If the decision was left in the hands of Dave Righetti, Giants’ general manager Bobby Evans indicated the franchise’s longtime pitching coach would have remained in his role for the 2018 season.
But on Tuesday morning, Evans appeared with Murph & Mac and told KNBR listeners that Righetti’s reassignment to a new role as a special assistant to the general manager was a decision that Evans determined was best for San Francisco’s long-term future.
“Ultimately this was my decision, based on my best work with my staff here and counsel with those in the front office as well as trying to understand really what I felt like was going to be a direction for us that was going to be strategic and help us in every way possible to get stronger,” Evans said on Tuesday. “I think it’s particularly hard with Rags (Righetti) because he’s really extremely well respected and appreciated here and also trying to understand what’s the best going forward for him and for us and I think in some ways, it’s a little bit selfish on my part because I get a chance to hopefully work with him a lot more closely and bring him to GM meetings and bring him into decisions that otherwise as the pitching coach that he might speak to, but otherwise, it’s harder to ask him things we have to deal with on the front office side when you’re the pitching coach.”
Evans said that Righetti did not approach him about a possible reassignment when the Giants’ general manager began consulting with the team’s coaches in early September, but after several discussions, Righetti will shift roles and for the first time in 18 years, San Francisco will have a new pitching coach.
“His heartbeat is to be a pitching coach, he didn’t ask for anything,” Evans said. “He is passionate about the work he does and the organization and I don’t know how long Rags would have, I don’t know how long anybody in uniform can do it. There’s obviously limitations but I think his heartbeat is in uniform.”
Though Giants’ fans have expressed frustration about Righetti’s reassignment, particularly because he’s had such a sustained run of success guiding homegrown talents like Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum and Madison Bumgarner, Evans said he feels it’s important for Righetti to have input on who the Giants ultimately choose to be his successor.
Evans said Righetti has already begun suggesting names, and that the Giants’ new pitching coach will work with Righetti in the coming years.
“Oh yeah, we’ve already talked about that,” Evans said. “I think that there’s really an effort to get his input because ultimately it’s someone that we want him to be able to work with and have a relationship with. I think that again, there’s a blank canvas here in terms of what the special assistant role looks like, but I really want to gravitate it toward things that will interest him and excite him moving forward.”
To listen to Evans’ full interview with Murph and Mac, click the podcast link below. To hear Evans’ comments on the search for a new pitching coach, skip ahead to the 9:15 mark.