In Zaidi we trust - The Giants

RIP 2023

When they get no hit through eight at Coors Field, there is no way this team deserves a spot in the playoffs.

And that Harrison thing burns me up too or I agree completely.

Xpost

In other words, I have watched Giants baseball for 24 years now and this has to be the worst for a team that is will finish appropriately ,500 and better. There is no offense and needs to be addressed.

Approximately, stupid autocorrect

Did you see the two Baggarly mailbaggs on the Athletic? He was scathing about them keeping Joc over Belt.

Baggs is deservedly scathing about the Giants wasting Webb’s season. Man carried them as pretty much the sole starter putting up a 2010s workload and got rewarded like he was Matt Cain. Pathetic.

Run support per 27 outs this season for currently qualified MLB pitchers while they were in the game:

2.9 Logan Webb
3.0 George Kirby
3.1 Braxton Garrett
3.3 Kyle Freeland
3.4 JP Sears
3.4 Kevin Gausman
3.4 Miles Mikolas
3.5 Sonny Gray
3.5 Mitch Keller
3.7 Merrill Kelly
3.8…

— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) September 20, 2023

gabe out

I’m hearing the Giants are relieving Gabe Kapler of managerial duties, announcement imminent.

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) September 29, 2023

Just came here after seeing Baggs’ tweet. There was speculation like two days ago, then Grant Brisbee(!) had that article in the Athletic and now he’s gone I guess?

Think the Baggs coverage that repeatedly criticised the attitude and lack of preparation of some of the veterans also influenced this outcome.

Didn’t hate him or anything, think he’s been scapegoated a bit & am very much not a fan of Zaidi’s choices for the roster tbh!

The Giants announced that they have fired manager Gabe Kapler. This is the first time the organization has relieved a manager of duties since they replaced Jim Davenport with Roger Craig with 18 games remaining in the 1985 season.

— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) September 29, 2023

I never really thought about it seriously but I wonder if they move Buster in? He did move back to the Bay Area recently.

"Here's a roster where your middle of the order is Michael Conforto, Joc Pederson, and Mitch Haniger and you have two starting pitchers who can get to the sixth inning. Don't fuck it up."

— Grant Brisbee (@GrantBrisbee) September 29, 2023

Baggs has been scathing about some of the roster choices recently. As Brisbee says, not on him.

Three games before the end of the season seems like a major chump move as an organization.

Danny Emerman on KNBR theorizes Farhan and ownership might've known Kapler was gone after the Dbacks series. There's no way. They had no intention of firing Kapler at that point. This all came about in 48-72 hours after Farhan "talked to people," Webb's comments and fan reaction.

— LOLKNBR (@LOLKNBR) September 29, 2023

a better manager would have unlocked joey bart's promise

I have been away and will explain somewhat when I get back to regular posting. But I have some thoughts. Understandable. Webb's comments were telling. This team was 13 games above .500 and will finish under that. Tho the talent was overachieving the collapse was monumental. These last few weeks they lost their focus, how does that happen when you're playing for a playoff spot. Maybe Kap did better than he should have, again talent but his stoic approach caught up to him when it mattered most.

Three days early is a dick move so maybe there is more to the story?

For reference: https://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/logan-webb-sf-giants-calls-out-teammates-18389595.php

“It’s definitely something I would like to do, but to be honest with you, winning is more important,” Webb told reporters in the locker room when asked about winning the Cy Young. “If we don’t do that, then it’s kind of a waste to me. ... I’m tired. I’m tired of losing. It’s not enjoyable. It’s not fun. We’ve got to make some big changes in here to really create that winning culture. We want to show up every single year and try to win the whole thing. I think, I think we’re there. It’s just, we gotta, I don’t know what it is. But I’m just sick of losing, to be honest. That’s No. 1 for me, goal-wise.”

"When’s the last time you heard music in a major-league clubhouse after a loss?” one Giants player, granted anonymity in order to speak freely, reportedly told Baggarly. “I mean, you shouldn’t hang your head for too long after a loss. But you shouldn’t be OK with it, either.”

The music is part of what Baggarly describes as “a clubhouse that has included too many ho-hum reactions to losing along with a near-zealotry to Pusoy, a Filipino card game that Joc Pederson and some other Giants players appear to find more compelling than studying the night’s opposing starting pitcher.”

"We’ve got to come in here with the same winning mentality every single day,” Webb said. “Not saying we don’t have that. Just saying we need to throw a little extra onto that. I know (right-hander Alex) Cobb hasn’t been to the playoffs in a long time and I feel terrible for a guy like that. He pitches his ass off this year, he’s an All-Star, and he should be pitching in the playoffs. I want to help make that happen for him. It’s just tough.”

To be fair the middle part is not Webb but ran along the same line.

Good for Gabe, now he can go manage for a team whose owners/GM actually have ambition.

Giants brass whiffed on Arson Judge, (wisely?) flopped on Correia, only to pull the trigger on... (drum roll): Paul DeJong, Joc Pederson, Mitch Haniger & Michael Conforto.

But yeah, Gabe was given far below replacement level garbage and the fact the Giants are anywhere even close to being a .500 team is an amazing accomplishment.

(Sorry, I missed Grant's tweet where he basically says the same thing.)

Bless the SF Chronicle's sportswriters... (from: https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/giants/article/farhan-zaidi-said-mean-gabe-kapler-s-giants-job-18396968.php)

One very intriguing possibility, and one — like Melvin — with Oakland ties to Zaidi: A’s manager Mark Kotsay, who has done a good job in Oakland with a team that unloaded most of its established big-league players over the past two years. Kotsay is under contract for next season, with a team option for 2025.

