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Farhan Zaidi

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Farhan Zaidi
Baseball Executive
Born: (1976-11-11) November 11, 1976 (age 48)
Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Farhan Zaidi (born November 11, 1976) is a Canadian baseball executive who was formerly the president of baseball operations for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). Zaidi also served as General Manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Assistant General Manager of the Oakland Athletics.

Zaidi is one of two Muslim executives in Major League Baseball.[1] He was the first Muslim and first Pakistani-American and subsequently first South Asian-American[2] general manager in Major League Baseball.[3] He was the first Muslim to run a major North American sports team.

Early life

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Zaidi was born on November 11, 1976, in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, to a family of Pakistani ancestry.[4][5] His parents, Sadiq and Anjum, raised four children: Zeeshan, Farhan, Noor, and Jaffer.[6][3] Zaidi grew up in the Philippines after his family moved to Manila when he was four years old, where he attended the International School of Manila. [4][5][7]

He has a Bachelor of Science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in economics from the University of California, Berkeley.[8] He briefly worked for the Boston Consulting Group and the Sporting News website between MIT and Berkeley.[8][9]

Baseball

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Oakland Athletics

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While at Berkeley, Zaidi read the book Moneyball and said that it changed his life.[10] He saw a job posting for a baseball operations position with the Oakland Athletics and sent out his résumé, beating out 1,000 other applicants for the job.[9] He was a data analysis sabermetrics assistant when he started.[11] His boss with the Athletics, Billy Beane, called him "absolutely brilliant" and credited him with the acquisition of Yoenis Céspedes.[1]

For the 2013 season, Zaidi was promoted by the Athletics to the post of director of baseball operations and added assistant general manager to his title in 2014.[12][13]

Los Angeles Dodgers

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On November 6, 2014, Zaidi was named by the Los Angeles Dodgers as their new general manager under president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman.[14]

Under his watch as the Dodgers GM, the team made its first World Series appearance in 29 years in 2017, falling to the Houston Astros in seven games. The following year, they lost in five games to the Boston Red Sox in the 2018 World Series.

San Francisco Giants

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On November 6, 2018, Zaidi accepted an offer to join the San Francisco Giants to become president of baseball operations.[15][16] In 2021, the Giants won a franchise-record 107 games, and Zaidi was voted the Sporting News Executive of the Year[17] and MLB Executive of the Year, becoming the first person of South Asian descent to win either award.

When Zaidi's general manager Scott Harris left the Giants in 2022 to become the president of baseball operations for the Detroit Tigers, Zaidi hired Pete Putila to be the Giants new general manager.[18]

In October 2023, Zaidi and the Giants agreed to a new three-year contract through 2026.[19] It was later revealed that the contract between Zaidi and the Giants was a two-year contract, through 2025, with the equivalent of a club option for 2026.[20]

On September 30, 2024, the Giants announced they would be parting ways with Zaidi. The Giants hired Buster Posey to take over as the President of Baseball Operations.[21][22]

Personal life

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Zaidi is married to Lucy Fang, a fellow MIT graduate.[9]

Though he primarily grew up in the Philippines, Zaidi still considers himself Canadian. His family returned to Canada every other summer to visit family and friends; as a result, Zaidi became a fan of the Toronto Blue Jays and many of its star players, such as Jesse Barfield, Tony Fernandez and George Bell. Zaidi was in Grade 11 when he watched Joe Carter hit his game-winning walk-off home run in 1993 to win back-to-back World Series championships for the Jays.[23]

References

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  1. ^ a b Slusser, Susan (February 4, 2014). "A's exec GM Farhan Zaidi takes old- and new-school approach". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  2. ^ "Views from the Edge: Farhan Zaidi: Asian American named Dodgers' GM". 7 November 2014.
  3. ^ a b McCollough, Andy (March 30, 2017). "How Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi became one of the most coveted minds in baseball". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  4. ^ a b Elliott, Bob (November 11, 2014). "Dodgers GM celebrates birthday in style". Toronto Sun. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  5. ^ a b Kennedy, Brendan (November 5, 2014). "Canadian-born Farhan Zaidi to be named Los Angeles Dodgers GM". The Star.
  6. ^ McCollough, Andy (February 23, 2018). "How Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi built a dynasty — in fantasy football". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  7. ^ Keown, Tim. "From a Ph.D. to RBIs: How Farhan Zaidi left Berkeley and became a baseball pioneer". ESPN. ESPN. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  8. ^ a b "AP source: Dodgers hiring A's Farhan Zaidi as GM". ESPN.com. Associated Press. November 4, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  9. ^ a b c Hecht Maxwell, Jill (April 19, 2011). "Farhan Zaidi '98". Technology Review. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  10. ^ Kennedy, Brendan (May 24, 2014). "Oakland A's executive changing the face of baseball". Toronto Star. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  11. ^ "An Interview with Farhan Zaidi of the Oakland A's". sabernomics.com. May 25, 2005. Archived from the original on July 19, 2018. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  12. ^ "Exclusive: A's Director of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi Talks Top Prospects with A's Farm – Part 1". A's Farm. March 7, 2013. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  13. ^ Lockard, Melissa (February 19, 2014). "Oakland A's Spring Q&A: Farhan Zaidi, Part 1". scout.com. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  14. ^ "Dodgers hire Farhan Zaidi as GM". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  15. ^ Haft, Chris (November 6, 2018). "Zaidi to head Giants' baseball ops". MLB.com. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  16. ^ Crowley, Kerry (November 7, 2018). "Farhan Zaidi charts bold new course for Giants: 'Everything has got to be on the table'". Mercury News. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  17. ^ "Sporting News 2021 MLB awards: Ohtani voted top player; Posey leads Giants in strong showing". 29 October 2021.
  18. ^ "New GM Putila 'really excited' to join Giants". MLB.com.
  19. ^ Guardado, Maria (October 25, 2023). "Zaidi gets 3-year extension as Giants unify front office". MLB.com. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
  20. ^ "Bombshell Report Reveals Shocking San Francisco Giants Contract Details". San Francisco Giants On SI. 2024-09-11. Retrieved 2024-09-30.
  21. ^ Guardado, Maria (September 30, 2024). "Giants dismiss Zaidi, name Buster Posey pres. of baseball ops". MLB.com. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  22. ^ Baggarly, Andrew (September 30, 2024). "San Francisco Giants fire Farhan Zaidi, Buster Posey new president of baseball operations". nytimes.com. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  23. ^ "Farhan Zaidi | the Canadian Encyclopedia".
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Sporting positions
Preceded by Los Angeles Dodgers General Manager
2014–2018 		Succeeded by
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