Over the three months since he was made the Giants' capo di tutti capi, Billy Neukom has learned how quickly one becomes stupid running a baseball team.
Put another way, "Sign CC Sabathia you fool!" "Don't sign Edgar Renteria, you idiot!" "Whaddya mean Jeremy Affeldt?" "Where's my Manny Ramirez?" and the popular old standard, "My season tickets cost what?!"
And that's just so far. It gets harder as time goes on. It always does. In fact, the honeymoon always ends before the honeymooner knows it.
Starting with Ramirez. Neukom has been cautiously cautious on the subject, but admitted Friday that Ramirez's signing was "unlikely." Not because of the money necessarily (although that issue could come up later), but because of the length.
"We stay in touch, but based on what we're hearing (from Ramirez's agent Scott Boras), we're not there," he said. "I think Brian Sabean is on record as saying we'd be interested in a year and maybe an option, that would make sense. But I've seen four years and an option, and that isn't something we'd be interested in."
Fair enough. Four years of Manny would constitute a stretch. But Neukom offered an intriguing alternative, one that hasn't been examined publicly to our knowledge.
"There may be teams that get in a situation (financially) where they might need to move some players in June or July," he said. "That could work to our advantage. So we've had internal debates about whether we should keep our powder dry."
Of course, the Giants could be one of those teams caught in a financial squeeze, so the fallback plan of a summer buy may not materialize.
"Baseball asked every team to submit budgets that would cover 10 percent less revenue and 20 percent less revenue," he said. "And internally, we did a third budget to reflect 30 percent."
Now there's an eye-opener. Either it represents extreme prudence, or a genuine worry that whatever the bottom is, the Giants haven't hit it yet. Either way, the Ramirez issue seems close to dead, unless the price and length drop significantly, and the corner outfielder market glut continues.
The other ongoing development is Sabean's job security. In Neukom's three months, the general manager has restructured the baseball department to meet Neukom's requirements, is now being asked to participate in investor meetings, and allegedly has one of the top five or six farm systems in the game according to the upcoming Baseball America rankings.
In other words, so far so good for him. In other words, what else does he have to do for a new deal? Make the playoffs? Break .500? Serve as the faithful soldier/silent scapegoat for another year? According to Neukom, that's still being determined by the two men.
"We're still working on what the parameters would be," he said. "That will come in time. We agreed the other day that we'd sit down in October and talk about next year."
Another interesting development in the last month involved the release of a December letter from Bud Selig to Oakland front man Lew Wolff saying that if the Fremont stadium scheme died, he could look elsewhere. Elsewhere, as you know from your third-grade geography, includes Santa Clara County.
You know, the Santa Clara County that the Giants claim as their own version of colonial India.
"I don't see the letter as meaning that on its face," Neukom said when asked if the team's territorial rights were now in written jeopardy. "We know that it would take a vote of three quarters of the owners (23 of 30) to change that, so we sort of see that as something Lew could use to spur the people in Fremont on."
But is it also permission for the A's to work Santa Clara without Giant approval or reparations? "We've always said that Santa Clara County is critically important to our operation." Yes, but is it also permission for the A's, etc.? "This is a cultural thing, the Giants and Santa Clara County. It's all part of what we regard as the Giants culture in the West Bay." Yes, but is it, etc.? "We would have some very unhappy investors."
So yes, it certainly seems to be permission, since Neukom never said the words, "We will sue if we need to." All Wolff would have to do is get 22 other owners to back his play, and then hustle new Silicon Valley money in a difficult climate, and then undo his relationships in Fremont. Other than the votes, Wolff doesn't look likely to make this happen in the next decade or so, so Neukom doesn't have to throw that particular bomb yet.
And finally, to Larry Baer's new 10-year extension as club president, which according to Neukom actually was done last spring while Peter Magowan was in Neukom's chair. Is this an indication that Baer is the chosen one when Neukom retires, his Jed York to Neukom's ... well, never mind.
"I serve at the pleasure of the investors, and besides I just got here," Neukom said. "But no, this isn't some line of succession thing. If the day came that they wanted to go in another direction, they'd be free to choose whomever they want."
Even Manny Ramirez.
Bill Neukom on ...
... Signing Manny Ramirez
"We stay in touch, but based on what we're hearing, we're not there."
... Adding players at midseason
"There may be teams that get in a situation (financially) where they need to move some players in June or July. That could work to our advantage."
... Brian Sabean's job security
"We agreed the other day that we'd sit down in October and talk about next year."
No comments:
Post a Comment