Controversial decisions put San Francisco Giants’ culture under a microscope

For a variety of reasons, many fans are uneasy about the Giants' current direction. As they attempt to establish a new culture, how will things look a year from now?

The San Francisco Giants took a ride to the mountain top three times this decade, but as the 2010s draw to a close, the team is farther away from the peak than it could have ever imagined.

Three consecutive losing seasons knocked the Giants down to earth and the view from the bottom of the baseball world has left fans disappointed and dismayed.

It’s not just the sub-.500 records and the general void of hope that’s led to widespread frustration. It’s the manner in which the Giants have conducted business that has inspired outrage in some fans and apathy in others.

It’s one thing to be unpopular. It’s another to be bad. Right now, the Giants are both.

On Monday, the Giants informed their 2019 Willie Mac Award winner, Kevin Pillar, he was losing his roster spot. The move to non-tender a veteran whose style of play resonated with both the clubhouse and the season-ticket holders was met with criticism on social media. It was also the latest sign a front office led by president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi is distancing itself from the practices of a previous regime that often allowed emotion to play a role in business decisions, even if doing so created long-term concerns.

A front office guided by emotion would have re-signed closer Will Smith, brought back veteran backstop Stephen Vogt and ponied up $10 million to keep Pillar in orange and black next year. A front office concerned only about 2020 and not about the rest of the decade would pay $100 million to sign Madison Bumgarner, lure a big free agent hitter such as Anthony Rendon or Nick Castellanos and then attempt to sell hope.

Doing so might be entirely misguided and would threaten to move the Giants even farther away from the peak, but in the short-term, the optics would be good.

Fans would praise the front office for trying to win, stories would be written about the team’s conviction and sense of confidence and the Giants may sell a few more tickets at a ballpark that looked empty in the final two months of last season.

The new version of the Giants aren’t necessarily concerned about short-term optics. And that’s one of the reasons why their culture will be under a magnifying glass for the foreseeable future.

Fans in San Francisco have grown restless keeping up with the Giants’ off-the-field issues. From an owner’s controversial political donations to a CEO’s public altercation with his wife to a hiring of a manager who reportedly mishandled sexual assault allegations against his players, there’s no shortage of instances the Giants have been in the news for the wrong reasons.

It’s not just issues created by people in leadership positions that have led to questions about the Giants’ direction. There are growing concerns about the on-field product, the players who are being discarded and Zaidi’s approach to building a roster that’s made fans uneasy.

Ticket-buyers at Oracle Park aren’t accustomed to “trusting the process.”

Members of the ownership group and executive team have long been skeptical that a rebuild would ever work for the Giants. Despite the organization’s reluctance to label what’s taking place a “rebuild,” the Giants may actually buy themselves more credibility with their fan base if they’re honest about a multi-year timeline to contend.

After using a National League record 64 players last season, it’s possible the roster overhaul will be even more noticeable this season.

Of the six Giants players earning more than $15 million per season, five will hit free agency within the next two years. Evan Longoria, the only player under contract through 2022, owns a contract that might be tradable. Within a year, some of the most expensive assets including Jeff Samardzija, Johnny Cueto and Brandon Belt could be dealt. Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford are destined to soon lose playing time.

The Giants have a handful of promising, inexperienced players such as Logan Webb, Tyler Beede and Mauricio Dubón, but many of the best young talents in the organization are still at some of the lowest levels of the farm system.

What’s increasingly clear is the Giants no longer believe in the old core that took the franchise to unprecedented heights. The decision to non-tender Pillar, who was scheduled to become a free agent after next season, revealed that every move the Giants are making is geared toward finding their future building blocks.

The Giants don’t need high-priced free agents or short-term veteran stopgaps to pretend to contend in 2020, but they do need to spend time auditioning younger players who will have the chance to impact the organization’s future. They hired a manager with a background in player development to facilitate that process and they’re preparing to announce a revamped coaching staff that will introduce different instructional methods.

When a team isn’t winning and a new way of making decisions is introduced, one of the first places media members and fans turn their attention to is a team’s culture. Climbing back to the top is difficult, especially when there’s persistent questions from fans about whether the Giants are on the right path.

With massive changes coming to the dugout and many popular clubhouse figures on their way out, establishing and building a successful culture figures to be one of the Giants’ greatest challenges.

The microscopes are already out. How will that culture look a year from now?