with their fans.
“We think about the responsibility we have to our fans. They show up every night. They show up on the road. The passion they have for this team. We feel immense pressure to deliver for them. And thus the virtuous cycle of the Dodgers and our fans and how intertwined those things are, really are front of mind for our ownership group. And it’s about continuing to reinvest and continuing to … make this a golden era of Dodger baseball,” Friedman told Rome.
If you’re a fan, it’s hard to argue with that answer. Isn’t that exactly what you want out of your ownership group? Maybe the problem isn’t so much what the Dodgers are doing, but that more teams aren’t doing the same.
The big issue with MLB is the model of revenue sharing with a lack of a salary floor that results in teams on the low end being incentivized to spend as little as possible. As far as deferred money, at some point the Dodgers will have to pay it all, and maybe that will eventually affect their team-building. For now, the team has won the NL West in all but one year since 2013 and is coming off its second World Series title since 2020.
.@Dodgers President Andrew Friedman on the idea that LA's free agent signings are ruining baseball. pic.twitter.com/GbB2Jyuzuy
— Jim Rome (@jimrome) December 6, 2024
