The Giants hold a club option on Farhan Zaidi for 2024, as the president of baseball operations is technically on the final season of the five-year deal he signed in 2019. Team CEO Greg Johnson told The Athletic in March that the club intends to keep Zaidi around in 2024 and longer, but has Zaidi done enough to secure an extension?
San Francisco is surging, using a five-game win streak to vault into the top Wild Card spot in the National League. The past couple months have been marked by an influx of young talent, but the Giants still have plenty of work to do to reach the playoffs.
On the latest episode of the “Garlic Fries & Baseball Guys” podcast, hosts Sam Lubman and Joe Shasky discussed how this season will impact Zaidi’s legacy and job security.
“I’m not going to even try and predict trades, because who knows?” Shasky said, “I think his entire tenure is gonna come down to one thing: strictly, how well do these youngsters play? (Patrick) Bailey, does he continue? (Casey) Schmitt, does he continue to freefall? (Luis) Matos, does he show signs of life here in the second half? I think the youngsters are going to be the measuring stick by which we make our conclusions on Farhan Zaidi.”
Likewise, Lubman thinks Zaidi’s tenure will be judged by the development of the new wave of players.
“Most general managers, their definition of success is tied to their ability to make the playoffs,” Lubman said. “But with Farhan, it’s almost like his definition of success is – what do these young guys do? If the Giants don’t make the playoffs this year, it’d be four out of five years missing the playoffs without Farhan – but you see progression from guys like Bailey, Schmitt, Matos, Ryan Walker, Kyle Harrison comes up, he has a good start – you’re gonna feel very good about Farhan. That probably earns him an extension.”
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