Farhan Zaidi fired by Giants; Buster Posey named president of baseball ops

After six underwhelming seasons, the Giants have determined to maneuver on from president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi. Franchise legend and part-owner Buster Posey has been named the membership’s new president of baseball operations, with Bob Melvin additionally anticipated to remain on as supervisor.

The Giants introduced that Zaidi has been dismissed with a assured yr left on his contract after falling in need of the playoffs for the third consecutive yr. San Francisco completed fourth within the Nationwide League West with an 80-82 report in 2024 and went 453-417 general within the Zaidi period (2019-24), which yielded just one profitable season and one playoff look, each of which got here through the membership’s franchise-record 107-win marketing campaign in 2021.

“We’ve made the choice to half methods with Farhan Zaidi,” Giants chairman Greg Johnson stated in an announcement on Monday. “We recognize Farhan’s dedication to the group and his ardour for making an affect in our neighborhood throughout his six years with the Giants. In the end, the outcomes haven’t been what we had hoped, and whereas that duty is shared by all of us, we’ve got determined {that a} change is critical. Whereas these selections aren’t simple, we imagine it’s time for brand new management to raise our group so we are able to constantly contend for championships. I want Farhan and his household nothing however the most effective transferring ahead.”

Johnson, Posey and Melvin are anticipated to debate the brand new course of the Giants throughout a ten a.m. press convention on Tuesday at Oracle Park.

It marked the second straight yr wherein the Giants have made a big management change, as in addition they dismissed supervisor Gabe Kapler following the membership’s September collapse in 2023.

The Giants entered this season with increased expectations after bringing in Bob Melvin to function their new skipper and committing over $320 million to 6 free brokers — Jung Hoo Lee, Blake Snell, Matt Chapman, Jorge Soler, Jordan Hicks and Tom Murphy — and taking up an extra $74 million by buying Robbie Ray from the Mariners. The additions value two Draft picks and pushed the Giants’ payroll over the luxury-tax threshold for the primary time since 2017, however it wasn’t sufficient to maintain the membership in rivalry this yr.

Lee, a former KBO star who landed a six-year, $113 million deal final December, suffered a season-ending left shoulder damage in Could, leaving the Giants with out their dynamic heart fielder and projected leadoff hitter. Snell, the reigning Nationwide League Cy Younger winner, didn’t signal till mid-March and initially struggled to beat his shortened spring, touchdown on the injured checklist twice with a left groin pressure and recording a 9.51 ERA over his first six begins of the yr.

Hicks, a transformed reliever, helped hold the Giants’ rotation afloat by recording a 2.33 ERA over his first 11 begins, however he wore down because the innings started to pile up and ended up shifting again to the bullpen in late July. Soler recorded a .749 OPS with 12 homers over 93 video games, however he did not constantly drive in runs and ended up being dealt again to the Braves halfway by way of the primary yr of his three-year, $42 million contract.

Essentially the most profitable acquisition proved to be Chapman, who earned a six-year, $151 million contract extension in September after main the Giants with 27 homers and a 7.2 bWAR — the second-highest mark within the Nationwide League behind Dodgers famous person Shohei Ohtani — in his first yr in San Francisco.

Chapman’s extension appeared to recommend the Giants nonetheless trusted Zaidi to barter the second-richest deal in franchise historical past, although Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic later reported that the deal was ownership-driven and acquired over the end line with Posey’s assist.

Zaidi was tasked with turning the Giants into perennial contenders when he was tapped to interchange Bobby Evans in November 2018. By hiring him away from the Dodgers, the Giants hoped to shut the hole with their archrivals within the NL West and return to the prominence they loved within the 2010s, when Posey led them to 3 World Collection titles in 5 seasons.

Whereas Zaidi excelled at discovering worth on the margins, unearthing key pickups like Mike Yastrzemski, LaMonte Wade Jr., Thairo Estrada and Darin Ruf and hitting on bounce-back candidates like Kevin Gausman, Carlos Rodón and Alex Cobb, his rosters featured a evident lack of star energy following the Giants’ failed free-agent pursuits of Bryce Harper, Aaron Choose and Ohtani.

The empty courtships usually compelled Zaidi to pivot to Plan B, leading to regrettable contracts without spending a dime brokers like Tommy La Stella, Mitch Haniger, Anthony DeSclafani, Murphy and Soler. His analytical method — which was exemplified by Kapler’s frequent use of platoons and openers — additionally irked followers, who longed for extra lineup continuity and gamers who they might connect with.

Whereas the Giants have graduated a core of homegrown gamers reminiscent of Patrick Bailey, Heliot Ramos, Tyler Fitzgerald, Grant McCray, Kyle Harrison, Hayden Birdsong and Landen Roupp in recent times, a number of different high prospects (together with former first-round Draft picks Joey Bart, Hunter Bishop and Will Bednar and high worldwide signee Marco Luciano) haven’t developed as anticipated.

First baseman Bryce Eldridge, the Giants’ No. 1 prospect, is seen as a rising star after reaching Triple-A Sacramento in his first full professional season, however San Francisco’s farm system got here in at No. 23 general in MLB Pipeline’s newest rankings.

Posey, the 2012 NL MVP and a seven-time All-Star catcher, helped usher in essentially the most profitable period in Giants historical past after he was drafted with the fifth general decide in 2008. He retired following the Giants’ outstanding 2021 season and joined the Giants’ possession group in September 2022. The Giants are hoping the 37-year-old will have the ability to lead the same rise now that he’s poised to shift from the face of the franchise to the face of the entrance workplace.

“As we glance forward, I’m excited to share that Buster Posey will now tackle a better position as the brand new President of Baseball Operations,” Johnson stated. “We’re searching for somebody who can outline, direct and lead this franchise’s baseball philosophy and we really feel that Buster is the proper match. Buster has the demeanor, intelligence and drive to do that job, and we’re assured that he and Bob Melvin will work collectively to carry again profitable baseball to San Francisco.”