Controversial name emerges in SF Giants front office search

The SF Giants are searching for a general manager to support Buster Posey after he was hired as president of baseball operations. A surprise name in former Giants general manager Bobby Evans has emerged as a potential front office candidate.

It is unclear exactly what role Evans could return in. Reporting about Evans potentially returning to the Giants came from Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Evans had an extensive career with the Giants. He was hired by Brian Sabean back in 1994 and stayed with the organization until 2018 serving in different capacities.

Controversial former SF Giants GM Bobby Evans may return

Most fans will remember his somewhat controversial tenure as general manager from 2015-2018 when he took over for Sabean after Sabean decided to step back and take on a more executive role. Evans was the architect of some unpopular moves like trading fan-favorite Matt Duffy for Matt Moore during the 2016 season. He also presided over the disastrous 2017 season when the team finished with a record of 64-98.

He tried to fix things by trading for Andrew McCutchen and Evan Longoria following that disaster of a season but things did not improve all that much and he was let go following the 2018 season which paved the way for Farhan Zaidi to come in and take the reigns.

Evans has not worked in an MLB front office since his time with the Giants. Perhaps it would make sense to bring him back into the fold in an advisory role. Many fans have strong feelings about Evans' tenure as GM, so hiring him for the GM role may be a bit too much for fans to swallow.

In the same article from Slusser, she notes that the Giants have asked the A's to speak to assistant GM Billy Owens, so it is not as if Evans is the only name being floated right now.

If the Giants could hire Owens and potentially bring back Evans and Sabean in advisory roles where they could act as mentor figures to Posey as he transitions to his new role, that seems like it could be a winning arrangement.

We will see how this all shakes out, but seeing Evans' name floated for a potential return is definitely an interesting twist as the Giants reorganize their front office.