I’m going to spend this offseason, however long it lasts, trying to judge the Giants on what they do, not what they say.
Because if I think about what’s been said, I get stuck on the end of season press conference. I get stuck on Tony Vitello’s quotes about bees and Terminator 2. I get stuck on Buster Posey saying he noticed Vitello “starting” to make the adjustment from coaching to managing as the season went on.
I get stuck on Posey taking 33 minutes to acknowledge the wins and losses “are still not there.” Oof.
I’m going to try my best to focus on what the Giants do. Signing Tarik Skubal would sure be a nice way to build a bridge to the next winning Giants team. Do the Giants have an extra $400 million stashed in the cove?
They should have enough, at least, to sign a few pitchers you’ve heard of, even if it’s not Skubal. The two best free agent relievers, David Bednar and Adrian Morejon, both received qualifying offers, meaning the Giants would have to give up draft picks to sign them. Slim chance.
What’s clear is the Giants have to do something. Posey might be preaching continuity with the coaching staff, but it sounds as if he knows he can’t do so with his pitching staff.
“I’m definitely not closed off to the idea of doing things different,” Posey told Andrew Baggarly a few weeks ago. “If I was, I should probably be fired, after losing 97 games. So I think everything is on the table at this point.”
Now I’m listening.
On your way out:
The Giants had to trim the 40-man roster to … 40. Sounds boring until you realize they needed to turn 54 guys into 40. Some ended up in Washington and Philadelphia and Texas via waivers. Others in Triple A. Most you won’t see again.
Odds are at least one of them will go on to have enough success elsewhere that by June you’re lamenting how they let Brett Harris just walk out the door.
Also in the Baggarly piece: Tony Vitello’s pitching coach from Tennessee, Frank Anderson, has been “reclassified” from director of pitching to an assistant pitching coach. Doesn’t sound like a promotion!
KNBR published the entire radio broadcast of Game 7 of the 2014 World Series.
Kerry and I have done a couple offseason podcast episodes, first to hand out our year-end Postie Awards and then just this week to preview the offseason. You can listen on Apple, Spotify, and everywhere else.