NL West front offices: A midseason report for 2022
By Bill Felber
Just as their teams have done, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres front office staffs have taken turns dominating the NL West so far in 2022.
With a revamped leadership structure, the Dodger front office has put together the division’s best showing to date. By contrast, the front office of last season’s divisional champions, the San Francisco Giants, has fallen on hard times mirroring those of the team itself.
The analysis that follows is an assessment of the impact each NL West front office’s personnel decisions since November of 2021 have had on their team’s standing right now. It is based on the aggregate Wins Above Average of moves made in five areas:
- Players acquired by trade, purchase or waiver claim.
- Players signed as free agents or extended for more than one year.
- Minor league callups.
- Players lost via trade, waiver claim or sale.
- Players lost to free agency or released.
Wins Above Average is the preferred metric for this calculation because it is zero-based, meaning that it approximately reflects the number of games by which a front office either helped or hurt its team in the standings. All data is valid as of the end of play July 7.
There was one change of significance to front office leadership in the division this season. That occurred in Los Angeles, where president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman ceded general manager responsibilities to Brandon Gomes, who was promoted in his sixth season with the organization.
The division’s four other front office teams remained in place. Those teams are headed by:
- Arizona Diamondbacks: Mike Hazen, executive vice president and general manager.
- Colorado Rockies: Bill Schmidt, senior vice president and general manager.
- San Diego Padres: A.J. Preller, president of baseball operations and general manager.
- San Francisco Giants: Farhan Zaidi, president of baseball operations; Scott Harris, general manager.