Outsiders often view Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi as a "clinical, camera-shy cog" in the team's front office, but his colleagues see him as a "wisecracking, idea-spewing agent of innovation," according to a profile by Andy McCullough of the L.A. TIMES. Zaidi "forsook a lucrative career in business and risked disappointing his family" for a career in sports. During a decade in the A’s front office, he "matured from a book-taught quant into a well-rounded executive." He developed a "loyalty so fierce he nearly turned down the offer" from the Dodgers. As the top lieutenant to Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman, he "serves as a font of creativity." Friedman said, "There are a lot of instances of him bringing something up that in the moment I think is crazy. And as it resonates more, I oftentimes will come around to the crazy thought." Zaidi also "laughs off the notion that his inexperience on the field would merit insecurity." Zaidi: "The notion that people see where I went to school and see that I didn’t play and draw conclusions like that -- what are you going to do about it?" Zaidi in his 10th year with the A's had risen to Assistant GM, third in the power structure behind Exec VP/Baseball Operations Billy Beane and GM David Forst. The team had "defied its low payroll to reach the playoffs in three consecutive seasons with a roster bearing Zaidi’s fingerprints." In the process, Zaidi "became one of the game’s most coveted minds -- and one of the most untouchable." When it came time to decide on taking the Dodgers position, he "spent a fortnight mulling his decision." The "intellectual challenge intrigued him" (L.A. TIMES, 3/31).
