© John Hefti | 2017 Apr 10
After a near four-month absence, June 2 marks the official end of Larry Baer’s suspension from the San Francisco Giants. The President and CEO was suspended after a video emerged of him getting into a public physical altercation with his wife.
Rob Dean, the Giants executive who has stepped into Bear’s role as the franchise’s “control person,” stopped by the Murph & Mac show on Tuesday to discuss Baer’s imminent return to the Giants and what his role and responsibilities will look like in the immediate future.
“It’s a little bit different, I mean, Larry wore all those hats a year ago as the control person, the president, and CEO,” Dean said. “I was a member of the board and will continue to be a member of the board, Larry will continue to be a member of the board, and as in the last really nine years he and I will represent the club at the Major League Baseball ownership meeting.”
Dean continued to elaborate on the chain of command and new working dynamic with Baer.
“I wouldn’t say he answers to me, I mean he’s always answered to the board and the ownership group and I guess my title would suggest that I’m a little more elevated there but the reality is it’s just gonna be more consistent communication between the ownership group and the executive team,” Dean said. “So rather than quarterly meetings I’ll be here in the office once a week and Larry and I will communicate on a more regular basis but ultimately everyone answers to the ownership group as a whole.”
Those two will not be the only executives making major decisions for the team though, as Frahan Zaidi is the President of Baseball Operations. Dean outlined what the internal discussions would look like in the event of a major trade later in the interview.
“I think initially he and I would talk about it and then we determine at what level to bring in, whether it’s a board discussion, whether we bring in Larry to discuss about it, whether we bring in the executive team to talk about it,” Dean continued. “But really, I think we all are reliant on Farhan to do what he does best and I want Farhan making baseball decisions, not me.”
While Farhan is in charge of baseball operations, Dean did discuss how the team will work together to make the best decisions possible as a unit.
Dean said: “I think from a player evaluation and player development standpoint we’re really gonna rely on him and his team, and then when it comes to budgetary items and how those decisions fit into the budget then it elevates to the board level and to ownership level.”
Listen to the full interview with Rob Dean below. To hear him discuss the return of Larry Baer and the new dynamics of the San Francisco Giants organization, start from 4:10.