A New Era!

The Giants season officially came to an end on Sunday with a 6-1 loss against the St. Louis Cardinals. They missed the playoffs for the third consecutive year, but Monday September 30th of 2024, will go down as a historic day for the Giants. 

The Giants have officially parted ways with President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi. This was long overdue for San Francisco, as this has been rumored for almost three years now. In November of 2018 Zaidi was hired by the Giants to turn an old aging team into a young contending team. He did the exact opposite during his tenure. 

Now this is usually where I would list all of Zaidi’s accomplishments he had with the Giants, but he doesn’t have any. His one “accomplishment” was a fluke playoff season in 2021 due to the resurgence of Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford. 

Speaking of Buster Posey, he will be taking over as the new President of Baseball Operations. Posey bought a stake in the Giants in November of 2022, getting his foot in the door for this position. Posey made headlines this year when the Giants re-signed superstar third baseman Matt Chapman to a six-year deal. 

According to sources close to the Giants, Posey was the one who initiated a conversation with Chapman about an extension, while Farhan did nothing. Posey is a great guy to promote because of his ability to create close relationships with these players, as well as his recruiting ability being the big name he is. 

Building on Farhan’s inability to do his job, there is a lot more to say on that subject. During his time in San Francisco the Giants had countless opportunities to bring a big name to the Bay Area. In Farhan's first offseason with the team, he had the chance to sign Bryce Harper. Harper flew to SF to meet with the team, and a week later he signed with the Phillies.

In the offseason of 2022, he had the chance to sign the best hitter in all of baseball, Aaron Judge. Judge is from the Bay Area and grew up a Giants fan, Farhan should have been able to get this done. Judge re-signed with the Yankees on a smaller deal than what San Francisco offered him, so at least Zaidi tried. 

In that same offseason he had the chance to sign World Series winning shortstop Carlos Correa from the Houston Astros. Correa would have been an excellent Brandon Crawford replacement for the next decade. The Giants actually had Correa signed until he failed his physical with the team 30 minutes before the deal became official. The Injury must've been super serious for Farhan to agree and back out of the deal, right? The reason the Giants backed out was because of an ankle injury Correa suffered in 2013, which they were worried was going to come back. Correa later signed with the Twins, where he has played 75% of their games since signing, with no injuries to his ankle.

Zaidi could have made up for all of that by signing Shohei Ohtani, one of the greatest baseball players of all time, during the offseason of 2023. The Giants were one of the three teams in the final run for Ohtani, instead he signed with the Giants biggest rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers. The worst possible scenario for the Giants. 

Zaidi will not be remembered for much in the Bay Area, he was a below average recruiter, below average drafter, and overall, not the most energetic person. Not exactly the guy you want making decisions for your franchise.

The Giants should be so excited for what Buster Posey will do in this role. These types of hires turn around franchises, and that's exactly what the Giants need right now. Giants Chairman of the Board of Directors Greg Johnson had this to say about Posey: "Buster has the demeanor, intelligence and drive to do this job, and we are confident that he and Bob Melvin will work together to bring back winning baseball to San Francisco."

A winning culture is exactly what this city needs, playoff baseball will be played in Oracle Park in no time.