Royals executive withdraws name from Giants GM search

As the Giants continue their search for a new general manager to take over for Pete Putila and serve as Buster Posey’s second-in-command following his installation as president of baseball operations, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that one of the names under consideration , has withdrawn from the competition. mix for the job: Royals assistant GM Scott Sharp, who Rosenthal said is removing himself from the candidate list due to family considerations.

Sharp, 51, is currently senior vice president and assistant GM for Kansas City. The longtime Royals executive started with the club in 2006 as assistant director of player development and has since steadily climbed the organizational ladder, also serving as director of minor league operations and director of player development in Kansas City before ultimately becoming president in 2015 he assistant GM. Prior to his time with the Royals, Sharp served as a scout for the Pirates, Dodgers and Rangers organizations.

That strong background in player development is likely why the Giants were interested in Sharp for their role as GM. As Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle noted this past week, Posey has made it clear that he is looking for a candidate with an extensive scouting background for the GM role. That has led the Giants to pursue many candidates with resumes similar to Sharp’s, including athletics assistant GM Billy Owens, former Dodgers VP of amateur scouting Logan White and former Nationals director of player development De Jon Watson.

Posey’s desire for a general manager with a strong background in scouting is wise given his own relative inexperience on the front office side of baseball; the 37-year-old is just three seasons into his playing career and has since served on the club’s board of directors after purchasing a minority stake in the club two years ago. While he has since had a hand in the club’s operations, working on free agent recruitment and even playing a major role in the recent extension negotiations with third baseman Matt Chapman, it is unclear how much influence Posey had in the day-to-day competition . day-to-day operations of the Giants prior to his ascension to president of baseball operations. That said, Slusser indicates that experience with contract negotiations and arbitration hearings is not necessary for Posey’s GM, given assistant GM Jeremy Shelley’s experience in that role.

Getting back to Sharp, it seems like the longtime Royals executive is only interested in a change if he were to take the opportunity to lead an organization. Rosenthal’s report suggests that Sharp may be interested in running baseball operations for an organization at some point in the future, although it is unclear whether or not answering to Posey was a factor in his decision to withdraw his name to make it into consideration for the Giants. “GM job. For now, though, it appears Sharp is content to remain with the Royals after a surprising 85-win campaign that saw the club return to the postseason for the first time since their 2015 World Series championship.