In Zaidi we trust - The Giants

i see brimstead already said that m/l

https://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/arrogant-SF-Giants-are-ruining-baseball-by-trying-17126538.php?IPID=SFGate-HP-Editors-Picks

With a heavy heart, I must say: I’m not sure I can continue being a San Francisco Giants fan.

Yes, they look like contenders again. Sure, they have an intriguing, exciting roster of players. And yes, they’re winning lots of games.

But therein lies the problem – how are they winning those games? Unfortunately, the Giants seem to be under the impression that they can just score a bunch of runs, and then score even more runs later in the game, with absolutely no regard for the feelings of the opposing team.

Is that really the kind of team we want to root for? Shouldn’t we be fans of a team that tries to win the right way?

This past weekend’s series against the Washington Nationals provided a perfect example of the kind of team the Giants have unfortunately become. On Friday night, with a clearly insurmountable six-run lead in the ninth inning, Thairo Estrada had the unfettered audacity to try to steal second base and score on a base hit. Thankfully, he was thrown out at home before he could embarrass the Nationals any further, but what was he thinking? Would the Nationals really have scored seven runs in the ninth to win the game? Sure, the Giants scored seven runs in an inning earlier in the same game, but would it really have happened twice? No, statistically impossible.

Estrada’s actions rightfully drew the ire of Washington manager Dave Martinez, who called out Giants manager Gabe Kapler and his team for intentionally ignoring the delicate sensibilities of the Nationals players. But did the Giants learn their lesson? No.

On Sunday, after scoring five runs, the Giants — greedy as ever — simply couldn’t help themselves and went for more. Joc Pederson was at the plate in the seventh inning, having already homered earlier in the game. Decorum called for him to simply stand at the plate and not swing, since doing so would risk further humiliation for the Nationals; instead, he swung the bat and hit another home run.

Is that conduct becoming of a gentleman? I would venture to say it is the complete opposite. The rest of the Giants unfortunately decided to follow Pederson’s lead, adding on even more runs to win by a score of 12-3.

Obviously, the Giants haven’t stopped to consider just how scoring all of these runs might affect the feelings of their opponents. The Nationals, like the Padres a few weeks earlier, only wanted to come out and play a fun game of baseball, maybe have a few laughs, and then head home for the night. They didn’t expect to be thoroughly humiliated by a team that simply refused to stop playing hard after taking the lead. The Giants’ opponents are highly skilled, highly paid, grown adults. It’s high time Kapler and his players started to take that into account – by not trying, of course.

If the arrogant Giants aren’t going to stop competing for nine full innings, Major League Baseball should step in. It’s time to give other teams the option to forfeit a game once a deficit becomes too big to overcome. Let these teams save face, and save their bullpens, by allowing them to raise a white flag from the top step of their dugout. That way, they can avoid the embarrassment that comes from an opponent continuing to play the game of baseball.

For instance, how much better would Martinez and the Nationals have felt if they had been allowed to raise the white flag after the Giants scored their insurmountable fifth run on Sunday? Sure, the game wouldn’t have even lasted five full innings, but that's not the point. The point is the Nationals could’ve lost with dignity by losing more quickly. They’d have lower ERAs on their pitching staff, and they wouldn’t have had to suffer the indignity of watching Pederson’s home run trot a second time. It’s only fair.

Regrettably, baseball is too set in its ways to ever embrace this kind of radical change. So it’s going to be up to teams like the Giants to police themselves, adhere to the unwritten rules, and stop playing so damn hard all the time.

But it may be too late for me, and thousands of Giants fans like me, who can’t in good conscience continue to root for a team that refuses to take the feelings of the opposition into account. Please, Giants, I’m begging you: play the game the right way. The unwritten rules are there for a reason. Let’s start being gentlemanly and adhere to them.

And if Dave Martinez happens to be reading this, I profoundly apologize on behalf of all San Francisco fans for the utterly disgusting way the Giants swept your team. I can’t imagine what you’re going through. Stay strong.

Dave Tobener (@gggiants on Twitter) is a lifelong Giants fan whose family has had season tickets for over 30 years. He’s been lucky enough to never miss a World Series game in the City in his lifetime, still isn’t completely over 2002 and lives and dies with the Giants every year.

Only got through about half that but it reads like a joke, is it not?

I'm not sure but just seeing reactions to them breaking all these unwritten rules.

It's dripping of sarcasm

Just finished it’s clearly satire lol

Buster Posey day was pretty spectacular:
https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/giants/buster-posey-day-fittingly-emotional-hilarious-tribute-giants-icon

Lol

If you have a full beard, do you also have a mustache? Kap has some thoughts 🤣🥸 pic.twitter.com/YWlZKP3tlm

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) May 11, 2022

Well no a beard is different than a mustache.

Kapler gone full Will Farrell Harry Caray

That mustache vs beard thing has really blown up, I have seen four different shows where they have talked about it

Kap is also a huge music fan, likes music more than baseball

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/33904139/mind-san-francisco-giants-nonconformist-manager

I love baseball, but I probably "love music more.”

