SF Giants officially announce Zack Minasian as new general manager

At his introductory press conference, Buster Posey, the Giants’ new president of baseball operations, said he wanted to hire a general manager with a scouting background. Following a month-long search, Posey landed on a candidate with whom he and the organization were already familiar.

The Giants officially announced on Friday afternoon that Zack Minasian will become the team’s 11th general manager since moving to San Francisco, elevated from his previous role as the team’s vice president of pro scouting.

“We are excited for Zack to take on this new role,” Posey said in a statement. “Zack has brought a wealth of knowledge and a lot of experience to the organization in his six years here. He’s also a thorough talent evaluator, but beyond that, he’s a terrific person our community will be proud of. We believe that in this new role he will immediately make us a better as a team and organization and I look forward to working alongside him.”

Minasian, 41, will replace Pete Putila, who will be moving into a different role in the organization. Prior to the move, Putila served as the team’s general manager for the last two seasons under former president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, who was let go in late September.

Minasian won’t have much time to relish the new role before getting to work. Free agents are eligible to sign with new teams five days after the World Series, which ended on Wednesday night as the Dodgers beat the Yankees in five games. Additionally, the GM Meetings are next week (Nov. 5-7) and the Winter Meetings (Dec. 9-12) are looming.

“I’m extremely thankful to Buster and to the Giants organization for this incredible opportunity to help lead our baseball operations department in this new role,” Minasian said in a statement. “There is so much to appreciate about this organization – an existing nucleus of talent on both the Major League roster and throughout the minor league system, a passionate fan base, an incredible alumni group, and the organization’s commitment to the community. I look forward to collaborating alongside Buster, Bob Melvin and the coaching staff, and our entire baseball operations department to begin work on bringing a World Series championship back to San Francisco.”

Minasian is a true baseball lifer. Beginning at five-years-old, Minasian worked with his father, Zack Sr., a longtime clubhouse manager for the Texas Rangers from 1988 to 2009, as a bat boy and clubhouse attendant.

One of Minasian’s brothers, Perry, is currently the general manager for the Los Angeles Angels. Zack and Perry become the first siblings to simultaneously serve as general managers in major-league history. Along with Perry, Zack’s brother, Calvin, is the clubhouse manager for the Atlanta Braves. He is also the godson to the late Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda and his wife, Jo.

Minasian joined the Giants in 2019 following 14 seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers, his most recent role being the team’s special advisor of baseball operations. He also served as the team’s director of professional scouting, manager of minor league scouting, personnel/coordinator of pro scouting and baseball operations assistant. Upon joining the organization, Minasian expressed the importance of in-person scouting opposed to simply relying on data.

“With as much data that’s available to front offices, there are some front offices that just feel more comfortable relying on the data and a scout rather than just the scout, which to each their own,” Minasian told this news organization. “I kind of look at this as a buffet. I want to be able to pick and choose what information I feel is most important.”