November 7th, 2018 at 8:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka When word leaked out last week that the San Francisco Giants were courting Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi as a possible replacement for ousted Giants GM Bobby Evans, who was fired by the struggling franchise on September 24, 2018, anyone with half a brain knew – beyond all doubt – that the soon-to-be 42-year-old (on November 11) Sudbury, Ontario, Canada native was a shoo-in for the job.
He was and he is.
Late Tuesday evening it was announced that Zaidi was officially named as the president of baseball operations for the Dodgers fiercest rivals.
For those unfamiliar with Zaidi or exactly how he became the Dodgers general manager back on November 6, 2014 (note that date), he graduated with 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. (Yes, he is actually Dr. Zaidi).
He briefly worked for the Boston Consulting Group and the Sporting News, Zaidi saw a job posting for a baseball operations position with the Oakland Athletics, for which he applied. From a pool of more than 1,000 applicants, Athletics GM Billy Beane of Moneyball fame hired Zaidi to be a data analysis sabermetrics assistant. While in that role, Zaidi was responsible for the A’s acquisition of slugger Yoenis Cespedes, for which Beane called Zaidi “absolutely brilliant.”
In 2013, Zaidi was promoted to the position of director of baseball operations and also took on the role of assistant general manager in 2014, when he was lured away from the East Bay by the Dodgers to become general manager for Dodgers newly appointed president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman.
Wherever Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi went, he usually had a large gathering of reporters with him..
(Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)
In his five seasons as the Dodgers general manager, Zaidi and Friedman – who affectionately became known as F&Z Show among Dodger fans – led the franchise to five (of six) consecutive National League West Division titles, into three consecutive National League Championship Series, and into two consecutive World Series, only to fall to the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox respectively.
Ironically and perhaps even poetically, it was Friedman and Zaidi’s unwavering use of analytics and sabermetrics that many Dodger fans blame for their two consecutive World Series runner-up finishes, for which they received – and continue to receive – harsh criticism. Heard most among their critics is that F&Z (and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts) relied exclusively on analytics instead of mixing it in with their eyes. In other words, they refused to go with the hot hand and relied solely on analytical lefty/righty match-up, while the manager in the other dugout, first-year Red Sox manager and former Dodger Alex Cora – did not.
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and (now) former Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi had a difficult time trying to convince the gathered media that their exclusive use of analytics during the just-concluded 2018 World Series was the right thing to do at their end-of-season press conference held at Dodger Stadium last Thursday.
(Video capture courtesy of Dodger Blue 1958)
One popular Southern California sports writer summed it up best:
But alas, it is what it is (as the kids today say), and Farhan Zaidi is now in the same role with The Hated Ones as is Andrew Friedman with the Dodgers. As such, Friedman must now begin his search to find yet another analytics-driven / like-minded general manager to pull Pinocchio’s (aka Dodger manager Dave Roberts’) strings.
Stay tuned…
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Maybe it would be good for him to hire someone who is somewhat different than Zaidi, maybe someone less analytic but of course we shouldn’t expect that. Personally I think if the analytic strategy would’ve worked out as it did in the regular season, NLDS & NLCS we wouldn’t be criticizing it that much.
Promote Brandon Gomes (currently Director Player Development) to GM, or perhaps Asst. GM. More than enough people in FO already, promote some of the young guys and give them more responsibility
I agree with your last post. As much as I don’t like the strictly analytic approach, if it works there’s nothing to criticize.
As I posted elsewhere on this site: Good power teams make the post-season. Good small ball teams make the post-season. Teams that successfully combine both win the post-season.
I think you may have missed perhaps the most important element here, Joe.
There is zero doubt that the manager in the other dugout (Alex Cora) used – and will continue to use – analytics; as did / does every manager in the game today. But unlike Roberts (and F&Z), Cora also used his eyes and went with the hot hand.
I mean, why else would Steve Pearce, the eventual World Series MVP who appeared in only 50 games for the Red Sox during the entire regular season (plus an additional 26 games while with Toronto), even be on the World Series roster if Cora hadn’t seen something in him beyond pure analytics? (rhetorical).
In no way was I or am I suggesting that analytics shouldn’t be used in the game – especially for defensive placement (shifts). But the human element, as noted by Maria Serrao, is every bit as important as analytics.
I’m not criticizing the use of analytic, I’m criticizing using it 100%.
