Andrew Friedman and Brandon Gomes, Los Angeles Dodgers
Impact: +11.9
Division rank: first
MLB rank: first
Before he ever did a thing, Gomes was handed the contracts of Mookie Betts, Tony Gonsolin, Clayton Kershaw, Will Smith, both Turners (Justin and Trea), Julio Urias, Max Muncy and Walker Buehler. That was more than enough talent to dominate the West even if he did nothing.
Gomes not only did something, he did a lot. The signing of free agent Freddie Freeman away from Atlanta turned out to be a +3.8 plum, one of the five most productive roster moves of the season.
Gomes complemented that by signing unheralded pitcher Tyler Anderson, a move that proved sagacious when Anderson went 15-5 with a 2.57 ERA and +2.8 WAA. Then he stole outfielder Trayce Thompson from the Tigers in a fire sale, a deal that blossomed into 13 home runs and another 1.8 WAA.
Overall, the Los Angeles Dodgers made just 33 moves impacting MLB players, and Gomes turned an extraordinary 18 of those into positives for L.A. A dozen of those moves involved transactions with other general managers, and an imposing 11 of those 12 worked out to the benefit of the Dodgers.
In fact, Friedman and Gomes ran the most productive trade organization in baseball, as measured by net impact, in 2022. With the signings of Freeman and Anderson, the Dodger front office was second behind only the Mets in net free agent impact.
The Dodgers were only 10th in net far system impact … but no resume is perfect.