Andrew Friedman remembers the talent, the crowd and maybe most of all, the hats.
In February 2023, in the lead-up to the most anticipated World Baseball Classic to date, the Dodgers president of baseball operations accompanied team scouts and executives on a trip to Japan to get an in-person look at the nation’s Samurai Japan national team.
For years the Dodgers had been scouting the improving talent coming out of the country, recognizing that a pipeline of potential major league stars was being cultivated in its rich baseball culture.
While he sat at the Hinata Sun Marine Stadium in Miyazaki, observing nothing more than bullpens and batting practices, Friedman was struck by the scene.
On the field he watched pitchers take the mound in groups of four, each one seemingly pumping high-velocity fastballs and eye-popping breaking pitches with stunningly consistent ease.
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In the stands, Friedman was struck by the roughly 20,000 spectators that flocked to the workout, getting a clear reminder of “just how passionate they are about baseball.”
As Friedman scanned the seats, he made another observation: Many fans wore hats of MLB clubs.
“You’d see a Padre hat, a Yankees hat, a Red Sox hat, a Cubs hat, a Rangers hat, a Dodgers hat,” he recalled this spring. “And it got us thinking about an incredible potential opportunity.”
What if, Friedman and fellow executives wondered, the Dodgers could corner the market on top Japanese talent? What if they made themselves Japan’s most popular MLB team?
The Dodgers already were contemplating how to approach Shohei Ohtani’s upcoming free agency. They had long been scouting Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki, preparing to pursue each pitcher once they were posted for MLB teams to sign.
Now, they had visions of what Friedman termed a “dream scenario.”
Sign all three. And in the process, effectively “paint Japan blue.”
“It was something that I think we envisioned and dreamed of and hoped,” said Galen Carr, who as the Dodgers’ vice president of player…