Latest news with #FarhanZaidi
New York Times
28-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Giants takeaways: They are a lot like the Tigers, except for one big thing
You're not going to want to hear this, but the Tigers didn't sweep the Giants out of Detroit because they're an empirically better baseball team. They're a good team, possibly a better team overall, and certainly a better team right now, but there are more similarities than differences between the two rosters. Advertisement There's one difference that can explain an awful lot, though. We'll get to that difference, but let's get the gory details out of the way first. The Giants allowed 10 runs in a three-game series (good) but scored five (bad), and they saved their three-run offensive explosion for the only game of the series in which the Tigers scored more than three runs. Wednesday's 4-3 loss was the 11th game in a row in which the Giants scored fewer than four runs, which is tied for the 11th-longest stretch in San Francisco era history. To find the last time they did it, you'll have to go all the way back to May 2024. Most of the players in those games last season were in the Giants' starting lineup for the Tigers series. The state of the Giants' offense is 'emergency,' and there aren't any easy answers. With that out of the way, let's move to the original assertion, which is that the Giants and Tigers are more similar than different. Start with the architects of large chunks of both teams. Farhan Zaidi is still responsible for a large portion of the current Giants roster, and Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris is responsible for the bulk of the Tigers roster. Then there's a little Venn diagram where Harris is at least partially responsible for some of the Giants' moves, back from his days as their GM. It's not much of a stretch to think that there's some Giants DNA in some of the Tigers' moves, too, with Harris almost certainly learning some of the transactional dark arts from his mentor. That's notable, but it's far from the end of the similarities. The Tigers are led by one of the few traditional aces left in baseball, Tarik Skubal, who is a steady, durable strike thrower of the highest order. The Giants are one of the only teams in baseball with a pitcher of the same genre (Logan Webb). They're both the tips of their respective teams' run-prevention spear, and both teams have pitching staffs that can help their teams win, even when their lineups aren't scoring much. Advertisement Neither team is built to out-slug their opponents. The Tigers have 65 home runs on the season, whereas the Giants have 55. Both are respectable numbers, especially given their respective ballparks, but they're unambiguously pitching-first teams when everything is working right. They're not going to run wild on their opponents, either. The Tigers are one of only three teams in baseball with fewer stolen bases than the Giants. Both teams have been good at finding pitchers in the later rounds of the draft, including their aces, and both teams have been good at finding diamonds in the rough, to the degree that Zach McKinstry even looks like it could be an anagram of 'Mike Yastrzemski.' There are other minor similarities, but the point isn't to list them all to the point of being tedious. The point is to explain the most glaring difference between them. It's why one team has the best record in baseball, and the other team couldn't hold on to the best record in baseball. It's like the old Clinton-era catchphrase about the economy, but repurposed for baseball teams: It's the first-round picks, stupid. Heliot Ramos had three of the Giants' 10 hits on Wednesday, including a two-run home run. His offensive resurgence over the last month has been a huge reason why the Giants are merely scuffling to string wins together, rather than suffering through a stretch that's bad enough to undo everything from the first three weeks of the season. They might pull off that last part eventually — don't count them out! — but for now, Ramos has been one of their most important players. He was a first-round pick, and he's hitting like one. Ramos was also drafted in 2017, which was quite a while ago. That's the year that Apple released the iPhone 8, Nintendo released the Switch and Ty Blach led the Giants in starts, with 34. Ramos has been the Giants' most productive first-round pick since Joe Panik in 2011, an island in a sea of unknown futures and disappointing careers. The other Giants' first-rounder to succeed with the team was Patrick Bailey, but you can use the verb 'succeed' to be in the past tense, if you're cynical. In the eighth inning of Wednesday's game, with runners on second and third with nobody out, Bailey popped out on the first pitch, dropping his OPS to .489. Still, if you're using Bailey as an example of the Giants' first-round failures, you're doing the exercise wrong. He's still established himself as an everyday player with clear major-league skills, even if his bat is light years behind his Gold Glove right now. He's one of the examples of a first-round pick that's gone right for the Giants. You can decide for yourself if Joey Bart belongs in that category (he's essentially tied with Bailey in WAR this season, if you were thinking about picking that fight again). Advertisement The Tigers, on the other hand, are in first place because of the contributions of Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene, two