Poor Judgement
9 Years. 360 Large. Turns out the pull of good ol’ Linden Ca isn’t what it once was….
For the first time ever I do think we were actually in this. The original Yankee offer was known so it looks like he went back to them with the Giants offer and allowed them to match it. He shopped our offer, that motherfucker…
Oh well. I actually feel like we dodged a bullet here. Although I would have celebrated had we gotten him.
Now Farhan is truly on the hot seat. No more Brebbia aisle bullshit. He can sign 37 catchers this weekend if he wants to and dump all of them by Monday.
But he needs to get in the game. The Man’s Game. Stop acting like you’re broke.
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
“Dodged a bullet.” Damn straight. Turns 31 in April . . . 6’7″ right fielder that is injury prone as hell (dollars to donuts he misses most of this upcoming season or the next one after it).
My only question is who was the catalyst for even making an offer? Johnson, Z, or someone else in the organization? Sure as hell doesn’t fit Z’s unemotional MO. Regardless, it follows if we’re going to attempt to spend $300 million plus on one player, then it’s likely that they will add upwards of that amount for multiple players, right?
Baer, who probably cleaned out Marina Safeway entire aisle of saran wrap after Judge visit with them.
This was never happening despite all the beat writers (ha pun intended) clamoring for him or some other marketable superstar the Giants “desperately need”, which is nonsense. Put a good team on the field and Z can still do that, and fans will show up and support them.
I agree Baer was the driver on vault of ownership to bring in a huge star.
maybe that idiot Heyman announcing it early gave Judge pause to change his mind. I had read this was the same amount SF offered. I’m annoyed now but won’t be in a few years when he becomes Pujols
perfect comment. And quite early in the day for you. What gives? You Beijing or something?
Even after the Haniger signing, the Giants are still about $80 mil or so under the Luxury Tax. Zaidi has plenty of room to go get some studs, hopefully his plan B this time doesn’t suck like the Harper plan B did.
Fuck Heyman and Judge. And I was looking forward to getting a Judge jersey for no other reason than to needle Yanks fans, esoecially at one of the series opening games. Oh well. Blade ain’t wrong though about probably dodging a bullet. Ok, get Correa or maybe Bogaerts, and yeah, bring back Rodon too.
And Fuck Spain. Don’t forget that. Fuck Spain.
I guess I can’t really blame Judge, if my choice came down to playing for Boone or Mr. GQ Kapler, I’m calling up George and having him send his jet out to get me.
Btw last off season and this one, lot of stupid $$ spent. $72 mil/4 yrs for Taijuan Walker? Kris Bryant, anyone? $43 mil for soon to be 40 yr old pitcher? Work to be done but I can support Z for not doing anything foolish, so far.
Agree about some of these contracts (11 years??), especially that Verlander deal, but in fairness to Z, he ponied up, it was rejected. Was it foolish to offer that? Giants were truly in this.
Maybe not Z. He’s a team player and wont say anything negative publicly. Something’s going on.
Totally agree Blade. Now ownership will let Farhan cobble Farhan pieces but he has to deliver something competitive next two years.
Ah in the end it was up to Judge; Baggs said this in Athletic, Giants made best offer and Judge had to decide. I think it’s an overpay but for a guy coming off season like that, any team would be happy to have him, at first.
There’s a Linden NJ about 30 miles from Yankee Stadium, maybe that swayed Judge too. 🙂
Yeah, Baer would fit Willie. Unbelievably stupid to think the Giants/Z would give $300 million and change to one player without a supporting cast. Baer would though. Just me, but I think there is some sort of “philosophical battle” going on in the organization on how to develop the Giants into a contender . . . and Z might be losing support. Sad.
Obviously the money is there. Agree that the fans will come. Sheesh, last year’s “no names” roster averaged 30,650 thousand fans a game, worst since the park opened. Spend some coin on 3-4 good players (Haniger is one) and that easily becomes 40k or capacity even.
They were down to 12k by the end of the year.
