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| Farhan Zaidi, the Dodger's new GM |
Zaidi is a Canadian with Pakistani parentage but get this - he was raised in the Philippines. So, not only is the the first Asian American GM, he is the first Muslim GM in the United States.
The Dodgers, who won the National League West two years in a row, were ousted two years in a row despite having one of the highest payrolls in Major League Baseball.
What may irk the Dodgers ownership even more, despite all the money they put out and which - on paper - is the most talented team in the National League, they had to watch from the sidelines as their arch rivals, the San Francisco Giants, went on to win the World Series.
With almost an entirely new front office, the Dodgers are showing that they are serious about shoring up the administrative side of the organization to match what they put on the field. But they may also be saying, playing talent is not enough to win the whole shebam.
They started by hiring Andrew Friedman, former GM of the Tampa Bay Rays. Friedman's first action was to hire to young baseball administrators who will probably bring a whole new way of operating to the organization, owned by the Guggenheim Baseball Management, that's Guggenheim - as in bankrolls of money.
Besides Zaidi, Friedman brought in Josh Byrnes, former GM of the San Diego Padres, as senior vice president of baseball operations. The two hires will bring a new outlook and operations the Dodgers.
Zaidi's primary focus will be on the major league team and player acquisitions, while Byrnes will overs scouting and player development, said Friedman.
Zaidi, has been with the A's for 10 years, most recently as assistant general manager/director of baseball operations, after five years as director of baseball operations.
Zaidi, 37, earned his bachelor of science degree in economics from Massachusetts Instittue of Technology and a Ph.D in economics from UC, Berkeley. Although totally versed in sabremetrics, that the A's used to combine winning teams with the lowest payrolls, Zaidi is reported to advocate blending old-school scouting methods with the the advanced analytics to combine the best of both diametrically opposed worlds.
"He's absolutely brilliant," A's GM Billy Beane told a Chronicle reporter. "He has a great qualitative mind, but also a creative mind. The ability to look at things both micro and macro is unique and Farhan could do whatever he wants to do, not just in this game, but in any sport or business. I'm more worried about losing him to Apple or Google than I am to another team."
Dodger fans, to get an idea what you're getting and what direction your team might head, here's a link to an interview.
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