Andrew Friedman aims to build an even better ballclub
On the night the Lakers had just beaten the Celtics in the NBA Finals for the second time in three years, Lakers General Manager Jerry West was moving quickly through the winners’ locker room. A reporter stepped in to congratulate him. “Not now,” West said before hurrying off. “I’m working on something.”
It’s a response Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman can relate to. “While we’ve been focused on playing deep into October, the other 28 teams have had a head start on preparing for the off season,” Friedman tells Los Angeles after helping to deliver the Dodgers’ second straight World Series title. “So as much as we want to enjoy the moment, we also have to get right back at it.”
The organization didn’t get to be where it is today by thinking small. Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts all came to L.A. in off season signings or, in Betts’ case, a trade. The Dodgers had the highest payroll in baseball in 2025 — and for the 12th straight year topped the sport in attendance, drawing more than 4 million fans to Chavez Ravine for the first time in franchise history.
“We feel an immense responsibility to our incredible fans to deliver a team that they connect with and that is capable of bringing them home a championship,” Friedman says.
Although Friedman didn’t mention names on the team’s free agent shopping list, the Dodgers have been cited as a potential landing spot for four-time All-Star right fielder Kyle Tucker, considered the premier player available this off season. Former Mets closer Edwin Diaz is the top bullpen arm on the market. And with the Detroit Tigers willing to trade back-to-back American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, it’s hard to imagine the Dodgers not being interested. A well-armed team has been a Friedman trademark.
“We’ve learned over the years how valuable it can be to give our starters extra rest — not just for performance, but for keeping guys strong through October,” says the exec, who also notes that talent from the farm system might be ready to contribute at the Major League level next season. Overall, most of the current champs are under contract next year, though Kiké Hernandez and Miguel Rojas — who authored the double play that ended Game 6 of the World Series — are free agents. Both are believed to want to stay in L.A., and the Dodgers are likely to want to retain them. Yet the team has its eyes on the big picture.
“Everyone here, from the front office to player development to the clubhouse, is focused on finding ways to get a little better each year,” says Friedman, who has had the Dodgers in the World Series in five of the past nine seasons. “Our overarching goal has been to make this the Golden Era of Dodger baseball.”