San Francisco Giants Hire Farhan Zaidi as Head of Baseball Ops

The San Francisco Giants have hired Farhan Zaidi to head the team’s baseball operations.

Zaidi, who had been the Los Angeles Dodgers general manager, will report directly to San Francisco Giants president, and chief executive officer, Larry Baer.

Baer said this in a statement:

"“We set out to find one of the best minds in baseball, and Farhan’s many accomplishments and expertise exceeded our expectations. Farhan is widely viewed as one of the top executives in our industry, and we are thrilled to have him lead the next chapter of Giants baseball.”"

The Giants official Twitter account made the announcement today as well:

The former general manager is returning to the Bay Area after spending time in the Oakland A’s organization from 2005 to 2015. He was their director of baseball operations and was their assistant general manager before moving to Los Angeles.

Zaidi also said this in his own statement:

"“I am delighted to return to the Bay Area and to join one of the most storied franchises in the game,”  “I have watched the Giants from afar and I have great respect for the organization’s culture and many accomplishments. I am excited about this new opportunity and I’m looking forward to getting right to work.”"

The entire baseball world is moving into a more analytic direction and trying to run their organizations with the smartest people they can. Zaidi certainly fits that description.

He received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1998 and earned a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley in 2011 while with the A’s.

The Giants taking one of the brightest minds away from the Dodgers will certainly heighten the rivalry even more after seeing the success Los Angeles has had. Back to back world series appearances, along with two straight NLCS appearances that preceded those World Series appearances, had the Dodgers reaching success levels not seen for 30 plus years.

Some knocks on Zaidi are that he had a penchant for scripting some lineups and game-plans for Dodger’s manager, Dave Roberts. But most of those around the San Francisco Giants believe that won’t be much of a thing, or an issue for them. Zaidi won’t work day to day with the manager as much as he did in his general manager’s role.

The San Francisco Giants will hold a press conference at 1pm Pacific Time to announce and introduce Zaidi in his role, and answer questions about the ensuing GM search as well and direction of the baseball club.