Speaking of messy stuff, the Giants may be looking down the road at even bigger changes. Larry Baer has stepped aside, at this point described as "personal time away from the Giants," but there are rumblings he'll eventually have to be replaced. He doesn't own the team, but he is the public face of the ownership group, and domestic ugliness isn't just bad, it's bad for business.
“Mr. Baer has acknowledged that his behavior was unacceptable, apologized to the organization and is committed to taking steps to make sure that this never happens again. He has also requested, and the Board has accepted, his request to take personal time away from the Giants beginning today. The Board has asked the Giants executive team to manage the day to day operations of the Club during this period, reporting directly to the Board.
“As leaders in the community, we at the Giants hold ourselves to the highest standards and those standards will guide how we consider this matter moving forward.”
I took this from Baggs' story on The Athletic (paywall) although the Giants website has it as well. That sounds a lot like the first step in a dismissal, but I don't really know. We'll see how it plays out.
In the meantime they are still playing baseball. I've been avoiding a post about the pitching staff because there are too many damn arms and I keep feeling like some of the veterans (bullpen, especially) will be traded before the final roster shakeout. Perhaps with the CEO on the outs some of the potential transactions will be delayed or shelved. Again, I don't know. Larry Baer made a stinkin' mess for himself and the organization, we'll see how the team copes. As for Mr. Baer, he got caught acting like an asshole, his task is something much bigger, I should think.
--M.C.
5 comments:
On the lighter side, did you know that there is doping in bridge? Here's guy caught with banned substances in his body, including testosterone! Who knew bridge players needed that kind of boost?
@Ron
I don't know if you subscribe to The Athletic (you can get a freebie and/or very cheap trial) but there is an article by Grant Brisbee re the Giants track record (not good) on international free agency:
https://theathletic.com/851423/2019/03/05/reyes-moronta-might-be-the-best-homegrown-international-pitcher-for-the-giants-since-juan-marichal/
He focuses on homegrown talent, that is, he ignores international players signed later as free agents or acquired via trade. I've always thought the Giants did pretty well there, what with Santiago Casilla, Gregor Blanco, Marco Scutaro, Yusmeiro Petit, Johnny Cueto and others that are in or have been orange-and-black. Pablo Sandoval is the one "homegrown" player who has made a big impact on the team, but the other teenagers signed from DR or Venezuela or wherever have not made the grade.
(I'm glad the article highlights Reyes Moronta, he was fun to watch last year.)
Of course this is not the same as "real, ready-for-prime-time players" that you mentioned. I assume you mean guys who are already playing foreign professional ball that can seamlessly switch to MLB. I have to wonder how many of those guys are out there now. There can't be that many Yoenis Cespedes or Yu Darvish types. The Giants did try out that Korean SS, Hwang, and that didn't work out.
Cameron Maybin got a DUI. I always wondered why these guys, who have a lot of money by comparison to us regular folks, don't hire a driver!?! Anyway, he came out with an appropriately remorseful statement.
In other news, the Giants are hitting a lot of spring homers but the pitching has been suspect. Good thing they've got a few more weeks! The Opener is Thursday the 28th in SD.
Giants have been horrible in IFA, and hopefully Zaidi is the final key in figuring out that puzzle, because they have been pretty good at acquiring players via other means.
Plus, with Luciano, Canario, Pomares, and Toribio (and Genoves, I still like him), I think their bad streak with position players will end with one of them making the majors in a good way.
But a lot of that seems to be luck. When we signed AnVil, BA published a Top 10 contracts signed with IFA, and the only one to do anything on the list was Miguel Cabrera, the rest were expensive failures. And that guy that ended up cutting off his hand and having it reattached, seemed like he was going to be a good prospect, the one to break the streak.
It is hard to find talent, and hard to develop it no matter whether it is the draft, free agency, trades, etc. Teams go through cycles where their talent acquisition schemes work, and then they stop working and you have to shake up the organization and bring in new people and new ideas. Not to mention the competitive landscape is always changing. And developing the talent you do have, finding the right environment to nurture a player, be it coaching, proper placement, analytics, whatever, is also very challenging.
The Giants are, it seems, a franchise in need of some fresh infusion of capital in certain areas as well as new people from outside (like FZ) to re-invigorate the entire process. I'm excited, actually. These last two years have really stunk and it is possible they'll stink this year, too (I think they'll be better than anticipated), but that's how it goes sometimes. Bigger changes (new manager, for example) are coming what with Baer's uncertain future, plus FZ will have to build a support staff (GM, asst GM, etc) with his people. I hope that ownership is patient and gives him the money and moral support to do his thing. He seems like the right guy to lead the franchise with his background with the small-market Beane-led A's and the big-market Friedman-led Dodgers.
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