© Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
The MLB offseason is months from getting underway, but after firing general manger Bobby Evans, who’d been with the team for 25 years, including his last four in the role of general manager, it’s clear the Giants are already in offseason mode.
Andrew Baggarly, the Giants beat reporter for The Athletic, joined Murph and Mac to discuss the Giants’ offseason plans and how quickly the organization, and the team’s CEO Larry Baer in particular, will look to replace Evans, and with whom.
“They’re going to have somebody new that’s going to report directly to Larry Baer,” Baggarly said. “Right now, the only clue is that it’s a next-gen GM, so I assume it’s maybe going to be somebody who’s on the younger side.”
What’s unique about the situation is that Baggarly said the Giants will likely not make a one-for-one replacement hire due to the way MLB front offices generally disallow GM interviews.
“The fact that it’s somebody who’s going to report to Larry Baer means that they’re not hiring just a GM,” Baggarly said. “I don’t know what they’re going to title this job but it could be an executive vice president job to where they would then have the ability to seek permission to talk to more people. Because a lot times, teams will not grant permission from a GM to look at another GM position. But generally, around baseball, if it’s a promotion somewhere, then teams will grant permission.”
By potentially hiring for a position above the level of GM, Baggarly said it may be easier for the Giants to interview big-name candidates.
“I think that the way they’re structuring this will allow them to consider… people who are recognizable names in this industry,” Baggarly said. “And I do think that’s going to be something that’s important too. Because we know marketing is big with the Giants organization. I think they are going to try to bring in somebody that the casual baseball fan probably already knows about.”
As far as timeline goes, Baggarly said the search will take time, but that the Giants know it will be “advantageous” to have a replacement in before the World Series begins.
“The GM meetings, they’re November 6th, I think they start,” Baggarly said. “I have to believe the Giants are going to want to have somebody in place by that time. And I would think they would want to have somebody in place at least a week before that time because you’re going to want to have organizational meetings, you’re going to want to familiarize yourself with all your staff and the new players and everything.”
The firing of Evans is a clear indication that the Giants are trying to revamp and reinvigorate their front office. New approaches, new scouting and a new way of evaluating trades will all likely be considered.
Baggarly said he spoke to Evans “at length” the day after it was revealed he had been fired. He said those changes are consistent with the ones Evans had been working on.
“The last couple years as GM, (Evans) had to let a lot of people go on a major league coaching staff as they’ve sort of revamped their player development system, they’ve put in a new farm director,” Baggarly said. “There have been a lot of people who’ve been there a long time who basically got shuffled off or put in special assistant roles or were kind of marginalized or aren’t there anymore at all. Basically, (Evans) says this is Larry Baer looking at baseball operations and saying continuity is a strength until the day it’s not. Things maybe have gotten a little stale and we need some fresh perspective and fresh leadership at the top of baseball ops and part of that fresh perspective is seeing some of these players with different eyes that you’re maybe a little less tethered to.”
What could that mean in a practical sense? Players like Madison Bumgarner and Brandon Belt have been examined as the few potential trade options with genuine market value, but there has of yet been no clear indication either player was on the trade block this season. Baggarly suggested that potential GM candidates should ask Baer whether those types of players are tradable.
“I think that the number one question that someone who walks in to interview with Larry Baer should ask of management, should ask of ownership is what if I come to you and I say, ‘Look, I really believe that the number one thing we need to do that can turn this thing around quickly is to trade Madison Bumgarner. What would you say to that? Would I have the flexibility to do that?’ Because ownership is always going to be able to have veto power over big moves,” Baggarly said. “So, I think how Larry would answer that question could be very interesting.”
It’s clear the Giants’ front office intends to implement wholesale changes. While they’d like to implement those changes as quickly as possible, the search will likely be long and exhaustive, Baggarly said.
“It does take a lot of time… and I do think they’re going to bring in a very diverse pool, I think they’re going to bring in a very large pool,” Baggarly said. “I don’t think they’re going to interview two people, three people and say, ‘OK, this is the best of the lot.’”
To hear Baggarly’s full interview with Murph and Mac, which includes a discussion about Bryce Harper’s impending free agency, click the link below.