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Giants GM Brian Sabean transcript: "This year reminds me of '97″

Posted by Tim Kawakami on July 6th, 2009 at 9:33 pm | Categorized as Baseball, Giants

Talked with Giants GM Brian Sabean for 15 minutes in his box above AT&T Park before tonight's game for a column running in tomorrow's paper.

It was our first extended talk since August 2007, when Barry Bonds was finishing off his HR chase and, coincidentally or not, the Giants were probably at the low ebb of credibility and success.

Back in '07, Sabean was realistic and frustrated and made no excuses for his own decisions. He said: "I've let the whole organization down."

As I look back on it, I think he was very interested in being the GM at a time like now, two years later, totally free of Bonds and with new personalities and new stars.

Back then:

"What we tried not to do, and it back-fired, was to take a step back, admit that we may have to have a season that you go in with lower expectations and knowing you're pushing a boulder up hill…

"But now we're at a point, where we understand how and why we made the mistakes we did and we're changing our ways."

Geez. I just went back and dug up those quotes right now, after writing my column. Sorta wish I'd remembered to do that before I wrote, but oh well. That's what the blog-o-mania is all about, probably.

Read today's conversation. See what you think…

--BRIAN SABEAN, July 6, 2009/

-Q: Has this club almost been re-invented without people really noticing until now?

-SABEAN: You first have to temper things by knowing that we'll be playing our 82nd game. We've still got six games 'til the break.

You know, I think the reality of what we're seeing and how we've been able to play is, the Dodgers aside, it's an open field.

In our case, everybody knows that we've had pretty true pitching and that's reflected in the stats. We have a legitimate closer and a legitimate set-up man, to go along with a good rotation.

By and large, we've played good defense. In and around that, in most series, we've been able to score enough runs to have a chance to win the series. And on balance, it's kind of a roster that's got some veteran experience, some presence, and then it's on the other hand fueled by the enthusiasm of the younger guys.

It's an interesting group right now, because they're determined, they're professional, they like to play. I think they feed off each other's different personalities or energies. For them, it's a fun group to be around.

-Q: It's a lively clubhouse…

-SABEAN: It is. It's much looser and I think more diverse in more ways than I think a lot of our clubhouses were. But then again, it's got that going. It's got some new personalities…

-Q: When the season started, your owner mentioned .500 as a goal. Can you say this is happening faster than you guys expected?

-SABEAN: Going into the off-season, because of what happened the last six weeks of last season, we had reason to be looking forward to this year. Having said that we've had some guys that have really stepped up, so record-wise maybe this point, it's happened fast.

From series to series, we'd like to win some more games on the road, score some more runs on the road. But I think we're all kind of looking to enjoy the moment and seize the opportunity. I think the players realize that.

-Q: Seize the moment. Does that mean going hard to make a trade for a bat? Is it harder to do that when you don't want to give up future pieces or is it easier because you're suddenly so close?

-SABEAN: What's hard is that the field of what may be available, at least to this point, isn't very attractive. I don't think we're going to get involved with a free-agent acquisition that will cost us a part of our future prospects.

And in-house, we still have to see, perhaps, in short order, what a guy like Bowker can do, and really what our line-up might look like with Uribe as our every-day second baseman.

Would we like to get somebody who is more present and would help us in the future? Yes, but none of those opportunities have presented themselves. There's no silver bullet, I guess.

But I think if you talk to any GM, it's just one of those years that may not be enough, quote, difference-maker players to go around, to really feel like you can expect that an acquisition or certain acquisitions are really going to help you.

-Q: Magowan always was pushing to win now. Neukom hasn't expressed it that way. Is there less an imperative to push to win immediately at all costs at the risk of the future?

-SABEAN: Well, in a perfect year on a perfect world, you want to compete every year for a chance, quote, to go to the playoffs. To this point, 81 games in, we find ourselves in that situation.

Now you could say that we're going to be more level-headed because of what we have in the system coming and what we've seen come to the forefront, whether it's the young kids, somebody like Sandoval, right in front of our eyes on this team… or if you want to go for it, you want to pick your spot.

The flip side of that is we haven't been to the playoffs since 2003, we've had four losing seasons, and do you want to, I don't want to say waste, but do you want to forego an opportunity? Where, as good as this pitching staff has been, to quote, go for it, to a certain extent. Because as we know, to get into the playoffs is half the battle or maybe the biggest battle.

Because of our pitching staff, anything could happen possibly if we get in.

-Q: Is Madison Bumgarner untouchable?

-SABEAN: I don't see any way we'd move Bumgarner. He's as fast-a-track high school kid as we've had since Cain. And he might be a left-handed version of Cain,.