I think it’s absolutely crazy for the Dodgers fan base to be so critical of Analytics and the Front Offices commitment to it. No too long ago, Dodger fans didn’t know what it felt like to go to a World Series for 28 straight seasons. Never have the Dodgers enjoyed winning their Division in History. And just that we have a World Series win or bust mentality is attributed to the Analytical prowess of the GO because the strategy has raised the bar so high. I cherish that gone are the days that we trade Carlos Santana for a half season of Paul Shuey. Or sign Jason freaken Schmidt to a 3 yr deal with nothing to show for it. So I will gladly live with the Analytics and Die with the Analytics. If you noticed, most Franchises that are Thriving are heavy analytical Front Offices. It’s the way you trade for a Chris Taylor or Max Munvy and develop All Stars from nothing. And along the lines of why Steve Pierce was in the World Series?.. Analytics. I think Pierce was a top 2 or 3 hitter in the. League against Left Hand Pitching. We have something like 5 Lefty starters, 5 of the 7 games would have been pitched by Lefties. Purely an Analytically move. If anything, we lacked the quality in the Bullpen compared to The SOX. Our off-season answer to our bullpen was Koehkor I believe that how you spell it. We were handcuffed. Alexander did well, but I assume was expected to take pitch up a notch but he did not. Still a good try. We lost an all star closer in Morrow to the Cubs and an all star LHP to the Giants because of the no flexibility in truj3to get under the cap. It’s this front office that got Morrow and the likes. And let me say how excited I am about this off season. The creativity and the ability to spend and trade has me excited. And I feel good about the trades we do now. I used to dread them before because of the non confidence I had in the FO. Sorry about the rant, but I feel if you bash saber metrics, you bash our resin for success. Can’t accept one without accepting the other.
Outstanding points and obviously well researched. But at the risk of redundancy, I am not and did not bash analytics.
I fully get that analytics (and Sabermetrics) are here to stay and fully embrace their use. My point, again at the risk of redundancy, is that they need to be used in conjunction with what is actually going on between the lines.
If Matt Kemp is 2-for-3 with a home run, why on earth would you pull him from his fourth AB, even if the analytics suggest it?
Remember when Joc hit leadoff home runs in two consecutive games this season? Why bench him in the third game just because there is a lefty starting that third game, as Roberts did? We hear (ad nauseam) how Joc, and Bellinger, and Muncy can’t hit lefties. How do we know this or how can they learn to hit lefties if they aren’t given the opportunity. If they fail? Fine, chalk it up to analytics. But what if they don’t? I personally witnessed Bellinger destroy lefties when he was at Rancho Cucamonga. Why? Because he was in the line-up (almost) every day.
I sincerely appreciate you passion and you excellent analysis. Don’t be a stranger around these parts.
First off I sincerely apologize for the spelling. I was writing from my phone and reviewing it right now, lolol. Pretty rough. But to your point, yes, I definitely agree with your sentiment to improve the application of Analytics. Unfortunately with Analytics, it’s more of a long game strategy. In the long run, match ups and RHP vs LHB and vice versa, (Splits), will play out successfully. Similar to BlackJack. In the long run, counting cards or applying a strategy will pay off. The problem with that is the possibly variance withing a short sample size. = Post Season. Over 10,000 + hands, this strategy may be the most effective. But over 15 hands, you might lose every hand based on such a short sample size. So yes, I agree with you. Finding the optimal analytical strategy is key, but I feel that is obviously the fleeting unicorn for the Sabermetric community at the moment. Obviously the answer would be to add more quality players which I feel we will do. But I also feel the Red Sox were just a better team this year. Not over the top better, but marginally I believe they were just better at most facets of the game. I feel that pitching RYU away from Dodger Stadium both in Milwaukee and Boston was the wrong call. His performance during the season shows that the difference between him away and at home is the equivalent of having Jose Quintana start for you versus Jacob DeGrom. His splits are that drastic. You can see what he did at home versus the Braves 7 IP 4H 0R 0BB 8Ks. vs 3 starts away. But granted he actually pitched great against Red Sox and inherited a few runs thanks to Madson, but I feel from a Sabermetric Standpoint, you would be best starting him at home and Letting Dick Mountain take care of the away games.
