The new kids get some leeway, right? Time to settle in, get the lay of things, figure out exactly where to make an impact.
Andrew Friedman arrived as the Dodgers' head of baseball operations a year ago. He was not shy about implementing change. The front office underwent a dramatic transformation, and soon, the roster did too.
And on it went, the former Tampa Bay Rays wunderkind shuffling players on and off the roster nonstop all season. Here today, gone the next hour. When the dust settled, the Dodgers had been knocked out of the playoffs exactly as they had the year before.
That was all interesting, but may serve as mere prelude to this off-season. Now with a year behind him, his metric-happy people all in place and no longer feeling as if he's starting behind other clubs, Friedman will show whether he's evolving or rigid in approach.

Is Friedman truly a big-market president of baseball operations?
He was revered throughout baseball for the way he was inventively able to make the small-budget Rays competitive. Pundits all but threw roses at his feet. He was smart and cutting-edge and resourceful.
But what works in small-market Tampa Bay doesn't necessarily translate to Los Angeles. Coming close is not enough. Expectations here are for championships. Particularly for a team that hasn't won a World Series in 27 painfully long years.
So even with the Dodgers advancing to the playoffs this fall for a record third consecutive year, the season was viewed as a disappointment — in and outside the clubhouse — when the Dodgers fell in the first round.
"Making the playoffs is good," reliever Chris Hatcher said. "It's not good enough."
When it was over, winning 92 games and a third consecutive division title still felt like underachievement.
"Everyone here wants to win the World Series. We had the team to do it," Enrique Hernandez said. "Everybody here thinks if there's not a championship, it's a failure."
Those are some lofty standards, but they're also reality. Expectations are huge here to win now. And when Friedman and General Manager Farhan Zaidi made modest moves at the trading deadline, they weren't convincing anyone they truly understood the urgency.
Now Friedman will be served a new test. And the results should indicate whether he's flexible and adapting his skills to his new team.
Friedman has never signed a free agent to a $100-million contract. He is, understandably, not fond of signing 30-year-old starting pitchers to expensive, multiple-year deals. As Dodgers Chairman Mark Walter once famously said, "pitchers break."
But the time to be flexible is at hand. One way or another, if Friedman is going to advance this team, he'll have to sign a pitcher on the wrong side of 30 to a long-term deal well in excess of $100 million.
Zack Greinke can opt out of the last three years and $71 million on his contract, and is expected to do exactly that. He has made it clear he would like to remain with the Dodgers, but he's a highly practical man who has a keen appreciation for baseball economics.
He'll also be 32 next week, and there has been some history of minor elbow soreness. Last off-season, Jon Lester, a few weeks shy of turning 31, signed for seven years and $155 million with the Chicago Cubs. Max Scherzer, 30 last off-season, received seven years and $201 million from the Washington Nationals.
Greinke may love L.A., but that doesn't figure to translate into a $75-million hometown discount.
If Friedman doesn't re-sign Greinke or go after a David Price, he's looking at a rotation of Clayton Kershaw and four guys. He can't keep going to second-tier starting pitchers.
Last off-season, Friedman gave Brandon McCarthy $48 million over four years — the biggest free-agent contract of his career — so you can understand his reluctance to go some three times that on a starter. McCarthy made four starts and had Tommy John surgery.
Hyun-Jin Ryu never did make a start and underwent shoulder surgery. Brett Anderson, signed to be the fifth starter, probably will become a free agent. The only other starter the Dodgers know they have returning besides Kershaw is Alex Wood.
This is going to require the kind of bold, expensive addition that Friedman is loath to make. That he never had to make in Tampa. Only this isn't Tampa, and here you are expected to do everything to win now.
Leeway doesn't last long. This is his team and organization, and we'll see whether they're open to change, to overcoming instincts.
A big market is watching.

Standing in front of his locker, Carl Crawford looked around and wondered what the Dodgers clubhouse might look like next season.
"I don't know," Crawford said, shaking his head.
The Dodgers failed to reach the World Series for a 27th consecutive season, their fate sealed by a 3-2 defeat to the New York Mets in Game 5 of their National League division series.