-Q: Could we see him up this year?

-SABEAN: I would hope not. If he had to come up here this year, it'd probably be a series of bad things that gave him the opportunity.

-Q: Johnson going on the DL is not one of those things that would bring Bumgarner up?

-SABEAN: No. He's not ready. He still needs to get his innings in the minor leagues, use all his pitches. People forget he's only 19, pitching in double-A.

-Q: A guy like Freddy Sanchez, certainly not a massive bat… Is he the level of guy you might not be as interested in as people speculate?

-SABEAN: I don't see one player right now… we could go through the standings, if you just look at the standings… how many teams are, quote, definitely out of it.

A lot usually in my mind gets decided after the first week after the break or the 10 days after the break. People evaluate where they are after the break, they deliberate which side of the coin they think they're going to be one. Then they go out and gauge a week or 10 days, two weeks at most, which gives you enough time leading up to the deadline…

-Q: Is a guy like Victor Martinez a difference-maker for you?

-SABEAN: There are players out there that are… I can't address his name… but there are also players… if they were, it'd be such a high price that it'd almost defeat the purpose.

-Q: Would be happy if this is basically the same team after July 31?

-SABEAN: I don't know that yet. We'll take all the time allotted. These six games are important. We've got two tough series.

-Q: Have you talked with Neukom about a contract extension?

-SABEAN: No.

-Q: Do you anticipate being here next year, given the success so far?

-SABEAN: I don't anticipate anything. I love where I'm at. I love the organization. And right now, we're all trying to do the right thing by the organization and the team we have.

It'll play out. I don't know what the timing will be. Having been through this before, I'm not worried about it. Put it that way.

-Q: Who makes the decision on Bochy?

-SABEAN: You'd have to ask Bill that. That's completely something he'd have to answer.

-Q: What's your evaluation of Bochy?

-SABEAN: I think he and the whole staff have done a nice job going back to last year. Again, probably the whole second half of last year, they spent a lot of time with early work… taught these how these kids how to play at the major-league level. And I think we're seeing the fruits of that now.

Now what we're really going to find out what happens in the second half… what the learning curve… the games getting tougher and tougher, whether we're staying in the race, and whether they're able to compete in September.

Bruce has a lot to be proud of. Because this team has gotten better. It's a team with some challenges, we know, in the line-up, without a true middle of the order… we're able to mix and match, which I think he's done a very good job with, to compete.

I'm proud of the way they've handled it. They've put a lot of work into it.

-Q: You've been through some tough years, with some older players, probably wasn't that fun. You told me two or three years ago that you blamed yourself for a lot of it. What's it like now, with a very different team and energy?

-SABEAN: Some of it is a sign of the times and some of it is that we've been able to turn the page on what was our past.

We were trying to build a team around a player that was the biggest part of the organization… I think now there's probably more freedom in how you look at things.

But the game's going that way. Younger players are worth more and more. I think that everybody sees that because of free agency or even the price of arbitration that if you build a team on pitching and defense, in our park especially, you can add some speed, you can do some things offensively to help you win, you can almost compete in a different way, just as well.

There aren't that many teams around baseball now that don't look forward really to the chance to, I don't want to say start over, as much as go younger and see where it takes you.

There's less trepidation, put it that way.

-Q: It was unknown with this park and the debt service, if the fans would stick in for a rebuilding project. Do you think you've gotten through that?

-SABEAN: I think so… Everybody has tough decisions because of the economy… whether they're going to come to the ballpark or not.

They know that we're making an effort; we're trying to turn the page. If they're not excited, they can see the difference. Because the team has a different energy.

It goes to what I said earlier about the personalities. It's almost more refreshing. These guys are in some ways more real to the fans and maybe even more approachable. I think when you have that along with playing some better baseball… the timing was good.

They want to like this team, they want to like this organization. We have to give them a reason to do that and continue to do that.

-Q: Does continuing that mean it's mandatory to push for the playoffs?

-SABEAN: Not mandatory, but I think it's a big part of the equation. You have to seize the opportunity. In a lot of ways, this year reminds me of '97. we did the same thing in '97, the difference being we actually had more control of that situation, because we were chasing the Dodgers. We were trying to win the division, which we did.

As we all know, the wild-card won't be settled until maybe the last week of the season. But that's exciting, too.

-Q: Is this maybe the most fun you've had in a while?

-SABEAN: Yeah, it's a great group to be around. I mean, from the effort and… they really have a short memory. It goes back to some of the things I saw in the '97 team.

That's fun to watch. When you know the effort's there. As you pointed out, there's a sense of community, a buzz in the clubhouse, it's fun to be a part of. It's fun for everybody.