Sports executives who trusted Mark Walter and his Guggenheim Baseball Management to rebuild the Dodgers and lead them to a World Series championship have been tapped to take on advisory roles from people who are not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, the Times confirmed Friday.
Walter, the controlling owner of the Lakers, began his transition by purchasing majority ownership of the Lakers at a valuation of $10 billion and getting Zaidi and Friedman more involved.
Mr. Zaidi is an advisor to the Guggenheim Company, former president of baseball operations for the San Francisco Giants, and former general manager of the Dodgers. He is also consulting with the Sparks, another team owned by Walter.
Friedman is the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations and has overseen a team that has won three World Series championships over the past six years.
Both men are known in the baseball world as managers who rely on analysis. The Lakers are known for being weak in the analytics department, and Zaidi and Friedman will help improve that.
Friedman is already in talks with Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Lakers fired Joey and Jesse Bass, as well as some scouts, on Thursday, beginning a front office shake-up.
Joey Buss served as the Lakers’ acting governor and vice president of research and development, and Jesse served as the team’s deputy general manager and head of scouting.
Walter, who just won a World Series with the Dodgers and has been a minority owner of the Lakers since purchasing 27% of the franchise with Todd Boley in 2021, immediately sat courtside for the Lakers’ next home game on Nov. 2. He watched as the Lakers honored the world champion Dodgers during their Nov. 5 home game.
Walter was part of the group that bought the Dodgers in 2012 for $2 billion. Since then, the team has won three World Series championships in five appearances and made the playoffs 13 times in a row.