top-five picks in recent drafts. It wasn't long ago that Torkelson was considered a cautionary tale, but youth was on his side, and he's finally developing into the player he was expected to be. Greene didn't have the same developmental hiccups, moving from a No. 5 pick in 2019 out of high school to a superstar in short order. It was a remarkably deep draft that year, with several regulars and award contenders already established in the majors. Only one player taken in the top 10 of that draft hasn't appeared in the majors yet. You get one guess as to which team drafted him. The Giants would have less of a need for the Tigers' other first-round picks who are helping them out, right-handed starters Jackson Jobe and Casey Mize, but it's still worth noting the disparity in value they're getting out of their first-rounders. Mize would have been in the Giants' rotation right now, if not for a Pablo Sandoval walk-off home run, which is another entry for the 'If it wasn't for my horse …' files. The Giants have Ramos thriving and Bailey trying to get his swing back, but that's it for their own first-round picks. They're still a remarkably homegrown team — with the fourth-most homegrown players on their active roster, tied with the … Tigers, of course. But a lot of their homegrown players are development successes from the middle to lower rounds of the draft. Their burgeoning young rotation is built on impressive later-round picks like Webb, Kyle Harrison, Hayden Birdsong and Landen Roupp. Their bullpen has two of their only international amateur free agent successes since Juan Marichal, with once and future closer Camilo Doval and Randy Rodríguez. That extra push, that extra oomph, that could get the Giants to that next level is the one that teams typically find with their first-round picks. Every era of Giants baseball can be defined by their first-round successes and failures, from the 'You Gotta Like These Kids!' teams that turned Will Clark and Matt Williams into a pennant, to the Barry Bonds teams that were seemingly just one player away from getting a championship out of the best hitter of all-time. Every team in the championship era had several first-round picks leading the way, and the first one in 2010 had three of them in the rotation and one behind the plate. Even the Dodgers aren't anything without their first-round picks. Without Clayton Kershaw, Corey Seager and Will Smith, they don't turn into the same kind of juggernaut that can tempt Shohei Ohtani. One of the biggest reasons they're not out to a 10-game lead in the NL West this season is because they've hit a similar dry patch since drafting Smith in 2016. There's still hope. Maybe not necessarily for this season, but beyond. Bryce Eldridge is still a marvel, and James Tibbs III is having a monster May. Bailey has hit in the majors before, so it's not entirely outlandish to hope he can do it again. Right now, though, the Giants are missing that special oomph that comes from an unambiguously talented top prospect giving his team way more value than his signing bonus cost them. It's the difference between a team that's somewhere between average and good (the 2025 Giants) and a team that's somewhere between good and great (the 2025 Giants). It's one of the reasons the Giants just got swept, and considering the glacial nature of the development of most prospects, it's unlikely to get fixed soon. (Top photo of Greene: Duane Burleson / Getty Images)
Los Angeles Times
10-02-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Dodgers bring back former GM Farhan Zaidi in a special advisor role
PHOENIX — A familiar face is returning to the Dodgers' front office. On Monday, the club brought back former general manager Farhan Zaidi in a special advisor role, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who wasn't authorized to speak publicly. In his new position, Zaidi will also assist team owner and chairman Mark Walter in the businessman's other sports interests. Zaidi, 48, formerly served as the team's first general manager under president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman from 2015 to 2018. During that time, he helped build Dodgers rosters that won four division titles and two National League pennants, the club's first since 1988; and aided in the acquisition of several unexpected stars, such as Max Muncy and Chris Taylor. After the 2018 season, Zaidi was hired by the San Francisco Giants to become their president of baseball operations. Three years later, after the Giants won 107 games to outlast the Dodgers for the 2021 NL West championship, Zaidi was named MLB's Executive of the Year, overseeing what looked like a potential powerhouse in the making in the Bay Area. However, the Giants never returned to the playoffs in Zaidi's tenure, going .500 or worse in each of the last three years while repeatedly missing out on several sweepstakes for superstar players (including as one of three runners-up to the Dodgers for Shohei Ohtani last winter). After the Giants stumbled to an 80-82 record this year, missing a wild-card playoff spot by nine games, the franchise replaced Zaidi with longtime former catcher Buster Posey at the helm of its baseball operations department. Shortly after, as Zaidi told Foul Territory in December, he began discussing new job opportunities with the Dodgers and other teams. All along, a reunion with his former club seemed logical. While the Dodgers have since filled Zaidi's void at GM with Brandon Gomes, Zaidi will take on a new role in Los Angeles now that includes closer coordination with Walter — who is also the owner of the Los Angeles Sparks, the Professional Women's Hockey League and was part of Dodger co-owner Todd Boehly's purchase of Premier League soccer club Chelsea in 2022.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Dodgers reportedly bring back former GM, ousted Giants president Farhan Zaidi as special adviser
