Bill Neukom Speaks

Bill Neukom held his first press conference as the Giants' new managing partner a few days ago and outlined his thoughts on the direction of the franchise. Considering he now parks his car in Peter Magowan's former space, it's a good idea to take a look at what he has to say.

Andy Baggarly (of course) has already transcribed the entire conference, including a few individual questions, here.

Below are my thoughts on some snippets I found interesting:

And how we’re going to do that is by emphasizing and investing even more in homegrown talent. We have to find the best baseball athletes we can find, through better scouting and better analysis of the amateur draft.

Though the draft is a given no-brainer as a fundamental part of a successful franchise, it's refreshing to hear Neukom clearly deem it as the primary focus for the 2009 season and beyond. Free agent signings have been the Giants' modus operandi since 2000 up until two years ago, when they concluded what was hailed as a strong draft. The string of good scouting and drafting, including signing international players, should continue under Neukom's direction.

We want to bring those people along in a way that enables them to convert their gifts into major league skills and we think we’ll have maybe a little more time and a little more discretion. Some of the people who came up this year, frankly, came up sooner than might have been perfect if we’d had a deeper system. It somewhat accelerated things in 2008 and we hope we can get to more of a sort of modulated progression.

The Giants promised a youth movement in the beginning of the 2008 season, and they sure did deliver on their word. A total of 16 rookies made their first debut, although some of them might have benefited from more time in the minor leagues. The Giants entered the season without any defined plan, but the "throw-stuff-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks" philosophy worked out better than I expected, thanks to the emergence of Burriss, Romo, Sandoval, and Hinshaw. Once the franchise decides the areas that need the most improvement, call-ups shouldn't be as haphazard.

We have asked Brian and his group to look broadly at the question of the roster for 2009 and beyond. That means primary emphasis on homegrown talent, (determining) how much of this young talent can we expect to produce on a sustainable basis during a championship season next year, whether we need to complement it with a trade, or fold those risks and expenses with a free agent signing.

More emphasis about building from the inside out.

We said to Brian and to Bruce Bochy, 'Look, don’t be constrained by a placeholder number for player payroll right now. Think of this in terms of how you’re going to assemble a roster that’s going to be competitive in ‘09 and come back to us.'

Here's the crux of Neukom's plan: first assemble the best team possible for the long-run, and then worry about finances. The "placeholder" is a rough assessment of the cost to field a contending team, but the front office can overspend on a player (or players) if it believes that is the right move in the long-run.

When it comes to picking the talent, we need the sharpest baseball eyes: people who can pick the 16-year-old arm out of the cornfield. We also need to be very well informed with all that is at our fingertips. We need to be smart about that. It’ll be a blend.

Yay! Scouting is no good without statistical analysis, and vice versa. Neukom hits the nail on the head with his suggestion of a blend of both baseball eyes and SABR. Time to upgrade that GVSORP^TM (Gritty Veteran Savvy Over Replacement Player) to OPS+ and FIP.

How about bringing in the fences?
(Pause) It’s not a concept we’re currently considering. I think it’s a very exciting ballpark.

Heh, I couldn't have said it any better. One, the Giants have a flyball pitching staff, and two, the other team can hit home runs too. Unless the field crew moves the fences in and out every half inning.