The Awards Loser Fan Bases Care About
The “look at me” awards are coming out next week. AL seems to have a distinct advantage in terms of power in the MVP race vs NLs. Guerrero, Ohtani, Semian vs Harper, Soto and Tatis? AL wins that one. It’s too bad Crawford didn’t make the top 3 but things like 107 wins, gold glove, clutch hitting, etc… don’t seem to matter to the voters.
Hey my buddy The Mudman, recently referenced in the Buster “First ballot” bet with Bird Dog has come down with covid. This is only relevant to point out because this is a fully vaxxed guy, overweight, who only has mild symptoms. He has a trip to Hawaii planned next week and he said “Hawaii can wait.” I said “Dawg fuck Hawaii. HEAVEN can wait.” Anyone who thinks your “natural immune system” is as good as the vax at fighting this is a lunatic. I’ve been putting off getting my booster shot but not anymore.
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
I tried to talk them into giving my booster yday while I was getting a flu shot but it has not been 6 months yet since my second shot so no go.
i got my vax early, 2nd shot was early Feb
I got both my booster and my flu shot before flying down to New Orleans. Sure made me feel more comfortable traveling.
After getting hit so hard with Covid, the city of New Orleans was tight on vax and masks. Every place we went into you had to have a vax card and most places wanted to see your ID as well. Outside the city wasn’t as tight which makes it an ongoing battle.
San Diego this weekend was a joke. Nobody was wearing a mask
My second shot (Pfizer) was April. Got my booster a week or so ago.
Got booster shot yesterday. Shoulder is still a little sore–neither of first 2 bothered me at all. 15 minute wait time after booster was mandatory and monitored on written card.
College b-ball started yesterday, yaha. Cal unfortunately got some national recognition, in a not good way. Much deserved off second half I saw. First day of the Coach K farewell tour, which might require extended use of mute button
And I think it is total bullshit that Craw did not make the finalist list for the MVP. Typical.
Craw’s four GG awards ties him with Willie and Barry as the most by a Giant player in franchise history.
Saw where the Cards were the first team in history to have five players win the GG in the same year.
I think the number of Giants additions come down to a math problem this off season.
You have 5 inexpensive OFs plus DH (Ruf GD Slater Wade Yaz), that cost $15 mil total.
If you want to add 2 everyday guys, they will cost $35-40 mil per x amount of years
You have 1 SP signed (Webb), so you need (key word there) minimum 3 maybe 4.
Re upping 3 from last year (or replacing 1) will cost $40 mil Add a top of the line guy turns it into $60 mil
I just don’t see SF adding $100 mil payroll. IF and Cs with Belt will cost $55-60 mil. Add in 8 cheapo relievers they already have would run total to $175 mil. Doesn’t leave much room for serious injury mid season addition like Bryant was 2020.
$60 mill for Belt? Huh? We WILL be a 75 win team if we stand pat.
No, for the entire IF 2021–Craw Belt Longo Flores LaStella/Estrada Bart and Casali.
I read somewhere (here?) that for the 1st time, none of the MVP candidates played for a playoff team.
Adding one hitter and one SP to guys from last season would mean $75 mil spent instead of $100. Bring back all 5 OFs, add one corner OF that can hit for power, preferably RH to counter Wade GD Yaz Craw and Belt.
That’s lesson to me about post season–Dogs platoon all the time with Bellinger Muncy Betts and Taylor playing multiple positions. Braves won with their power all up and down lineup. I used to think differently, but Flav is right–bombs matter. dodgers have plenty of power too even if they lose Seager.
Haven’t got the booster shot yet as I just hit the QO for it..
I got the Moderna shot ( no problems at all) and I’m making sure I get
the same for the booster, no way I’m going the 31 flavors route with a mix and match..
Unca I don’t think Willied meant 60 mil for Belt but part of the whole infield price..
Though I’m not sure where they stand at that? Longo 22 mil?, Craw 22mil?LaStella 6 mil?
So there’s 50 mil, throwin 18 if Belt takes the QO (and will he just take a 2 year deal are shoot for 3?)another 3 mil? for Bart? so that’s 71 mil, for the starters, then u need to figure out the backups prices for the infield,Flores,Wade IF/OF, Ruf IF/OF Estrada IF,
Catcher Casali who I thought I heard he had a option,( could be wrong? but the way he handles the pitching staff I’m sure they would want his experience back to be a Yoda master for Bart, which will be needed early on in the season ..
maybe my first favorite Giant
I got the Pfizer booster a couple of weeks ago.