Really? More than baseball?

“Baseball is like sort of my blood,” the 2021 Manager of the Year said. “It’s what I know best. It’s what is the most influential thing in my life. But that pure love is probably music. And that’s from my mom and my dad.”

Always unprompted, Kapler will open press conferences by giving music takes or updates on what he’s been listening to. In spring training, he recommended Vince Staples and Billie Eilish’s “fiery collab.” When Farhan Zaidi walked into the dugout for his season-opening press conference, Kapler played a Mac Miller song from his iPhone for walk-up music.

Before games, players walk into the clubhouse to hear music spilling out of Kapler’s office — R&B, jazz, and most often hip-hop. During them, he notices everyone’s walk-up songs. Background music plays in his head subconsciously like a movie score. He shares artists with his players and uses music as a device to connect with his sons.

https://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/Gabe-Kapler-says-he-regrets-not-kneeling-17204164.php

San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler told reporters on Friday that he won't come out of the dugout for the national anthem before games until he "feel(s) better" about the "direction of our country."

This decision comes in the wake of a self-published introspective blog on his website in which he expressed shame that he did not kneel for the national anthem in the wake of Tuesday’s mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

In the post, he called out some of the circumstances that led to the shooting, including the shooter’s ability to purchase assault rifles and ammunition for his crime, the inaction of police officers as parents pleaded with them to do something, and the callous response from some politicians.

But Kapler then looked at himself on Wednesday during the national anthem and called himself a “coward” for not kneeling during the anthem because his dad taught him when he was younger to not stand for the anthem if he believed the anthem wasn’t “representing us well right now.”

“I wish I hadn’t let my discomfort compromise my integrity,” Kapler wrote. “I wish that I could have demonstrated what I learned from my dad, that when you’re dissatisfied with your country, you let it be known through protest. The home of the brave should encourage this.”

The Giants held a moment of silence prior to Wednesday’s game against the New York Mets at Oracle Park for the victims of the shooting. The Golden State Warriors were another Bay Area organization that held a moment of silence for the victims, but they also explicitly advocated for “sensible gun laws.”

I hope Bart is not a bust but he does have time to turn things around. Right now he can't hit major league pitching and strikes out, it seems, almost every at bat.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/06/giants-option-joey-bart-trade-phillies-austin-wynns.html

Missing Posey big time and this years club is not that good, they are very average. Last year was magic and should be fine if Zaidi can get some free agents to come to San Francisco in the next few years.

Beat LA!

Sweep Sweep!

Cain's perfect game was 11 years or so back today

Pretty cool to see Clayton Kershaw greet Matt Cain on the field with a smile and a handshake. Kershaw always had a great affinity for Bumgarner, Cain and Lincecum over the years. Game respects game.

— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) June 12, 2022

this is the 10th anniversary of Cain's perfect game.

This could be the last week for Carlos in San Francisco and I have never seen something like this before.

What kind of magic is this?? 😂 pic.twitter.com/eUiPyxLjuP

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) July 27, 2022

Surprised to come in here and not see the highlight of him kicking a bat and hitting Estrada in the knee

This team is in freefall. Hate to see it.

The worst thing that could have happened is another fluky contending season that prevented them from trading Joc and Rodon for young guys.

Have no idea what's going on in that video

Have no idea what's going on in that video

Ball was hit up the middle, kicked off his foot, bounced up, natural movements led to ball landing in glove.

https://www.mlb.com/news/carlos-rodon-makes-kick-save-for-the-out

https://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/carlos-correa-rafael-devers-giants-17699458.php

I'm ok with how this off-season turned out. They went after Judge and came out short. Personally I didn't want Judge anyways I wanted Correa. When Correa leg came back with issues, backing out was the right move. They should have let Crawford stay at short and had Correa at third for one season but I think Brandon understood the situation.

That’s why the Giants have to hope they were really, really, really right about Correa and his health. If his ankle falls off in three years while making a 6-3 putout, they look like geniuses. If he’s an impact player for the next six to seven years, and then a useful player for the rest of his career, they look foolish. There’s not a lot of in-between.

This seems a little off to me. To be "really, really, really right about Correa," does the writer mean they should be rooting for him to get hurt? To me, they already look "right" in that the Mets are dealing with the same issue. The Giants, understandably, didn't want to spend $350M on a player who couldn't pass a physical to their satisfaction. The Mets are taking that chance. May work out, may not, but if it does, I don't think that reflects badly on the Giants.

I agree with that.

The Mets are the Yankees and Dodgers: they can spend whatever they want, and if it doesn't work out, they'll just spend some more. Not everybody can do that.

I'm ok with how this off-season turned out. They went after Judge and came out short. Personally I didn't want Judge anyways I wanted Correa. When Correa leg came back with issues, backing out was the right move. They should have let Crawford stay at short and had Correa at third for one season but I think Brandon understood the situation.

The Mets are the Yankees and Dodgers: they can spend whatever they want, and if it doesn't work out, they'll just spend some more. Not everybody can do that.