There could be sweeping changes to the roster, as there were last winter, when the Dodgers traded one-time franchise cornerstone Matt Kemp and soon-to-be batting champion Dee Gordon.
With Zack Greinke and Howie Kendrick potentially departing in free agency, Andrew Friedman and the team's other top decision makers could be searching for replacements at multiple key positions. And the continued prioritizing of the franchise's long-term well-being over the immediate future could result in the unloading of more bloated contracts.
"It will be interesting to see," left-hander J.P. Howell said. "Whatever they decide, I'm sure they're going to put a lot of homework into it."
Don Mattingly's future with the team will be among the issues that have to be addressed. Team executives have said nothing about whether the manager will be retained for the final year of his contract.
Mattingly was said to be open to input from the analytically inclined front office, which guided everything from lineup and bullpen decisions to the implementation of defensive shifts. Mattingly was often complimented by club officials, but he has not been identified as the team's leader for the foreseeable future.
If Friedman has demonstrated anything in his first year as the team's president of baseball operations, it's that he's unafraid of making drastic changes. The club recently parted ways with a significant part of its minor league coaching staff, as well as its scouting department.
Friedman will have no choice but to make changes to the pitching rotation, regardless of whether Greinke returns.
Greinke has the option to void the remaining three years of his contract and become a free agent, where he could land a deal worth considerably more than the $71 million he would be forfeiting.
The team's No. 3 starter, Brett Anderson, will be a free agent. The Dodgers are expected to make him a qualifying offer — essentially, a one-year deal worth close to $16 million — but Anderson probably will be able to find a multiple-year contract on the open market.
If Greinke and Anderson decide to pitch elsewhere next season, Clayton Kershaw and Alex Wood would be the team's only two reliable starting pitchers. Hyun-Jin Ryu and Brandon McCarthy are recovering from major surgical procedures. Mike Bolsinger remains under team control, but is viewed more as depth than a viable rotation option. Top prospect Julio Urias, still a teenager, doesn't appear to be major-league ready.
The free-agent market will be loaded with high-end pitchers, including Greinke, David Price, Johnny Cueto and Jordan Zimmermann. What's unknown is if the value-conscious Friedman would commit to paying one or more of them $20 million or more per year until they are close to 40 years old.
The bullpen can also expect a makeover. While Chris Hatcher emerged in the last couple of months as a legitimate setup man for closer Kenley Jansen, the Dodgers might want to add other late-inning options. The Dodgers will return two viable left-handers in Howell and Luis Avilan. The bullpen could be strengthened if the team can develop the erratic but hard-throwing Pedro Baez, Yimi Garcia and Carlos Frias.
All-Star catcher Yasmani Grandal is eligible for salary arbitration and is certain to return. His backup, A.J. Ellis, is also eligible for arbitration. Ellis could earn close to $5 million in the arbitration process, but he is a likely candidate to be retained because of his second-half resurgence and longstanding partnership with Kershaw.
First baseman Adrian Gonzalez remains a top-level run producer and Justin Turner has solidified his spot as the team's primary third baseman. Corey Seager replaced 36-year-old Jimmy Rollins as the team's everyday shortstop and is the projected starter.
The only significant opening could be at second base, where Kendrick was the starter. Greinke and Anderson, Kendrick is expected to receive and turn down a qualifying offer from the Dodgers and test free agency. If the Dodgers can't re-sign him, one possible replacement would be Jose Peraza, a fleet-footed prospect they acquired from the Atlanta Braves in July. Another would be the versatile Enrique Hernandez, who gave the team an offensive jolt late in the season. The Dodgers could move Turner to second, but that would create a vacancy at third base.
Friedman's greatest headache could be in the outfield, where Hernandez, Crawford, Andre Ethier, Yasiel Puig and Joc Pederson are all under contract or club control. With the possible exception of Peterson, who struggled mightily in the seasons' second half, they are all solid players. But none of them look like the type of middle-of-the-lineup compliment to Gonzalez the team desperately needs.
The Dodgers would like to rid themselves of Crawford's and Ethier's contracts, as they did Kemp's last winter. Crawford is owed $41.75 million over the next two seasons. Ethier is guaranteed $38 million over the same period.
"It's going to be a long off-season, figuring out personal stuff, team stuff," Ethier said.