Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - 88 | San Francisco Giants | Profile & Projection

Episode Date: February 19, 2020

No more Bochy no more Bumgarner no more attempting to win? The San Francisco Giants are in full rebuild mode. We talk about the guys they brought in. The guys they lost. Theyre projected win total and what prospects they have down in the farm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We're back with another team profile and projection. An episode of day every day until opening day. This is talking baseball. My name's John Boy, and we're talking about the San Francisco Giants of the Bay Area. The San Francisco baseball giants. Jake, how are you doing? Los Hibido-Hantes. I'm good.

You and I talked briefly before this how I love saying that phrase because it sounds It's really cool. And I don't, I don't even think I'm saying anything right. I know it ends with giants, but I think it's, Hibito is not team in Spanish, like Hugadors or something. I don't know. I don't, I only heard it from you. I think it's a lot deeper than my natural voice, which that helps.

And it just rolls off the tongue well. But, uh, this is an interesting one, Jim. We're, we're kind of, well, I'm coming in a little blinder on this, a little more blind. Yeah. because I don't know, man. The Giants are one of the, and like a lot of these bottom teams,

they're in full rebuild. The rest of the division at least thinks they're trying to compete for a wild card slash the Dodgers are a great team. The Giants are clearly not. They're starting a full rebuild. And I guess that's why I kind of feel uninformed about them is because they're officially just starting the rebuild.

Like the Royals, Marlins, like a lot of the teams we've covered have kind of been shit houses for a while. San Fran's a well-run organization and they're finally going full rebuild. Bochie's gone. This is a new regime of sorts. Yeah. And I admire that, you know, they wanted to ride out Bum Gardner's contract and like make it work. And they kept trying those deals with McCutcheon and Longoria and stuff to like, you know, give it another last effort for the home, for the World Series championship crew, Posey and Bum and the. the rest. And it didn't work out because there was never going to work out. But I admire that they

wanted to give the fans that fighting chance. And they gave them like a hell of a month last year. I think everyone, I think Giants fans were like, awesome. I just, I just remembered that. And I was like, that was kind of. That was a high moment for us on talking baseball because it's like, you know what? Giants have a blast. Yeah. So Bochi leaves, which is the biggest news for them because he'd been around forever, won three world series with them. We saw, Boce at winter meetings, much bigger dude than I expected him to be. You forget that these guys are big. Yeah.

Because Bruce Bochy's kind of older now, you know? Yeah. So I was thinking 5-2-5-4 Max, and he comes in at 6-3. Born in France, huh? Big Bruce Bogey hype pod. Yeah, I went down a weird wormhole with that one day looking at French-born players and it was like, Bruce Bochy. What?

I wonder why. It was funny when Bochy retired and then like a month later on Mad Dog Radio was like, no, I'm going to come back. It was just a hiatus. I just need a break. That was funny. You think Giants fans are like, wait, what? Yeah. So we're trying to get away from us.

Yeah, we just kind of did like a retirement tour. You're just taking a time out. Okay. But yeah. Go on. Bochie is just one of eight major leaguers to be born in France where his father, Sergeant Major Gus Bochie, was stationed as a U.S. Army NCO at the time.

That's a non-commissioned officer, Jake. Let me stop you. Okay. How much do we love the name Gus Bochie? Yeah, Major Gus is pretty cool. I mean, that's so obvious. Yeah. Growing up, Bochie moved with his family to the Panama Canal Zone,

South Carolina. For first, I thought he lived in Panama. And I was like, whoa. Northern Virginia. and ultimately Melbourne, Florida. So that's all. So anyway, out goes Bochy and in comes Gabe Kapler. You hate Gabe Kapler.

No, that's not true. I think he's not a great manager. Okay. And I love him for entertainment value for breakdowns. Right. Because he doesn't understand that umpires aren't fair. And he's just like, how could you not overturn that?

They're like, well, you know, it's like, you got to be you can't do this like oh hey Gabe have you watched a game before you like Gabe Kapler um know what it is I every time players talk about Gabe Kapler they like him a lot I mean he's like still in shape like a player I think he's kind of a different kind of cat um it you were on this pretty early on that he was never a fit for Philadelphia. I love a good second chance, and we'll see what this Giants Rebuild looks like.

But there's a world where Gabe Kapler is a Bay Area dude, you know, kind of a little different, quirky in some ways, and we'll see what the rebuild ends up looking like. But I don't know. He hasn't been a good manager so far. I'm not going to defend that. Whoa.

Yeah, right? Like, he had a lot of talent the last couple years. Yeah. And at least it's tough. Speaking to talent. Speaking of, yeah. Who do you like on this Giants team? Well, okay.

