1. Andrew Friedman, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, +21.10
Friedman’s general managerial resume began in 2006 with easily the most talent-laden draft in the current century. Inheriting a talent-bereft Devil Rays team, this is what he did:
- Signed first-round pick Evan Longoria, No. 3 overall, for a $3 million bonus. Longoria has had a 57.5 WAR career.
- Signed fourth-round pick Alex Cobb for $400,000; Cobb has generated 14.2 WAR.
- Signed 10th-round pick Desmond Jennings and watch him produce a 13.4 WAR career.
- Signed 13th-round pick Mike Minor, a 19.3 WAR player.
Overall, the first 13 selections of Friedman’s soon-to-be-auspicious career netted 107.9 WAR worth of Major League talent. A remarkable eight of those 13 picks eventually saw Major League action.
In Tampa and then in Los Angeles as president of the Dodgers, Friedman has not slowed down. In 2007, his first pick was David Price. He got Kevin Kiermaier in the 31st round in 2010, part of a 10-player class. In 2011 he added Matt Snell, and his first selection after joining the Dodgers as president prior to the 2015 season was Walker Buehler
In 2016 — working with GM Farhan Zaidi — Friedman’s Dodgers drafted 13 players who had a Major League future. That’s more than any team exec active today has ever landed in a single year. Here are a few of the names from that class: Gavin Lux in the first round, Will Smith later in the first, Dustin May in the third, and Tony Gonsolin in the ninth.
A total of 76 players drafted and signed by Friedman have eventually made their MLB debuts to date. Only three chief execs — Dombrowski, Cashman, and Beane — can claim a higher total WAR production and, since all three have had significantly longer tenures, none can approach the 6.33 average Major Leaguers produced by a typical Friedman draft.
The only comparable average number belongs to Zaidi … and he did It working under Friedman in Los Angeles.