© Brett Davis | 2015 Aug 4
New Giants VP of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi is in the process of making the first addition to his staff. The organization is finalizing a deal with former Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi to join the Giants in a senior advisor role, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports.
Sources: Former Blue Jays GM and Mets special assistant J.P. Ricciardi is finalizing a deal to join the San Francisco Giants in a senior advisor role. Good landing spot for him and good way for Farhan Zaidi to start building out his front office.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 3, 2018
Ricciardi, 59, served as the Blue Jays GM from 2001-2009. Toronto posted winning records in four of those seasons, but never made the postseason during that time. Back-to-back fourth place finishes in the AL East ultimately led to his firing in 2009. Ricciardi was a polarizing figure during his tenure in Toronto. One of his first acts of business was shifting the front office towards a more analytics-driven approach, which included firing then-manager Buck Martinez shortly after taking over.
Since his dismissal from the Blue Jays, Ricciardi had been working as a special assistant for the New York Mets until last month. A former minor-leaguer in the Mets’ farm system, Ricciardi received his first front office job from the Oakland A’s, and worked alongside former teammate Billy Beane from 1998-2001.