Giants Hire Former Cubs AGM Scott Harris as GM
As reported by multiple outlets, the Giants have named former Cubs assistant general manager Scott Harris as their next general manager. Some had pegged Harris as a potential successor to Theo Epstein, assuming that Jed Hoyer would also also move on after 10 years with the Cubs.
The San Francisco Giants have hired Scott Harris as general manager, sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 10, 2019
Harris was hired by Epstein as the Cubs’ Director of Baseball Operations in 2012, when he was just 25 years old. The Cubs promoted Harris to assistant GM just before the 2018 season, a role that he continued to hold before taking the Giants job. He will work underneath Farhan Zaidi, the Giants‘ president of baseball operations, in a hierarchy similar to the one in Chicago
Scott Harris has long been seen as a future GM. He was an integral part of the Chicago Cubs’ rise and comes with the highest recommendations from Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer. Skills-wise, he should be an excellent complement to Giants president of baseball ops Farhan Zaidi.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 10, 2019
This isn’t the first time the Giants have had interest in a member of the Cubs’ front office, as they’d looked at Jason McLeod last offseason. Zaidi decided not to hire a GM, however, and McLeod was reassigned from VP of scouting and development to SVP of player personnel as part of an ongoing organizational overhaul. In the meantime, Harris was establishing himself as a rising star in the industry.
A Bay Area native, Harris now gets to return home to help rebuild a once dominant Giants organization that has grown stale over the past few seasons.
“[Harris] is a really bright and a really hard worker,” Epstein told The Athletic. “He has a strong, well-rounded executive background. But you wouldn’t know by hanging around him. He’s not one of these guys telling you where he got his degree, that he went to business school, that he worked in the commissioner’s office, that he knows the rules better than you.”
Losing Harris is a clear hit to the Cubs’ operation, and filling his role will be part of a massive front office makeover this offseason.