I disagree that there is some sort of a “philosophical battle”. Just like with Harper, Zaidi saw an opportunity to get a game changing player to build around and with the consent of ownership to go to a specific amount.
We got played again and now no way we would ever land Ohtani. fuckkkkkk
Carlos Correa Ninmo and Hanniger just don’t excite me much.
I’ll be more excited to see what happens with Casey Schmitt (3b/SS) Kyle Harrison, Luciano (position?) and others like Vaun Brown, healthy Wil Wilson and other young pitchers. I think Giants farm development (background of new GM btw) showing signs they are able to get guys to MLB, and soon.
It’d be a much better team tho. If they win, people will show up. By the stretch run in 2021 the place was packed.
there’s something to be said for selling tickets at this point. Be honest with yourselves, how excited were you to watch games in the 107 win season? Outside of Posey they had no one you were excited to watch hit. And last year? Jesus, we have way too many platoon guys no one cares about. Baseball is still entertainment, no matter what your win/loss record is.
Farhan needs to put some exciting players on the field. And he needs to do it NOW.
They were winning so I was fine with that. Yeah I want Nimmo, Correa, and Rodon.
But I ain’t writing the checks. If this is the sum total of what Farhan does (Haniger), then we are fucked and simply hoping against hope that the minor leaguers are gonna do something in the not-so-distant future.
This season would be a disaster and they’ll be on year 6 and have gotten nowhere. And the clamor to replace the front office will get loud.
I think they are pretty much in the same mind-set that they have to spend some big money to make the team better than a collection of AAA rejects and platooneys.
If not, it’ll be the summer of our discontent.
At least we also don’t have to suffer with Bellinger. I would have liked Josh Bell.
This Judge shaft perfect way to end the Flap:(
Jansen to Red Sox 2Y $32M.
yanks wisely resigning Rizzo was probably a huge inducement to Judge.
story on cbssports site said Pads offer to Judge was bigger than Yanks and Giants. Also, they offered Turner $42 mil more than Phils did. So the individual player and agent made those decisions and imo zero fault to Zaidi, or Preller for that matter.
Entertainment? Solano and Late Night LaMonte were fine enough for me in 2021. Posey was FB housewives matinee idol and he won’t be replaced by Carlos Correa lol. Play good baseball and fans will come. when you spend 4 months like last year May June July August going 47-61, no.
Spot on.
The 107 win season was the single most exciting regular season of baseball I’ve enjoyed. Even more than 1973, when I went to my first game and they had their all time coolest OF.
that blows my mind.
It was the perfect season for an it’a all about the data fan, right? Plug in the right pieces, you can win.
Jansen would have been a good pickup. The bullpen has to improve. He was just about the only sure bet to do that.
James, what would be most relevant stats to look at concerning pen guys and closers?
I remember at end of Will Smith era (and for Braves) he got lot of saves but seemed much more hittable and less effective overall.
Seems like WHIP and HRs per 9 innings are good indicators. Most relievers just aren’t that consistent year to year, as we found out yet again with the Giants’ pen in 22. Jansen is as reliable as they come. Still throws that hard cutter.
I thought the Judge FA was pretty entertaining and was surprised we were supposedly in it for so long. I never thought we had a real chance at getting him until this last week. He would have made a great DH for probably a long time. Maybe we should go after Reynolds again.
Hey Mac, are you too young to remember wrestling in Spanish on WNJU – Channel 47 from Linden, NJ?
Got me hooked on Bustelo…
Loo, sorry, I have no memory of that at all. That’s pretty interesting, though, maybe I’ll ask my buddy who lives near Linden about it.
In a couple of years when Judge is hitting the injury list a couple of times per year, we’ll be glad we didn’t spend all that on one 31 year old dude. No hate on Judge, he did what we all would, played the field, played the Giants, went to where he probably always knew he would, at the price he wanted. Once you taste fame in NYC, it’s tough to put that aside, IMO. I would rather have gotten Turner than Judge, by a lot.
