MLB News: Farhan Zaidi Reportedly Hired to Dodgers Front Office After Giants Stint

Former Los Angeles Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi is reportedly returning to the Dodgers' front office after his firing by the San Francisco Giants.

Zaidi will serve as a special advisor in his second stint with the team, The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya reported Monday.

Zaidi worked as the Dodgers' general manager from 2014 to 2018. He then served as president of baseball operations for the Giants from 2018 to 2024.

Dodgers owner Mark Walter, who also owns stakes in the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Sparks, PWHL and Chelsea FC, will receive assistance from Zaidi with "his other sports interests," according to Ardaya.

Ardaya and Ken Rosenthal first reported for The Athletic in December that the Dodgers were talking with Zaidi about a front office role.

In an interview with Foul Territory that month, Zaidi said it was "not important" to him to resume his former role as general manager.

"If it happens, great. I know there's so many different ways that anybody can help an organization," Zaidi said in December. "I have friends who are GMs, and the chance to be a special assistant, to be an advisor to one of them, I think not only would it be great personally, but it would be nice professionally, too."

The Dodgers developed players like Max Muncy and Chris Taylor under Zaidi's first tenure. The club made back-to-back World Series appearances in Zaidi's final two seasons as general manager, but lost to the Houston Astros in 2017 and the Boston Red Sox in 2018.

Zaidi then left to join the Giants. He named the 2021 MLB Executive of the Year after the club set a franchise record with 107 wins in his third season with the franchise.

But that season ended with a five-game NLDS loss to the Dodgers, and the Giants haven't finished a season with a winning record since.

Zaidi signed an extension with the Giants in 2023, reported by John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle as a two-year agreement with a club option. He ultimately served out just the first year of that deal before he and the club parted ways last September.

The Giants lost out to the Dodgers in signing star free agents like Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto under Zaidi's tenure. The team almost signed star shortstop Carlos Correa to a 13-year, $350 million deal in 2022, but the agreement fell apart due to medical concerns. And even the biggest signings of Zaidi's tenure in San Francisco— the additions of Matt Chapman and Blake Snell in 2024— weren't enough to lift the Giants above .500 last season.

As noted by The Athletic's Andrew Baggarly, the Giants meanwhile struggled to develop internally-developed talent while missing out on major free agent signings, contributing to the organization's loss of faith in Zaidi.

Zaidi won't have to worry about attracting star free agents once he's back with the Dodgers, where Ohtani and Yamamoto have since been joined by Snell alongside other players like Roki Sasaki and Tanner Scott.