I wear a mask everywhere I go, and don’t go many places; luckily I can work at home. I won’t eat indoors at a restaurant, I don’t care what the so called safeguards are. I’m hearing that they expect another surge in CA leading into and after the coming holiday weeks. This crap is going to be with us for the foreseeable future. Until the vast majority of kids and adults are vaxxed up, it’s going to be in general circulation as a condition of living for years. Annual or more repetitive boosters will likely be the case, like the flu shot, but more effective. These new anti-viral pills coming out that are like Tamiflu seem to offer real positive treatment options if you catch a breakthrough case…
snarkk- I do the same wear a mask and go to places only as needed. I haven’t been to a barber in over two years. I did cut it myself over a year ago but it didn’t turn out so well so i just say fuck it. Last time my hair was this long I was in my early 20’s.
Yeah, I’ve got Covid hair long enough to be developing a pony tail. My wife trims it. I consider a barber shop as a no fly zone for me for the foreseeable future. And, this is in an area of high vaxx rates compared to the rest of the country. I went to the eye doctor yesterday for the first time in 4 years. Heading for the dentist next week for the first time in 2 years. I figure with the booster on board just recently, my chances of fighting off a case of this crap are about as good as they get for the next half year. The thing that I think goes under radar is that even if you successfully fight it off, you could still get a case of the long term Covid, which the medicos seem perplexed about and are nowhere close to figuring out…
Wore one to get into Levi’s but didn’t for most of the game. Most of the people around me weren’t wearing them. Although the guy sitting next to me was. Haven’t gotten around to the booster yet.
getting my hair cut these days is one of more fun things I do. Asian family owned and staffed, all masks all the time, cash only. Woman who cuts my hair is huge basketball fan with limited English, but she knows number (if not name) of most NBA stars. Her friend who is younger and has school age children, is also big fan and loves Klay Thompson. Sometimes I’ll say something to her in english so she can explain it to other one in their language.
Shop was closed for many months last year and as they reopened raised very reasonable prices slightly. Biz is still off quite a bit so I make sure and leave nice tip. Only thing wrong is there is less and less to cut each visit.
Still, quite enjoy just b-essing with them over who we like and don’t like.
I am still leary about going to the dentist but I will do that before I go to the barber shop. I live in a red county and we are still a top 5 county with new cases.
The A’s are once again having a fire sale. Farhan should be living with Beanie Bill these next few weeks. They have a LOT of good parts to scrape off of them.
I don’t know why people are A’s fans. There aren’t many of them, but they still exist…
Meanwhile, the Dubs are looking good for the year.
Barring injury to key people, they should be in the top 4 qualifers for playoffs in the Western Conference this season. And, that’s without Klay. He’s supposed to be back in maybe January. The Niners are a train wreck, the Dubs are at the total opposite end of the sports food chain now, after being down two years. When he’s done, Steph may jump over Montana as the Bay Area’s all-time revered pro athlete — maybe he’s already there…
Yeah, that one Super Bowl year for the Niners is as much an outlier as the 2012 season was. The team is way too talented to be this shitty. It is a coaching problem, as was made plainly obvious this last game. No heart, no hustle, they were blown off the line all day by a depleted team that we should have handled.
Really have soured on Shanahan and company.
How fun is this? Highlights of the Giants 21-2 win over the Cards in 88 I think.
That was fun to watch. Speier sure had himself a day.
Thanks that made my day.
Nice highlights. Cards looked like Keystone Kops.
10,000 franchise HR by Riles.
Harry Spillman sighting — Yes !
Dusty as 1b coach.
That early Clark “triple” to LF was so ‘Stickian — wind playing tricks.
Wish Mitch was available for next season.
Melvin with an HR.
Speier cycle at 38. Cool.
Cherry bomb goes off — very ‘Stickian.
Giants looked like a really slow team.
Ron Fairly — still hard to listen to…
As far as the current OF status goes, GD and Wade are not arb eligible, so they make the league minimum (around $575) and they both have options. Slater, Ruf and the Dick are arb eligible (Slater and Dick each with 1 option, Ruf 0), so I’m thinking we’ll find out pretty fast what the FO thinks of those guys.
Spotrac has Yaz at $2.5 with him not being arb eligible until next year, Cot’s has this as his 1st arb year and at $3.15.
