The biggest storyline surrounding the San Francisco Giants heading into the offseason is whether or not they will keep Farhan Zaidi after missing the playoffs again. Zaidi has spoken about it, but recently a former coworker of his came to his defense. On a local Bay Area radio show, Oakland Athletics executive, Billy Beane, went to bat for Zaidi.

Zaidi worked under Beane from 2011 until 2014, where the Giants President of Baseball Operations worked his way up to assistant general manager before he left for a job with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Oakland legend had nothing but nice things to say about Zaidi and his time working with him.

“I’m obviously a little biased. I adore Farhan; he’s brilliant … there’s no funnier, warmer, more enjoyable person to be around, and so in that sense — and listen, I’ve worked with this guy. This guy is really, really smart, very smart. He cares so much. … When Farhan left [the A’s] to [work with] the [Los Angeles] Dodgers, I think my kids cried. I mean, that’s how much they adored [him]. My wife felt the same way,” he said while on the ‘Murph & Markus’ show on KNBR.

While in college, Zaidi read the book ‘Moneyball’ and was so inspired that he applied to work for the A’s, and then worked himself up from there. He was Beane’s right hand man during his time there and Beane thinks that he wouldn’t be jobless for long should he be fired.

“Here’s what I would say: If that man’s a free agent [this offseason], there will be no shortage of people who would love to have him with them. You’re asking the wrong person … because I’ve been with this guy. He’s brilliant. He’s a wonderful human being, and so am I biased? Maybe. But also, objectively, I’ve seen this guy work,” he continued.

When the Giants nabbed Zaidi from the Dodgers, it was considered a great hire. Even a couple years in, when San Francisco won 107 games, he was praised. However, that has been in for his time with the Giants.

There are things have led to where Zaidi is at, such as the team not playing their youngsters, that has caused some of the frustration.

All that being said, his track record will almost guarantee that he gets another front office job quickly, as Beane said. Now, it’s time for the San Francisco brass to make a decision.