The Dodgers will name Oakland A’s assistant general manager Farhan Zaidi their next GM, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. Former San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Josh Byrnes is also expected to be appointed to a front-office role when the official announcement is made.
Those announcements are expected sometime this week.
Zaidi, 37, would succeed Ned Colletti, who was named senior advisor to President, Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman in October.
Zaidi was hired into the A’s baseball operations department in 2005 and spent the next 10 years in Oakland. He was instrumental in signing Cuban slugger Yoenis Cespedes to a four-year, $36 million contract in February 2012 according to the San Francisco Chronicle and was regarded as a front-office advocate for the club’s scouting reports.
According to the A’s media guide, Zaidi’s primary responsibilities included “providing statistical analysis for evaluating and targeting players in the amateur draft, free agent and trade markets. He also assists on arbitration cases, minor league contracts and works closely with the coaching staff during the season in analyzing data from advance scouting reports.”
Prior to joining the A’s, Zaidi served as business development associate for Small World Media, the fantasy sports division of The Sporting News, and also worked as a management consultant for the Boston Consulting Group.
Zaidi earned his bachelor of science degree in economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1998 and a Ph.D in economics from the University of California, Berkeley in 2011.
