© Kirby Lee | 2017 Nov 7
Farhan Zaidi got his man. Well, one of them at least.
The Giants filled one of their two vacant high profile positions on Sunday morning, signing former Cubs assistant general manager Scott Harris as their new general manager, and the first under Zaidi. ESPN’s Jeff Passan was first to report the news with the club confirming shortly thereafter.
It’s being reported that the club is close to signing a new manager as well, a decision that could also come on Sunday.
Harris was a rising star with the Cubs, and seems like the type Zaidi would hone in on.
Harris has been with the Cubs since 2012 — when he was 25 — and hired to be the director of baseball operations under Theo Epstein. The Redwood City native had worked in Bud Selig’s MLB office as coordinator of minor league operations since 2010.
The 2009 graduate of UCLA rose with Chicago, getting promoted before the 2018 season as a sort of wunderkind in a baseball landscape very much amenable to youthful minds.
“We’re thrilled to be able to bring in an executive of Scott’s caliber to help lead our Baseball Operations group”, said Zaidi in a press release. “The combination of his breadth of experience, contributions towards building a championship-winning perennial contender in Chicago, and his Bay Area roots made him an ideal fit for our General Manager position and I’m looking forward to executing our vision together.
“I am so appreciative and honored to join the San Francisco Giants, a storied franchise with a loyal, passionate and deserving fan base,” said Harris. “I’m humbled by the opportunity to help bring the next World Championship to Giants fans and to San Francisco, a city that has always held a special place in my heart. I’m excited to get to work with Farhan, our baseball operations staff and the rest of the Giants family.”
Zaidi does not envision his GM being the traditional transaction-maker; he more wants another brain with a standout skill to fit within the group structure.
Zaidi said the GM and manager hunts would be conducted concurrently, the Giants president of baseball operations looking for two personalities who would fit each other and fit within the structure of the Giants’ hierarchy. There have been plenty of public developments for Bruce Bochy’s successor, which is believed to be down to Gabe Kapler, Joe Espada and Pedro Grifol. Bobby Evans, fired in September 2018, has not had an heir.
“The notion of how those two can and will work together will be a factor,” Zaidi said. “And it’s just the logistical reality of having these two processes going on concurrently is that … you want to know how the GM is going to work with the manager, but you also want to know how the manager is going to work with the GM. So a little bit of a chicken and egg, but we will very much have it in mind that those two are going to have a close relationship.”