This day in LA:. Farhan zaidi’s rise to Dodgers GM

On Nov. 6, 2014, the Los Angeles Dodgers hired Farhan Zaidi as their 11th general manager in franchise history. He joined a Dodgers front office that was headed by president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman.

With Zaidi part of the equation, the Dodgers posted one of the best seasons in club history when the team established a then-Los Angeles record with 104 wins in 2017 and won the National League pennant while earning recognition from Baseball America as its Organization of the Year.

During Zaidi’s time in Los Angeles from 2015-2018, the Dodgers won NL West titles every season and two pennants (2017, 2018). The Dodgers also went an MLB-best 379-270 (.584) with Zaidi as the club’s general manager.

Following the 2018 season, Zaidi was named San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations, and remained in that role until September 2024. Among his accomplishments during that stretch was taking the NL West title away from the Dodgers in 2021 behind a Giants’ franchise-record 107 wins.

The Dodgers did not immediately replace Zaidi in the general manager role, but Brandon Gomes was promoted to that position before the 2022 season.

Before entering baseball, Zaidi served as business development associate for Small World Media, the fantasy sports division of The Sporting News, and also worked as a management consultant for the Boston Consulting Group. He 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.

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, Zaidi’s primary responsibilities included providing statistical analysis for evaluating and targeting players in the amateur draft, free agent and trade markets. He also assisted on arbitration cases and contract negotiations, and worked closely with the coaching staff during the season in analyzing data from advance scouting reports.

Farhan Zaidi wrote why Dodgers needed Chase Utley

When the Dodgers acquired Chase Utley from the Philadelphia Phillies on Aug. 19, 2015, he was a 36-year-old who was hitting .217/.284/.333 with a 64 wRC+.

However, the Dodgers front office knew he could do more to help the team as Friedman and Zaidi sought to change the culture in the clubhouse and on the field during their first season together.

While Utley became revered throughout the Dodgers organization, Zaidi took exhaustive measures to explain why the team needed to pursue a trade for the veteran, writing a 3,000-word paper on the topic.