Dodgers: Four of the Biggest Overreactions From the Losing Streak

The Front Office Should Be Fired

This one is also one of my personal favorites. At the July 31st trade deadline, there was a lot of speculation as to what the Dodgers would do to improve a team that was arguably the best in franchise history. The task came to Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi.

Friedman and Zaidi stepped up to the plate and made the biggest splash they could make, trading for Yu Darvish. Since becoming a Dodger, Darvish has not been the shutdown number two the media was making him out to be. Darvish has been extremely hit or miss with the Dodgers. In 7 starts, Darvish is 3-3 with a 4.34 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 37 1/3 innings. Those stats are far from the dominant number two we were advertising Darvish to be for the Dodgers.

So naturally, fans reacted, calling for the jobs of Friedman and Zaidi. Fans were complaining the front office did not make the right trade and should have traded for Verlander instead of Darvish. These fans do not understand that the Dodgers did not want to eat up the hefty contract Verlander is due over the next two seasons and the club’s desire to stay under the luxury tax and keep their top prospects.

Keep in mind, these fans are also the ones who complained when the front office did not make the big trade at the deadline for Cole Hamels, Chris Sale, or Chris Archer. These fans were willing to part ways with Corey Seager, Julio Urias, or even Cody Bellinger if it meant trading for one of those top available arms. Instead the front office held onto their top prospects and they are the reason why this club is poised to make a deep postseason run.

I’m not saying Darvish hasn’t been a dud. But to call for the jobs of Friedman and Zaidi is insane. To think about how well these two have bolstered the Dodgers farm system, while putting out a playoff caliber team in their three years with the Dodgers it’s crazy to even think of letting them leave the Dodgers. There’s more to baseball than just assembling a super team. These two are one of the best in the business at controlling the product that is on the field at the big league level and in the farm system.