The Los Angeles ’ bitter rival up north, the San Francisco Giants, have at all times been a significant competitor.
Each franchises have eight World Collection championships — though 5 of the eight for San Francisco got here earlier than 1954 — and each have shared many gamers, managers, and even moved from New York to California in the identical 12 months (1958).
A well-known face each in northern and southern California is Farhan Zaidi.
Zaidi, an MIT graduate with a Ph.D from College of California Berkeley, was as soon as the final supervisor of the Los Angeles . After a decade working for the Oakland Athletics, Zaidi joined the entrance workplace in 2014 for 4 profitable seasons and two World Collection appearances.
Since 2019, he has served because the president of baseball operations for the Giants, was named MLB and Baseball America’s 2021 Government of the 12 months, and even clinched the NL West after simply three seasons with the crew.
In late September, Zaidi was dismissed from his position regardless of a assured 12 months left on his contract, as San Francisco missed the playoffs for a 3rd 12 months in a row.
On the Foul Territory podcast final month, Zaidi revealed the tribulations that got here with taking up a struggling roster.
“After I got here to the Giants, the crew had been 50 video games underneath .500 within the two years earlier than I arrived, it was an ageing roster, we had a giant payroll, didn’t have an important farm system, and we weren’t going to rebuild. That’s simply not one thing you do in San Francisco. So the query was, ‘How can we compete as rapidly as attainable?’ One of many issues I might say on the time was, ‘We will’t out- the .’ They’ve received this head begin on us however perhaps we will construct a expertise base to compete with them,” Zaidi stated.
“Look, you’ve received 29 different organizations – not simply the Giants – which have to have a look at the as the usual for what they’ve been in a position to do. That’s to not say different groups can’t compete, can’t knock them out of the playoffs – which we’ve seen fairly a number of occasions in the previous few years – but it surely’s a big-market crew, they spend, they’re good, they do nice with free brokers and I do suppose L.A., you’ve got a bonus there. It’s someplace guys need to play, and so they use that benefit to the utmost once they’re in a position to deliver star gamers in.”
Throughout Zaidi’s tenure in Los Angeles, he was chargeable for making trades to usher in present equivalent to Austin Barnes and Kiké Hernández, in addition to drafting Gavin Lux, Will Smith, and the just lately departed Walker Buehler.
Picture Credit score: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports activities
Have you ever subscribed to our channel? Subscribe and hit that notification bell to remain updated on all the most recent information, rumors, interviews, livestreams, and extra!
