In Phoenix, Kent Somers wrote D-backs Managing General Partner Ken Kendrick "needs to improve if the franchise is going to build upon the improvement it made in 2022." It is "time for him to step up by paying up." The "excuses we’ve heard for the team’s restrictive player payroll no longer apply." The pandemic "has passed, at least for now." Plus, the team claims that $350M in debt "has been eliminated" under Kendrick's watch, which began in 2004. It is "unreasonable to expect the Diamondbacks to spend like the Dodgers," but there is "no reason they should lag so far behind everyone else" in the NL West. The club drew just 1.6 million fans in 2022, the "fewest in a full, non-pandemic season in their history." But that is "no reason for going cheap in 2023" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 10/8).
GIANT (NEXT) STEPS: Giants President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi said that Scott Harris, who left to take the top baseball ops role with the Tigers, is "already missed." The Giants "spent the final weeks of the season discussing how to fill his role." Zaidi said that those GM duties "could have been split up among multiple people, internally or externally." But the Giants "determined to go the traditional route and look for a single replacement with the GM title, preferably as soon as possible." Zaidi said, “Now that the season’s over, it could happen relatively quickly. Before the GM meetings would certainly be a target for us” (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 10/7).
TRUST ISSUES: In Pittsburgh, Mark Madden wrote Pirates ownership “simply can’t be trusted.” During 2013-15, when the team made the playoffs, they “didn’t even win a playoff series.” The minute it got “even a bit expensive, it was disassembled.” If that is the franchise’s “peak” under current ownership, it “wasn’t a very high one.” The Pirates are “a con. Pure carny.” If winning occurs, “it’s a happy coincidence.” Their “only intent is maximizing profit while taking minimal risk” (TRIBLIVE.com, 10/8).