Can we go through add drop for the people at home? Did you already do that? Go through ad drop? Yeah, who they added and who they dropped. Oh, no. They got rid of Madison Baumgartner. He left him, free agency. He's in Arizona now with his horses.

Mad bum. one of the otter, otter free agencies you'll see. Will Smith, not there. They get a new GM, they get a new manager, Drew Smiley, Kevin Gossman, they had those guys. Recently, they added Hunter Pence,

and Billy Hamilton, how about that? Who else, Drew Smiley, I already said that. Is that all? It was basically all they added. I will, I want to get out in front of this one, Jim.

As hard as I was on the Dylan Bundy trade, I like the Kevin Gossman signing. Why? Well, because they're not trying to win? Well, I think he's going, he left the Orioles, which again, you know, maybe I should put that more in the Dylan Bundy bucket, but I don't. I like Gossman's, like, just pitching better than Bundy, and he's going from Camden Yards and, like, never having a chance and playing Boston

and the Yankees and them guys. Again, stuff you could put in the Bundy bucket. but he's going to a pitcher's ballpark in the National League. And I think he jumped into a relief role at the end of last year. And he did really well. He got what, a one year nine million contract. I really like the Gossman signing for them. So, hey, that's good news for my, or Cincinnati.

He landed on. He had a four ERA out of the bullpen, but 29 strikeouts and 22 innings. Good FIP, Jim. Love a good FIP. You do love a good FIP. Love a good fit And you're also pretty big into fit bits I was

You know what it was It was a good excuse to not wear a watch And pretend to be healthy So there it is I'm not into fit bits I had one once I lost it in the ocean Swam in the ocean Hear me now

Jake are they gonna Like what's what's their staff You know Yeah So that's the situation we find ourselves in. Right now they've got it listed as the Shark Samarja, Quato is coming back. Gossman, my guy, Drew Smiley. Webb, is that Tyler Webb?

It's not Brandon Webb. He retired a while back. They got one of the Ross guys. I'm seeing Beattie in there. So honestly, and so this is going to be a weird thing for me because it seems like everyone on this team that you know is clearly a little. pass their prime and it's we're about to find out if they've got one last punch in them or if they're done. I mean, dude, listen to these names. Samarja, Quato. And I mean, going to the lineup, Longoria, Crawford, Belt, what's Posey still got in him? You know, it's all these like,

I'm not going to say early guys sneaking up on their mid 30s seeing what they got for this last place Giants team. Okay. So you don't believe. Quato's. I don't believe. I don't believe. I don't believe. Steve, all of Quoido stats are bad. I've got it into a coin flip. I mean, if they can have, so how many guys did I just name? Samarja, Quato, Longoria, Crawford, Belt, Posey. I mean, if they could have three of those six, find a little something in the tank, and then they're either trade assets or there are something along those lines.

But yeah, I mean, this team is in full rebuild. I mean, they picked up Wilmer Flores on a multi-year deal. I don't really get that. That was odd. That was odd. Why did they do that? Wilmer raked last year, though. I get it, but they're not trying to win.

Hey, I mean. Why did they give them a two-year contract? Think about it as an asset. Maybe Wilmer Flores figured it out last year, and the Giants analytics team is saying, hey, I think there's a couple guys in the Giants Analytics crew. They're saying, I think Wilmer Flores figured it out. He's still a free agent.

if we sign them to a two-year deal, maybe we can flip them for a little more. I don't know. You don't believe any of that. That's pretty off-th mystic. For some reason, it took me to the... All right, I'm here. I was on the wrong page.

They tricked me. They got a lot of guys they can trade at the deadline if they're good, like the shark. Samarja. Free agent after this year. Gosman, free agent after year, Smiley, Pence, Tony Watson, Tyler Anderson,

Zach Cozart. None of those guys sound like people that can play into a trade. Not really, right? I think I got the Giants being pretty bad, man. Like our listeners voted them seventh worst. They might be lower. I think it's going to depend. Like the Rocky season went off track last year.

Are they going to be an 84 win team? Are they going to be a 70 win team? I mean, the Dodgers are going to crush. Um, yeah, I don't know because I don't, I don't necessarily hate what I'm seeing. And like I, you know, like I said, if three of those six older guys can bounce back, maybe there's something there. But I mean, this team's going to be bad at the end of the day. Yeah. Yeah.

San Francisco's a nice place, though. Yeah. Actually, you know what? Like where the ballpark is nice. And then the other end, north, north shore. And, like, you know, by the wharf. That's nice. No show.

