Far away from the sturm und drang that seems to define the Giants’ perpetual media cycle these days, it was quiet and serene at Papago Park. A day of camp activities, infield/outfield drills, stretching and lifting — it was hard to imagine that across town, and around the greater Giants-loving world, feelings were running hot and voices strident.
The nature of my work means that I’m focused on the peaceful side of Scottsdale, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care passionately about what’s happening at the higher levels of this organization — both the good and the bad — that used to seem so connected to its fans and employees. If you haven’t read Grant Brisbee’s piece on the Giants’ curious decision to push their beloved Public Address announcer, Renel Brooks-Moon, out of the organization, I highly recommend you do so. As usual, Grant cut to the chase and put his finger on the absolute heart of things in his own inimical way.
One thing I almost never talk about at this site — because it doesn’t really come up very often — is the importance of overall organizational integrity to successful outcomes. But I’m thinking today of a conversation I had last summer with a long-time baseball person who had, at one point, worked with the White Sox. We were discussing their recent Front Office changes, when he said something to the effect that no amount of great baseball people could ever fix what was wrong with that organization. The words “Jerry” and “Reinsdorf” didn’t come up specifically, but I took the meaning. It takes more than good people doing good work to produce good outcomes: you need an organization that supports good people and values their work.
Let us fervently hope that the Giants are still an organization that values good people doing good work, as they have long had a reputation for doing. But they are certainly losing some goodwill with their customer base these days, and their reputation for valuing people has been tarnished. It’s pretty clear that the organizational culture has changed in ways that emanate from the top of the structure.
Anyway, exciting news about Blake Snell! The baseball ops folks have done great work this winter — even if it all took a very long time coming — and the team on the field should be fun and competitive!
But let us return to the quiet side of town, where very good people were applying themselves to their productive tasks, and check out the day’s camp notes…
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