Why Zaidi should feel pressure from L.A.’s success
In the “What have you done for me lately?” world of sports, San Francisco Giants fans have a popular retort whenever they hear about the Los Angeles Dodgers’ regular- season dominance.
“When was the Dodgers’ last World Series title?”
The answer is 1988, but within the next 10 days, that could change. Giants fans are accustomed to the feeling as they’ve been told the Dodgers were going to win a championship in 2017, 2018 and early in the 2019 postseason, too, but manager Dave Roberts was no Bruce Bochy and Los Angeles came up just short.
Despite winning eight c on s e c u t i ve Nation a l League West titles, the Dodgers’ inability to do what the Giants did three times in five years at the beginning of the 2010s has made them a target of jokes instead of jealousy. If they finally break through, against the Tampa Bay Rays, it might be time for some Giants fans to wake up and realize just how far ahead Los Angeles is and why San Francisco poached
former Dodgers executive Farhan Zaidi to bridge the enormous gap between the two franchises.
The Dodgers are such a juggernaut that regularseason success means almost nothing to the organization anymore. The team’s 43-17 record over a condensed 60-game schedule this year felt rather mundane, and when they trailed 3-1 in the best- ofseven NLCS against the Atlanta Braves, they remained a popular World Series pick.
After acquiring 2018 American League MVP Mookie Betts over the offseason to pair him with 2019 National League MVP
Cody Bellinger, the Dodgers essentially built their way out of having any excuses for another October failure.
Beginning Tuesday when the Dodgers and Rays meet in Arlington, Texas, Betts and Bellinger will continue their quest to end the franchise’s 32-year title drought against a Tampa Bay team led by an impressive group of players most fans on the West Coast have never heard of.
Tampa Bay’s approach to building a roster that is nearly as strong as the one Dodgers executive Andrew Friedman has assembled should give the Giants hope that elite scouting, low-profile trades and unconventional pitching strategies can help a team contend for a title, but it also should be a sign for fans that San
Francisco is running out of excuses.
The Rays’ 2020 payroll ranks 28th out of 30 teams, yet Tampa Bay still posted the best regular- season record in the AL and advanced past the Yankees and Astros for a shot at the franchise’s first World Series title. The Rays’ success is an indication that franchises don’t need to spend an exorbitant amount in free agency to compete, but it should also be a call to fans of teams such as the Giants that do open their wallets that there’s no justification for a long run of losing seasons.
The Rays are attempting to prove that regardless of any financial limitations, teams that scout well and develop well are bound to have success. The Dodgers’ model shows that teams that scout well, develop well and can go out and acquire Betts with the money they have left over should consistently rank among baseball’s elite.
For the first two years of his tenure, Zaidi has modeled the Giants more like the Rays than the Dodgers. He’s built his roster through waiver claims and short-term free-agent signings, he’s acquired his best player — Mike Yastrzemski — through a minor league trade, and he’s only handed out one multi-year contract, a two-year, $6.25 million deal that belongs to Wilmer Flores.
The strategy has been mostly effective as the Giants have saved money, built quality depth in their farm system and managed
to compete for a playoff berth down to the final day of the regular season this year, but posting losing records doesn’t feel like progress forever.
In the days following the end of the season, Zaidi said he and manager Gabe Kapler felt a sense of pain in coming so close yet falling just short and said his expectation was for the Giants to compete for a playoff spot in 2021. If the Dodgers win the World Series, the pressure to do so will only be amplified.
A Dodgers title should reinforce the Giants’ sense of urgency to contend. Fans could no longer point at a 32-year drought filled with October missteps and laugh. They’d look up and realize the Dodgers would be favored to win it all in
2021 again, and given the makeup of a young roster filled with stars, there’s no reason to believe they won’t contend in 2022 or 2023 either.
In the “What have you done for me lately?” world, pointing back at 2010, 2012 and 2014 carries less weight each year. The Giants’ golden era was brilliant and the Dodgers’ shortcomings have proved just how special that run was for San Francisco, but with each losing season, those titles become more distant memories.
Even if the Dodgers don’t defeat the Rays, Zaidi knows he must assemble a team capable of reaching October. If the Dodgers do hoist a trophy, the pressure to succeed will only be greater.