As a miserable 2017 season winds down, Giants executive vice president Brian Sabean had some enlightening things to say about the future of the franchise.
Among the impactful lines he said to The San Francisco Chronicle was: "We still believe in our core players. But we have to put a fresh look on things. Whatever culture we created, whatever atmosphere, that window is closed."
On Wednesday morning, Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow was asked on KNBR 680 to specifically respond to that comment from Sabean.
"Teams evolve. That's the beautiful thing about having championships, is that that era will forever be remembered. But you have to evolve. You have to get better. You always hear the phrase 'work in progress' and I truly believe that. Every year that you come back to camp, you have to prove to yourself, to everybody on that team, to everyone in the stands that you can produce and perform at the level you expect. Every player in camp is a scout. Every player is looking around him to as what he sees on the field, what type of defense these team is going to have, what type of offense, what are our arms like, how big are our arms in the bullpen. It constantly changes. And because of that, roles change. You have a guy like Matt Cain, he was a loud voice for many years because he was a guy that contributed 200-plus innings, he was a stud, he was a cornerstone arm, a cornerstone personality. But as your production begins to wane, your voice gets a little shallow and another voice takes your place. That's just part of baseball. What Sabean is saying there, I absolutely agree. If you're going to go in a different direction, it may not be with the same characters, it may not be with the same culture that produced three world championships."
