The Pittsburgh Pirates began making some staffing changes when they fired manager Clint Hurdle last season. They're also making some front-office changes with their current general manager search.
The changes mirror that of the Giants who are currently on their own hunt to fill the same position -- and both teams appear to be interested in Kevan Graves.
Graves, the Pirates interim GM after Pittsburgh dismissed Neal Huntington last week, is a candidate in San Francisco's quest to fill the position under president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi. MLB.com's Adam Berry reported the news Thursday, citing a source.
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Berry explained Graves assisted Huntington with having his hand in just about everything from roster management, player evaluation, financial planning ... the list goes on-and-on.
With Graves being considered to take over for the job he's already doing with the Pirates, that could create an obvious, easy solution for the team he and Huntington did so much for.
He's not the only candidate for the Giants, however.
The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal also reported Thursday that Houston Astros farm director Pete Putila is among candidates for the Giants' GM vacancy as well. He joins Chicago Cubs assistant GM Scott Harris and Graves as known candidates.
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Putila's addition could be just what Zaidi would want in a GM.
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From the beginning, Zaidi has been saying to pay attention to the younger guys. Putila's background with a very successful organization included a role in player development at the major-league level, but still having his main focus in the minor leagues. He's comfortable with the lower levels of the organizations and helped the Astros with their goal-setting program for each player in the organization. That alone sings to the tune of what Zaidi wants.
Still, Rosenthal added it's unclear where the Giants are in the current search.