The Giants replacement for Scott Harris, former Astros executive Pete Putila, is receiving great reviews.
The San Francisco Giants hiring Pete Putila as general manager is drawing rave reviews from people throughout baseball.
“What would the landscape of Player Development look like in this industry without Pete Putila in the last decade?” asked Jason Bell, a minor-league field coordinator for the Houston Astros. “He took an unpaid internship opportunity and helped change this game forever. He changed my life and many others forever. What an incredible person and now GM.”
Three years ago, Putila was a finalist for the Giants’ GM job that ultimately went to Scott Harris. Once Harris left earlier this year to become the Detroit Tigers’ president of baseball operations, the Giants interviewed a multitude of candidates, and identified Putila as their top choice to replace Harris.
Why did Giants hire Pete Putila?
A key component to Putila’s hiring was his background in player development. Buster Posey, the Giants’ legendary catcher who is now part of the team’s ownership group, has stated that he wanted to improve that part of the team. While the Giants have made advances, they were behind other organizations in that aspect. They feel that, over time, Putila will narrow that gap and put them at the forefront of PD.
Here’s what I mentioned on The Baseball Insiders podcast about Putila going to San Francisco:
“Absolute rockstar. I’ve heard from a few people who have called this a massive blow (for the Astros).”
“I don’t think that the Giants could have done better in replacing Scott Harris. It wouldn’t surprise me if he followed a similar trajectory to Harris, who spent a few seasons in San Francisco as general manager, before taking a lead position as president of baseball operations.”