One day after the 2024 regular season ended, the San Francisco Giants made a much-needed change in the front office. After a third straight underwhelming season that ended at 80-82, the Giants fired President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi and replaced him with franchise legend Buster Posey.
Since winning 107 games and posting the best record in baseball in 2021, the Giants have missed the playoffs for a third straight season and for the fifth time in six years under Zaidi, who took over before the 2019 season, which was the last season under legendary manager Bruce Bochy.
Even though Zaidi was unpopular among Giants fans these past three seasons, his tenure wasn’t as disastrous as some make it out to be. The Giants are in a better position now than when he took over, and young players such as Kyle Harrison, Bryce Eldridge, and Tyler Fitzgerald all look like future franchise cornerstones.
Zaidi inherited an aging roster that included Posey, Brandon Belt, Madison Bumgarner, and Brandon Crawford. While Bumgarner departed following the 2019 season, Belt, Crawford, and Posey all had career seasons in 2021.
Even though those three players were the centerpieces of that team, Zaidi did a great job of adding players in his first few seasons to complement that group, including LaMonte Wade Jr, Mike Yastrzemski, Donovan Solano, Kevin Gausman, and several more.
After 2021, everything went downhill. Gausman posted a 2.81 in 2021, but Zaidi didn’t even offer him a contract. Instead of re-signing a fan-favorite player, Zaidi opted to re-sign Alex Wood and Anthony DeSclafani. Both had solid 2021 seasons but fell off drastically in 2022 and 2023.
DeSclafani posted a 3.17 ERA in 2021. In 2022 and 2023, he combined for a 5.16 ERA. As for Wood, he had a 3.83 ERA in 2021 and delivered 4.2 shutout innings in Game 3 of the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers. In ‘22 and ‘23, it dropped to 4.77.
One of the main criticisms of the Zaidi era was that he wasn’t a risk-taker. While he signed pitchers like Gausman and Carlos Rodon, who delivered a Cy Young-caliber season in 2022, he let them leave in free agency. Gausman had two great seasons in Toronto, but he began to decline this past season, and Rodon has struggled in New York. Even with struggles, having players that fans can get behind isn’t something that Giants fans got under Zaidi.
This wasn’t more evident than this season. Four of the Giants' most popular players this season were Logan Webb, Blake Snell, Jung-Hoo Lee, and Matt Chapman.
Zaidi added Snell, Chapman, and Lee this off-season, but Snell and Chapman had the option to opt-out at the season's end. Snell will once again hit the open market, but Chapman signed a six-year extension this season.
Chapman was always a popular player due to his time with the Oakland A’s, but once his extension was announced, Giants fans adored him even more.
Lee, who signed a six-year deal out of Korea, was instantly a fan favorite. Oracle Park serenaded “Jung-Hoo Lee” chants every time he made a great catch or came up to bat.
Webb had a down year by his standards, with a 3.47 ERA, his highest since the Covid shortened 2020 season. But Giants fans were able to get behind him every start, knowing he’d be one of the faces of the franchise until at least 2028.
The biggest sign that Zaidi would be let go after the season was when The Athletic published an article saying that the ownership group, led by Posey, grew frustrated that talks of a Chapman extension weren’t going anywhere with Zaidi, so Posey took matters into his own hands and hammered out the details with Chapman.
Naming Posey as his replacement alone gives fans reasons to come out to Oracle Park. Even though he won't be in the dugout, knowing that Posey has faith in Bob Melvin and his players will give fans a sense of excitement they never had under Zaidi outside of 2021.
Just three years after Posey announced his retirement, he will once again be sitting at the podium with a new goal in mind. Even though Posey doesn't have any experience in a daily front office role, he will undoubtedly have the support from fans, and ownership will do everything possible to make this transition for Posey run smoothly.
Posey, the 2012 NL MVP, has already given the franchise its best years since moving to San Francisco with World Series rings in 2010, 2012, and 2014. Now, he will once again be tasked with bringing the storied franchise back to relevance.
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