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Los Angeles Dodgers not hiring GM this offseason

By Hayden Godfrey

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 22: Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman explains the conversations involved in the mutual agreement to part ways with Dodgers manager Don Mattingly during a press conference at Dodger Stadium October 22, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 22: Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman explains the conversations involved in the mutual agreement to part ways with Dodgers manager Don Mattingly during a press conference at Dodger Stadium October 22, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) /
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The Los Angeles Dodgers, who recently lost their general manager to another organization, don’t plan on hiring another general manager to carry them through to the next season of baseball.

According to Pedro Moura of the Athletic, who spoke with Los Angeles Dodgers president Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers will not be hiring a new general manager after Farhan Zaidi left to head the San Francisco Giants organization earlier this fall.

Friedman also said, per Moura, that it would be “too chaotic” to make that move at this moment, considering the amount of “staffing necessities” that will rule the organizations offseason plans at an administrative level. Most recently, the team extended manager Dave Roberts.

At the surface, this doesn’t seem to be an overly surprising announcement from Friedman and the rest of the Dodgers braintrust. While Zaidi was an undoubtedly influential voice in the decision making process for the Dodgers during his tenure as the GM, there was always some sense of speculation that it was Friedman who called the shots.

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Similarly, many are believing that having “too many cooks in the kitchen” could cause a problem for a team looking to streamline their baseball operations and make a swift set of moves to conquer a division. If Friedman does indeed want autonomy in baseball operations, going without a general manager is certainly the simplest way to accomplish that.

Around baseball, the role of the general manager appears to be diminishing, with presidents and larger, corporate minds dominating both the business and baseball operations sides of the game. The Dodgers could really gain hold of the National League West, and one central decision-making mind could help that become an easier reality.

Of course, Friedman’s comments only really pertain to this offseason. They could hire a new general manager in the spring, once all of the offseason heavy lifting has been done and all the pieces are in place for a championship run. At least for now, though, they’ll be going without a general manager.

Friedman did briefly allude to a potential timeline of naming a new GM, telling CBS Sports that the topic of naming a new general manager is “something we’ll think about over the course of the season and think about again next offseason.”

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This topic will likely be revisited several times throughout the offseason. Even though many teams have operated with an autonomous president, they have still named a general manager, even if just for logistic purposes. While Friedman and the Dodgers’ decision not to name one is somewhat puzzling, it could become moot once the season gets up and running.

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