The following press release was sent out by the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday evening:
SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Giants have hired Major League executive Farhan Zaidi as the club’s president of baseball operations, President & CEO Larry Baer announced today.
“We set out to find one of the best minds in baseball and Farhan’s many accomplishments and expertise exceeded our expectations,” said Baer. “Farhan is widely viewed as one of the top executives in our industry and we are thrilled to have him lead the next chapter of Giants Baseball.”
“I am delighted to return to the Bay Area and to join one of the most storied franchises in the game,” said Zaidi. “I have watched the Giants from afar and I have great respect for the organization’s culture and many accomplishments. I am excited about this new opportunity and I’m looking forward to getting right to work.”
Zaidi spent the last four years as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ General Manager after joining the club in November 2014. Under Zaidi’s leadership, the Dodgers have won four consecutive division titles while advancing to the National League Championship Series the last three years and the World Series the last two seasons. During that four-year span, the Dodgers have posted the second-best winning percentage in all of baseball (.584, 379-270).
Prior to joining the Dodgers, Zaidi spent 10 seasons with the Oakland Athletics, where 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, his primary responsibilities included evaluating and targeting players in the amateur draft, free agent and trade markets. The Athletics reached the playoffs during Zaidi’s final three seasons with the club. (2012-14)
Zaidi, 41, earned his bachelor of science degree in economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1998 and a Ph.D in economics from the University of California, Berkeley in 2011. He currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Lucy.