Here is the video of the interview I did with Andrew Friedman on April 1, 2025, in the Dodgers’ Dugout right before the game. Enjoy! It’s just a casual conversation… I am not trying to be a “super announcer.” I’m just a fan interviewing the President of Dodger Baseball Operations. Thanks to Jon Weisman for the excellent camera work! đ
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Great interview Mark!!! Great questions by you and great intelligent articulate answers by AF. We are sooooooooo lucky to have you with this amazing site and AF in charge of baseball operations along with Mark Walters, Stan Kasten and the entire ownership team.Cheers!!!!
The trade AF was referring to in the interview was Matt Kemp traded to the Cincinnati Reds from the Los Angeles Dodgers in December 2018. The trade also included Yasiel Puig, Alex Wood, and Kyle Farmer going to the Reds. The Dodgers received Homer Bailey, Jeter Downs, Josiah Gray, and $7 million in cash in return.
Jeter Downs was a player traded to Boston in the Mookie Betts trade along with Connor Wong andf Alex Verdugo.
Josiah Gray along with Keibert Ruiz were traded for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner from the Nationals.
The trade not only reduced payroll but helped acquire future star players.
Kyle Farmer was a college SS who the Dodgers drafted in the 8th round with plans to convert him to catcher. But the Reds needed him the infield. He keeps plugging away on a solid but unspectacular career. Four seasons with the Reds, two with the Twins, and now with the Rockies.
He was the least-heralded player in that deal, but it certainly worked out well for him.
I’d love to see AF pull off some more blockbusters. Mookie, Scherzer + Turner, Edman + Kopech… Pretty good batting average. Keibert Ruiz and Connor Wong also benefitted by leaving the Dodgers.
The Dodgers may be hitting on all cylinders at midseason, but I can also imagine them trying to address CF and 3B if certain players remain in a rut…
BTW, old friend Gavin Lux made a terrific play in LF today, barehanding a ball hit off the wall and throwing out the batter trying for 2nd. Maybe we’ll have to compare the stats of Lux and Conforto as the season progresses.
The player the Dodgers wanted is Sirota, who is playing at RC. He has a shot at being the next CF’er! He is currently hitting .286.
Domingo Geronimo got the save for RC last night – You have to love his name.
Do paratroopers still yell, “Geronimo!”?
Did they ever? Or was that something from a movie when we were kids?
And is Domingo related to Cesar?
Yes, the Dodgers like Sirota and had drafted out of high school, but he opted for college. BTW, I read that the Dodgers were poised to draft Zyhir Hope when the Cubs grabbed him.
Sirota isn’t the only guy the Dodgers are getting for Lux. We’ll know the PTBNL in the competitive balance draft. These two-for-one deals can work out well, as in the flip of Dylan Floro for prospects Vesia and Hurt.
Thursday scores
Oklahoma City 9, Round Rock 8
Arkansas 4, Tulsa 3
Great Lakes 3, Lansing 2
Stockton 6, Rancho Cucamonga 3
Friday schedule
3:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Brooks Auger) at Lansing (Gage Jump)
5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Jared Karros) at Arkansas (Dylan File)
5:15 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Bobby Miller) at Round Rock (Dane Dunning)
7:05 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Aidan Foeller) at Stockton (Wei-En Lin)
LHP Jackson Ferris struck out six in 5â scoreless innings for Tulsa, the longest of his nine starts in Double-A dating back to last season.
Eddie Rosario hit two home runs, including the game-winner in the ninth inning to lead the Comets over the Round Rock Express (Rangers). Oklahoma City trailed by four after seven innings but scored four runs in the eighth and three in the ninth to pull out the road win.Rosario had four hits, including another home run in the second inning, and his fifth double of the year.
For more detailed recaps,stats,schedules and box scores for Dodger minor league teams go to the top of the page and cIick on MINOR LEAGUE AFFLIATES.
Thatâs great!
Well done Mark. I loved the âCrapshootâ
question., and I loved his answer.
Respect for getting a sit down in the dugout like that.
The Dodgers optioned catcher Hunter Feduccia to Triple-A Oklahoma City, a sure sign that the club will activate first baseman Freddie Freeman from the injured list by Friday nightâs game against the Cubs.
