San Francisco Giants Could Reportedly Fire Executive if They Miss Playoffs

After the first half of the year has not gone as planned, it sounds like the San Francisco Giants could be making major changes if they don't get into the playoffs.

Nov 8, 2023; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi speaks to the media during the MLB General Manager's Meetings at Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Things have not gone as planned for the San Francisco Giants.

Entering the All-Star break, they were easily one of the most disappointing teams through the first half of the year based on how aggressively they overhauled their roster this offseason.

After they landed multiple high-profile players, which was headlined by reigning NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell, the expectation was for them to get into the playoffs for the first time since 2021.

But, that's not been the case.

The Giants are three contests under .500, sitting fourth place in the NL West. It's unlikely they will be able to catch the Los Angeles Dodgers for division supremacy, so they will need to get in through a Wild Card spot, something they trail by three games.

There might not be a team who improves more in the second half of the year than San Francisco, though.

Snell is beginning to look like the elite pitcher he is after his tenure got off to a rocky start marred by two IL stints. They should also be getting back another former Cy Young winner, Robbie Ray, as well as Alex Cobb. This will massively overhaul their rotation and give their bullpen some much needed support.

It doesn't sound like the front office is going to be sellers, so that should give this group a long runway to potentially get hot at the right time and make a charge for a playoff spot.

But, if the Giants aren't able to make the postseason, they could move on from from their high-profile executive.

"Baseball executives are starting to believe that Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins, Padres GM A.J. Preller, and Farhan Zaidi, Giants president of baseball operations, all may have to make the playoffs to assure they keep their jobs," Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY reports.

That is quite the bombshell.

It's no secret that these three teams have been some of the most disappointing across the league on a yearly basis, drastically underperforming compared to expectations.

After trying to overhaul this roster, it seems like San Francisco's ownership could be ready to move on from Farhan Zaidi if they don't see this club in the playoffs.

Zaidi took over his current role in November 2018 after leaving his post as the Dodgers general manager. The 47-year-old first joined a baseball front office under Billy Bean with the Oakland Athletics, holding the assistant general manager position from 2011-14 before heading to Los Angeles.

During his tenure with the Giants, they have put together a 373-335 record excluding this season. Under his leadership, this franchise has made the playoffs only once in 2021 which also happened to be their only year finishing above .500.

There's certainly been pressure on Zaidi to make things work, and not making the playoffs after spending the amount of money they did would not be a good look.

This will be a storyline to monitor throughout the remainder of the season.