
SAN FRANCISCO >> After six seasons, Farhan Zaidi is done leading the Giants’ baseball operations.
The new guy? You might have heard of him.
In a release Monday morning, less than 24 hours after they ended a disappointing 80-82 campaign, the Giants announced the organization decided to “part ways” with Zaidi and replace him with longtime fan favorite Buster Posey, whose influence had increased since purchasing an ownership stake in 2022.
“We are looking for someone who can define, direct and lead this franchise’s baseball philosophy and we feel that Buster is the perfect fit,” chairman Greg Johnson said in a statement. “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.”
Johnson, Posey and Melvin are scheduled to address reporters Tuesday morning at Oracle Park.In six seasons under Zaidi’s leadership, the Giants amassed a record of 453-417 (.521) but missed the playoffs five times. Outside of their 107-win 2021 season, they didn’t claim a winning record in any of Zaidi’s other five years and on Sunday secured their fourth losing campaign with a loss to the Cardinals.
“We appreciate Farhan’s commitment to the organization and his passion for making an impact in our community during his six years with the Giants,” Johnson said in the statement. “Ultimately, the results have not been what we had hoped, and while that responsibility is shared by all of us, we have decided that a change is necessary.
“While these decisions are not easy, we believe it is time for new leadership to elevate our team so we can consistently contend for championships. I wish Farhan and his family nothing but the best moving forward.”
The decision to insert Posey, 37, signals a shift in direction from Zaidi, an MIT graduate who rose through the front-office ranks on the analytics side in the Athletics and Dodgers organizations before the Giants hired him in 2018.
Zaidi, 47, fired Bruce Bochy after the 2019 season and replaced him with his hand-picked successor, Gabe Kapler, while introducing a new era of baseball in San Francisco defined by advanced stats, creative pitching solutions, platoon advantages and winning at the margins. It worked tremendously when it unearthed gems such as LaMonte Wade Jr. and Mike Yastrzemski, and while they battled the Dodgers tooth-and-nail in 2021, eventually claiming an unlikely NL West crown.
They failed to recapture that magic, though, and after collapsing last September, Zaidi fired Kapler and acknowledged a need to consider other viewpoints. He replaced him with Melvin, a two-decade veteran of the manager’s seat, a Bay Area native and a former catcher with the Giants.


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