Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports
When the Giants faced the media Tuesday for the end-of-season news conference, Farhan Zaidi was the lone face of the franchise to answer questions about the season that just ended and the seasons ahead.
If Larry Baer’s voice wasn’t heard, his words are.
The Giants’ team president and CEO, who has taken a bit of a backseat since the public altercation with his wife that resulted in a suspension through July 1, addressed fans in a letter Thursday that wrapped up the season with hope and a belief in Zaidi, their president of baseball operations.
From the desk of Larry Baer. pic.twitter.com/IZ7ogXRr1u
— #ThankYouBoch (@SFGiants) October 3, 2019
Baer praised outgoing manager Bruce Bochy and the impressive festivities around his Sunday finale, saluting the “loyalty, trust, resilience, hard work” of Bochy that presided over 13 seasons — and three World Series titles — in San Francisco. He then turned his attention to the future, including citing youngsters by name as potential future building blocks.
“[W]e saw the stirrings of our next chapter in Mike Yastrzemski, Mauricio Dubon, Logan Webb, Tyler Rogers, Tyler Beede and Dereck Rodriguez,” wrote Baer, who also raved about the constant maneuvers of Zaidi, who “showed an extraordinary ability to improve the roster almost every day, making one smart move at a time.”
He also confirmed that the bullpen mounds would be moving off the field and behind the outfield walls to make “foul territory safer for players — and also create an entertaining fan experience in part of the bleacher area.”
The takeaway appears to be a belief in Zaidi and the future after a 77-85 season.