Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has hired the centerpiece of his front office. Former Oakland Athletics assistant general manager, Farhan Zaidi, took the GM position with the Dodgers on Tuesday night, sources told ESPN Los Angeles.
The 37-year-old Zaidi was only the A's assistant general manager for one season before gauging interest from the Dodgers. In his 10 seasons with Oakland, Zaidi started off as a baseball operations assistant before serving as the director of baseball operations for five seasons. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from MIT (1998) and a doctorate in economics from the University of California-Berkeley (2011).
"He's absolutely brilliant," Oakland general manager Billy Beane said, in this SF Gate profile of Zaidi. "He has a great qualitative mind, but also a creative mind. The ability to look at things both micro and macro is unique, and Farhan could do whatever he wants to do, not just in this game, but in any sport or any business. I'm more worried about losing him to Apple or Google than I am to another team."
Well, Beane has lost him to the Dodgers, who have attracted both Friedman and Zaidi from small-market teams to work with the biggest payroll in the MLB. Zaidi is a sabermetrics guru and specialized in statistical analysis for evaluating players in the amateur draft, free agency and trade markets in addition to working on arbitration cases, minor league contracts and data analysis for scouting reports during his time with Oakland. This explains why he is considered the "No. 1 driving force" behind the A's bid for former outfielder Yoenis Cespedes. Zaidi was born in Canada, grew up in the Philippines and is one of few Muslims working in baseball.
Although the Dodgers have yet to confirm the hire, sources say the team plans to name Zaidi their general manager later this week.
The former A's assistant GM apparently beat out some experienced names during the Dodgers hiring process. Los Angeles reportedly spoke with former San Diego Padres GM Josh Byrnes as well as other Padres executives, Billy Gasparino and Jeff Pickler. Former Dodgers' GM Ned Colletti was reassigned to an advisor position when Friedman was hired in October.
It looks like the Dodgers will now be prepared for the GM meetings that will take place next week in Phoenix, Arizona.
UPDATE: The Dodgers have hired Josh Byrnes to become their senior vice president of baseball operations.
