San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Astros’ recent snafu offers a cautionary tale as Zaidi looks to hire manager, GM
In his first season running the Giants, Farhan Zaidi made no changes with the coaching staff and never hired a general manager.
He devoted much of his time to trying to find players who could help the organization in the present and especially the future. The Giants had another losing record, but their farm system enjoyed a splendid uptick. Now things get heavy. If Zaidi spent any time deferring to some of the folks he inherited, he’ll be changing course in 2020. His fingerprints will be found in more places throughout the system, mostly because of two people he’s soon expected to hire.
More than anything in his first year, Zaidi will be defined by the manager and general manager he’ll pick to help usher in the next era, and in these times and in this culture, far more due diligence is required to get it right.
In the wake of the fallout from Brandon Taubman’s actions and firing, baseball is reminded to look itself in the mirror and conduct business comprehensively on all levels, from how people are treated, to how statements are written, to how leadership positions are filled.
The Astros fired Taubman on Thursday, five days after their assistant general manager targeted a group of female reporters in the clubhouse, one wearing a bracelet supporting domestic violence awareness, and profanely shouted how elated he was the Astros had acquired Roberto Osuna. The closer served a 75game suspension after he allegedly assaulted the mother of their 3yearold child.
The Astros butchered the aftermath in every conceivable way, at first refusing to comment to the Sports Illustrated reporter who presented the facts, then releasing backtobacktoback statements, none of which would have cut it in a PR 101 class, then firing Taubman but never showing remorse for trying to discredit the SI reporter.
The sixday spectacle included shameful statements, slimy coverups and feeble apologies that left a cloud over baseball’s best team. The Astros dropped the first two games of the World Series in their own ballpark, and the mess raised questions about the culture of the front office, led by owner and chairman Jim Crane and general manager Jeff Luhnow.
Back to the Giants. They’re one of four teams without a manager after vacancies were filled by the Angels (Joe Maddon), Cubs (David Ross), Phillies (Joe Girardi) and Padres (Jayce Tingler). The Mets, Pirates and Royals still need managers.
The new manager, far more than Bruce Bochy, will be part of a collaborative effort in which he’ll make ingame moves based on decisionmaking before the first pitch. One example is Dave Roberts, who was hired by Zaidi and Co. in L.A. before the 2016 season and knew the parameters when accepting the job. Roberts is a highcharacter guy, by all accounts, and there isn’t a fear he’d send an inappropriate tweet or tactlessly go off on anyone in Taubman fashion.
It should be noted that the Dodgers, on Zaidi’s watch, didn’t pursue Osuna at the 2018 trade deadline. The Astros acquired him while he was serving the final days of his suspension for violating the league’s domestic violence policy.
Also, the Dodgers were close to finalizing a deal for Aroldis Chapman at the 2015 winter meetings, but they backed off when domestic violence allegations surfaced. Instead, the Yankees dealt for him.
The Giants’ GM duties aren’t exactly known, but if they’re anything like Zaidi’s were with the Dodgers, they’re significant. Whether he hires Billy Owens or J.P. Ricciardi or Jeremy Shelley, all of whom are established and respected, or someone else, Zaidi’s top lieutenant figures to be in the public eye — along, of course, with the new manager.
Zaidi said the GM’s specific duties would be determined by the strengths of the person hired. In the not too distant past, when Brian Sabean was the GM, he oversaw baseball operations. An additional layer was created when Sabean became executive VP of baseball ops and Bobby Evans became GM.
This has been the norm throughout the game, a way for teams to keep their top executives, by promoting their assistant GM to GM. Yet, he’s still second in command to the guy heading baseball operations.
In the case of Owens, a longtime cherished A’s executive, he could be swayed across the bay because he’s currently an assistant GM. There’s no part of baseball operations he couldn’t proficiently master, and he’s especially adept in player development and scouting and finding undertheradar players.
Ricciardi joined the Giants before the 2019 season in an advisory role and has extensive experience as the Blue Jays’ GM. He also served as an assistant in Oakland under Sandy Alderson and Billy Beane and a Mets assistant under Alderson. The question is whether he’d want the gig.
Shelley has been with the Giants since 1994 and is a VP and assistant GM who has smoothly transitioned throughout his career, including under Zaidi, while contributing on many fronts throughout the system, including the daytoday operations.
The candidates extend far beyond the Bay Area, and, as with the manager’s hiring, it’ll be Zaidi’s call.
The Giants have given him latitude to do the right thing. These days, it’s not just about which college a candidate attended, how savvy he is with analytics or whether he’s the smartest in the room. Character matters, too, perhaps now more than ever.
Around the majors
Yes, National League baseball has more strategy. Managers have a bigger say. They’re scrutinized more because there’s more decisionmaking. Such is the case with the World Series in Washington for Games 3, 4 and 5. AJ Hinch clearly outmanaged Davey Martinez on Friday, the first game in the Series without a designated hitter. The Nationals had the possible tying run at third base and one out in the fourth inning, and Martinez let his starter, Anibal Sanchez, hit instead of pinchhitting Howie Kendrick. The Nationals didn’t score and lost the game 41. Sanchez got just four more outs and gave up two more runs. Fans of the DH would tell you it’s boring watching Sanchez strike out, but it goes well beyond the atbat; it’s about the strategy each manager uses. In this case, Martinez wasn’t about to let his iffy bullpen finish the game while Hinch, with a deeper pen, did an excellent job using his best relievers against the Nationals’ best hitters. I’m not in favor of a universal DH — it’s perfectly fine to keep separate rules in each league and watch them play out accordingly every fall in the World Series.
It was nostalgic for A’s fans to see veterans Sean Doolittle, 33, and Kurt Suzuki, 36 — a onetime Oakland battery — play pivotal roles in the Nationals’ first two World Series wins. Doolittle registered a fourout save in Game 1, and Suzuki’s Game 2 homer in the seventh inning off Justin Verlander put the Nationals ahead to stay. Doolittle’s final playoff game with the A’s was a stinker. He blew a ninthinning save opportunity in that wacky extrainning wildcard loss in Kansas City in 2014. With the Nationals, his ERA over two postseasons is 1.54 (entering Game 4), and he’s one of the few relievers Martinez can trust. As for Suzuki, he nearly quit in 2016, then joined the Braves and enjoyed his best offensive year. He was 1for23 in the postseason before his Game 2 heroics, but pitchers love his gamecalling, so he kept playing. He’s now bothered by a hip strain, however, suffered in the Nationals’ Game 3 loss.
John Shea is The San Francisco Chronicle’s national baseball writer. Email: jshea@sfchronicle. com Twitter: @JohnSheaHey