DODGERS The FRONT OFFICE (NERDS) Thread

This rocks

 

that is awesome mouse
looks like we're well on our way of assembling our entire FO of smileys...
:friedman::walter::farhan:

who's left... kasten, magic, byrnes...???

 

despite still (somehow, miraculously) being employed, ned represents the former regime
otherwise, might as well include :mcdouche:

 

study who?
the giants?
no need, we here at DSP can give you all the insight you'll need...

1. they're from san francisco
2. they're gay
3. they play better than us in even years
4. they're gay
5. they play better than us in the postseason
6. they're gay
7. they're gay

carry on...

Dodgers' GM Farhan Zaidi: 'Have to study them'
By Mark Saxon | ESPNLosAngeles.com -- 10 minutes ago



LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers won their division the past two seasons, finished six games ahead of the San Francisco Giants last year and still had to watch their rivals celebrate their third World Series title in five seasons.

New Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi, who has a reputation for being one of the shrewdest analysts in baseball, said he plans to make a thorough study of the Giants to see if there are lessons to be gleaned for building the Dodgers' roster heading into 2015. The Dodgers, who haven't been to the World Series since 1988 and entered last season with a record payroll, introduced Zaidi as their GM Friday at Dodger Stadium.

"I think any time a team has that kind of success, you really have to study them hard and see what lessons there are to learn," Zaidi said. "I'm sure that's something we'll look at. It's a fair question. I don't think you can win three World Series in five years just by being lucky. I think that's maybe stating the obvious."

In less than a month, the Dodgers have completely overhauled their front office, moving from an old-school, scouting-based group led by general manager Ned Colletti to luring many of the top names in baseball's analytics community. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, hired last month from Tampa Bay, brought in Zaidi as his GM and former San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes as his senior vice president for baseball operations earlier this week.

The Dodgers also announced the hiring of former major-league outfielder Gabe Kapler as their farm director and Billy Gasparino, formerly of the Padres, as amateur scouting director.

Friedman said it's unfair to his group to classify it as a "Moneyball," front office.

"These guys are incredibly well-rounded. They have a lot of respect for and understand all that goes into making players what they are and evaluating players," Friedman said. "We have some really strong, evaluative voices who focus more on subjective evaluations and we'll couple that, obviously, with the information we're able to generate. To us, information is king. It's about people who can synthesize from that information the best decision."

At the news conference, Zaidi, who grew up in the Philippines and has a doctorate from UC Berkeley, jokingly sought out a reporter from the Los Angeles Times who had written a blog post under the headline, "Geeks inherit the Earth, or at least the Dodgers front office."

"I brought my mini-screwdriver in case you want to leave your laptop with me after we leave here," Zaidi said.

The GM's box at Dodger Stadium figures to be crowded next season after the rash of hirings. The Dodgers now have five current or former GMs under contract in baseball operations: Zaidi, Friedman, Colletti, Byrnes and Jerry Hunsicker. Colletti and Hunsicker are special advisors.

"You can't have too much experience on a baseball staff. I'm thrilled to have those people to work alongside me," Zaidi said.

Zaidi, 37, joined the Oakland A's in 2005 and worked his way up to become one of general manager Billy Beane's most trusted advisors. He was assistant general manager/director of baseball operations before taking the job in L.A. Zaidi earned his bachelor's degree from MIT in 1998 and his Ph.D. in 2011. He had a reputation for heeding the advice of scouts as well whatever the A's computers produced before offering his input on player personnel decisions.

Zaidi said he has had a couple of telephone conversations with Dodgers manager Don Mattingly.

"I just totally outed myself at the start of the call by telling him how much I idolized him when I was growing up, so I don't know if he's ever going to see me as being in a position of authority," Zaidi said.

Friedman also said the Dodgers entire coaching staff will return in 2015. The staff, which includes longtime pitching coach Rick Honeycutt, hitting coach Mark McGwire, bench coach Tim Wallach and first-base coach Davey Lopes, had been in limbo until the final top front office positions were filled.​

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and some editing is in order...

• "I just totally outed myself at the start of the call by telling him how much I idolized him when I was growing up, so I don't know if he's ever going to see me as being in a position of authority when I fire his pathetic, incompetent ass," Zaidi said.

and, btw... don't use the term "outing yourself" when talking about the giants

 

Here ya go Zaidi:

1. 9 million LGBT people live in the U.S., 3.8 % of the adult population.

2. LGBT people are racially, ethnically, and geographically diverse: 1 in 4 are people of color and same-sex couples have identified themselves on the Census in 99% of U.S. counties.

3. A substantial percentage of LGBT people are raising children: 1 in 5 same-sex couples and 6% of children in foster care are being raised by LGB people.

4. LGB people are serving in the Armed Forces: 71,000 are currently serving, and there are over 1 million LGB veterans in the U.S.

5. 70,000 same-sex couples have gotten married in the U.S.; another 90,000 have entered into civil unions and domestic partnerships.

6. The annual divorce rate for same-sex couples and different-sex married couples is similar — about 2%.

7. LGBT people are not more affluent. Gay men earn 10% to 23% less, on average, than heterosexual men. Children of same-sex couples are twice as likely to live in poverty.

8. Rates of hate crimes and employment discrimination against LGBT people are similar to or higher than for other protected groups. Until the Williams Institute, no one analyzed this data on a per capita basis, taking into account the smaller size of the LGBT population.

9. "Don't ask, don't tell" has cost taxpayers over $500 million since it started being enforced in 1994.

10. If all 50 states and the federal government recognized marriage for same-sex couples, the federal budget would benefit by over $1 billion each year.