SAN FRANCISCO — A week from now, San Francisco Giants managing partner Bill Neukom will decide whether to retain general manager Brian Sabean and manager Bruce Bochy.

But actually, Neukom has one decision to make instead of two. The field manager remains the GM’s call, and assuming Sabean is the authority, there’s no confusion on the man he wants to lead from the dugout.
“Without question,” Sabean said. “Bruce has done a great job.”
Coming to the end of his 13th season, Sabean has the second-longest continuous tenure with his club among major league general managers. In that time, he has worked with just three managers: Dusty Baker, Felipe Alou and Bochy.
A Giants manager hasn’t been fired on his watch. Perhaps Sabean learned the value of stability during his years as the New York Yankees’ scouting director, when managers changed with every one of owner George Steinbrenner’s emotional tempests.
It’s that stable quality that Sabean most admires in Bochy, who was hired before the 2007 season to shepherd the club through the awkwardness of Barry Bonds’ 756th home run and into a rebuilding mode.
“The biggest thing is his overall nature,” Sabean said. “It’s conducive to what we’re going through. When you have a team trying to turn the page or establish a new identity or get to the next level, you need a consistent personality.
“He has a stoic way about him that keeps people relaxed. He’s done a great job individually and collectively with the way he communicates with players, telling them what they need to know, whether it’s positive or negative. He keeps people involved. He doesn’t have a doghouse. It makes for a good situation all the way around “” a good feeling overall with the ballclub and in the clubhouse.
“And with the right personnel, he’s a darn good game manager.”
Neukom, of course, has considerable input in every major decision, including the field manager. But it would be a mixed message if he sought to extend Sabean while forcing him to make a change in the dugout.
Bochy and Sabean are tight. They have adjacent offices and they ruminate over every victory or defeat, sometimes talking deep into the evening. They usually stay longer after losses.
“Brian is “very competitive,” said Bochy, with a half-smile. “He wants to turn this thing around so much. We both have our way of showing frustration. We all vent in our own way. But when everything’s said, we’re right there on the same page.”
It wasn’t a difficult transition for Bochy after spending the previous 12 seasons with the San Diego Padres. For nearly that entire stretch, he partnered with Kevin Towers, the only GM who has been with his club for longer than Sabean.
Bochy doesn’t want to compare the two executives, but Towers is known to be an emotional competitor, too. So when Sabean’s voice is bouncing off the walls after a loss, Bochy knows that nothing should be taken personally.
“There’s nothing left unsaid,” Sabean said. “We’re not afraid of putting everything on the table or hurting each other’s feelings or making a case that needs to be made.
“But make no mistake, at the end of the day, you have to defer to the manager — nine times out of 10, at least — to what I call the ’power of the pen.’ You’ll have suggestions that need to be discussed with the staff for the good of the organization, but my job is to provide him with what he can do roster-wise.
“All the managers I’ve had the pleasure of working with — Dusty, Felipe, Boch — they all had to have that freedom and latitude so the players know, at the end of the day, he’s the one responsible for what’s happening, who’s playing, and so on.”
Perhaps not coincidentally staring out toward right field, and Oakland beyond, Sabean added, “Some places don’t necessarily have that dynamic. You have places where the GM dictates everything to the manager and the staff, and everyone in their clubhouse knows it.”
The Giants have exceeded Neukom’s stated objectives by clinching their first winning record since 2004. And all of Neukom’s comments point to a healthy respect for Sabean’s talents as a delegator, administrator and baseball mind.
So assuming Neukom doesn’t pull some prestidigitation and produce Pat Gillick or Sandy Alderson from behind a curtain, Sabean and Bochy will begin plotting their winter strategy soon after Sunday’s season finale.
The first conversation might be toughest: Whether to make changes to the coaching staff. After another disappointing offensive season, it’s a strong possibility that hitting coach Carney Lansford will not be retained.
Nothing would be left unsaid.