Love the interview Mark. Great Job
¥Buen trabajo, Mark! ¥Tu cariño y dedicación a este equipo quedaron demostrados!
Cheers from Pedasi Panama
Love it!!
You have a relaxing personality Mark. What I mean is that Andrew seemed at peace visiting with you. It was just two guys chatting baseball without any hype or bragging or demeaning comments. Both of you fellas are genuine good guys. Both of you are respectful of the game… With Andrew admitting that protecting and slow walking their young pitchers doesn’t seem to be working to prevent arm injuries, that takes a big man. Again, well done.
Great job Mark. Interesting answer about the post season and under the radar move with the trade of Kemp, Puig, Wood and Farmer. He might not think or like the crapshoot statement, but it is a gauntlet to say the least. Much harder to get to the final dance in this era. And they were () that close to being eliminated again in the first round. That they won with only one starting pitcher left from the opening day rotation is the most amazing part of last year. I do apologize for the wrong info I gave about the Grandal signing yesterday, I had the Wong Connor.
This post is a great highlight to your (Markâs) effort with the blog and Dodger Community. What fun and thank you!
Kershaw recently gave the next step in his timeline to return. He told the media, including Jack Harris of The LA Times, that he has been ramping his the intensity of his throwing program and hopes to be throwing off the mound in May.
It will interesting to see how the Dodgers handle all the pitchers coming off the IL and who goes and who stays.
Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel on Friday was named the third base coach for Team USA in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
Congratulations, Mark!
I’m glad you got the opportunity, and impressed with how you absolutely made the most of it.
Well done!
“Scoop” Timmons
Dodgers pitchers have walked more batters than any other team, and itâs not just the result of starting the season early with two games in Japan. They also have the highest walk rate in the majors, at 12.9 percent entering Friday. In the last 70 years, only one team posted a 12-percent walk rate over an entire season â Cleveland in 1971, who walked 12.2 percent of batters faced en route to 102 losses and a last-place finish.
Great interview, made me feel I was sitting in the dugout with you chatting about a game and team we love.
No pressure, like two good friends.
Yeah, I picked the right blog. The others are amateurs.
What a treat! Excellent choice of topics Mark. AF made one statement that stood out to me when discussing the Dodgers prospect pipeline, this is the best batch of 18-20 year old prospects AF has ever been around. When you consider what he did in TB and some of the prospects that have come out of the Dodgers minor league system during his tenure, that is quite a statement.
Go Dodgers!
10:10 PM ET
Cubs (9-6)
Dodgers (10-4)
SP Matthew Boyd L
1-0 0.00ERA
SP Y. Yamamoto R
1-1 1.69 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
SS Mookie Betts R
RF T. Hernandez R
1B F. Freeman L
2B Tommy Edman S
C Will Smith R
LF M. Conforto L
CF Andy Pages R
3B Miguel Rojas R
70° Wind 8 mph Out
04/11/25 Los Angeles Dodgers activated 1B Freddie Freeman from the 10-day injured list.
Winner winner chicken dinner
Dang Mark…That was one sweet interview. Professional yet casual. Inquisitive yet conversational. Very nicely done. Andrew just keeps going up in my book. Oh and you too!
Book em
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced that Clayton Kershaw will make a minor-league rehab start next Wednesday, according to Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. The Dodgers have been cautious with the future Hall of Famer, but have been far more open with providing a timeline for the veteranâs return in recent weeks. Kershaw will make his first start in Triple-A Oklahoma City.The earliest the left-hander can come off the 60-day IL is May 17th.
Nice interview!
What stood out for me was Friedman’s enthusiasm about the young Dodgers, ages 18-20. This is reassuring because the ’25 Dodgers are a such a veteran crew, putting out lineups in their 30s.
Maybe one of these guys will prove to be true prodigy. The Dodgers are due.
Tommy Tanks is a ballplayer. Pure and Simple! Stats alone do not capture his intrinsic value to the Dodgers.