The offseason stockpile in Los Angeles has extended to the front office with news Monday that the Dodgers are bringing back former general manager Farhan Zaidi in a new role. Per multiple reports, the Dodgers are hiring Zaidi as a special adviser. In his role, Zaidi will also advise controlling Dodgers owner Mark Walter in his other sports interests, which include stakes in the Lakers, Sparks, Premier League soccer team Chelsea and the Professional Women's Hockey League. Zaidi was the general manager of the Dodgers from 2014-18. He previously honed his analytics-based approach as a data analyst and the assistant general manager of the Oakland A's under Billy Beane. Zaidi employed that approach to build a Dodgers roster that reached the postseason in each season under his watch that included trips to the World Series in 2017 and 2018. After the 2018 season, Zaidi left the Dodgers to take over as president of baseball operations for the rival San Francisco Giants. The Giants improved from 73-89 (.451) in the season before Zaidi's arrival to 107-55 (.635) and NL West champions in 2021. The Giants have finished in no better than third place since the 2021 division title, and they fired Zaidi in September following an 80-82 season. They replaced him with franchise icon and former MVP catcher Buster Posey. Now Zaidi returns to a Dodgers franchise with which he developed his reputation that's fresh of a World Series championship and an offseason acquisition spree that includes the addition of Japanese pitching phenom Roki Sasaki and two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Dodgers reportedly bring back ex-GM, ousted Giants president Farhan Zaidi as special adviser
The offseason stockpile in Los Angeles has extended to the front office with news Monday that the Dodgers are bringing back former general manager Farhan Zaidi in a new role. Per multiple reports, the Dodgers are hiring Zaidi as a special adviser. In his role, Zaidi will also advise controlling Dodgers owner Mark Walter in his other sports interests, which include stakes in the Lakers, Sparks, Premier League soccer team Chelsea and the Professional Women's Hockey League. Zaidi was the general manager of the Dodgers from 2014-18. He previously honed his analytics-based approach as a data analyst and the assistant general manager of the Oakland A's under Billy Beane. Zaidi employed that approach to build a Dodgers roster that reached the postseason in each season under his watch that included trips to the World Series in 2017 and 2018. After the 2018 season, Zaidi left the Dodgers to take over as president of baseball operations for the rival San Francisco Giants. The Giants improved from 73-89 (.451) in the season before Zaidi's arrival to 107-55 (.635) and NL West champions in 2021. The Giants have finished in no better than third place since the 2021 division title, and the Giants fired him in September following an 80-82 season. They replaced him with franchise icon and former MVP catcher Buster Posey. Now Zaidi returns to a Dodgers franchise where he developed his reputation that's fresh of a World Series championship and an offseason acquisition spree that includes the addition of Japanese pitching phenom Roki Sasaki and two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell.
New York Times
10-02-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Farhan Zaidi returning to Dodgers as a special advisor: Source
PHOENIX — Former San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi is returning to the Los Angeles Dodgers' front office, a league source told The Athletic on Monday. Zaidi, who served as the Dodgers' general manager from 2014 to 2018, will work as a special advisor in the organization, the source said. He will also assist Dodgers controlling owner Mark Walter with his other sports interests, which include the Los Angeles Lakers (where Walter holds a minority ownership stake), the Los Angeles Sparks, Chelsea Football Club and the Professional Women's Hockey League. Advertisement The Athletic first reported in December that Zaidi had been in discussions with his former club on an undisclosed role after the Giants moved on from Zaidi after the 2024 season. Zaidi had run the Giants' baseball operations department since the end of the 2018 season, leading the only team to unseat the Dodgers' decade-plus run of dominance in the National League West in 2021. In Zaidi's four seasons as Los Angeles' general manager, the Dodgers won the division each season, clinched their first pennant in 29 years and found breakthroughs in young, ascending talents like Corey Seager and Cody Bellinger (both inherited from the previous regime) and Walker Buehler. They also unearthed early modern player development success stories, with Zaidi among those chiefly credited with the acquisitions of Max Muncy and Chris Taylor, both of which have now been part of the core of two World Series champion clubs in Los Angeles.
