Giants may wait on hiring GM

SAN FRANCISCO - At a press conference introducing Farhan Zaidi as the Giants’ president of baseball operations last week, CEO Larry Baer explained why he believes Zaidi is the ideal executive to lead the franchise into the future.

What Zaidi inherits in the present, however, is far from ideal. Even Zaidi’s desire to hire a general manager this offseason, a goal he laid out last Wednesday, has been met with complications.

“I think it’s 50-50 on that right now,” Baer said in an interview on KNBR Wednesday. “I know from getting Farhan and that process that it’s not easy. You’ve got to get permission from teams, these are going to be people that are top people with different teams.”

At his introduction, Zaidi, 42, sounded optimistic, passionate and knowledgeable to the point that it’s clear he’s usually the smartest person in the room, regardless of what room he enters. He conveyed a hopeful vision for the future, but did so without speaking in absolutes.

As in, he doesn’t absolutely need to hire a general manager this offseason.

“It’s not the ideal; in a perfect world I think we find that person and identify them,” Zaidi said. “Get to a permission process and find a mutual fit. Larry (Baer) and I have talked about that. It’s certainly a goal because we have a lot of work to do.”

The Giants dedicated more than five weeks to landing Zaidi, who left his post as the Dodgers general manager working under president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman to guide the Giants’ next generation. The Giants plan to eventually have a similar hierarchy in their front office, but Zaidi is under no orders to rush a hiring process.

“It’s a little late in the day because we had to wait until the Dodgers were out of the playoffs to get Farhan,” Baer said on KNBR. “So I think it’s possible; I don’t think it’s necessary. I think Farhan believes we have a great front office as it is. There’s just so much work to do, dividing it up is something that would be ideal, but it’s not necessary.”

Before Zaidi joined Friedman in Los Angeles, he served as an assistant general manager with the Oakland A’s and had rarely crossed paths with the man who hired him. Is that an indication that Zaidi may follow suit and try to expand his own network by hiring a general manager he’s largely unfamiliar with? Or will the Giants’ newest executive install someone he’s exceedingly comfortable with to ensure a smooth operation in his first year on the job?

If the Giants do wait until next offseason to hire a general manager, Zaidi should have an opportunity to broaden his connections around the game and potentially locate a person he may not currently know to assist with leading the operation in San Francisco.

“Being in that kind of setup with the Dodgers, I can appreciate the value of having a couple of people taking on that responsibility,” Zaidi said at his press conference. “But again, it’s really going to be a function of how the process goes from here.”

Both Zaidi and Baer understand the limitations of searching for a front-office executive in mid-to-late November. The offseason is already underway and many teams have begun negotiating with or reaching out to free agents. While Major League Baseball encourages teams to allow front-office personnel to interview for jobs that would be considered promotions, there comes a point in time when clubs feel that contracts must be honored and business must be conducted as usual.

For some teams with executives who may be attractive general manager candidates, that time may have already come.

Because of potential time constraints, Zaidi vowed to meet with Baer to determine whether the Giants were intrigued by others who interviewed for the president of baseball operations position. In the right situation, Zaidi could wind up hiring an executive who began the month of October competing with him for the same job as the Giants’ front-office leader.

If the Giants do reopen conversations with candidates Baer has already considered, it’s possible MLB executive vice president of baseball operations Kim Ng or Arizona Diamondbacks assistant general manager Amiel Sawdaye could enter the mix.

Cubs director of scouting and player development Jason McLeod, Red Sox assistant general manager Eddie Romero and A’s assistant general manager Billy Owens should also be on the Giants’ radar - especially Owens, who has an existing relationship with Zaidi dating to their days rising through the ranks of Oakland’s front office together.

One potential candidate the Giants won’t bring in to assist Zaidi is Houston Astros assistant general manager Mike Elias, an executive who boasts an extensive scouting background with experience boosting the player development process for two different organizations. According to multiple reports, Elias is expected to be named the next general manager of the Baltimore Orioles.

Though Elias is off the board, expect the Giants to have a bigger board if the general manager position remains open leading into next offseason.

“If we can’t find the right person, we can punt to down the line,” Baer said.