Last night, it was Yamamoto for six and then Yates, Treinen, and Scott, in that order. The pen gave the Cubs no chance! Evan Phillips will be back soon (Garcia will be the odd-man-out), and the pen will be the deepest one I have ever seen.
Andrew has a great deal of Admiration for Alex Freeland… as do I.
Pretty funny that Edman leads the Dodgers in HRs–and is tied with Judge, Trout, Schwarber and Sodorstrom for the ML lead. Six HRs in 15 games…,a 60+ pace
With Freddie a bit fragile at age 35, the Dodgers may have Sodorstrom on their radar. He’s the young first baseman for the A’s–and that franchise tends to deal young talent before they cost too much. I used to think Freddie was indestructible and would play til age 40, but he may just have a couple of good years left.
BTW, the Dodgers are now in 3rd place in West, with the Giants setting the pace.
I did not have time to mention this while I was gone, but Noah Davis is a potential high-leverage reliever who has four pitches that the Dodgers believe they can build upon. BA said this about him:
Track Record: Davis had Tommy John surgery his junior year at UC Santa Barbara, but the Reds liked his stuf and gave him an above-slot $127,500 bonus to sign as an 11th-round pick. Davis returned to make his pro debut a year later and, after waiting out the coronavirus pandemic, was off to a strong start at High-A Dayton in 2021 when the Rockies acquired him as one of two prospects for Mychal Givens at the trade deadline. Davis showed well at High-A Spokane after the trade and was added to the 40-man roster after the season.
Scouting Report: Davis has a well-rounded four-pitch mix headlined by a 93-94 mph fastball that can get up to 96 mph with slight sink. He complements his fastball with a mid-to-high-80s slider, a high-70s curveball and a developing changeup. His potentially plus curveball is his best secondary, and he is confident throwing it in any count. Davisâ control is inconsistent and has been below-average at its worst. The Rockies primarily want him to throw more fastballs and continue to develop his fastball command. Davisâ biggest concern is his health. In addition to his Tommy John surgery, he has also battled shoulder soreness and blister issues at various points.
The Future: Davis has the stuff to be a back-end starter if he can hone his control and stay healthy. Heâll move to Double-A in 2022.
He has been converted to a reliever and could move quickly back to the Dodgers if they are successful in “Fixing” him. He is 27… he may be up in 2026… or sooner.
nice job Mark. You can tell Friedman was all in . A lot of times people will agree to interviews and itâs evident immediately they donât want to be there. He was just the opposite. 60 minutes awaits you Mark! âŠ. Yamamoto looks fantastic. 2 hits from Rojas and error free at 3rd. i donât know how, but if pages canât cut it at center, maybe the kid they just got from the Aâs would possibly get a look. i love Tommy Edman at 2nd. Mookie is just fine at shortstop. Freddie is Freddie at first. 3rd and center? Pages could possibly be just fine eventually, but Max is Max. Hopefully his bat will get better, then maybe. his defense wonât stick out as much! A 40% strikeout rate? Not good! i know, patience! Maxâs bat is needed for this lineup to be complete. Is Taylor just a defensive replacement now? sure looks like it. Excited fot the Catman to get back!
Ruiz is not a good CF, he can run balls down, but takes wacky angles. He’s playing LF in OKC.
Rojas is perfect in this role. Max will mash RHP.
Great interview Mark. Steady camera work by Jon too. You can always tell the interview is good when youâre disappointed that it ends. Very informative questions and answers.
BTW, I am going to be back in Long Beach from the 21st to the 27th of this month on business (https://convention.wqa.org/). I MIGHT catch a Pirates game…
Friday scores
Round Rock 2, Oklahoma City 1
Arkansas 6, Tulsa 5
Lansing 4, Great Lakes 3
Rancho Cucamonga 5, Stockton 4
Saturday schedule
10:05 a.m. PT: Great Lakes (Payton Martin) at Lansing (Steven Echavarria)
4:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Jacob Meador) at Arkansas (Garrett Hill)
5:15 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Matt Sauer) at Round Rock (TBD)
7:05 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Jakob Wright) at Stockton (Tzu-Chen Sha)
Hyeseong Kim & Zyhir Hope homer, Evan Phillips continues rehab. Bobby Miller walks three but pitches two and one-third scoreless innings.