Ideally, sure, but can the Giants afford Correa and Ohtani? That'd be $750M right there. There are other models to build a winning team.

left the guy getting ready for a presser twenty minutes before they realised “hmmm something’s not right with the medical”
- front office didn’t bother to say anything

Not sure if this is true according to Alex Pavlovic podcast (Giants NBC Sports Beat Writer) the Giants front office let Boris know on Monday, a day before the press conference, that there were red flags on their report and they were looking into getting more opinions. Press conference was canceled three hours before, not minutes.

Not saying it wasn't a clusterfuck because it was. What they did with Crawford was the worst and to compound that other players on the team too. But in hindsight it wasn't as bad as it sure seemed at first. They were right to withdraw the contract.

Ideally, sure, but can the Giants afford Correa _and_ Ohtani? That'd be $750M right there. There are other models to build a winning team.

xps also I didn’t realise that about the presser, thank you for the clarification (sounds like Boras may have put that part out to justify his behaviour?)

Front office still said nothing though

(xpost) This is also the franchise that won three WS in six years without making the flashy signings you're suggesting. And evidently Correa was happy to sign with the Giants based on who they have now--they turned him away, not the other way around.

That was then, when they had produced good players from the farm system?! They don’t have anyone coming through like that now.

I get what your saying, and the Giants got lucky with Bumgarner and Posey developing the way they did; I'm sure they weren't necessarily counting on the greatest WS pitcher ever and a generational HOF'er when they drafted them. But a couple of smart draft picks and then building on that doesn't necessarily take a lot of time; Bumgarner was drafted in 2007, Posey in 2008, and they won their first title in 2010. That's sort of what the Jays are trying to do with Guerrero and Bichette: start there and work out. I don't know anything about the Giants' finances, but I just can't see them outspending the Dodgers and now, apparently, the Padres. I was touting Correa for MVP before all this craziness started, but I honestly think in the long run the Giants will not regret him going elsewhere.

Posey and Lincecum (who you completely omitted to mention as the first of those three draft picks for some reason), were both Golden Spikes winners. All three were consecutive first round draft picks. Obviously teams do expect those picks to pan out, but in reality tons of first round picks don’t. These three did, and how.

However, the Giants have never drafted a hitter in those years comparable to any of the pitchers (Cain, Lincecum, Bumgarner) or Posey. They had to bring Bonds in. Obviously they have position players that can hit but they’re not known as a low-hitting team in the past two decades for no reason. That’s what they’re trading for. Someone who can reliably hit and give them a bit of star power.

Like, do you not remember them bringing in Beltran in 2011? Those WS teams were always looking for run support. You don’t need a guy to do five innings on short rest in game 7 if you’ve got anyone who can reliably deliver.

who you completely omitted to mention as the first of those three draft picks for some reason[

A very mysterious reason: I forgot. (Besides which, Lincecum was the second-best starter on the 2010 team, and not all that important to the 2012/14 teams--he wasn't central in the way that Bumgarner/Posey were.)

I swear to god, I don't know what point you're trying to make. That the Giants should bring in great players? Well, yeah, they should--but not doing what the Rangers do, which is spending untold amounts of money when they're not even a .500 team. And they did land a great player in Correa, until they found out that they was a risky investment. So they passed, and now he's either someone else's problem or someone else's successful gamble. They won 107 games two years ago, and they were a .500 team last year who drew 2.5 million fans. And now they should...panic and start emptying the vault to grab a wild-card spot?

I mean, I really do appreciate how much you've absorbed in your year of watching baseball and your spirited insistence on explaining the subtleties of the game to me. It's taken me 50 years to get to where you've gotten.

Oh I see, the 2010 series doesn’t count for some reason. Weird.

Like, do you not remember them bringing in Beltran in 2011?

No, I don't, but thanks for reminding me. They traded for Beltran, he was great, and they didn't make the playoffs that year. In 2012, Beltran was gone. Who did they trade for Beltran? Zach Wheeler, currently one of this best pitchers in baseball.

This is an argument you're making in favour of hitting the panic button?

I swear to god, I don't know what point you're trying to make

_Like, do you not remember them bringing in Beltran in 2011?_

No, I don't, but thanks for reminding me. They traded for Beltran, he was great, and they didn't make the playoffs that year. In 2012, Beltran was gone. Who did they trade for Beltran? Zach Wheeler, currently one of this best pitchers in baseball.

This is an argument you're making in _favour_ of hitting the panic button?

Oh I see, the 2010 series doesn’t count for some reason.

And I said this exactly where? What I said was that Lincecum was a somewhat key player in 2010, and not key at all in 2012/2014, which was a response to you equating Lincecum with Bumgarner/Posey as central to the three WS teams. He wasn't.

I’m arguing that the team needed a big signing of that type--this is exactly when teams end up overpaying somebody, when for whatever reason they decide they need this one player. Nobody needs any one player; there are always alternatives.

Suddenly I'm rooting for the Giants to have a great season with what they have.

I'm sorry you can't help me. Because I really do need your help in making sense of all this.