SF Giants plan to exercise Farhan Zaidi's club option for 2024

SF Giants chairman Greg Johnson finally gave some clarity to president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi's contract situation.

Marc Delucchi | Mar 28, 2023

SF Giants plan to exercise Farhan Zaidi's club option for 2024 /

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San Francisco Giants

The status of SF Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi's contract has been one of the strangest stories throughout the past few months. Hired prior to the 2019 season on a five-year contract, Zaidi's original deal was set to expire after the 2023 season. However, the Giants (and Zaidi) refused to comment on whether he had agreed to an extension. In an interview with Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic, Giants chairman Greg Johnson (son of principal owner Charles Johnson) finally clarified the situation.

SF Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi talks with a reporter prior to a game in the 2021 NLDS. — SF Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi talks with a reporter. (2021) / D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports

Zaidi's original contract included a team option for the 2024 season. Johnson confirmed that Zaidi and the team have not agreed to an extension at this point in time, but said ownership has every intention of extending him or exercising the option in his contract. Of course, intentions are not finalized, and there's still time for things to change, but Johnson was quite adamant that Zaidi will remain in his current position through at least next season.

“I’ll put this one to bed as much as I can,” Johnson told Baggarly. “In fairness to Farhan, our policy is not to talk about contracts until things are done. But I can tell you that he is 100 percent here through the end of next season. 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)."

Zaidi has had an interesting tenure since taking over the most prominent position in baseball operations. While many expected the Giants to undergo a prolonged rebuild that would include trading several prominent players, Zaidi prioritized retooling with the players already in the organization.

The SF Giants have never finished worse than third in the National League West since Farhan Zaidi was hired, and have a winning overall 294-252 (53.8% winning percentage) record. However, the team has also only finished above .500 once over the past four seasons, winning 107 games in a memorable 2021 campaign. Zaidi hopes to improve his resume this season and put himself in position to ink a lucrative extension.

Published Mar 28, 2023

MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).