The Giants plan to keep president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi around for the next two seasons and beyond.
Giants chairman Greg Johnson confirmed to The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly that Zaidi, who is entering the final season of the five-year contract he signed in November 2018, is a big part of the franchise’s future plans.
Johnson revealed that San Francisco has a club option on Zaidi’s contract for the 2024 MLB season, which it intends to pick up if a long-term agreement is not reached by then.
“I can tell you that he is 100 percent here through the end of next season,” Johnson told Baggarly. “We do have an option. If we don’t extend him in the near [future] on a longer-term basis, which is what we plan to do, at the very least he’d be here through the end of [2024]."
The Giants have made one playoff appearance since Zaidi arrived in the Bay Area ahead of the 2019 season, losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games in the 2021 NLDS after a magical 107-win campaign.
Last season, the Giants finished a humbling 81-81 and entered this offseason on a mission to add a perennial superstar to their lineup. But slugger Aaron Judge opted to return to the New York Yankees, and infielder Carlos Correa endured one of the oddest offseasons in MLB history before signing with the Minnesota Twins.
When Judge and Correa landed elsewhere, Zaidi and the Giants responded by signing outfielders Michael Conforto and Mitch Haniger, starting pitchers Sean Manaea and Ross Stripling, and reliever Taylor Rogers, among others.
San Francisco Giants
The Giants expect to be in contention for a playoff spot in the National League this summer.
“The message is that we are very happy with the direction of the ballclub,” Johnson told Baggarly. “We are very happy with what Farhan is building, and our goal is to lock him in to a longer-term deal.”
RELATED: Homer frenzy, 90-plus win season among Giants bold predictions
San Francisco has yet to sign a superstar with Zaidi leading the front office. For now, signing Kevin Gausman and Carlos Rodón in free agency represent his best acquisitions. But if all goes to plan, Zaidi will have plenty of future Bay Area winters to make more signature moves.