SAN FRANCISCO -- The planned offseason shakeup at AT&T Park began in a big way Monday. General manager Bobby Evans was let go, kickstarting what is expected to be a significant shift in the organization's baseball operations department.
Evans, who had one year remaining on his contract, was second in command on the baseball ops side to Brian Sabean, who is expected to return for the final year of his contract. Evans was in his 25th season with the organization and his fourth as general manager. He was just the eighth person to hold that title since the franchise moved to San Francisco, and his tenure was not as successful as his run as assistant GM.
Evans had his hand all over the building of a dynasty, and he had significant power in personnel decisions even before he took over as GM in 2015. From that point on, the moves didn't work out nearly as well.
The Giants have made a series of high-profile moves since Evans took over and whiffed a high percentage of the time. The $62 million Mark Melancon deal has blown up in the Giants' faces. Johnny Cueto was given $130 million, and while he was a star his first season, the next two were injury-riddled and he'll miss all of next season after having Tommy John surgery. The $90 million deal for Jeff Samardzija has not worked out as hoped, and he also is currently injured.
The Giants had to dump players like Denard Span and Austin Jackson just to clear salary. The most notable trade of the Evans tenure was the one for Matt Moore, and the Giants eventually had to dump Moore's salary, too.
In addition, they dealt away popular third baseman Matt Duffy, who has had a good year for the Rays and left a hole in the Giants' clubhouse.
Evans was informed of the decision Monday afternoon. He said he was proud of the work he did to help the Giants win three titles, and appeared to take the news in stride.
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“I got designated for assignment,” Evans said. “We’ll see what’s next, what happens on waivers.”