The area, you know, kind of just north of the stadium is a lot of human shit, a lot of homeless people that yell in your face like zombies. I went to school there. So I ain't talking out of turn, Jake. 15th in mission or fifth in mission. I don't know. Yistremski, Posey, Bell, Longoria, Dickerson, Crawford, Dubon. Dugger.

And Steven Dugger, barely knower. That's their projected starting lineup. Yeah, I don't know, man. I don't think they're going to have that magic month that they had last year. I think they're just going to be bad throughout. Is that rude? A little bit. No, but you agree.

Totally. Yeah, I mean, that magic month was, I mean, attached to Bruce Bochie, you know. And Bumgarner and like a lot of this like last hurrah. Yeah, I mean, and the only guy, Yistremski, hey, man, he, he found it a little bit last year. the Orioles just let them, they trade him for nothing, basically. He had a good year. Mauricio Dubon, yeah, and he's got a great name. I'm in on Yaz Train.

Did a nice video on him. Dubon, he's the only guy that's kind of like a prospect. He's 25. Jimmy, this is the weird part. A lot of these teams, we end up saying like, yeah, there's a couple young guys on there. Let's figure it out. The Giants don't have that. It's all just.

older guys. Yeah. You know some Arja's FIP was worse than his ERA? Tough. Big ballpark. Big ballpark. You know what they say. About big ballparks?

Yeah. Harder to hit home runs. I heard him to say that. Jake, what was their monthly breakdown last year? Oh, shit. Yeah, their monthly breakdown last year is pretty good. When we were comparing it to like the Orioles and the Tigers and stuff. Sure.

In their worst month, they won 10 games in May. Right. No, I mean, they were hanging around last year. I mean, not really, but kind of. They went 19 and 6 in July. That was the magic moment. They just kept walking off nonstop, having a whole lot of fun, being happy. And then they died.

And I'm not expecting that. I don't think Gabe Kapler is a leader going to lead them to, This squad. You just need two good months. You know that. Oh, that's my biggest thing. Play 500 balls. That's your biggest thing.

That's my biggest thing. Do we make a shirt just two months? Jake's... No, it's not yours. John Boy's biggest thing. Well, you can't have any bad months, though. If you play 500 for four months, and then you have two good months, you're there. Shirts getting complicated at this point, yeah.

But they only had one good month and then a bunch of 500 months and some bad months. So we think this is a three-year rebuild, suck this year, figure something out next year. I think they've got a ton of money coming off the books. They have to. And then so let's see, 20-22 giants. Watch out. They got their top-ranked prospect. His name is Joey Bart.

Look at Joey Bart, the catcher down in AA. Joe Bart is more fun to say than Joey Bart, in my opinion. Gotta go Joe Bart. Got to go Joe Bart there. Got to Joe Bart it That's the name Like if he goes Joey Bart People will call him Joey sometimes

If you go Joe Bart No one will call you Joe ever You're just Joe Bart Even your mom Joe Bart Go Joe Bart Dinner's ready It's a good name

Yeah he's their number one ring prospect He's in AA You got time You don't need to bring him up Yeah Yeah Man, this is really weird. And I think the people that have been listening to these, A, thank you.

But B, like, if you're a Giants fan, what are you doing? Are you fully checked out? Or are you looking for the glimmers when Johnny Quato throws a nice game and being like, Johnny Quato is still twirling it? Because, like, there's one young guy I think you can really get excited for, and that's DuBault. Yeah, I think what they're doing, Jay. is just getting ready to have some fun at the ballpark.

There's a nice ballpark there. The nice cold weather, you know. You bundle up, you hide from the Seagulls, and you enjoy some baseball this way or the other way. Who cares? Because it's a good baseball crowd. I think this, Jim, you know, every year we do these, I give out my, this might go sour quick.

award. You have been steadily giving that out. And dude, I could kind of see this going sour real quick, man. If you're one of these old guys, you're playing in not a brutal division, but I mean, four teams that are clearly better than you and one almost super team. And you're all these old guys. Like if they come out and they have a terrible April, I mean, what's going to bring these dudes to the ballpark?

Nothing. Like, I'm a little worried about this. They need some youth. Youth. Well, I mean, all of their top prospects are super young. Their second ranked prospect, Marco Luciano, is 17 years old. Their third ranked, Helio Ramos, is, I just had it. Hunter Bishops there, third, and he is 21, but he's not out of, like, double A.

And Helio Ramos is 19. So their top four prospects are still like two or three years out. So they just might have scop. That's why they get, that's why they get Flores multiple year deal because they're two years away. They just need bodies. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, the next two years are going to be bad. But like this year, I think this could get unwatchable for the giants. And that's that kind of sucks. And like I think next year becomes the fun year. Like here's a couple young guys. Let's see what they do. like this doesn't look like they have that at all. Logan Webb when I was guessing which member of the Webb family it was.

