Magowan A Goner?

Another day, another loss as the Giants get swept by the lowly (and I use the term ironically) Pirates. On a miserable afternoon, the boys in orange and black continued to make the Pirates' last ranked staff look like that of the 1990s Braves.

The Giants are now a season-high 7 games under .500.

If it's any consolation, this is a continuation of a trend - actually, the scientists among us should have expected this. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Pittsburgh has won 13 of its last 15 games against San Francisco and swept three-game series from the Giants in three straight seasons.

But the bigger news coming out of today is that Peter Magowan may be following his buddy Barry Lamar Bonds out the door in short course. Yesterday, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reported within his blog:

The rain didn't arrive until much longer than three hours past the scheduled starting time. That caused San Francisco managing general partner Peter Magowan to blast the Cubs for their decision, as they suspected the Cubs were pushing for the rainout so Kevin Tapani could pitch later in the series...

Ten years later, MacPhail is in Baltimore. And Magowan is expected to retire soon, according to two sources, as part of a "change in control coming soon" in San Francisco, according to a major-league source.

Ray Ratto has reaction in today's Splash Blog.

The fallout of this potential bombshell is hard to ascertain. If Magowan does indeed step down, the most likely scenario appears to be one in which Sue Burns, the majority shareholder, takes over, which may be a continuation of the status quo - remember, all of the shareholders have invested their confidence in Magowan, and should he leave, there is no reason to believe they would be chomping at the bit to axe Brian Sabean, a close Magowan ally.

Then again, maybe they would.

The juicier (and less probable) possibility is that Magowan's shares (and perhaps others) may be divvied up not among current shareholders but sold to a new owner that then becomes managing partner. You know, someone like Larry Ellison, Mark Cuban or Paul Allen - guys who have the capital and are willing to spend what it takes to win. But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.

Then there's this idea from Rick Cook of Brentwood, CA in today's letters to the Sporting Green:

Editor - I believe I have found the solution to the Giants problem. They must give Barry Zito his outright release immediately. Zito can then retire from baseball and take all of the money the Giants owe him and purchase part of the team.

Assuming the Giants, in their sorry state, are worth maybe $200 million, Zito could become the majority owner with no out-of-pocket expenses for his salary. Then as majority owner he could fire whoever the idiot is whose idea it was to sign him. Assuming it was Peter Magowan - he's gone. Brian Sabean, because he didn't have the guts to quit, bye bye. Larry Baer, just because, so long. Bruce Bochy, if you are the one who decided to start Zito Opening Day giving him six starts in April, goodbye to you, too.

Zito could then take over all four positions saving the Giants even more money as long as he agrees to never activate himself. A win-win if you ask me.

RICK COOK
Brentwood

And although I wouldn't ever wish someone out of a job, I do wish that Brian Sabean had a different job, like, I don't know, say, as a podiatrist. This makes that dream of mine one step closer to reality.