How Farhan Zaidi can keep his job even if SF Giants miss the playoffs

The SF Giants are right around .500 which is where they have been much of this season. And last season. And 2022. Many fans blame Farhan Zaidi for the mediocrity, but even if the team misses the playoffs, he could keep his job.

Farhan Zaidi may have more job security than you think

Last season's second half collapse from the Giants is what led to the ouster of manager Gabe Kapler. It could have just as easily resulted in President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi being fired as well. However, the Giants gave Zaidi an extension instead.

So far this season, there has not been a similar second half collapse. Yet, there has not been a hot streak to truly get the team into postseason contention either. The Giants are playing decent baseball, but it seems like they just cannot get on that 5-game-plus winning streak that will be necessary to make the postseason.

If the Giants continue to play at this level for the rest of the year, fans will be disappointed. There will be plenty who blame the front office for not doing enough at the trade deadline, just like last year, and who will be calling for Zaidi's ouster.

Our own Jeff Young recently pointed out that the path to the NL Wild Card is not going to be a piece of cake for the Giants. They are going to need to play well, and they are probably going to need help from a couple of teams if they want to grab one of those 3 Wild Card spots.

So, let's say that the Giants play respectable ball the rest of the season and win 85 games but miss out on the playoffs by a game or two. In that scenario, as long as there was not some epic final week collapse or a clubhouse mutiny, I believe Zaidi would keep his job.

The argument would be that the Giants sustained a lot of injuries this year to key players and did not truly get the most out of Blake Snell until the second half of the season. Therefore, the Giants are right there and if just a few things had broke their way they would have made the playoffs.

Of course, this would conveniently leave out the fact that Snell could very well opt out of his contract in free agency and so could their best position player Matt Chapman.

The argument for 2025 would be that the Giants now have a great outfield with Jung Hoo Lee in center and Heliot Ramos at one of the corners. They have young pitchers in their starting rotation who have shown great promise.

There is certainly a way for the front office to spin an 85-win season into a success story even if it does not result in the playoffs. They may even have a point. The Giants have had bad luck with injuries so 85 wins would not be a horrible or embarrassing result. Even finishing with somewhere between 81-85 wins could be sold as a "we aren't that far off" narrative.

But many fans would not be satisfied with that result. Many fans feel that Zaidi, the front office, and ownership are not serious about winning. Greg Johnson's "somewhat break even" comment will be bandied about as fans decry another middling season. And they have a point as well.

But ownership is the one that will make the decision. It seems clear that as long as the Giants stay near contention and do not utterly collapse, Zaidi's job will be secure.