The Rays' front-office shakeup has "felt like a drama-free changing of the guard," which is a sign of a "healthy franchise," according to Andrew Astleford of FOXSPORTSFLORIDA.com. That "maturity in doing business is partly why the Rays have stayed competitive in the past six years against much larger spenders rich in dollars but sometimes poor in baseball sense." New Exec VP/Baseball Operations Matt Silverman said his duty is to preserve the "well-oiled machine" that is the Rays. Silverman, who takes over for the departed Andrew Friedman, said, "There's no way to replace Andrew or fill his shoes, and I'm not going to try to. My goal is to help make sure we get the most out of the department and mine all of the great ideas and the work that we do and help it translate into wins." Astleford wrote fresh eyes on the team "can be good," but Silverman "won't be perfect, and a spotless record shouldn't be expected" (FOXSPORTSFLORIDA.com, 10/15). The Tampa Bay Times' Marc Topkin said he was "not shocked" at Friedman's departure for the Dodgers because talks "had been ongoing for a couple of weeks." If the Rays "don't feel comfortable striking an agreement" with manager Joe Maddon, they will "look to trade him." Topkin: "He certainly is one of their most attractive commodities." Silverman has been "very involved" with Friedman in their time with the Rays, so he is "not a novice in that regard." But Silverman is "probably a little more cautious" than Friedman ("Baseball Tonight Podcast," ESPN.com, 10/15).
IT TAKES A VILLAGE: GRANTLAND's Jonah Keri wrote Silverman's new title more than anything "demonstrates something that’s evident in every front office, but especially Tampa Bay’s: The GM might get the rock star treatment, and those below him might be mostly anonymous, but it takes a village to run a baseball team." Keri: "If you’ve followed baseball’s analytical writing community over the years, you might’ve read the work of Baseball Prospectus alums" and Rays Baseball Operations Dir Chaim Bloom and Dir of Baseball Research & Development James Click, "as well as the work of Josh Kalk, Shawn Hoffman, Dan Turkenkopf, and Peter Bendix, all of whom have played key roles in helping the Rays build a reputation as an analytically savvy and winning ballclub." Under Friedman, it was "never about one guy, and it certainly won't be under Silverman." Like Friedman, Silverman "will guard the Rays’ trade secrets like a rabid jackal and do his damnedest to keep all of those front-office contributors cloaked in mystery, so other teams won’t be tempted to swoop in and poach them, too" (GRANTLAND.com, 10/15).
DIFFERENT WITH DEM BUMS: In L.A., Dylan Hernandez writes because of their "considerable financial resources, the Dodgers can be competitive without implementing many of the of cost-cutting measures that made Friedman" highly regarded with the Rays. The "difference between the financial situations of the Dodgers and Rays is such that multiple baseball insiders said Friedman has essentially changed careers." Friedman is "expected to make completely different kinds of deals with the Dodgers." Rather than "selling highly attractive players in the prime of their careers, one of Friedman's primary tasks this off-season will be to unload highly paid players in decline" (L.A. TIMES, 10/16).
