The one thing Farhan Zaidi can do to save this SF Giants offseason

Quick question: Can you name the biggest “buy” trade Farhan Zaidi has made during his tenure as the president of baseball operations for the San Francisco Giants, if you define “biggest” by the number of players traded away? 

Here’s a hint: There are two such trades, with the Giants sending back three players in each. Anyone spring to mind? If the answer is no, it’s hard to blame you, because the players the Giants acquired in those moves were Kevin Pillar and Tony Watson.  

It means that the Giants’ best chance of adding a star-level player is through a trade. But is there anything in Zaidi’s history to suggest he’s capable of making that kind of deal? An executive who has given up the most in assets for an unspectacular outfielder and a lefty relief specialist? 

Throughout his tenure here, Zaidi has specialized in low-risk trades with a few hits and a few misses. He’s adept at finding B-list talent for minimal cost, the kind of players that will make positive contributions but not true superstars — players like Mike Yastrzemski, J.D. Davis, LaMonte Wade Jr. and Thairo Estrada. All of them are good players, but all are arguably more valuable as platoon pieces rather than everyday contributors. Perhaps that’s by design, since the Giants’ M.O. has been to field a matchup-based roster. But by now, nearly six years into the job, you’d like to think Zaidi would have added the kind of hitter he seems incapable of finding on the open market.  

Zaidi’s most “creative” move so far was essentially buying the contract of Zack Cozart from the Angels in order to also acquire 2019 first-round pick Will Wilson. But Wilson’s lack of development in the four years since the trade has made that move a failure. He did well to add Kris Bryant for cheap at the deadline in 2021, but the Giants let him walk after the season (and that looks to have been the correct move, given Bryant’s inability to stay healthy) while doing little to replace his production. He traded Sam Dyson for a package that included Prelander Berroa, who’s become the consensus top relief prospect in the game — problem is, he traded Berroa to the Mariners for the eminently forgettable Donovan Walton. The creativity that Zaidi was lauded for when he got the job hasn’t resulted in much. 

And unfortunately for the Giants, they desperately need to get creative to add the kind of players they lack. Whatever the reason, they can’t attract S-list talent, or even A-list talent, on the free agency market. Whether it’s because of the ballpark, the city, ownership’s unwillingness to take financial risks or something else entirely, they just can’t close the deal. They need to add those kinds of players — especially hitters — through trades. But that would mean trading away some of their prospects, which the Giants have been hesitant to do. 

Zaidi has done a nice job rebuilding what was a barren farm system, and it’s clear the hesitancy to deal from the minor leagues is because their preferred path back to contention is through player development. But that seemed to stall in the past few years, and while a few valuable pieces have made it to the big league roster, the system has so far failed to produce the kind of players that formed the homegrown core of the dynasty years. That isn’t to say guys like Luis Matos and Marco Luciano won’t turn into stars, but one would imagine the Giants expected more from them by now.  

The front office has indicated a willingness to dip into their prospect pool this winter, though it’s easy to write that off as being just words now that the calendar’s flipped to 2024. But two straight down seasons may have altered their plans, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if they’re much more open to dealing some of their prospects for established difference-makers at the big league level. That kind of path forward would do a few things: mask the failures of the minor league system, push the Giants closer to playoff contention, and offer a more compelling product to ticket buyers. 

Brian Sabean seemed to understand this instinctively, and he was not afraid to trade away prospects to get what he needed. Jeff Kent, J.T. Snow, Jason Schmidt, Ellis Burks, Freddy Sanchez, Marco Scutaro, Hunter Pence, etc. — all of them Sabean additions, and all through trades. Signing players of that caliber has proven nearly impossible for the organization, but trading for and then rewarding those players with pricey extensions has worked, particularly with Pence. Even Bobby Evans tried to emulate that formula, albeit with disastrous results (Bryan Reynolds would sure look nice in the middle of the Giants’ lineup right now). 

That isn’t to say Zaidi has to be Sabean or Evans or even A.J. Preller, the Padres’ GM who’s never met a move he didn’t like. But something needs to change, and the Giants’ sleepwalk of an offseason has done nothing to quell fan unrest. Signing someone like Blake Snell or Cody Bellinger would help, but a trade for an established player, preferably a hitter whom the Giants would never have a prayer of signing on the open market, would be earth-shattering. Yes, they would have to leave their comfort zone and deal away their prospects, and yes, there would be risks involved. But no reward has come without risks, and considering: a) The Giants were only five games out of the last NL playoff spot last year, and b) the team in that last spot won the pennant, the potential reward seems worth the risks. As the saying goes, flags fly forever. 

Creativity, guts and urgency are all qualities needed to make a trade that would shake up the Giants and, in turn, the NL playoff race. Does Zaidi have those qualities? Does he have, in the words of Ra’s al Ghul in “Batman Begins,” the will to act? It’s clear the Giants are overdue for a pivot in philosophy, but can they get it done? Time will tell, of course — but they’re starting to run out of that, too. 

Dave Tobener (@gggiants on Twitter) is a lifelong Giants fan whose family has had season tickets for over 30 years. He’s been lucky enough to never miss a World Series game in The City in his lifetime, still isn’t completely over 2002, and lives and dies with the Giants every year.