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Brian Sabean’s voice is still unmistakable — quick, colorful, blunt, and always very thoughtful, though sometimes the thoughtfulness is a bit hidden by the quick and blunt parts.
During his 21-year, three-championship run as the Giants’ top baseball executive, which ended when he was replaced by Farhan Zaidi after the 2018 season, you never had to guess what Sabean was thinking. He’d just say it if you asked him. He didn’t have time for evasiveness. He still doesn’t.
And now, Sabean’s voice is back booming within the Giants’ offices. Well, not his actual voice, since he quickly left Zaidi’s organization and is working for the Yankees now. But the influence of Sabean, who drafted Buster Posey and built the fabled 2010, 2012, and 2014 World Series champions that the Giants have tried and failed to replicate ever since, is undeniable with Posey’s new group.
Posey cited Sabean’s tenure before making last weekend’s massive trade for Rafael Devers (and picking up the rest of Devers’ 10-year, $313.5 million contract). After the deal, other Giants executives said they were partially guided by Sabean’s ethos — you can’t be afraid of taking risks (like trading top pitching prospect Kyle Harrison, the way Sabean traded Zack Wheeler for Carlos Beltrán in 2011) when the right moment arrives.
Which made it natural for me to reach out to Sabean to hear what he thinks about all this. We talked by phone Friday morning. And as always, Sabean was direct, fascinating, and not shy about expressing how much more tied he feels to this front office than the previous one.
Tim Kawakami: Buster and Zack Minasian mentioned you several times before and after this trade. You’re clearly a major influence. Do you feel connected to this administration and what’s going on, at least in an informal or emotional way?
Brian Sabean: Well, since Buster has taken over, you know, there is more of a connection or emotional attachment than I had in and around when I left. So that’s a good space for me — and including my family, because they’re forever Giants fans.
But I’m not in touch as much as I think people think that I am. I haven’t talked to Buster since back during the World Series. He’s got his hands full, and he’s got some trusted people around him, and that’s the way it should be.
So what did you think of him pushing in a lot of chips for Devers?
I think Buster, as an ex-catcher and a field general, knows the value of pitching. As constituted, they’re very strong in that area. You’re gonna win with pitching. And if you have a chance to go out and get a big bat that apparently they had their eyes on and struck while the iron was hot, I think it was very strategic.
Two things apply when you do something like this, and it might not necessarily be as comfortable a move as you would think, because you never know how things could turn out in the short or long term with that type of contract. But he’s an elite hitter and somebody that’s going to plop right into the middle of their order.
I think Buster understands as an ex-player that one of the biggest functions of the front office is you have to want it as much if not more than the people in uniform. That’s who you serve, and you serve the fan base.
When you’re able to do a deal like this, they’re very hard to pass up if all the boxes are checked. And I think they were thorough in how they went through the exercise. And I’m sure they’re thrilled.
I don’t know if you saw it, but when I asked Buster a week before the trade happened about possibly moving young pitching and whether he thought about the Wheeler-Beltran trade, he said he loved that deal — that you were sending a message to the clubhouse that you were going for it. What does that tell you about this front office?
Whether it’s Buster in his first year or somebody with years of experience [these kinds of trades], don’t come around often. Sometimes it’s going to take some pain as far as what you have to give up.
As I look back at the Beltrán trade, I think the biggest context is that team in ’11 was actually out-pitching the ’10 team, but we couldn’t score consistently four-plus runs a game. And Beltrán was the best bat available. And that was the opportunity cost, which was tough to swallow. Now, the outcome could’ve been different if Carlos didn’t get hurt. But that’s the risk you take.
I think Buster’s in this knowing what’s at stake for the franchise, as well as how it moves the needle not only in the organization but, like I said, with the fan base.
Yeah, Buster does mention the idea that this is a memory-making business, that things have to resonate with fans. How aware were you while you were running this team that you had to energize the fans?
As you know, once we opened the new ballpark, it was a completely different environment and landscape for us as a home-field advantage. Not that Candlestick wasn’t. It was. But a whole new experience. I really think the timing of opening the park [in 2000] and filling it coincided with that eight-year run that we finished first or second in the division [starting in 1997] and ultimately went to the World Series in 2002.
I think we all know the value of a ballpark that’s filled and the passion of San Francisco fans. When it’s jumping, and I’m sure there are gonna be some sellouts coming, if there haven’t been already, it’s like an East Coast vibe. That fan base gets it — they’re rabid, they’re generational.
And they want to hang their hat on some stars. And they’ve got a star and ex-franchise player running the organization, and now you’ve acquired one of the best hitters in baseball.
Were you at all surprised when Buster took this job, or did you see this kind of path for him when he was a player?
Not necessarily surprised, but I can’t say that I saw it coming. I think as it probably turned out, what ended up in print is what happened. The timing had to be right, and it had to be the right place and time for him and his family, because of the commitment. It’s a labor-intensive job. It’s not like what you experience in uniform, where you can get a breather in the offseason or run off and hide. You can’t get away from the commitments and just the grind, the treadmill that you’re on in a front office or, more so, running the ship.
Your lieutenant Bobby Evans is back in the organization. Some former players you acquired are back in roles. Buster, obviously, you drafted. This is a new administration, but do you feel like it’s deeply tied to what happened with your group — and specifically what happened in 2010, ’12, and ’14?
I think that you always have to have a connection to your past and what’s transpired before you. And I think they’re respectful of that.
Much like our ’10, ’12, or ’14 teams stood on the shoulders of the past greats, I think it’s something to lean into. It’s something to embrace. You know, having an ex-Giant, a very passionate and qualified baseball man in [Bob] Melvin, who is a local, spices it up even more.
Within the front office, I hear them cite your mindset, that you have to be willing to take risks. How much was that a part of your decision-making process?
You have to have a general feeling of the timing and how strategic that is, as well as, like I said, the opportunity cost. I’m sure they swallowed hard because of what they had to give up, but I look at it as win-win. They probably got off a little bit easier because they were able to take the contract on. If there was a buy-down or a pay-down, let’s say, there might’ve been more pain inflicted.
You know, your farm system’s there for two reasons: to supplement and energize, when needed or when ready, the major-league club, but more so, those are your chips for the outside world to trade from. You just face that fact.
Buster has mentioned he’d like to have you back as part of this organization. I don’t know how much you can speak to this right now, but is that something that’s been offered? Have you considered it?
I’m currently under contract and fully engaged here. So until that would change, I can’t answer that question.