The Merc’s Internal Affairs folks probably got a chuckle last week when Dan Orum, the San Jose Giants’ CEO since 2012, sent the paper an email criticizing them for their coverage of the Stand for San Jose lawsuit. After Orem’s missive, IA decided to look into the case to confirm Orum’s suggestion that the team was not a plaintiff in the suit. Turns out that the Giants were an original plaintiff in the lawsuit, which has everyone scratching their heads about what Orum’s intent was.
Orum became CEO of the Giants only six weeks after the lawsuit was filed, so unless someone forgot to give him a memo or two, he should be well acquainted with the basics of the case. He was brought in to beef up sponsorships, and he may be running into resistance by local South Bay companies who are rightly confused about the little Giants’ role in the case. If Orum could somehow distance the team from the lawsuit, companies could be less reticent to commit. Of course, the paper had to go and muck that up. The SJ Giants are already in a tough spot trying to get breaks on a lease extension at Municipal Stadium, similar to the A’s current situation in Oakland.
Thankfully the lawsuit will be underway shortly, so there’s hope that much of the confusion (and frankly, obfuscation) will be cleared up through the normal legal process. As the teams and public entities continue talks into the offseason, we’ll see which parties want to be partners and which ones prefer to be adversaries.
newballpark.org 
fer chrissakes, the SF Giants quietly purchased controlling interest in the SJ Giants in 2009 so that they could use the SJ team in this way. helluva CEO.
I don’t think the present lawsuit means much to anyone. Seems to me the upheaval in mlb revenue sharing rules–which will change the A’s from a revenue receiver into a revenue payor the moment a new ballpark opens–combined with the dissolution of RDAs in Calif. created several reasons for the A’s to bide their time. Why not wait to see if better revenue sharing terms can be had with the next CBA? Why not wait until San Jose can provide the land for a new park? Meanwhile, everyone associated with mlb will get less and less willing to tolerate the Coliseum as a mlb park. Things’ll look better for a SJ move 3 years from now.
http://www.mercurynews.com/internal-affairs/ci_23276895/internal-affairs-s-j-giants-swing-and-miss
Iam surprised that the CEO did not run his rebuttal by the SF CEO. Makes him look like an idiot. Iam sure Baer called him, and told him as much.
Not surprising behavior by the giants mgt. – how low will they go with their bush-league stunts? Mayor Reed should boot the SJ giants out of San Jose permanently (He could find a different minor league affiliate to replace the SJ giants easily – before the A’s move here)
The San Joae Giants: Fighting hard to keep our city of 1 million people a minor league city, only. I say do what the Coiseum Commission is doing to the A’s and propose dramatic rent increases. If the minor league Giants don’t like it, they can move Truckee or some other place better suited for minor league ball than the 10th-largest city in the country.
I’m sure the Giants will just roll over if San Jose gets out the old rent gouge on the SJ Giants while trying to lure another team to town. Yeah. Let’s see some more lawsuits. That’s the ticket.
Is this the real XS talking, or did someone steal his account?!
Xoot’s dropping the ‘suit.
Since the lawsuit is a sham and at least some, if not all, of the plaintiffs were sham plaintiffs, why would the little Giants be any different? Ironically I doubt even the SF Giants’ management know much or are current of the S4SFGiants lawsuit either. This whole process was the SF Giants writing a check to a law firm with the generic instructions of “obstruct” for the purpose of denying the move or strengthening their bargaining position. This is not a real legal proceeding with interested/hurt plaintiffs who are involved/eager to hear every legal turn and every in and out (though I am sure there is a resident of Gilroy or Houston Texas who remains interested in the proceedings as his/her name is on the lawsuit….it’s possible).
The little Giants’ CEO unaware of this “case” is further proof of that which is already established fact, it’s a sham lawsuit. Next topic….
Even so xoot – SJ should do the right thing and shaft the midgets regarding the Muni stadium lease, or better yet, boot the gnats out of town. Here is an organization completely shafting the A’s and San Jose, yet expects a break on a lease from San Jose, even though they are suing San Jose with their phony lawsuit? ridickulous.
I’d be fine with booting the Lil Giants out of town. Let SJSU and the local Little League teams play at Municipal Stadium, the fans will get better quality baseball.
A’s Fan says: “I’d be fine with booting the Lil Giants out of town. Let SJSU and the local Little League teams play at Municipal Stadium, the fans will get better quality baseball.”
Sour grapes or just silliness? They’re 29-15–with 4 league titles and 4 other playoff appearances since 2005.
True, Mark – Perhaps they should replace the entire SF giants roster (they are likely better)
@Briggs, I use both names. I wear a suit most days, however, if that helps. (Back when I worked as a railroad brakeman on freight trains I didn’t wear suits. Maybe that’ll help, too.)
The S4SJ lawsuit probably isn’t “sham.” It’s not much more than nuisance, though. One notion: The Giants bought a controlling interest in the SJ team just as Bill Neukom took the reigns in SF. It was a clever way to prepare to sue the A’s or mlb by proxy, without violating the mlb constitution. But the world has changed in many ways since 2009. (Two WS championships and cataracts of income undoubtedly have altered the Giants ownership’s view of the world.) So maybe the S4SJ lawsuit is nothing more than the thin vestige of a broad litigation plan laid out in a bygone day.
I wouldn’t shaft the SJ Giants, but I wouldn’t give them what they wanted until the lawsuit was dropped. The team fills a niche in the entertainment spectrum. Like the Earthquakes, they are a way to go see a live event with the family without breaking the bank.
Free entertainment, Lone Stranger, because the SF giants are always giving away freebee tickets to artificially boost the SJ giants popularity.
Cataracts of income altering their view of the world. Well composed sentence.
briggs, glad you noted, poss. w/ undertanding, the double meaning.
Perhaps the Minor League team to relocate to the Bay Area would be the Rivercats once the A’s move to Railey Field.