Andrew Baggarly published a great story about Brian Sabean’s 1996 rookie year as the Giants’ general manager (The Athletic subscription required) which focuses on everything that needed to be done to turn around a moribund franchise that was trying to build a new stadium. Their directive was to win, and the only way that could be done was by dramatically remaking the roster.
Farhan Zaidi has no such edict this year, and he said at his introductory presser that he’s most interested in building a roster that can compete for as long as possible.