Not long after the San Francisco Giants fired Farhan Zaidi and replaced him with Buster Posey were reports of a potential return to the Los Angeles Dodgers organization.
The Dodgers went an MLB-best 379-270 (.584) during Zaidi’s tenure as general manager from 2015-2018 before he left to become president of baseball operations for the Giants. Zaidi led San Francisco to some success but ultimately the franchise elected to go in a different direction.
Reuniting with Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman long appeared to be a likely outcome, though Zaidi noted in December he was still evaluating what course of action was best for him.
According to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, the Dodgers hired Zaidi as a special advisor and his duties will include assisting owner Mark Walter in other sports he’s involved in:
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.
Prior to his first stint with the Dodgers, Zaidi spent 10 seasons in the Oakland Athletics organization. He started as a baseball operations analyst in 2005 before being promoted to director of baseball operations in 2009, and assistant general manager/director of baseball operations in 2014.
With the Athletics, Zaidi’s primary responsibilities included providing statistical analysis for evaluating and targeting players in the MLB draft, free agency and trade market.
Zaidi also assisted with arbitration cases and contract negotiations, and worked closely with the coaching staff during the season in analyzing data from advance scouting reports.
Farhan Zaidi credits Dodgers
Zaidi has great insight into the Dodgers organization, both during his GM career and in leading the front office of their archrival.
Zaidi candidly spoke about the challenges of competing with the Dodgers and commended their front office for being well-run and making good use of deferred salary as part of player contracts.
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