Dodgers’ Andrew Friedman tap dances around tough questions

The new guy showed up Friday and he came across pretty much as expected -- bright, embracing numbers, likable, all humble, and about as forthcoming as J.D. Salinger.

This is what we learned at Andrew Friedman’s introductory news conference as the Dodgers’ new president of baseball operations -- he is going to hire a general manager and Don Mattingly will “definitely” be his field manager next season.

Otherwise, hope you really, really like the words “process” and “collaboration” because he seemed to utter them every other sentence.

But as far as specifics about his GM or new farm director or how he will handle the crowded outfield situation or making a qualifying offer to shortstop Hanley Ramirez or most anything else, forget it. He had nothing.

He’s a youthful-looking 37. Could have walked into the news conference wearing a backpack and worried he was late for Statistics 303. Seems polite, confident, very careful. Not the socially awkward type like the Dodgers’ last sabermetics guy, Paul DePodesta.

But he does like to be prepared. After being introduced by team President and CEO Stan Kasten, Friedman read from a prepared statement for almost five minutes. It felt almost strange, though he just said the same things every other new guy in his position always says.

He’s only been on the job for a few days, so it’s understandable if he hasn’t exactly worked out the specifics to his master plan. But whatever he has developed, he wasn’t sharing.

Highlights from what he did say Friday:

-- On hiring a GM: “Yeah. … We’re having a lot of conversations with a lot of different people. I don’t know exactly how things will evolve at this point.”

-- On Mattingly managing next season: “I’m excited about working with Donnie. I’m going into it with the mind-set we’re going to work together for a long time. I had one manager in the 10 years I’ve been doing this and am looking forward to working with Donnie for a long time.”

Of course, what could he say?

-- On being open to signing free agents to long-term deals: “When you’re solving for talent, having star players is a critical part of having success. I think it’s really important in the free-agent process to be as disciplined as you can be. There’s things that will make much more sense here than they do in other markets. That being said, it’s really important to do as much as you can to put yourself in the position to pay for what a player will do, not necessarily for what they have done.”

That sound you hear is agents sobbing, concerned the Dodgers’ money faucet was just turned off.

-- On bring pigeonholed as a “Moneyball” guy: “I don’t pay much attention to it. I think information is king. I think analytics is very important. I think scouting reports are incredibly important. I think makeup information and getting a feel for what makes someone tick is important. All of those things are incredibly important in the decision-making process. The difficult part is taking all that information and synthesizing it in a way to make efficient decisions.”

-- On having less management autonomy working under Kasten: “I’m a big fan of collaboration. I think anyone who thinks one person is making all decisions is naive. … I think having as much intellectual firepower, active in all the different decisions we have, is a good thing. All I care about is getting more decisions right than wrong.”

And Kasten approving.

-- On operating with the increased financial backing of the Dodgers: “You’re shopping in different aisles. Mind-set is a little bit different. It’s important for us to embrace the financial advantage that we have. We’re not going to shy away from it. That being said, we’re going to maintain some of the disciplines that I think are important in roster construction, to put yourself in the best position to sustain success.”

-- On the surplus of star outfielders: “I’ve been asked that question as if it’s a problem. If it’s a problem, it’s a tremendous problem to have. We have a lot of really talented players in the outfield. We’ll have to work through it and figure out what puts us in the best position to have the most success next year and in creating a roster that complements one another. That will obviously be a focus of ours in the coming months.”

Andre Ethier, keep those bags packed.

-- On what roster changes are needed: “I had a lot of thoughts coming in, but I know very well there is a lot more to know. Coming from the outside, I think some of that fresh perspective is helpful. I’m looking forward to meeting and talking to the guys who have been around to round out the assessment of different roster spots and different players and how they fit together. And that will take place over the next couple of weeks.”

-- On whether he wants the new GM to have previous experience: “There are pros and cons to a lot of different things. I think it’s premature to go into too much. It’s important to bring in as many good, dynamic people as we can. The exact backgrounds will evolve.”

-- On making a qualifying offer to Ramirez: (Laughs) “We’ll let you know over time.”

So stay tuned ...