Los Angeles Dodgers

The second the Los Angeles Dodgers hired Andrew Friedman as their president of baseball operations and jettisoned former general manager Ned Colletti into a role untied to player personnel, the team was without a shortstop for 2015. 

The Los Angeles Dodgers front office has begun wheeling and dealing this offseason, acquiring low-cost pitching help over the past two weeks.

New President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman went the familiar route with his first move, trading for former Tampa Bay Rays reliever Joel Peralta and Rays minor league left-hander Adam Liberatore.

When I discussed the players the Los Angeles Dodgers had sent to the Arizona Fall League, I mentioned that many of the top players were position players. The pattern held; over the course of the month, the hitters far outperformed the pitchers. This is not surprising given the talent disparity, but it's noteworthy.

This offseason is shaping up to be a different one for the Los Angeles Dodgers as it pertains to free agency.

With a revamped front office led by Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi, the culture of the team has changed. While the Dodgers are still one of the richest teams in the league, it appears that throwing the most money at free agents may soon be replaced by a more analytical approach to improving the roster.

For a team with $182.5 million already committed to the 2015 roster, the Los Angeles Dodgers actually have a surprising amount of flexibility. They have a couple veteran outfielders they need to get rid of, a massive budget and a farm system that is finally bearing fruit.

Whether or not the new front office will want to make a massive deal is up in the air, but it certainly has the resources to do so.

Blessed with a smooth left-handed swing, Corey Seager and his rise to being the top prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization is no surprise. 

The Los Angeles Dodgers' new-look front office led by president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi will have some important decisions to make this offseason.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have a new front office, and new president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman is undoubtedly familiar with the Dodgers farm system. He will be properly unwilling to trade the elite prospects.

With the World Series now over, MLB free agency can officially begin. The Los Angeles Dodgers are sure to be players in the market as they search for ways to improve their roster after a second consecutive disappointing playoff exit.

When looking around the diamond, positions of concern for the Dodgers include shortstop, catcher, the back end of the starting rotation and the bullpen.

Between all their riches and all their star power, the other 29 teams in Major League Baseball already had good reasons to fear the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Now you can add another to the list: The Dodgers have gone and hired a certified baseball genius to run the show.