Up here in the PNW, nobody on local sports stations (which suck) is crying much about losing Haniger — it’s “OK, he was fine, but let’s move on and get somebody better”. Giants need to get 3 more guys like him to get back into being playoff competitive…
If the Giants would EVER develop their own damn outfielders, they wouldn’t be in this position of constantly scratching and scrambling to bring in good to really good FA outfielders, most of whom don’t want to come to play in that ballpark that is not hitter friendly, and is cold as hell for half the season. Not to mention, they have to be very concerned about racking up numbers when there is this platoon system in place that ZMan obviously favors…
They COULD get Reynolds back. Would that count?
Sure. Since he’s younger and probably better defensively and overall skills, I’d take Reynolds over Haniger, they’re pretty comparable offensively. Reynolds’ WAR seems better, if you’re into that. Maybe if the Giants kept Reynolds, he wouldn’t have developed into the player he is…
Zaidi favors maximizing runs scored and minimizing runs allowed and whatever mix of players he can realistically put together to achieve that result.
Didn’t seem to work this past season. Not a lot of maximizing and minimizing, unless .500 is acceptable…
I’m skeptical that he has some irrational preference for a platoon over an everyday player.
I would have to say the 107 win season was the biggest fluke season I’ve ever witnessed in any sport…
Haniger=Mike Morse
Just more expensive and probably less goofy…
Haniger is a decent player, has pop, but probably on the decline at near 32. The Mariners think they are close, but let him go anyway, which I think is telling. He’s a contributor, I don’t see him making a huge difference by himself…
A little mid-day trivia:
Easy:
1) The Detroit Lions have retired #20 for what 3 players?
Guessing game:
2) Can you name the only pitcher to allow a HR to all 3 Alou brothers?
Billy Sims
Barry Sanders
Lem Barney
Claude Osteen
Glad we didn’t get Judge, but man I think the fan base in general is gonna take this hard. I got killed on Twitter the other night by Giant fans for suggesting we shouldn’t sign Judge.
I agree the 107 win season was glorious. Hard for me to call 162 games a fluke. I trust Z to cobble together more great seasons down the road without giving out ridiculous long-term contracts.
Dunno where it all came from either man, but beat writers were all over the “need” for Giants to sign Judge. John Shea, Baggs, Grant Brisbee yada yada.
Even our boy the level-headed Marty Lurie was all in on the Giants signing Judge.
Right on Lions, Dog.
Not Osteen, who is so overlooked…
Drysdale?
Good try, but nope…
A solid Columbo episode last night. The adversary was a big challenge to Columbo, and it was the most frustrated I’ve seen him in one of these episodes.
This adversary eventually stumbled in the area that a lot of Columbo adversaries stumble, and that is in the category of body disposal. The adversaries are never mobster professional killers, so their body disposal plans are usually a problem for them.
The adversary was a construction magnate who ends up attempting to “Jimmy Hoffa” his dead victim into the foundation of a big building.
Anyone read the latest SI? For shit and giggles . . .
Do the Yankees have a better lineup without Aaron Judge than the SF Giants?
Yankees not named Judge hit .233/.311/.396 in 2022 despite playing in the AL East’s hitter-friendly environments and benefiting from Judge’s presence in the lineup. Surprisingly, their line is nearly identical to the Giants’ .234/.315/.390 triple-slash in 2022.
If you remove current free agents who posted at least a 100 OPS+ (league average) with the Yankees or Giants in 2022 from the overall numbers, the numbers are even more identical.
Yankees: .231/.308/.386
Giants: .232/.314/.385
* My take is that the Yankees just have more NAMES versus the Giants, sort of like this guy:
Major upset as Morocco my Morocco Moles defeat Spain with 3 Shootout goals and the Moroccan goal tender Bono stopped all of Spain’s attempts!!
Viva Morocco 🇲🇦 take a hike in disgrace Spain!!