I mean, he's their only top 10 prospect that looks like he's going to get run this year. And I mean, for a losing team, that's that's kind of what gets you excited. And I don't know, man. I don't know, a team of a team of over the hill veterans that are like clearly going to be last unless Colorado turns into a disaster. You know what could happen? There's a guy in their minor league system. Here we go. That may be able to come up and scare them into winning.

And his name's Birch Smith. Oh, no. Come on. Birch Smith is a fan favorite, and he is on the Giants. He's in AAA, Jake. He's been a major league pitcher before, and he can come cause some trouble.

I don't Birch Smith well, man, and you know that. All right. It's kind of messed up that you brought them up. Okay. They've got a player in their minor league system named Seth Corey, which is very close to Seth Curry. Jim, I just figured it out. Yes. If you are a Giants fan, your goal for this season should be to be the team that has the most trades.

Oh, the Seattle Mariners Award? Yes. But they have no one to trade. You should be shipping all these dudes out of town. I don't care if they're for like a 16-year-old kid you're taking a flyer on or a 27-year-old that's about to get kicked off another team's 40, man. You just can't have all these old dudes losing. Well, who's going to trade for him?

I think they're in a tough spot. It's going to be a weird year in San Francisco. Yeah. Usually is. Yeah. Fun fact. The fun fact here on her sheet says, Evan Longoria owns a restaurant in Tampa called Duckeys,

which is a funny name. Yeah, doesn't him and Joe Madden, don't they each have a couple of restaurant ties down there or something? Not sure. Didn't look it up. Do you like when I say something like that? Something, yeah. How about this, Jake?

Last year they won 77 games with that magic month, with Bochy and Bumgarner and the whole clue, thinking it's possible again. Don't go schmoozer. The Vegas projected over under is 68.5. San Francisco Giants, more like the San Francisco David's, because they don't have a shot this year. David wins.

Read your Bible. Oh, fuck. I got to reread that. What's the over under? 68 and a half. 68 and a half? Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

I don't care about I don't care about my reputation anymore, Jake. I'm not going to give in to everyone that says, oh, John Boy just takes the under all the time. I'm going over. You are, huh? Yeah. You said it was going to get ugly fast and they should win most trades.

Here's what I'm thinking. They can't let it get ugly fast. Like if they do, like it's either going to be, a tight win on the over or it's going to be an ugly loss on on the under and they're going to get bad real quick but i think you know these guys come in Gabe capler like Gabe capler probably didn't know if he was going to get another shot as a baseball manager and he's got one so he's going to come in pretty gung-ho these veterans again they're hoping that they've got one last jamming them and are hoping to get traded out of town pretty much minus posy

I think, you know, you probably keep that guy because he's like a hero in the organization. Bring Lindsay back. Bring Timmy back. But yeah, I think these vets come out and they try their hardest and do their best and they rack up a couple wins. And then the wheels fall off and hopefully they bring in some young guys late that care and try to win some games. But, yeah, I'll go over. One of the NL East or one of the NL West 84 win teams collapses and the giant. bump into some wins.

Samarja had a good... 69 wins. Samarja had a good ERA last year, bad fit, and he's kind of leading the staff there with Quato, who was hurt last year, and his peripherals are looking bad. I don't think they have a magic month in them. I don't think Gabe Kapler's the man

to put this hodgepodge group together and lead them to victory. I don't think they have double-digit wins every single month next year, this year, like they did last year. So, and for those reasons, I'm taking the under, although baseball's better when the Giants are good.

I'll say that. So you think all the bad teams are going to be bad? No, I chose the over for one team. You don't even remember which one. I think it was the Royals, because I was like, they're so bad they're going to flip the script on. Because you had to. Yeah, you had to take one.

Yeah, I don't know. Say, hey, I, I haven't been doing a lot of these. If you're a San Fran fan listener, tell me, like, tell me what I'm missing. Because this isn't doing much for me. Every diehard fan knows more about their team than we do. So tell us what we're missing. Yeah, yes.

I mean, always that. But, uh, I mean, you know, you and I, oh, yeah, like, hey, there's some young guys here. This is, this is weird and me out. Yeah. You are a big Trevor Gott fan, though. I love Teagot. Um, okay. Love Teagot.

Maybe Darren Ruff gets the call this year after coming over from Japan. There you go. Ooh, wow, that would be exciting. See you later. Thanks for listening. We appreciate you. We'll see you tomorrow. Baseball time.

Baseball season. They never, do people even know that in New York, they still say the New York football giants? Because they used to be too. I don't think a lot of people know that. It's fun. Now you do. See you.