ST. PETERSBURG — It was months before Stuart Sternberg’s purchase of the Rays in the fall of 2005 would be complete when Andrew Friedman first appeared at Tropicana Field. He was part of the new regime, a kid fresh from Wall Street. A mystery.
“I thought he was an intern,” Rays bench coach Tom Foley said.
Soon, Friedman was the vice president of baseball operations, which is the title Sternberg decided for his new general manager. Foley said the joke around the team was Friedman had won the championship in his fantasy baseball league so that qualified him to be the GM of a major league franchise.