Maybe the most important thing to happen in Morocco since Islam found its way there? Maybe hyperbole, but beating Spain, a mere 10 miles or so across the Strait of Gibraltar, has to be huge. Both countries have shared a lot of history and culture, along with or because of conflict. The Andalusia area of Spain is highly reflective of the past Moroccan/Islamic presence and influence…
One of more improbable baseball seasons in 1960s was Mets winning it all in 1969.
2 years before in 1967 they lost 101, winning 61 and managed by ex Giants Wes Westrum and Salty Parker. 2 years later they win 100 and WS.
Bookend seasons were 73-89 in 1968, 83-79 in 1970.
The 1969 Mets would be my #2 fluke but teams were built so differently then.
They had 2 stud starters and rock solid D up the middle.
Not much else to get too excited about…
What do all of you think of this article,
https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/12/07/kurtenbach-aaron-judges-sf-giants-rejection-defines-farhan-zaidis-tenure-in-charge/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=tw-bangsports&fbclid=IwAR2cYRjw_VWYUgYrSsso4oJa4nIDHJkzegPvokxRtaSpe5PXNa9IknORMb8
He doesn’t mention that Ohtani already rejected the Giants the first time around. Still, Stanton and Ohtani ‘s rejections were not on Zaidi’s watch so they can’t define his time as GM.
Oops don’t know why this didn’t work,
It’s in the Mercury news
Your paper boy has quite a trip…
Ha ha
The 107 win team worked as designed. They could have gotten average seasons from the bore core and still won 90 games. The 22 team was unlucky with injuries, and went from first to worst on defense and in the bullpen. No reasonable observer would have expected an across the board collapse on both of those fronts, since it was basically the same roster. Some drop off, sure, but not a total reversal. The 22 team was the fluke, not the 21.
Are you trolling us, James?
Nope, but I did enjoy writing that comment. 🙂 A decent bullpen and defense and the team that was supposedly so far behind in talent could have been in the wild card. And that’s without Belt, Posey etc. See Blade’s post above about the Yankees.
…
What reasonable observer would have expected all the things that went right in 2021?
Was it 18 pinch homers?
Career years from the Brandons?
Late night Lamont’s heroics?
A hot few weeks from the Grave Duggar?
The greatness of Logan Webb?
You still haven’t accounted for 17 fewer wins. In fact you’re not even close.
Someone help me here!
For a brief moment the Kings are the #4 seed in the West, but they take on the Bucks tonight on the road. That ain’t a nice thing on the schedule.
I don’t read the Mercury News, much less the Chronicle, but from what you guys have said previously, they rarely criticize the Bay Area teams, particularly the Giants. This guy Kurtenbach is the first guy since Glenn Dickey I can recall lowering the boom on the Giants. Again, I emphasize, I rarely read the SF and SJ papers. So kudos to him for being the lone critic in the Bay Area.
That being said, this guy Kurtenback does not make any sense, so I disagree with him. Coupled with John’s “catch” of his Stanton miscue, he’s lazy as well.
James is right about the Giants . . . They were in the hunt for a Wild Card spot until the last 1-2 weeks of the season. They could have completely collapsed at the All Star break, but came back to record a .500 record and were only one of 15 MLB teams with a positive “run differential” for the season (14th). Pretty impressive for a team that in 5 years time, maybe less, I will have a difficult time naming more than 4 or 5 of their starters, i.e., they are all forgettable (but so was the 2021 team).
It was our defensive play that had me so frustrated. You can throw base running in there also. We were sloppy with the basic fundamentals last year. Some of that has to be on the coaching. I can’t remember who our 3rd base coach was but he didn’t have a good year either.
I believe it was Peanuts Lowrey…
That would have been amazing.
Winning 107 games was fun, but the numbers that the team put up were not expected or sustainable for 2022. Even if the 22 team had won 90 games they would have only been 9 games over this year’s 81 win total. In 2021 they were 26 wins over this year’s 81, which to me makes 2021 the fluke year.
The point is that the team was built for the playoffs at 90 or so wins both years by a very smart management team. They made the playoffs in 21 and didn’t in 22. I’m not that interested in the semantics of fluke.
