Giants CEO Larry Baer joined Buster Posey and Joe Panik on the stage at FanFest on Saturday, and was asked about the club’s incredibly active offseason after losing 98 games in 2017.
San Francisco made two big name signings in Andrew McCutchen and Evan Longoria this offseason, veteran players who were the faces of their respective franchises for the better part of a decade. Some questioned why an already aging club would look to sign to players that could be at the tail end of their primes, but Baer explained that a shared quality of both piqued the Giants’ interest.
“Character is a huge thing,” Baer said. “When you trade for a guy like McCutchen or a guy like Longoria, or you sign a guy like Austin Jackson; Brian Sabean, Bobby Evans and Bruce Bochy will find somebody who’s either coached or played with those guys somewhere through the last decade or so. So the calls get made. It’s like the due diligence. You make a call and you say, ‘you played with Longo or you coached Longo, what do you think in the clubhouse?’ and you get the reports and the reports…we’re talking about A+ across the board with those guys.
“You’ve got to do that due diligence because we take pride in the clubhouse. We think it was a big part of winning three championships and that balance has to be right there.
Posey was then asked if he likes to be consulted on personnel decisions.
“I think it’s simple, we’re all trying to win, so that’s the way I try to approach everything. If they want an opinion in the offseason, then I’ll give my opinion. To me the mindset is always how do we win games and I think if you keep that at the forefront of your mind, the decisions you make are pretty easy.”
Listen to the full interview below. To hear Baer on the new signings, skip to 9:30.