Giants fans and all of us here at RMC should check out this piece from Tim Keown of ESPN. It is about Farhan Zaidi, the team's President of Baseball Operations. He's an interesting character and I think we are going to enjoy having him around.
--M.C.
5 comments:
". . . this is how I feel about everything in baseball: We should be intellectually curious and strategic and explore anything that gives us a better chance to win."
FZ from the article.
HOW DO YOU know what a big leaguer looks like when your baseball career (i.e. FZ's) topped out as a junior in a Philippine high school? Zaidi went on scouting trips through minor league towns. He watched high school and college prospects with amateur scouts. He asked questions and listened to the answers. His disarming personality and self-deprecating humor -- his ease amid the nonstop curiosity and rampant skepticism -- softened even the most hardened baseball men.
That's another bit from the article--Tim Keown's words (parenthesis mine).
Here's some more excerpts if you don't want to read the article:
(Ted) Miguel, the Cal professor, says, "Farhan's such an unusual guy because he's so good at so many things. Student, researcher, economist -- and he's such a jovial dude. He's like the Dalai Lama: a spiritual, happy dude."
. . .
"He understands the science and the art," (Billy) Beane says, and Jaffer Zaidi (brother) says, "It's easy to box him as purely numbers-oriented, but he is someone who understands people, values diverse perspectives and backgrounds, and then has the additional mental gear that powers a degree of curiosity that weaves it all together."
. . .
BEANE SUGGESTS THAT Zaidi will become a seminal figure in the history of the game, a pioneer who showed that the people who run big league teams don't have to look alike or think alike. Jaffer, adopting the role of classic little brother, says, "Farhan's almost too goofy and chill and down to earth to be a seminal figure. He's never taken himself that seriously, and that's a virtue our parents instilled in us: not anchoring yourself purely on yourself."
Beane isn't having it. "Baseball became a meritocracy," he says. "It was opened up to the best and the brightest, and Farhan is the poster guy. He's a modern-day American success story; he didn't grow up in this country and yet he's everything this country is about."
My take: the team needs to be rebuilt. First step is get the smartest people in the game you can find. The second is to let them do their thing. Giants fans are going to have to be patient. But I believe they have the right guy to lead the process.
Here's a final, rather chilling quote from the article:
. . . one National League executive says, "Farhan's toughest job is going to be convincing people there's no way around the fact they're going to lose 180 games over the next two years."
they have the right guy to lead the process.
Fully agree.
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