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Closing Bell

Neukom Denies Conflict With MLB Giants BOD Is Reason For Leaving

Outgoing MLB Giants Managing General Partner & CEO Bill Neukom this afternoon denied there was a communications conflict with the club's BOD, and pegged his pending departure more toward a broader sense of accomplishment. "I've accomplished essentially what I set out to accomplish (in this role), and this is the right time to turn the reins over," Neukom said, adding there was "robust communications" between the front office and investors. He later added that "forced out" was not the "right characterization" for what occurred, and that there was no single precipitating event prompting the shift.

"There is a time to come and a time to leave, and this is the time to leave," said Neukom, who also will be divesting his equity in the Giants. Neukom also denied there was an issue with regard to financial reserves, cited in Bay Area press reports as a key wedge issue between himself and the board. "We have significant reserves. The Giants have a rainy-day fund and it is substantial," he said. Neukom, however, did acknowledge that the recent decision to cut CF Aaron Rowand and eat roughly $12M remaining on his contract for next season arrived "with a lot of agony and a lot of analysis."

Meanwhile, incoming CEO Larry Baer said the team's '12 payroll has not yet been set, but added, "I don't foresee it going down." The Giants' '11 Opening Day payroll of about $118M was a club record. "Frankly, I don't see a lot of (organizational) change. It's business as usual, and we're extremely well positioned for the future," he said. Also firmly unchanged is the club's opposition toward the A's moving to San Jose and into the Santa Clara County territory held by the Giants. "There is no change whatsoever there," Baer said. "It's a position Bill's had, the board has, and one, obviously, I have."

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