IN HIM THEY TRUST
Farhan Zaidi winning over Giants fans with shrewd, if controversial, moves
The first time Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi cut a popular fan favorite with ties to the team’s last World Series title, the move was greeted with criticism.
A decision to designate struggling second baseman Joe Panik for assignment in August, 2019 seemed like a relatively straightforward call, but many Giants fans expressed feelings of frustration, anger and betrayal when Zaidi cut a player with a .235 average and .627 OPS.
Panik was a homegrown talent and a beloved member of the 2014 World Series team whose glove flip to start a crucial double play with Brandon Crawford in Game 7 against the Royals will go down as one of the greatest defensive plays in Giants postseason history.
In the 13 months since Panik was let go, Zaidi has made several other challenging personnel decisions, including one on Thursday that brought an official end to Pablo Sandoval’s second stint with the Giants. It’s not a stretch to say that Sandoval was far more popular than Panik as he joined Buster Posey as one of only two position players to win three World Series rings with the Giants.
Sandoval will go down as one of the greatest postseason hitters in franchise history and if not for Madison Bumgarner’s superhuman performance in 2014, the Venezuela native likely would have won two World Series MVPs.
When the Giants announced Thursday they had placed Sandoval on unconditional release waivers, the reaction to his departure appeared quite different. Giants fans took to social media to acknowledge all of the wonderful contributions Sandoval made during his time with the franchise, but they also appeared to understand the decision.
Giants fans seemed to know that Sandoval — with a .220 batting average, a .546 OPS and a lack of positional versatility — wasn’t a great fit for a 2020 club that is determined to lock up a postseason berth.
It’s difficult to pinpoint what’s changed in the 13 months between Panik and Sandoval being let go, but it appears fans have developed
a much greater trust in Zaidi’s approach to building a roster and a deeper appreciation for his ability to create depth.
Aside from cutting Panik and Sandoval, Zaidi has also non-tendered 2019 Willie Mac Award winner Kevin Pillar — perhaps his most controversial move — and designated Hunter Pence for assignment. Each time the Giants’ top baseball executive makes a transaction, there’s uncertainty over how the move will play out.
In some cases, initial criticisms are quite valid as it became clear almost immediately that former Reds second baseman Scooter Gennett did not represent an upgrade over Panik. Zaidi, however, deserves credit for realizing that too as he also took Gennett off the 2019 roster to free up more playing time for Donovan Solano.
With Solano in contention for the 2020 batting title, the Giants’ process eventually led to the results they were seeking.
Zaidi may have reached a critical turning point with how the fan base views his tenure at the beginning of the 2020 season, when Pillar was more of a distant memory and Mike Yastrzemski was emerging as the everyday center fielder. Giants fans adored Pillar for his all-out hustle in center field, his knack for popping pitches over the left field fence and the tone he set for the team on the diamond, but it became easy to forget the controversial decision to let him go when Yastrzemski emerged as a MVP candidate.
Yastrzemski’s plate discipline, his power and his natural leadership skills have been on display throughout the season, even if fans have been forced to watch the Giants exclusively on television as opposed to inside Oracle Park.
When it came time for the Giants to bid farewell to Pence, who went 5-for-52 after signing a major league deal with the club this offseason, it appeared an increasingly large segment of the fan base believed Zaidi’s decision would lead to improved production in the outfield. It certainly hasn’t hurt that Alex Dickerson finally played up to his talent level as one part of the left field platoon, but Darin Ruf’s strong second half as the right-handed hitter taking Pence’s at-bats eased the blow of losing a player with ties to the Giants’ golden years.
With a consistent track record of finding valuable contributors through minor league free agency, waiver claims or small trades, Zaidi has proved he can build a successful roster without relying on players who most casual Giants fans would recognize if they ran into them at a local coffee shop.
The Giants president of baseball operations has always felt that if the team wins, fans will embrace the players responsible for making that happen. We’ve now seen it with Yastrzemski, Solano, Dickerson and others, and over the next few weeks, perhaps newly acquired switch-hitter Justin Smoak will become a more valuable asset to the 2020 club than Sandoval was.
It’s too soon to know if Smoak is truly an upgrade, but it’s clear Giants fans are increasingly willing to give Zaidi the benefit of the doubt. He’s more than earned it after building a team that’s contending for a playoff berth when no one thought it was possible.