For more detailed recaps,stats,schedules, standings and box scores for Dodger minor league teams go to the top of this page and cIick on MINOR LEAGUE AFFLIATES.
Wright is a good sleeper pick.
“Recently, CNBCâs Michael Ozanian laid out the total value of all 30 teams and found the average value of an MLB club to be $2.62 billion. The Yankees are worth $8 billion and the Dodgers are at $5.8 billion, per his valuations.
As for this number compared to other professional sports teams, the Yankees are still up there, but are tied for third with the NFLâs Los Angeles Rams behind the Dallas Cowboys ($11 billion) and the NBAâs Golden State Warriors ($9.4 billion).
In terms of revenue sharing, Ozanian reported that the Yankees barely edged out the Dodgers with $705 million compared to the defending championâs $701 million. No other team made more than $600 million in revenue last season.
The Dodgers actually generated the most revenue last year in baseball,â said Ozanian, âbut we show them second in revenue behind the Yankees because the Dodgers had to pay so much in revenue sharing but we net that out.â
There is a considerable difference between first and second place in terms of CNBCâs valuations, but the No. 3 team on the list is the Boston Red Sox who are at a little more than $1 billion behind the Dodgers at $4.7 billion”.
Dodgers would sell for more than $5.8b.
I’d go to $6 billion even…
But I’ll need partners.
Nice win last night. Yamamoto had the Cubbies flummoxed. Who cannot love the way Edman plays the game. Guy has as many homer’s in 15 games as he hit in his short stint with LA last year. Guy is definitely a baller. Rancho was the only affiliate to get a win last night. Kim hit his first HR of the season. He is slugging over .500 with most of his hit’s doubles. But his OBP is not much over .300. Justin Dean at OKC definitely has some speed. Outman is still struggling with the bat, and is playing LF more than center lately.
9:10 PM ET
Cubs (9-7)
Dodgers (11-4)
SP Ben Brown R
1-1 7.71 ERA
SP Roki Sasaki R
0-0 4.15 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
SS Mookie Betts R
1B F. Freeman L
RF T. Hernandez R
LF M. Conforto L
2B Tommy Edman S
3B Max Muncy L
CF Andy Pages R
C A. Barnes R
70° Wind 9 mph Out
It appears that Barnes is Sasaki’s personal catcher. Good results the last time they teamed up as batterymates,
Hottest hitter batting 6th
“Kopech is set to throw his first bullpen session of the year on either Saturday or Sunday, Roberts said. The right-hander remains âa ways away,â from his return, but it is a notable first step.
Kopech first began dealing with right forearm inflammation during the 2024 postseason, and after that, he did not start throwing off a mound until late February, which severely delayed him”.
Nice. No rush.
Ha Ha! Iiked that both of you were able to joke about you being responsible for him being hired.
Great interview. I got a sense of his personality. Seems like a genuinely nice, low key guy who is very attached to this organization and cares about the people in it.
As Dodger fans we’re lucky to have him.
Giants lose this afternoon to the Yankees 8-4 in a rain filled afternoon in the Bronx.
I really like the way April is playing out. You have your guys that come out of the gate hot. You have guys adjusting to new teammates and cultures. You have guys struggling on short leases. You have veterans that might need a torpedo. You have injuries, but not to bad. And you have rehabbing players chomping at the bit. You have 30 teams that still think they have a shot, well maybe not the Braves. And you have the young minor league stars looking to don Dodger Blue. You have blue skys and fresh cut grass. And you have a spring breeze wafting across the infield. The only thing missing to make April a wondrous time is Vinny saying……….
IT’S TIME FOR DODGER BASEBALL
Book em
Now I’m fired up
Who thinks Pages can’t play CF now?
He made one good play. He got lucky. He is better suited to play a corner outfield position. His bat is still struggling. The Comets hit 7 homers tonight, including 2 each by Kim and Outman. No matter what anyone says, that was an ugly game.
Two good plays
Really enjoyed your interview with AF. Congrats
Bobby Miller lines up for a potential Wednesday start at the end of the homestand vs the Rockies.