Baer on KNBR Monday: We Will Build Off of Our Core of Young Players into 2014

CEO Larry Baer is making the rounds on the radio, Monday on KNBR, Tuesday on 95.7 The Game, and Giants fans are getting a sense of what the management line is going into the trade deadline. Melissa just put up a piece on the mindset of buying and selling spoken about from Baer, and even gives a little preview for this article, which we obviously planned because that’s how it goes. After hosts Tom Tolbert and Eric Byrnes talked to Mr. Baer about the White House visit, they started to talk about the Giants and what is the plan is for post-2013:

"“I think that the core here is a core that we have to build off of the good news we have guys signed that are going to be important to  our future and guys that we can control just through the process of baseball contracts. Folks like Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, Brandon Crawford, Brandon Belt, and other people like that, obviously Buster Posey that are going to be Giants.”"

Byrnes: When you look at this team, are there guys that you consider untouchable when it comes to the trade deadline?

"“Um, I think obviously the ones I just mentioned would most likely fall into that category because of their contract status, but I think some others, too. It’s easy to say ‘We’re not trading this guy’ and ‘We’re not trading that guy,’ and obviously a team could blow you away… The goal is to add players this year that will help us in 2014… that’s the goal of the trade deadline… The objective is not to save money, or to move contracts.”"

Host Tom Tolbert asked Baer on the organization’s view of Belt, one of the most polarizing players amongst the fanbase:

"Jul 13, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants first baseman Brandon Belt (9) watches a two-run home run during the fourth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports“Brian [Sabean]’s strong view is we essentially rushed both Brandons, and it’s because we had strong teams, we had a window where we thought we could win, we felt having them on the team the last couple of years was the best move, and it was the best move organizationally. But, could they have benefitted by some more development — remember in 2011 when Belt was up and down multiple times in a season? That’s probably not the best thing for your psyche…We believe he is still in the developmental stage, and is in a good place developmentally, as is Brandon Crawford, and that we need to exercise some patience and realize he is a young player, and look at his age and say, ‘This is a player that should have a role with us in the future.'”"

What can be taken from all this is that we should not expect those players Baer listed to be anyone that is subject to a trade unless a team is willing to blow the Giants away with some sort of offer. Also, another item you can look into if you want to really nit pick is the lack of including Pablo Sandoval in the list of young, core players the team wants to build around. The organization has been frustrated over the years with his weight, and there are rumors that he could be gone from the organization (via trade) as early as this offseason.

A side note, and this really should be a given, but I’m glad that the organization is run by people that know what they’re talking about, although I’m pretty sure most of the other twenty-nine organizations have well-run front offices as well.

The trade deadline is Wednesday, July 31st at 1:00 PM PST.