ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – The World Series may be the only place investment bankers are thriving.
Andrew Friedman, a 31-year-old former Bear Stearns analyst, is the top baseball executive for the AL champion Devil Rays, and he works for a pair of Goldman Sachs veterans, Tampa Bay owner Stu Sternberg and team president Matt Silverman.
Across the field, the contrast couldn’t be more striking. Philadelphia’s general manager is 71-year-old Pat Gillick, a baseball lifer who began his front-office career as an assistant farm director nearly a half-century ago.
Friedman used to go to work each day at Bear’s Park Avenue office before the company’s forced sale to J.P. Morgan Chase.
“It’s pretty different,” Friedman said as his team prepared for Wednesday night’s World Series opener. “The hours are probably comparable. But there’s obviously something different about waking up and doing something you love as opposed to waking up and going to a job.”
ntage in years is offset by Friedman’s edge in hair, but they started their current jobs at virtually the same time.
Gillick was hired by the Phillies on Nov. 2, 2005, and Friedman got his post with the Devil Rays – the title is executive vice president, baseball operations – the following day. While Friedman took over a team synonymous with losing, Gillick entered an underperforming organization that finished two games out of first place.
“We basically had to do a little bit of, whatever you want to call it, retooling,” Gillick said Tuesday in a tunnel underneath Tropicana Field. “We had to change the energy level.”
Gillick is known by just about everyone in baseball from his time as GM of Toronto (1978-94), Baltimore (1996-98), Seattle (2000-03) and Philadelphia. The boyish-looking Friedman could be mistaken for a team intern.
Both played college ball: Gillick was on the Southern California team that won the 1958 College World Series; Friedman was a center fielder at Tulane before injuring a shoulder. Friedman even acts a bit like a player, chewing and spitting dip as he speaks on the field during batting practice.
He’s the latest whiz kid in an industry that’s also produced the Yankees’ Brian Cashman (31 when he became GM in 1998) and Boston’s Theo Epstein (28 when he was promoted to GM in 2002). Both already have multiple World Series rings.
make me feel welcome,” Friedman said. “Whether it was eyewash or genuine, I don’t know, but there’s only 29 other potential trade partners, and relationships are such an important part of our job.”
Before joining the Devil Rays, Friedman worked for Bear in Manhattan, arriving at his office on the same bank of elevators that now lead to Major League Baseball’s offices.
He admires Gillick and 68-year-old John Schuerholz, who was promoted to Atlanta Braves president a year ago after nine seasons as GM of Kansas City and 17 more as GM of the Braves.
“Those two guys are really the standard bearers for all of us,” Friedman said. “I’ve done this for three years and it feels like 10, so I also have great respect for longevity and the amount of years that they’ve given this game.”
Schuerholz knows he and Gillick are considered the elder statesmen.
“I have all the respect in the world for Pat,” he said. “We’ve been in parallel tracks. He’s had more stops, but he’s had more sabbaticals.”
Gillick has seen baseball transformed during his career, with free agency, salary arbitration, the rise of Latin American and Asian players, sophisticated video and computerized analysis. Once known as “Stand Pat” – he didn’t make a major trade from Aug. 31, 1987, through April 30, 1989 – he says it’s far more difficult to swing swaps than it used to be.
eople are trying to hold onto the talent they’ve got,” he said. “Low-service, low-salary players are gold. They’re golden.”
Friedman knows about that. The Rays had a $44 million opening-day payroll, 29th among the 30 teams and ahead of only the Florida Marlins. Plans for a new ballpark that would boost revenue have stalled. He’s tried to keep stars from getting close to free-agent eligibility, agreeing this year to deals that could tie down pitcher Scott Kazmir through 2012 and All-Star rookie third baseman Evan Longoria through 2014.
Boston and New York, the Rays’ vanquished AL East rivals, wish they had the Rays’ young core.
“Especially in our division, for us to be able to compete, but also to be able to sustain it, our core is always going to have to be of a younger nature,” Friedman said. “We’re not going to be able to go out and build through free agency.”
Gillick’s Phillies, with a $98 million opening-day payroll, can afford a few free-agent stars. He understands the deep desire to win – and the anger that arises when the team falls short.
“Especially in Philadelphia, the fans have been frustrated for a long period of time,” he said. “East Coast baseball is a little more intense than West Coast baseball.”
It’s unclear how long he’ll be making the calls. He said last year he expected to retire after the 2008 season. In recent weeks, he hasn’t talked about his plans.
“I didn’t waffle exactly,” Gillick said. “I’m just saying that I’m just focusing on this series right now and I’m not worried about what’s going to happen a month from now or three weeks from now.”
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