We are still talking about 1 out of 4 winning seasons. So maybe another way to look at it is in 2021 smart management ™ put together another .500 team that just outperformed.
HireSabeanNow! It’s one thing for an average team to luck into 90 wins. That doesn’t describe the 21 team. A very good team that played over its head is probably a little more accurate.
I’ll take championships over 107 win season any and every year.
Tremendous Warriors comeback tonight, from down 10 in 4th to up 2 in last minute. Kuminga is killing utah and Poole has 35.
Uh, except for the very end.
I don’t like the word fluke to describe Giants winning season. What stood out was all the power–they led the NL in HRs, slugging pct and OPS. The power from offense (Posey Belt Ruf Wade Jr. et al) was legit; they were never out of a game even when pitching failed. Plus you had Gausman at top of rotation, who was outstanding in first half and was still very good 2022 for Jays.
Flurry of injuries to position players (Belt Longo Crawford Wade Jr.) and decline of defense made starting pitching look worse than it was, and pen guys suffered with extra workload. It was too much for hitters to make up, especially on road, despite solid season from Joc, and there was very little help from call ups/waiver wire guys. Retirement of Posey was big loss in many ways.
Hindsight it’s easy to say Z didn’t do enough to address possibility of regression from offense, but he did add to rotation with Rodon Cobb and Junis, and Brebbia aisle was still a good get.
How do you feel about “outlier”?
Bogaerts to Padres
11/280M
We just can’t keep up…
SHIT! Of all the free agents the one i want the least is Correa and he is all that’s left.
Craig I had only a few chances left to post early vs late:)
Swanson anyone?
Looking forward to getting outbid for Ohtani next year…
WTF does SD need Bogaerts for?
I’m just tired of the usual lip service, smoke and mirrors approach of Z mole.More money to blow u would think then most organizations yet he still insists on spending at the dollar store.He just can’t are won’t bother getting a star in here.Then again maybe these F/A players really despise the thought of playing baseball under Kapler and his kneel down protests making him feel like a martyr that not all agree with..
Mussolini could be the manager and if the money is there, players will come.
A Mussolini in the dugout might be a selling point for some.
Looking at the lead-up to the 2021 season, Bochy’s last couple years, along with the 2020 covid 29-31, I’d call the outlier the 2021 season.
Their make good contracts to Gasman Wood and Cobb worked out way better than anyone would have guessed, and Webb came into his own as a starter. But the biggest thing was the Bore Core. Mainly Posey. He had done nothing for years and all of a sudden was killing it. Crawfish and Belt had their best seasons in ages, and the wildly inconsistent pen still managed to do ok.
To coin a phrase, Jupiter aligned with Mars. Peace will guide the planets and love will steer the stars.
To say they fell off the table is a huge understatement, but this season was what last year was supposed to be. Old injured guys and rolling through the Brebbia aisle for the season.
But now? They need to spend a lot of money. We are entering season 6 of the Farhan era and we appear to be incrementally better than where we were in 2020.
This will be Zaidi’s 5th year of his 5 year contract. So I’d think he has to be motivated to right the ship.
Jesus. The end of that Warriors game was way too funny. Both Thompson and Poole were swinging the ball around when all they had to do was hold it close and wait for the foul.
Derp. Waste of the effort of playing the Jazz tough without Steph, Wiggins, or Dray. Not that it matters.
Shit, Loo. Wrote my thing at 10:29 not knowing you said ‘outlier’.
It is the dawning of aquarius . . .
I loved that song…
It was my sister’s fave. Heard it all the time.
We gonna offer Nimmo 6/$120,000,000? Or is that not enough years?
That would be a horrendous overpay for a guy who’s just decent.
As much as I like getting ex-Mets, I’d rather have Dom Smith or else mark my words,
BB9 will be back at first. He might be anyway…
Who the fuck cares? He’s gonna get it from someone.
Brittney Griner’s coming home…
That’s great news.