Since getting promoted from general manager to Executive VP of Baseball Operations, Brian Sabean hasn’t been involved in the day-to-day operations of the major league club since 2015. That’s going to change this season according to a report from Andrew Baggarly of the The Athletic, who writes that Sabean will reassume a more hands on role with the club, after the team’s atrocious 98-loss season in 2017.
This is not a demotion of Bobby Evans, who will remain as the team’s general manager, a position he was promoted to in 2015 after serving as Sabean’s long time assistant. The decision to tweak Sabean’s role is reportedly coming from Giants CEO Larry Baer, who wants Sabean closer to the team after the team has slowly regressed since his promotion.
Here’s some additional context via Baggarly:
From what I’m hearing, Sabean’s marching orders from ownership are not a pure reflection on Evans as much as a reaction to the widespread failure that led to a 98-loss season.
I also got wind that ownership was none too pleased last August when Sabean, while scouting a game in the Cape, spoke to a USA Today reporter writing a piece about the league and was quoted as saying this: “Quite frankly, our major league club’s so bad, we’re going to have some high draft picks next year. It’s two-fold: I want to get as far away from San Francisco and our big league team as I can, and get back to my roots in summer scouting.”
Now Sabean is being held closer to home, and held to account.
Sabean served as the club’s general manager from 1997-2015 and was named as the Major League Baseball executive of the year in 2003. The Giants won World Series titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014 under Sabean’s stewardship.