Word from Washington, where I’ll be in late September rooting for the Nats to derail the Dodgers, is that interim GM Mike Rizzo is getting the boot in favor of a Diamondbacks executive.
Rizzo is widely credited for building the motherlode of young talent in Arizona, where he worked before moving east to Washington. He’s also done a good job in D.C., says BP’s Kevin Goldstein, and that “letting him go would potentially be as damaging to the organization as any player-related move.” (Subscription req’d.)
Is there room for Rizzo in San Francisco? The food’s great. The air is fresh. It never gets below 45 degrees in the winter or 85 in the summer. I’m sure it’s an attractive post for a guy who’s spent much of the past decade in Phoenix and Washington. With his track record and Brian Sabean’s soon-to-expire contract status, you figure the Giant front office has at least taken notice of Rizzo’s pending availability.
From a distant outside perspective, though, even I can see there would be problems. If Rizzo, who might bring his own scouting/evaluation team with him, was Sabean’s replacement, what would happen to the infrastructure Sabean has assembled the past couple years, not to mention the future of pitching-prospect wizard Dick Tidrow? Tidrow was the chief advocate for drafting Tim Lincecum. ‘Nuff said.
Would Rizzo take a job under Sabean with a promise of ascension in a year or two? Even if he did, is Sabean ready to go another year or two then step down? It’s possible; he’s been at this more than a decade.
Feel free to chime in, but let’s get beyond the FIRE SABEAN! mouth-frothing. (First of all, Sabean won’t be “fired” — his contract will simply not be renewed.) Consider what might happen if Sabean leaves, and whether a guy like Rizzo would continue rather than disrupt the substantial progress the Giants have made in rebuilding their farm system and evaluation methods in the post-Bonds era.
