Dodgers’ Andrew Friedman Defends Deferrals Amid Backlash: ‘Kind of a Lazy Narrative’
The Los Angeles Dodgers have continued to add star power to the roster using deferrals. The organization’s methods have angered many baseball fans, but president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman defended the decision to defer some contracts.
“I think we’re rewarding our incredibly passionate fans,” Friedman said.
The Dodgers’ biggest splash of the winter was the signing of starting pitcher Blake Snell, whose contract also included deferrals. Most notably, 97 percent of Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million contract was deferred.
“I think the Shohei one is just jarring to people because it’s so different, and I think the others just unfairly get lumped into that,” Friedman said. “But I think it’s kind of a lazy narrative … the rest are within the norm and standard operating procedure that a lot of teams have done.”
While some baseball fans believe the Dodgers are cheating or using loopholes to continue bringing in talent, Friedman explained that the organization is simply being creative and not every deal that is made includes deferrals.
“I mean, it’s just a lever,” Friedman said. “We’ve talked about this. We’ve done deals recently that don’t have it (most prominently Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s 12-year, $325 million deal). We’ve done deals that do.
“In a negotiation, I think it’s always challenging and so you’re looking to any lever you possibly can to help get to a point where there is overlap. There are times where that deal lines up in a more straightforward way. There’s times where it’s less straightforward. Including deferrals helps as a lever to find that overlap. It’s been a useful tool for us. … We just like to get deals done.”
Although it’s widely known the Dodgers are using deferrals to maintain a star-studded roster, many other clubs around the league have yet to utilize the same method. Juan Soto signed a 15-year, $765 million with the New York Mets last week, a contract that includes no deferrals.
Whether other teams decide to take advantage of deferred payments, it’s evident the Dodgers will continue to do what works for them.
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Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
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Hello Andrew, I don’t care what you say. You have let the fans down, you haven’t gotten a ss which is a big need, betts couldn’t handle the position last year. What makes this year any different, instead of your lame pursuit of Soto you should have been focusing on this year roster. Getting rid of dead weight like Luz, Taylor and Barnes. Do your job.
Need to keep it going! Sign Teoscar or Santander now! Sign H Kim, sign CBurnes don’t wait to see IF you can get Sasaki Also sign either Rendon or Arenado and put Muncy at 2b. Trade Lux
It’s borrowed money. I fear it will come back to bite them sometime in the future. I might be wrong, I don’t have a degree in economics, but I think it’s short term win, long term loss. We’ll see in 5-10-15 years.
Andrew, what are you waiting for to Sign Teoscar Hernandez the guy has proven his worth , he’s even better than Soto!! Pay Him what he’s worth!! Long time Dodger fan!