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The San Francisco Giants announced Monday they let Farhan Zaidi go as president of baseball operations.
The organization wasted no time in naming a successor, with legendary catcher Buster Posey replacing Zaidi.
“We are looking for someone who can define, direct and lead this franchise’s baseball philosophy and we feel that Buster is the perfect fit,” chairman Greg Johnson said. “Buster has the demeanor, intelligence and drive to do this job, and we are confident that he and Bob Melvin will work together to bring back winning baseball to San Francisco.”
The writing was on the wall when it came to both Zaidi’s ouster and Posey’s promotion after a report from The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly on Sept. 15.
Baggarly detailed how Posey “personally dealt” with third baseman Matt Chapman to finalize a six-year, $151 million extension. The involvement of the retired seven-time All-Star, who joined the Giants’ ownership group in 2022, came after their executive board “became so frustrated by the lack of immediate progress” between Zaidi and Chapman’s agent, Scott Boras.
The Giants’ ownership “did not trust Zaidi and Boras to finish at the rim,” per Baggarly.
If the lead decision-maker on baseball matters no longer has the confidence of his bosses to finalize such a big transaction, there’s no coming back from that.
Zaidi couldn’t point to a lot of success on the field, either.
San Francisco surprised everybody when it won 107 games and beat out the Los Angeles Dodgers for the National League West crown in 2021. That was the only playoff trip the Giants made with Zaidi running the front office.
Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra
I am gutted that Farhan Zaidi will not be able to tell the press tomorrow that “we feel that we’re making steady progress” by going from 79 to 80 wins this year. Why did you take that from us, Giants ownership?
It’s hard to totally divorce the details laid out in Baggarly’s report with the franchise’s persistent inability to seal the deal with marquee free agents. San Francisco has lacked the top-end talent to propel it to a deep playoff run and failed to develop homegrown stars to make up for it.
The general perception of the Giants around MLB circles might change with somebody as respected as Posey in charge. The risk is nonetheless obvious when promoting a candidate with so little front-office experience.
Dieter Kurtenbach @dieter
Buster Posey’s most important hire will be his first, who is going to be his front office, right hand man?
Dieter Kurtenbach @dieter
I agree that Farhan had to go, I don’t think the Giants understand how bad of a look it is to put somebody who has no serious baseball ops experience in the number one role. Moving a board member into the “CEO” job reeks of failing company desperation.
The general goodwill in the Bay Area toward Posey from his 12-year playing career will ensure plenty of fans are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt early on.
Like every other high-ranking executive, he’ll be expected to deliver results eventually, though.x
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