Trent Baalke

49ers need to focus on defense

By: Paul Gackle 04/24/13 5:37 PM

At this stage of the game, 49ers general manager Trent Baalke appears to have a good handle on this whole NFL Draft thing. In the last few rodeos, he’s snagged quarterback Colin Kaepernick with the No. 36 pick (2011), NaVorro Bowman with the No. 91 pick (2010) and he scored by gambling on Aldon Smith with the No. 7 pick two years ago. Read More

Raiders, Niners take different approaches into draft

By: Glenn Dickey 04/18/13 7:34 PM

Because of the way they’ve been run the last few years, the 49ers and Raiders will face very different scenarios in this year’s NFL Draft, which begins Thursday. Adroit personnel moves have netted the 49ers extra draft picks, so they’ll have 13 to use or trade for future usage. Their first round pick is next-to-last, but trading Alex Smith to Kansas City netted them the Chiefs’ second-round pick, second in that round, so they’ll have two picks in four choices in that segment. Read More

49ers' Justin Smith, Aldon Smith on pace after surgeries

By: The Associated Press 04/17/13 5:21 PM

SANTA CLARA — San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Justin Smith and linebacker Aldon Smith are working back from offseason surgeries, and general manager Trent Baalke expects each to be at full strength and ready for the start of training camp this summer.Running back Kendall Hunter, who underwent surgery late in the season for a torn left Achilles, also plans to be full go by training camp after he recently resumed sprint work. He was injured in a Nov. 25 win at New Orleans. Read More

Front-office has 49ers set up for long-term success with Trent Baalke

By: Glenn Dickey 03/14/13 7:05 PM

As significant player movement began at the start of NFL free agency, the good news is that the 49ers have general manager Trent Baalke, who knows what’s happening around the league, and an owner in Jed York who knows the importance of having that kind of man in charge. Read More

49ers undecided on QB Alex Smith’s future

By: The Sports Xchange 02/21/13 8:23 PM

INDIANAPOLIS — Although his team made it all the way to the Super Bowl, 49ers general manager Trent Baalke was asked to discuss less pleasant issues with the media at the NFL scouting combine Thursday. What will he do with demoted quarterback Alex Smith? Was he concerned with the lack of productivity from last year’s draft class, especially that of wide receiver A.J. Jenkins, their first-round pick who saw minimal playing time? Read More

Trent Baalke’s fingerprints are all over 49ers’ success

By: Dylan Kruse 01/22/13 9:10 PM

Over the next week and a half leading up to Super Bowl XLVII, 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh’s story will be told a nauseating amount of times. And frankly, it should be. The turnaround he has engineered in two short years to restore a once-proud franchise to all its glory has been nothing short of miraculous. But in all the Harbowl buzz, it’s easy to overlook the puppeteer behind the scenes: Niners general manager Trent Baalke. Read More

Niners clearly felt need was at wide receiver

By: Glenn Dickey 04/26/12 10:56 PM

The 49ers’ pick of Illinois wide receiver A.J. Jenkins in the first round Thursday night demonstrated conclusively what they felt their biggest need was. And this after they’d already signed Randy Moss and Mario Manningham as free agents. Michael Crabtree had better check his ego at the door and start working hard at running his patterns or he might find himself on the practice squad. Read More

Niners building on momentum, while Raiders stuck doing damage control

By: Glenn Dickey 03/15/12 9:48 PM

The 49ers and Raiders are approaching the 2012 season quite differently. The 49ers are trying to mount another attack at the Super Bowl. The Raiders are trying to undo the damage caused by the ridiculous contracts Al Davis gave out in the two years before his death. Niners general manager Trent Baalke set his primary mission as keeping together a defense that was at the core of the 49ers’ run to the NFC Championship Game. Read More

Options abound for 49ers to address need at wide receiver

By: Glenn Dickey 03/02/12 12:02 AM

Everybody knows the 49ers need to strengthen their receiving corps. Here are four ways they can do it: 1. The draft. In the two drafts he’s conducted, general manager Trent Baalke has shown that he likes to draft players with upside in the first round, Aldon Smith last year, Anthony Davis the previous year. He will also draft for need — but only if they’re good players. Smith filled a need for an outside pass rusher, Davis and Mike Iupati the need for offensive linemen. Read More

Brain trust puts San Francisco 49ers on top

By: Glenn Dickey 12/22/11 10:46 PM

The 49ers’ success is no fluke, and they once again have the organizational strength to be consistent winners, with Jed York as CEO and Trent Baalke as general manager. Jed is nothing like his father, John, for which we can all be thankful. Though he’s only 30, he’s grown into the job he inherited, working tirelessly to get the funding for the proposed new stadium in Santa Clara, now scheduled to open in 2014, and he nailed down $850 million in bank loans about two weeks ago. Read More