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Giants have added Farhan Zaidi as their new President of Baseball Operations

SFGRTB

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I'm really excited about this! This was one of the guys I was hoping they'd target, an analytical based mind. He's going to lead a totally new era for the Giants, starting with overhauling the entire front office.



 

SFGRTB

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This is huge, IMO, from Baggs in the Athletic:

The sense from baseball officials Tuesday afternoon is that Zaidi was leaning toward accepting the position, indicating that he had received 1) a multiyear contract in the five-year range, 2) the patience from ownership to see through what would be a lengthy resuscitation if not a full-on rebuild, 3) the clout to direct those efforts with limited input from ownership other than a budgetary framework and 4) full authority to staff out the baseball operations department, including the hiring of a top lieutenant to serve as general manager — with the exception of inheriting future Hall of Fame manager Bruce Bochy as Bochy enters the final guaranteed year of his contract.

1 and 4 were a given. Bochy (and no mention of Sabes, but I expect him as well) is in his last year. This will be it and next year Zaidi will find a replacement.

2 and 3 are verryyyy interesting, though. Ownership has been pretty honest so far, so hearing that they will be very hands-off is encouraging and we don't really have much reason to dispute that at this point. The fact that they are even willing to go so far as to be patient through a rebuild is nice as well.
 

calsnowskier

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Just because he has the ability to do a tear down (supposedly) doesn’t mean he WILL do a tear down.

But, giving an outsider the keys to the Bum-mobile is exciting.
 

SFGRTB

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Just because he has the ability to do a tear down (supposedly) doesn’t mean he WILL do a tear down.

But, giving an outsider the keys to the Bum-mobile is exciting.

Sure, I just like that ownership is going to let him do his thing instead of what we saw the last 3+ years.
 

jeep99tj

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Sure, I just like that ownership is going to let him do his thing instead of what we saw the last 3+ years.

Ink him and let’s get to work.
 

SFGRTB

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Ink him and let’s get to work.

Press conference tomorrow, then full-steam ahead.

He's got A LOT on his plate. Needs a new Farm Director+GM immediately. Will probably make more personnel moves in the front office as well. Then obviously the player personnel. I'm excited
 

calsnowskier

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At this moment, what is the pecking order??

Johnson
Baer
Zaidi
Sabean


????


Or are Baer and Zaidi pretty much peers?
 

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At this moment, what is the pecking order??

Johnson
Baer
Zaidi
Sabean


????


Or are Baer and Zaidi pretty much peers?

I was wondering this about Sabean, mostly.

I think Zaidi is making all the final decisions, and he communicates with Baer on these decisions, who speaks for the ownership group, and Johnson is writing checks (for a few different parties. . . . .)

I think at this point Sabean is a glorified scout. His title gives him a lot of power, but with Zaidi basically above him now, does it matter? When Zaidi hires a new GM, that probably who he will listen to more.
 

LHG

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At this moment, what is the pecking order??

Johnson
Baer
Zaidi
Sabean


????


Or are Baer and Zaidi pretty much peers?
In looking for an answer to your question, I came across this page - San Francisco Giants Front Office There are a lot of VPs! Considering Baer is the CEO, I would assume that Zaidi reports to him.

Also, I didn't realize (or just forgot) that Peter Magowan is still a principal owner of the franchise.
 

LHG

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I was wondering this about Sabean, mostly.

I think Zaidi is making all the final decisions, and he communicates with Baer on these decisions, who speaks for the ownership group, and Johnson is writing checks (for a few different parties. . . . .)

I think at this point Sabean is a glorified scout. His title gives him a lot of power, but with Zaidi basically above him now, does it matter? When Zaidi hires a new GM, that probably who he will listen to more.
Based on Sabean's current position, would the GM report to him or would the Executive VP spot get "demoted" to be lower than the GM spot?
 

SFGRTB

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Based on Sabean's current position, would the GM report to him or would the Executive VP spot get "demoted" to be lower than the GM spot?

I mean I guess technically the GM would be under Sabean (Bobby Evans' old job), but if Zaidi makes the hire and it's someone he's familiar with, they might just bypass Sabean.

One of the beat writers also brought up an interesting point. The Giants are going to be interviewing for the GM opening, and now the Dodgers are going to be interviewing for their GM opening. Zaidi and Friedman are probably going to have quite a bit of overlap on their candidates. The rivalry will be just as heated in the office as the field now.
 

calsnowskier

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I was wondering this about Sabean, mostly.

I think Zaidi is making all the final decisions, and he communicates with Baer on these decisions, who speaks for the ownership group, and Johnson is writing checks (for a few different parties. . . . .)

I think at this point Sabean is a glorified scout. His title gives him a lot of power, but with Zaidi basically above him now, does it matter? When Zaidi hires a new GM, that probably who he will listen to more.
This makes sense. At this point, Sabes probably has next to zero REAL power. He is essentially a consultant.
 

SFGRTB

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This makes sense. At this point, Sabes probably has next to zero REAL power. He is essentially a consultant.

Agreed. Guess it depends how much he wants to help, but Sabes could be pretty useful in the beginning, and obviously someone in the org has been doing the day-to-day stuff (probably mostly Sabean) since Evans was let go. Maybe Sabes continues to do that until a GM is hired.
 

SF11704

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IMHO this is a GREAT move by ownership. A Baseball franchise is really a business at its core and this was a smart business move. It would have been almost impossible to fix/correct what was/is wrong with the organization if they had filled this position from within. You can't correct the problem if you are the problem.

Also taking a top executive from a very successful organization is a great move in itself. If I had to guess ... he will bring quite a bit of the Doyer FO mentality with him. They (Doyers) are successful and he understands the mechanics behind that success. As long as ownership stays 'hands-off' this may be one of the biggest acquisitions of our off season. They need a building plan and they hired a first rate architect!
 
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Hank was on MLB network this morning and he basically said Zaidi reports to Baer, and Sabean is going back to scouting. According to Hank he loves "hiding behind the bushes watching 18 year olds"
 

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Heard Zaidi interviewed on the radio today, I like the hire. Seems willing and empowered to change things, do it differently. We may all have to put away our cynical 'Giants only do things this certain way' attitudes. Prepare for something different.
 

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Secret agent Ned in reverse.
 

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Heard Zaidi interviewed on the radio today, I like the hire. Seems willing and empowered to change things, do it differently. We may all have to put away our cynical 'Giants only do things this certain way' attitudes. Prepare for something different.

I think this is probably the biggest shift for the Giants since they signed Bonds, in terms of franchise-altering moves/pivots. You could argue the 2008 post-Bonds era was a big shift, but the team didn't really do THAT much differently. They still favored Vets and traditional baseball.... they just lucked out with a string of excellent drafts.

This is the beginning of an entire new era.
 

SFGRTB

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IMHO this is a GREAT move by ownership. A Baseball franchise is really a business at its core and this was a smart business move. It would have been almost impossible to fix/correct what was/is wrong with the organization if they had filled this position from within. You can't correct the problem if you are the problem.

Also taking a top executive from a very successful organization is a great move in itself. If I had to guess ... he will bring quite a bit of the Doyer FO mentality with him. They (Doyers) are successful and he understands the mechanics behind that success. As long as ownership stays 'hands-off' this may be one of the biggest acquisitions of our off season. They need a building plan and they hired a first rate architect!

Not only the dodgers, but also the A's who have always been one step ahead of the trends. This is a very bright mind the Giants just got. Really excited about this.
 
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