Giants BOD member Robert Dean's name is "popping out loud and clear" as the new front office "face of the franchise" in the wake of President & CEO Larry Baer being officially suspended by MLB, according to Al Saracevic of the S.F. CHRONICLE. Dean will be the "designated representative and acting CEO" during Baer's suspension. A management team was "created after Baer stepped away from his leadership role," which includes Exec VPs Staci Slaughter (Communications), Mario Alioto (Business Operations), Alfonso Felder (Administration) and Jack Bair (General Counsel). That group is "running the day-to-day business operation of the team" at the moment. Any of those four team execs "could emerge as a leading voice for the team," with Alioto and Felder as the "most likely choices." Giants Exec VP & President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi is also "involved in major decision-making and public appearances." However, for now, "all of them report to Dean," the son-in-law of late Giants Owners Harmon and Sue Burns and who has been representing the family's ownership interests on the BOD for years. Dean also has been "serving on the MLB Pension Committee and the MLB Investment Committee" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 3/27). In S.F., Scott Ostler writes this would be a "great time for strong leadership at the top of the Giants' food chain." The team has been "beset by deaths of key historical figures, and was embarrassed by unsavory campaign contributions" by co-Owner Charles Johnson (S.F. CHRONICLE, 3/27).
WHERE DO WE GO NOW? YAHOO SPORTS' Hannah Keyser wrote it is "time to start asking questions that go beyond" whether Baer's suspension through July 1 was "long enough." Keyser: "Questions like: How should Baer and the Giants and the league apologize for his actions without sounding dismissive of them? And how should fans factor into their relationship with the team that they know something they cannot unknow about San Francisco's president and CEO. ... I'm personally grappling with how and whether fans can or should allow even a quantitatively sufficient suspension to assuage their discomfort around an unsavory individual" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 3/26).
