SAN FRANCISCO — On the surface, it’s an odd look.
The annual General Manager Meetings are this week in Carlsbad, a few miles north of San Diego, and the Giants are going there without a general manager. Since relieving Bobby Evans of his duties during the last week of the regular season, ownership has undertaken a deliberate search for a new head of baseball operations, one that doesn’t look headed for a conclusion this week.
Will this hurt the Giants as executives from around the game gather?
With our All Access Daily newsletter, stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams!
SIGN UP HERE Well, no.
There is rarely any significant action this early in November, and the Giants aren’t faced with any business that would count as pressing. Their own free agents who might return — Derek Holland and Nick Hundley — figure to scour the market a bit.
The big name on their wish list, Bryce Harper, will surely play this process out as long as he can, looking for a record deal. There will be trade discussions this week, but Brian Sabean and Evans always trusted Jeremy Shelley to lay groundwork, and the assistant GM will lead the way for two days.
The real issue for the Giants this week may be awkwardness. They are one of two organizations — along with the Baltimore Orioles — attending the GM Meetings without a GM, and they won’t even be sending Sabean, their former GM.
San Francisco Giants
Find the latest San Francisco Giants news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
Shelley, a candidate to run his own shop at some point, is expected to handle both media availabilities Tuesday and Wednesday, which puts him in a strange spot given the fact that his longtime boss has been fired and the two men above Evans — Larry Baer and Sabean — continue to search for a baseball executive who may decide to clean out much of the existing baseball operations department.
The process has lasted more than a month, and league sources say there’s a reason for that. Baer is intent on making a significant hire, and the organization believes that it is one of a handful that can pluck top executives from other spots.
To that end, Baer’s wish list has been full of big names in the industry. Kim Ng of MLB, Jason McLeod of the Cubs, Amiel Sawdaye of the Diamondbacks, Chaim Bloom of the Rays and Farhan Zaidi of the Dodgers are known candidates, and Baer tried to talk to several prominent current general managers, including Oakland’s David Forst.
On Monday, MLB Network's Jon Morosi reported that the Giants are prepared to offer an unspecified role to Zaidi, the current Dodgers GM, although it's unclear if if he has interviewed for the top job.
The GM Meetings should bring some clarity, and soon there should be a resolution. The search will likely wrap up by next week, per sources, allowing the Giants to introduce a new leader before a holiday week, and get a new hierarchy in place well in advance of next month’s Winter Meetings. That’s the big show, and the Giants should be prepared for it.