For the past handful of seasons, the Los Angeles Dodgers have been one of the best-run franchises in all of baseball.
When a team is in a stretch of success, other teams around the league try to replicate that blueprint, and one of those methods involves hiring people who’ve participated in that success.
The San Francisco Giants have won three World Series championships this decade, but have missed the playoffs for two consecutive years.
They’re in somewhat of a limbo right now, not fully committed to a rebuild while hoping that their championship core still has a few more great seasons in them despite that recent playoff absence.
The Giants made the decision to fire general manager Bobby Evans this past September after he had served in the role dating back to 2015.
The Giants didn’t win any of their championships with Evans in the general manager position, but he had been their vice president of baseball operations beginning in 2009 and their director of player personnel before that.
Evans certainly deserves credit for helping build those championship squads, but in four years since that last championship and Evans being promoted to general manager, the Giants have only had one playoff appearance.
To replace Evans, the Giants looked to their arch rival, agreeing to hire former Dodgers general manager Farhan Zahidi for that same role.
The Dodgers are choosing to take their time in finding a replacement for Zahidi, though, and the position is not expected to be filled this offseason.
Pedro Moura of The Athletic was one of the first to report that Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said that a hiring search for a new general manager will not take place this offseason.
Friedman is the top decision maker within the Dodgers front office structure, and he has a very capable staff of baseball minds working underneath him.
Given the talented people working with Friedman, the general manager role remaining open for a longer period of time shouldn’t really make a huge impact on the state of the franchise.
When the time does come for the Dodgers to initiate a hiring process for the role, they’re not going to have troubling attracting some of the best executives.
The Dodgers have made two consecutive World Series appearances and arguably have one of the most talented rosters in baseball.
They’re in great position with this core of players to compete for NL West titles for at least the next handful of seasons, which is a great draw for a new general manager.
The Dodgers have what many around the league consider to be a top-ten farm system as well, so there are certainly some intriguing reinforcements on the horizon.
They also have a huge payroll at their disposal, so not only are they always in a good position to retain their own players, but also attract premier free agents.
The Dodgers are an elite team right now, have the farm system to suggest they’ll remain that way for a while, and have the economic resources to add great pieces to the club.
It’s certainly one of the most attractive general manager jobs in baseball, so when Friedman begins actively looking for a new general manager, he’s not going to have a problem filling that role with a great candidate.
