Farhan Zaidi

Farhan Zaidi
Los Angeles Dodgers
General Manager
Born: (1976-11-11) November 11, 1976
Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Teams

Farhan Zaidi (born November 11, 1976) is a Canadian-American baseball executive who is currently the general manager for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball. He is Pakistani descent.

Early life

Zaidi was born on November 11, 1976 in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, to a family of Pakistani ancestry.[1][2] His parents, Sadiq and Anjum, raised four children: Zeeshan, Farhan, Noor, and Jaffer.[3][4] Zaidi grew up in the Philippines after his family moved to Manila when he was four years old.[1][2] He has a bachelor of science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a doctorate of philosophy (PhD) in economics from the University of California, Berkeley.[5] He briefly worked for the Boston Consulting Group and the Sporting News website between MIT and Berkeley.[5][6]

Baseball

Oakland Athletics

While at Berkeley, he read the book Moneyball and it changed his life.[7] He saw a job posting for a baseball operations position with the Oakland Athletics and sent out his resume, beating out 1,000 other applicants for the job.[6] He was a data analysis sabermetrics assistant when he started.[8] His boss with the Athletics, Billy Beane, called him "absolutely brilliant" and credited him with the acquisition of Yoenis Céspedes.[9]

For the 2013 season he was promoted by the Athletics to the post of director of baseball operations and added assistant general manager to his title in 2014.[10][11]

Los Angeles Dodgers

General Manager

On November 6, 2014, Zaidi was named by the Los Angeles Dodgers as their new general manager.[12]

Zaidi is one of two Muslim executives in Major League Baseball.[9] He is the first Muslim general manager of any American professional sports franchise.[4] Under his watch as the Dodgers GM, the team made its first World Series appearance in 29 years in 2017, falling to the Houston Astros in seven games.

References

  1. 1 2 Elliott, Bob (November 11, 2014). "Dodgers GM celebrates birthday in style". Toronto Sun. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  2. 1 2 Kennedy, Brendan (November 5, 2014). "Canadian-born Farhan Zaidi to be named Los Angeles Dodgers GM". The Star.
  3. McCollough, Andy (February 23, 2018). "How Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi built a dynasty — in fantasy football". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  4. 1 2 McCollough, Andy (March 30, 2017). "How Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi became one of the most coveted minds in baseball". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  5. 1 2 "AP source: Dodgers hiring A's Farhan Zaidi as GM". ESPN.com. Associated Press. November 4, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  6. 1 2 Hecht Maxwell, Jill (April 19, 2011). "Farhan Zaidi '98". Technology Review. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  7. Kennedy, Brendan (May 24, 2014). "Oakland A's executive changing the face of baseball". Toronto Star. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  8. "An Interview with Farhan Zaidi of the Oakland A's". sabernomics.com. May 25, 2005. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  9. 1 2 Slusser, Susan (February 4, 2014). "A's exec GM Farhan Zaidi takes old- and new-school approach". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  10. "Exclusive: A's Director of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi Talks Top Prospects with A's Farm – Part 1". A's Farm. March 7, 2013. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  11. Lockard, Melissa (February 19, 2014). "Oakland A's Spring Q&A: Farhan Zaidi, Part 1". scout.com. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  12. "Dodgers hire Farhan Zaidi as GM". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  • Career statistics and player information from The Baseball Cube
  • BR Bullpen
  • Athletics bio
  • Laurila, David (March 8, 2013). "Sloan Analytics: Farhan Zaidi on A's Analytics". Fangraphs. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Ned Colletti
Los Angeles Dodgers General Manager
2014–present
Succeeded by
incumbent
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