Rays' GM Andrew Friedman Ranked Best in Baseball by Sports Illustrated

Hat tip, Marc Topkin.  Apparently Tim Marchman really likes the Rays' front-office:

1. Andrew Friedman, Tampa Bay Rays

For as much praise as the Rays have received over the last few years, they've probably deserved even more. Over the last three years they've spent just a million dollars per marginal win, the sort of thing that gets baseball wonks to draw hearts around pictures of Friedman. Maybe the best example of their method is the preposterous contract to which they signed Evan Longoria during his first days as a major leaguer -- if the Rays exercise all the options in the contract, they could end up paying him less than $50 million through his age 30 season, which makes him the single most valuable commodity in baseball. Friedman has also won a pennant and maintains one of the game's best farm systems. It may seem absurd to say of a 32-year-old whom few people had heard of a year and a half ago, but he and his braintrust are the best in baseball. 

We've been raving about Andrew Friedman here at DRB for a long time now, but it's really nice to see our front-office get some love from the mainstream media.  Friedman and Co. are in position to keep the Rays competitive with the Yankees and Red Sox for the foreseeable future with less than half the payroll space, which is quite the accomplishment.  This is one of the best run organizations out there, regardless of the sport, and we should appreciate how lucky we are that our favorite team is run by such a skilled group.

The accolades are well deserved.  Here's to you, Friedman.