Los Angeles Dodgers Promote Former Relief Pitcher Brandon Gomes To General Manager

The Los Angeles Dodgers promoted Vice President and Assistant General Manager Brandon Gomes, to General Manger yesterday afternoon. The Dodgers have not had a General Manager in place since the 2018 season. In that time, President of Baseball Operations, Andrew Friedman, acted as the de facto General Manger through the 2021 season.

Brandon Gomes is only one of four General Managers who has Major League service time as a player. For a team that has been one of the more progressive organizations in the league, his promotion could provide an excellent balance between baseball savvy and analytical thinking.

Academically, Gomes graduated from Tulane University with a double major in finance and legal studies. Intellectually, Gomes seems well equipped to take on his new role after serving as the Vice President and Assistant General Manager.

He began his tenure in the Dodgers organization when he was named the Director of Player Development ahead of the 2018 season. He replaced current San Francisco Giants’ manager, Gabe Kapler, and served in that role until being promoted in 2019.

Between Gomes, Sam Fuld, Chris Young, and Jerry Dipoto, all but one being relatively recent hires, this is an interesting trend of former players moving into General Manger roles. Something that was more common decades ago, may be coming back into style. These four General Managers may signify the pendulum finally stopping somewhere in the middle between analytics and traditional baseball schools of thought.

Additionally, this is appears to be an interesting move for Dodger’s President Andrew Friedman. For one, hiring a former player seems like a very sensible move for someone whose professional career has been rooted in progressive and analytically forward thinking organizations. On the other hand, it seems that hiring a former player is something of a concession on Friedman’s part.

Friedman analyzed and even spent a lot of money in an attempt to turn the Dodgers into a champion. Granted, the Dodgers did win the World Series during the Covid shortened 2020 season, the past two full seasons have shown that perhaps an executive with playing experience can shift the balance of power in the front office. Furthermore, Gomes’ promotion could help lead to even more success on the field. Having someone with game feel in an executive position may help inform better baseball decisions.

In the Dodgers quest for another (and some would say more legitimate) title in 2021, they blew past the luxury tax threshold and fell short of the ultimate prize. Another negative from last season was they did not even win their division despite outspending their rival the San Francisco Giants and their roster which was a proverbial “who’s who” of “who’s”. Ultimately, the Dodgers beat the Giants in the NLDS, but in the end their 2021 season turned out to be an expensive disappointment.

Sam Fuld and Brandon Gomes are both in their first seasons as General Manger. Chris Young is in his second season. It will take some time to see how impactful this new crop of General Managers will be on their respective organizations. Also, Jerry Dipoto has been a General Manger for three separate organizations for the past twelve seasons, but he’s…well, he’s definitely doing a job.

There is no question that this trend will continue as more players that are developed in forward thinking organizations leave the playing field and enter scouting departments or front offices. This seems to be the happy medium in a baseball world that is so committed to the binary bickering of old school vs. new school ways of thinking.

Once (if?) the lockout ends, it will be interesting to see how all of these General Managers approach the remainder of the offseason. The market moved quickly before the lockout and looks as though it will burst open like a dam once a new CBA is agreed upon. It will also be interesting to see if any more former players step into General Manager roles in the coming years.