New Dodgers GM: 'You can't become dogmatic about one approach'

The Los Angeles Dodgers have suffered playoff heartbreak two straight years despite boasting the highest payroll in the game, and new general manager Farhan Zaidi knows it will take more than a group of Moneyball proponents to diagnose what's missing.

Zaidi was introduced to the media Friday, and showed why he's considered one of the top young executives in baseball. The 37-year-old Ivy League grad charmed reporters with humor, honesty and, most of all, humility.

"One thing I feel strongly about in baseball is you can't become dogmatic about one approach," Zaidi said. "I view any new stat, any new metric, with an inherent skepticism. Every time you see a metric, you're always asking yourself not just what's telling you but what it's missing - because there's always something missing."

Deciphering what ails the Dodgers figures to be a more daunting task than fleshing out advanced stats. Los Angeles's payroll last season totaled a record-breaking $229 million. 

Despite their high-priced roster, the Dodgers were eliminated by the St. Louis Cardinals in four games in the NL Division Series. The former Oakland Athletics executive Zaidi admitted he and his front office will study their opponents this offseason, including the world champion San Francisco Giants.

"I think any time a team has that kind of success, you really have to study them hard and see what lessons there are to learn," Zaidi said. "I'm sure that's something we'll look at. It's a fair question. I don't think you can win three World Series in five years just by being lucky."

Below is a sampling of some of the other topics Zaidi touched on Friday.

Manager Don Mattingly

"I totally outed myself at the start of the call by telling him how much I idolized him when I was growing up. So I don't know if he's ever going to see me in a position of power."

Big-budget pressure

"We're the Dodgers, with incredible resources and high expectations. We need to be the best of everything. We need to do everything at the absolute peak level."

Thoughts on the Dodgers' roster

"Well, I know (Clayton) Kershaw."

Response to reporter who wrote the headline: 'Geeks inherit the Earth, or at least the Dodgers front office'

"I brought my mini-screwdriver in case you want to leave your laptop with me after we leave here."