I mean, there are a lot of adjectives I can think of to describe Kotsay's record with the A's but "a good job" is certainly not one of them.

.308 W/L % (as of today):
https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/kotsama01.shtml

Genuinely curious which managers have compiled a lower winning % who've managed a full season while not getting fired. I'm pretty sure this is one of the bottom 3 worst of modern-era baseball.

mike matheny is available

To be fair the middle part is not Webb but ran along the same line.

https://i.postimg.cc/hGP6MqVT/IMG-0089.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/Zq7gMDLg/IMG-0090.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/j5D90Qgj/IMG-0091.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/4dj0J7qQ/IMG-0092.jpg

Baggs came out SWINGING

So why was Kapler fired on Friday afternoon, with three games and one more season remaining on his contract? Why did he become the first San Francisco Giants manager in 38 years to be relieved of his duties, ending a run of remarkable franchise stability when it came to the industry’s most volatile occupation?

Because the Giants didn’t win enough. Why didn’t the Giants win enough? Because their roster didn’t have nearly enough talent or continuity. Why didn’t their roster have enough talent or continuity? Maybe because Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi operated with blind spots that have been so large at times that you wondered who ripped off the side mirrors.

yeah kapler managed a .420 team to .500 is one way of looking at it

RIP big man, heaven needed a thoroughly jacked scrotal suntanner

Bring back Dusty

Nice tribute to BCraw here. As far as I know he hasn’t confirmed retirement yet but he surely must be doing so, right?

Looking for a clip of the 2012 WS game 3 clip Vogelsong mentions but in the meantime:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh7PMk365Yw

I remembered this one, ball deflected off Cain, didn’t miss a beat, beautiful barehand grab and throw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tUMATbO78I

Oh yeah, here’s the game 3 play! The ball breaks the bat with how hard Miggy hit it, incredible catch really

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZSQhQWunHY

https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/34/51/22/24286368/3/900x0.jpg

Former pitcher Ryan Vogelsong: “The 2012 postseason sums up everything the guy has done in his career. He played absolutely unbelievable defense throughout the playoffs, and things he did offensively were exactly what we needed at the time, stuff that might’ve gotten overlooked in his career. Some of my favorite Craw plays were in the World Series in Detroit, a couple of diving plays in the freezing cold and rain. You just saw everything the man could do, going to his backhand, up the middle, behind the mound. My favorite play that I ever saw him make was Game 3 when Timmy (Lincecum) came in relief and broke Miguel Cabrera’s bat, and Craw made a diving, acrobatic play up the middle and sidearmed his throw to first. The fact it was 32 degrees made it pretty incredible, too.”

Bay Area Bob 🎬 pic.twitter.com/7ETN5nBRaf

— SFGiants (@SFGiants) October 25, 2023

Well see how it goes. I like the hiring and now on to the players.

https://x.com/susanslusser/status/1731425846244549098?s=20

Ohtani or Yamamoto but probably neither as everyone hates San Francisco these days. Lee would be nice too.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39100773/giants-700m-offer-ohtani-identical-dodgers

https://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/giants-posey-sf-doom-loop-free-agency-18552169.php

Can't wait for Shohei to drive through 6th Street on his way to Dodger Stadium and take in all the sights and smells.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlIYEE6ixQU

It's worth watching for Scott Boras hair alone.

Jung Hoo Lee has been a Giant for about two seconds and I already love him.

Fingers crossed this is the beginning of them being able to field a competitive and exciting team

You love to see it!

playing this on loop for the rest of my life https://t.co/UA3DumaQMr pic.twitter.com/uOBTolDkeT

— natasha (@thefriscobay) December 17, 2023

😊

Well, this would just about end things for Joey Bart in San Francisco. https://t.co/wstGM8vrOo

— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) December 19, 2023

The writing has been on the wall for Bart but still a bit sad for the second overall pick. I wish him well.

Thanks for the scouting report on Tom Murphy, a hitting catcher is becoming more and more rare. So it sounds like a good backup for Bailey.

Pretty stoked for the Grandfather of the Wind to bring some KBO swagger

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/12/dusty-baker-discussing-potential-role-with-giants.html

The Great Dusty Baker tells ⁦@FightinHydrant⁩ and ⁦@JDumasReports⁩ that he is talking to the Giants about a possible role with the team. pic.twitter.com/ZBUPfdBm3H

— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) December 29, 2023

If you're not a fan of the Dodgers, Yankees or maybe the Braves I hardly see the point:
https://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/farhan-zaidi-explains-free-agency-woes-giants-18588437.php

I…didn’t take that from that. Charles Johnson is insanely wealthy. He could easily afford to spend more on the team if he felt like it, instead of contributing to Christian fundamentalist super PACs or whatever the fuck he does with his money. Have the Giants actually landed a top free agent since Bonds?

Also, the Belt mention at the end stung because they paid Joc twice as much to be half as good and to hang out in the clubhouse playing cards. Will forever hate the decision to let Belt walk.

Pitchers and catchers have reported.

For me its all about one thing and one thing only, the Giants. Hope it's not as boring as last year.

Tom Murphy, Lee and Soler…that’s a lot of improvement to a bad lineup from last year.

The offense was a problem but I think most of it had to do with the opener or maybe no pitching.

Still the staff, so far, this year leaves a lot to be desired.