The offseason stockpile in Los Angeles has extended to the front office with news Monday that the Dodgers are bringing back former general manager Farhan Zaidi in a new role.
Per multiple reports, the Dodgers are hiring Zaidi as a special adviser. In his role, Zaidi will also advise controlling Dodgers owner Mark Walter in his other sports interests, which include stakes in the Lakers, Sparks, Premier League soccer team Chelsea and the Professional Women’s Hockey League.
Zaidi was the general manager of the Dodgers from 2014-18. He previously honed his analytics-based approach as a data analyst and the assistant general manager of the Oakland A’s under Billy Beane. Zaidi employed that approach to build a Dodgers roster that reached the postseason in each season under his watch that included trips to the World Series in 2017 and 2018.
After the 2018 season, Zaidi left the Dodgers to take over as president of baseball operations for the rival San Francisco Giants. The Giants improved from 73-89 (.451) in the season before Zaidi’s arrival to 107-55 (.635) and NL West champions in 2021.
The Giants have finished in no better than third place since the 2021 division title, and they fired Zaidi in September following an 80-82 season. They replaced him with franchise icon and former MVP catcher Buster Posey.
Now Zaidi returns to a Dodgers franchise with which he developed his reputation that’s fresh of a World Series championship and an offseason acquisition spree that includes the addition of Japanese pitching phenom Roki Sasaki and two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell.
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