Dodgers reunite with former GM who bombed with rival Giants

In the 2014-15 offseason, the Dodgers hired former Athletics president of baseball operations and assistant general manager Farhan Zaidi as their new general manager under new president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman.

The Dodgers' perennial postseason presence had already started finding itself — they won the NL West in 2013 and 2014 and made it to the NLCS in the former — but they were just at the beginning of establishing a long run of dominance.

Zaidi spent four years in his post with the Dodgers. The team made it back to the postseason every year and in 2017 reached the World Series for the first time since 1988, but they were never able to get the job done. Zaidi jumped ship after the 2018 season to take a job with the Giants as their president of baseball operations.

Now, seven seasons later, he's crawling back to LA with his tail between his legs. News broke early in the offseason that the Dodgers had been in discussions to bring him back, but Fabian Ardaya reported that his re-hiring was official on Monday, and Zaidi would be coming back as a special advisor and assistant to owner Mark Walter.

Dodgers re-hire former GM Farhan Zaidi after his firing from president of baseball operations role with Giants

Zaidi's tenure with the Giants almost perfectly resembles a bell curve. In 2019 and 2020, they crept up from a .440 record to .503, their first winning year since 2016, and then they reached their peak in 2021 when they won 107 games — a franchise record — to kick the Dodgers out of first place in the division for the first time since 2012. The Giants were then promptly kicked out of the postseason in the LDS by none other than the Dodgers.

It was the only time the Giants were able to make it into October under Zaidi's leadership. In 2022 through 2024, they slipped back down to second and then fourth place, finishing their most recent season with a losing record. The Giants decided it was time to part ways with Zaidi following the season, and he was immediately replaced by Giants legend Buster Posey.

The Giants are attempting to regroup from the disappointment of the last few seasons, Zaidi is going back to where he knows is safe, and everything has worked out splendidly for the Dodgers in the meantime.