If Farhan Zaidi could go back in time, there is one thing he would do differently as Giants president of baseball operations.
San Francisco fired Zaidi on Sept. 30 after six seasons with the organization, and in speaking publicly for the first time on "Foul Territory," the former Giants executive was asked what, in hindsight, he would have changed.
"One of the things I think you always look back on in these situations is just staying the course," Zaidi told A.J. Pierzynski, Erik Kratz and Scott Braun. "It's such a competitive and even cutthroat industry now that you may have certain philosophies, and as time goes on you're not getting results, whether it's from a strategy or whether it's from a player, you're just trying to figure out when the right time is to pull the trigger on making a move.
"But when I look back, I think there were times where it might have made more sense to stay the course on certain things. Because baseball's a grind, it's a long season, we know things even out. And sometimes it's hard to take your finger off the trigger and just let things play out. But that's probably one of my biggest lessons."
Zaidi didn't provide specific examples of the organization failing to "stay the course," but the team's underwhelming performance on the field in recent seasons and the failure to land a number of top free agents certainly could have played a role in decisions that he now might regret.
After his Giants tenure ended in the fall, Zaidi confirmed on "Foul Territory" that he since has spoken with the Los Angeles Dodgers about a potential return to the organization in some capacity, as well as other teams about possible front-office roles.
Whatever the future holds for Zaidi, he's certain to benefit from the lessons he learned with the Giants.
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