Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi have new jobs. Sort of.
Dodgers executives have taken on an advisory role with the Lakers. This is evident from a report from ESPN.
Friedman and Zaidi would help Mark Walter, who also owns the Dodgers, as ownership of the franchise passes from the Buss family to him.
Zaidi, who rejoined the Dodgers earlier this year as a special advisor, is serving as Walter’s representative in the transition, according to ESPN.
Friedman, the Dodgers’ former president of baseball operations, is reportedly advising Rob Pelinka, the Lakers’ president of basketball operations.
The statistically minded Friedman and Zaidi have decades of combined experience in baseball front offices and are considered some of the most analytical minds in sports.
The news comes just days after brothers Joey and Jesse Buss were fired from the Lakers after 20 years in the organization previously owned by their father, Jerry.
In June, Walter acquired a majority stake in the Lakers from the Buss family at a valuation of $10 billion, a record for a professional sports team in the United States.
The deal allowed Jeanie Buss to remain governor of the Lakers for the next five years.
Joey and Jesse had worked in the Lakers’ scouting department for the past ten years.
The former was the team president and CEO of the G League South Bay Lakers, and the latter was the director of scouting.
According to ESPN, the couple will retain their minority stakes in the Lakers after their dismissal.
Walter bought the Dodgers in 2012 for a then-record $2.15 billion.
Since then, the Dodgers have had one of the greatest runs in baseball history, winning twelve division titles and three World Series championships.
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