Tremendous bargains, obviously.
Kat, Crawford will make $16 mil and I’d imagine Belt gets same deal unless he takes the QO. Longoria in final year of deal gets 19.6 but Rays cover $5 mil of it so that’s little over $45 mil for those 3. LaStella gets $5.2, Flores $3.5. Estrada Casali Bart make very little so total for all of them $60-65.
Now, SF could add RH power bat and shake up IF by signing Semien for $20 mil plus for few years…maybe he covers 3b once Longo is termed out.
Estrada and Bart are league minimum guys (I think it’s $575) and Webb too if we’re talking bargain. Casali is arb eligible (I think his last year), so with him we’ll find out the Giants plan for catcher pretty early on, I think they’ll go with an older vet there.
Giants have to fish or cut bait with Bart.
Time to find out if he is MLB quality or not.
Casali can be a teammate/mentor. He got more shutouts caught on a % basis than Buster…
Yeah, it would be nice to hire Buster as the roving catcher whisperer. For part-time help.
He’ll probably show up for some time in Phoenix next ST.
Give Bart some more tips on “framing” and pitch calling…
If robo umps ever happen, I assume “framing” becomes an irrelevant skill for catchers.
True?…
Whatever became of QuesTec?
https://www.sporttechie.com/questec-legacy-20-years-strike-zone/?curator=SportsREDEF
as I said the other day, why haven’t they traded this guy yet?
Does anyone want him? The trade talk has been out there quite a while. I mean he’s not terrible, but you’d think someone like the Spurs could teach him how to defend.
this is outrageous and should be a massive indictment of Kyle AND Lynch
Lance I get. Even Sermon battled injuries all training camp and then nearly got killed his first play, so I’m not too worried about them. The fact that they traded up for a guy who can’t beat out a 6th rounder is a question for another day, but with Wilson coming back, and Mostert waiting in the wings, well, there you go. Like Aiyuk, Sermon got into the dog house and won’t see the field.
Banks and Thomas are huge issues though as Brunskill and Norman absolutely suck at their positions and should not be playing. The fact that Banks and Thomas can’t beat out those guys is a big problem.
And I’m totally on the record of getting a new head coach. 5 years of Shanahan and they haven’t played a full 60 minute game. He is lousy at clock management, and has no feel as a play caller. He had chances to win most games this season and blew most of them.
all 4 of those guys are completely healthy right now. If none play this week as the season is going down the tubes it makes Kyle and Lynch look like desperate idiots.
Interesting story on Giants’ MLB site about Patrick Bailey, who is apparently playing well in the Fall League. By all accounts, he’s still at least a year away, maybe more, but also progressing and working hard. Buster was a “can’t miss” prospect, Bart was less “can’t miss” but highly touted, and while Bailey seems to be more like “he’s gonna have to work at it but all the signs are there”. A bit of a mature comment from the kid: “Baseball is a game of failure. You really have to be able to find the good stuff in the bad and see all the little battles you win and stay positive about that.” Hope he makes it.
https://www.mlb.com/giants/news/patrick-bailey-in-afl-giants-future-catcher?t=arizona-fall-league-coverage
Why would the Giants draft Bailey if they truly believed in Bart?
Yeah, they don’t talk about that in the article. Maybe Bart was a little more than just a little less than “can’t miss”…. Then again, catcher is key and it’s not often you have 2 decent prospects. One can always be traded. See Tommy Joseph….
It’s Z’s philosophy to be strong at catcher, depth-wise. He basically accomplished that with the Dodgers.
A Dodgers catching prospect was the key piece they traded to the Nats to get Scherzer and Trea Turner.
Yes, catching prospects are valuable. I remember when they drafted Joseph, I kinda wondered about that, seeing how Buster had arrived (that’s how I remember it, not actually sure), but then they were able to trade Joseph for Pence, which means Joseph indirectly contributed to winning in 2012 and 2014. It’s smart to have more than 1 young catcher in the system.
Kings lose by 20 to a mediocre Spurs team. Again Bagley with 0 minutes. They need to get a trade done already. Clearly the weird situation is sucking some life out of the team.
Lynch / shanahan have to go. For every hit in draft 3-4 failures. 1st round picks have been horrible failures except bosa. Am i missing anyone?
Hopefully Lance pays off otherwise it will take years to dig out of this one.