The Owner's Big 3

Winston-Salem, NC -- The owner of the San Francisco Giants, Peter Magowan, has decided to retire from his position of chairman and owner of the club. Measuring an owner's degree of success can be a tricky task because the team's win-loss record isn't the only factor. Attendance, spending, wins, and involvement in the community are all other factors to be considered. My general rule of thumb of determining if a particular owner had a successful tenure is based on three things -- "The Big 3" -- Ballpark (attendance), Marquee Player, and Rings.

• Ballpark -- What was the level of attendance at the ballpark? In this golden age of new edifices, did the owner (with help from his city) acquire the funds to build a new park?
• Marquee Player -- Was there a franchise player that the team was built around, and subsequently, somebody who could sell more game tickets, merchandise, and gain more national exposure?
• Rings -- Was the team able to build a successful contender, win a championship, then maintain it (the Marlins' Jeffrey Loria would fail in this category of "maintaining")?

According to my ratings, Magowan came within 6 outs (2002 World Series) of scoring an "A." Not only did he build a ballpark, but he built it with private funding. He didn't need to go the bureaucratic route and get thrown up a flag pole for funds. Magowan made, according to SI's Jon Heyman, the best free agent signing of the modern era in signing Barry Bonds in 1993 for 7 years-$43M. Despite the baggage, Bonds made Magowan a very rich man with the increase in merchandising sales, gate receipts, and coverage on ESPN. On the field, Bonds became one of the most prolific hitters in the game. And finally, while the Giants were yearly contenders through 2003, they came within 6 outs of winning a championship in the 2002 World Series.

The blemishes on Magowan's record are his ties to the steroids era and being a huge supporter of Bonds and his "lifestyle." I thought that he was in a difficult / powerful position last offseason on whether or nor to sign Bonds. By signing Bonds, he all but guaranteed controversy with the breaking of Aaron's sacred record. Another pitfall against Magowan is that he should have initiated the youth movement in 2005 when Bonds went down with season-ending knee surgery. Rather than trying to surround Bonds with more veterans and bloated contracts (see Zito (7 years-$126M)), the Giants should have begun rebuilding. Instead, they'll be set back three years. All in all, I'd give Magowan a solid B+ as a MLB owner. After all, he did save the Giants from moving to St. Petersburg, FL in 2003, an action that's unclassifiable.