Giants Notes: Front Office, Bochy, Holland

The Giants’ recent front-office shakeup is designed to “bring a new approach to Giants baseball,” CEO Larry Baer explained in the wake of the firing of GM Bobby Evans. As Kerry Crowley of the Mercury News writes, longtime exec Brian Sabean will be in a key role in making a new hire, though the incoming baseball ops head will report directly to Baer. The CEO says he’s looking for a “next-gen” executive — a statement that could perhaps be interpreted in several ways but nevertheless offers an interesting hint as to the organization’s intentions.

• Notably, the top hire likely won’t be the only one. Baer acknowledged that any new baseball ops leader may want to bring in some of his or her own people. And Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets that there’s actually already an expectation of creating a two-tiered structure. The Giants, he says, are looking for both a VP of baseball ops and a general manager.
• Giants skipper Bruce Bochy, meanwhile, says that the upper management changes don’t impact his preference to continue in his job, as Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports. Bochy is only under contract through 2019, but he says that “lame duck” status won’t be an issue heading into his 13th season on the job. Clearly, he’s also not concerned that the club’s competitive outlook is at best uncertain. The fact that Bochy will remain in place adds an interesting dynamic to the front office situation, though the veteran skipper says he’s committed to meshing well with whoever steps in. Potential baseball ops hires may prefer to choose their own manager, though it’s also not hard to imagine that many will feel comfortable with the highly respected Bochy for at least one campaign.
• Whoever ends up taking over the baseball operations department will face a number of challenges, along with questions on existing players. The pitching staff, in particular the bullpen, has some potential trade candidates. It also has one potential candidate to be re-signed in Derek Holland, who has turned in a bounceback year and is set to return to the open market. Through 168 2/3 innings, the southpaw carries a 3.63 ERA with a career-high 8.9 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9. The 31-year-old says he’s interesting in continuing his career with San Francisco, as John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle writes, and Bochy adds his endorsement. At this point, though, it’s anyone’s guess whether that will be of interest to the new top decisionmakers.