Lastly I do see your point about riding the hot hand. And I did not mean to come across as if I you were bashing Analytics, that was not my intention. I feel it was more of a vent against some reactionary posts on social media following the Dodgers loss. I apologize about that. But yes, I feel that riding the hot hand is a double edged sword. Some you win, some you lose. Long run, I believe that’s what the analytics are there for. And again, all is the frustration, warranted I believe, is because we ended up losing the Series. I’m sure people would sit better if we had come away with at least 1 Championship the last 2 years.
Brandon Morrow was not a closer with the Dodgers, nor has he ever been an All-Star. Our guys do have an All-Star closer, Kenley Jansen, therefore they won’t pay somebody else closer’s pay. No other team would either. I’d like to have seen BMo stay myownself, but the Cubs hired him to be a closer.
Tony Watson was an All-Star once, in 2014 with Pittsburgh.
My opinion on analytics mirrors Ron’s. I would add one more example.
Prior to this year Kike was used as a platoon player against LHP. This year he convinced them to let him face RHP. The result: RHP, .252/.338/.495/.833. LHP, .260/.335/.445/.780.
I’ve always believed managers create their own problems by platooning without giving the player a chance to show what he can do.
I agree, Morrow was never an Closer with the Dodgers nor was he an All Star, which I had thought he was this year. My point was more about the quality. He definitely pitched at an All Star Closer level this year and would have been an All Star this year if not for getting injured. So we would have had an All-Star performance level pitcher pitching for us. And Jansen has been an All Star Closer for the Dodger’s for years. That didn’t stop the Dodgers FO from still trying to pick up Chapman an add Top Level Talent to the Club. His salary was I believe close to twice as much at that time as Morrow’s Current deal which is averages out to 10 Mil a season. So the Dodger’s have shown that they are willing to add another Closer type talent along with Closer type salary to a team that already has an All Star Closer, as you mentioned, Kenley Jansen. The other team that has done this is the Yankees as they paid David Robertson Closer money to be a quality pitcher in their bullpen. And yes, maybe Tony Watson was an All-Star once, in 2014. But are you saying you wouldn’t want his 2.59 ERA over close to 80 innings this season in our bullpen for 3.25 a year?.. He actually had a 2.45 FIP, so he actually performed better than his ERA. Would the talent like that have helped the Dodgers this World Series where our 3 initially Loses could be chalked up to the Bullpen? Watson for Wood, and Morrow type talent for Madson? I feel slight upgrades like that are the difference, because I feel maybe we split the first 2 games with the Red Sox if we had more of a lock down bullpen. Plus we may not have lost game 4. So we are up 3-1 and much of the frustration is forgotten. That would be the equivalent of adding 13 million to the payroll this offseason which I whole-heartedly believe that they will. That could have been the Championship this year.
As far as Kike, I don’t believe he convinced the FO to put him in. I think he got more at-bats against Lefties due to the rash of injuries, (Seager, Turner) this year and our overall ineffectiveness to hit from the 2B position. Granted, he did have a very nice season against Righties this year. Looking at his stats though, he had similar number of at bats against RHP as he did LHP last year as well. 165 PA against RHP vs 177 PA against LHP. The results, not as nice. .179/.244/.255 .499 OPS. vs as opposed to .267/.367/.579 .946 OPS against LHP. So it made sense to platoon Kike, especially considering he received a majority of at bats at SS. I don’t believe he was or should have taken away at bats from Seager, as I do not believe he will be doing this year either. Interestingly enough, Seager actually has reverse splits where he hits LHP drastically better than RHP. RHP .281/.369./.457 Ops .826. LHP .325/.389/.527 OPS .916.
But great find with Kike’s information. I feel he and Taylor may be our best options for 2B and as you mentioned, his splits would warrant him playing against both.
Also, not sure if you guys are into WAR. But currently as it stands, the Dodgers are the team with the highest WAR as of now in the Majors, and we haven’t even improved or added anyone to our team yet. Being in a position like this is some of the results of Analytic and successful Front Offices. The source was Fangraphs.
It would of been better if Fahad had taken andy boy friedman and stanley “captain BS” kasten, who it might be reminded declared 4 years ago he would end TV blackout ! sound of crickets. Stanley is a BS artist nothing more, 1 world series win in all those Atlanta years ! Analytics have a place but not as end all be all, sometimes in baseball you have to play a hunch. Dodger Hitters need to learn that when count reaches two strikes it’s time to choke up a little, cut swing way down and make contact.