GM Initiation: Andrew Friedman

Andrew Friedman was promoted to Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations of the Rays on November 3rd, 2005.  Fun fact: I wrote MLBTR's first post the next day.  Friedman struck his first deal about a month later, acquiring third baseman Sean Burroughs from the Padres for pitcher Dewon Brazelton.  Both were former first-round draft picks.  As part of the deal, the Rays used their Rule 5 pick on pitcher Steve Andrade and sent him to the Padres as well.  Another fun fact: Dan Uggla was chosen by the Marlins in that same Rule 5 draft. Friedman kindly answered a few questions for MLBTR about his first trade. MLB Trade Rumors: Burroughs had a decent chance of being non-tendered had he remained with the Padres.  Did you consider retaining Brazelton and waiting to see whether Burroughs hit the free agent market?  Would the Rays have tendered Brazelton a contract? Andrew Friedman: When you plan to acquire an arbitration-eligible player, you always have to look at the possibi...