Giants hire Scott Harris as general manager

After working as the lone head of the Giants’ baseball operations department for just over a year, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has finally found another executive to serve as his second-in-command. The Giants announced Sunday that they have hired Cubs assistant GM Scott Harris as their new general manager — a role that will leave him below Zaidi on the organizational totem pole, but still as an organizational figurehead who has a tremendous amount of responsibility. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported the news shortly before the team made the announcement:

Harris, a Bay Area native, was one of two assistant general managers in a baseball operations department led by president Theo Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer. At 32 years old, he surpasses Milwaukee’s David Stearns as the youngest individual with the title of general manager in Major League Baseball.

While Zaidi already had a strong network of advisors in his front office, with former MLB general managers J.P. Ricciardi and Brian Sabean among those he huddled with on organizational decisions, Harris will be able to take some of the leadership responsibilities off his plate and serve as another official voice for the organization, much like Zaidi did while working alongside Andrew Friedman in Los Angeles.

The timing of this move may give Harris just enough time to have an official say in who the Giants’ next manager should be. The San Francisco Chronicle’s John Shea reported early in the week that the team had pared down their search to three finalists: Astros bench coach Joe Espada, former Phillies manager Gabe Kapler, and Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro. MLB.com’s Sarah Langs reported Thursday that the Giants were focused on Espada “above all other candidates” for the opening, though the Chronicle’s Henry Schulman reported Saturday that the team was still in the process of making a decision.