Buster is a spender but Johnson says long pitching contracts are risky. The brothers debate this conflict and discuss who the Giants will target after Buster inevitably wins. Also how will the looming lock out of 2027 impact this off-season? And yes, the lockout is most certainly coming.

On the cocktails side of things, today Matthew is drinking a Winter Daiquiri while Ben is drinking a Whinter Sour. Recipes below.

• 2 oz White Rum
• 1 oz Lime Juice
• 1/2 oz Rich Demerara Spiced Syrup
• 1/2 oz Allspice Dram
• Shake all ingredients with ice until well-chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

• 2 oz Spiced Bourbon (Ben spiced his with 1 cinnamon stick, 4 cloves and 5 allspice berries in a 750 ml bottle for 24 hours, you should experiment with your preferred spices.)
• 3/4 oz fresh lime juice
• 3/4 oz simple syrup
• 1 dash Angostura bitters (optional)
• Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled. Strain into a coupe glass with no garnish, though a floating lime slice would not be remiss.

They boys are back after two weeks so they talk about pretty much everything that's happened since they last recorded. They discuss coaches coming and going, including new hitting coach Hunter Pence Mense, how the roster churn has begun, and a little Free Agency.

On the cocktail side of things Ben is drinking an Off-Season Sludge while Matthew is drinking Manzana Reposada. Recipes below.

• 2 oz Bourbon
• 3-4 oz Cherry Coca-Cola
• Add bourbon to a highball glass with ice. Top with cherry cola. Have 2 more.

• 2 oz Reposado Tequila
• 3/4 oz Tuaca
• 1 oz Reduced Spiced Apple Cider
• 1/4 oz Demerara Syrup
• Add all ingredients to a mixing glass. Add ice and stir for 30 seconds. Strain into a rocks glass with a large chunk of ice. Garnish with a dried apple slice.

One signing down, 50 to go. The brothers react to the Tony Vitello introductory press conference and give their first impressions of Vitello's personality. Then they turn their attention to the holes (of various sizes) in the current roster. By the way, can you pitch?

Also, we are moving to an every other week schedule this month, so our next episode will be in two weeks. I know, it sucks and you'll miss us, but we will be on with emergency podcasts if any major news occurs. So don't worry, you'll still get our outstanding insights when they're ... needed wanted available. You weren't worried, were you?

On the cocktail side of things, today Matthew is drinking a mocktail called Orchard Spritz while Ben is drinking a Flying Blueberry. Recipes below.

•  2 oz Pear Juice
• 2 oz Apple Cider
• 1/2 oz Lemon Juice
• 1/2 oz Spiced Simple Syrup
• Sparkling Apple Cider to top off
• Shake all ingredients except the Sparkling Cider with ice. Strain into a rocks glass with ice. Top off with 2-3 oz Sparkling Apple Cider.

• 1 1/2 oz Gin
• 1/2 oz Maraschino Liqueur (or Cherry Heering for a completely different cocktail)
• 1/4 oz Blueberry Liqueur
• 3/4 oz Lime juice
• 1/2 oz Simple Syrup
• Combine all the ingredients in a shaker with ice, shake until chilled and strain into a stemmed cocktail glass.

[We had a major audio issue with this episode so we expired it and republished with corrected audio; this is the only way we can ensure all listeners get the updated file. Our apologies for the inconvenience. It's Ben's fault. No, wait ... it's Bob's fault. Yeah. Bob did it.]

We have orange smoke. The ever faithful brothers discuss the closing of the deal with new manager Tony Vitello and then discuss his first moves as he drinks from the fire hose of information coming at him about the San Francisco Giants. Also, Matthew does a book review.

We reference our dormant cocktail podcast The Perfect Sip a few times in this episode. If you haven't listened to it yet, you can check it out here: https://the-perfect-sip.captivate.fm/listen

Speaking of cocktails, today Ben is drinking a Bennessee Iced Tea while Matthew is drinking Golden Orchard. Recipes below.

• 2 oz Bourbon
• 1/2 oz Cointreau
• 3/4 oz Lemon juice
• 1/2 oz Rich simple syrup
• 1 “splash” of Coca-Cola
• Combine the bourbon, Cointreau, lemon juice and rich simple syrup into a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled. Double strain into a prepared highball glass with ice and top with the Coca-Cola. DO NOT SHAKE THE COLA IN THE SHAKER! YOU’VE BEEN WARNED.

• 2 oz Pear Vodka
• 1 1/2 oz Apple Cider
• 1 oz Pear Juice
• 3/4 oz Lemon Juice
• 3/4 oz Spiced Syrup
• 2 oz Hard Cider to float
• Add all ingredients except the Hard Cider to a Collins glass with ice. Stir to combine. Top off with Hard Cider and stir gently to combine. Garnish with a dehydrated apple slice.

We have orange smoke. The ever faithful brothers discuss the closing of the deal with new manager Tony Vitello and then discuss his first moves as he drinks from the fire hose of information coming at him about the San Francisco Giants. Also, Matthew does a book review.

We reference our dormant cocktail podcast The Perfect Sip a few times in this episode. If you haven't listened to it yet, you can check it out here: https://the-perfect-sip.captivate.fm/listen

Speaking of cocktails, today Ben is drinking a Bennessee Iced Tea while Matthew is drinking Golden Orchard. Recipes below.

• 2 oz Bourbon
• 1/2 oz Cointreau
• 3/4 oz Lemon juice
• 1/2 oz Rich simple syrup
• 1 “splash” of Coca-Cola
• Combine the bourbon, Cointreau, lemon juice and rich simple syrup into a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled. Double strain into a prepared highball glass with ice and top with the Coca-Cola. DO NOT SHAKE THE COLA IN THE SHAKER! YOU’VE BEEN WARNED.

• 2 oz Pear Vodka
• 1 1/2 oz Apple Cider
• 1 oz Pear Juice
• 3/4 oz Lemon Juice
• 3/4 oz Spiced Syrup
• 2 oz Hard Cider to float
• Add all ingredients except the Hard Cider to a Collins glass with ice. Stir to combine. Top off with Hard Cider and stir gently to combine. Garnish with a dehydrated apple slice.

Habeus procurator? Our failed Catholics ponder the possibility of the Giants hiring Tony Vitello as the next San Francisco Giants manager. Is a college coach qualified? What does Buster Posey see in Vitello? Can Buster close the deal?

On the cocktails side of things, Matthew is drinking while Ben is drinking Gimletarita Recipes below.

• 1 oz Planteray 3 Stars
• 1/2 oz Appleton Estate Signature
• 1/4 oz Planteray Xayamaca
• 1/2 Lime Juice
• 1 oz Spiced Demerara Syrup (cinnamon & cloves)
• 1 1/2 oz Pineapple Juice
• 1 oz Pomegranate Juice
• 1 oz Hibiscus Tea (Strong)
• 2-3 Dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
• Add all ingredients to a large rocks glass. Add ice. Stir for 10-20 seconds to chill. Garnish with a bit of freshly grated nutmeg.

• 1 1/2 oz London Dry Gin
• 1/2 oz Cointreau (or other orange liqueur)
• 3/4 oz Fresh squeezed lime juice from limes picked by Greg from his tree
• 3/4 oz Simple syrup
• Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled. Strain into a stemmed cocktail glass and garnish with a lime wheel.

Seriously. We're asking. Our philosophers ponder the role of the manager: what qualities are the most important? Why have Kaplar and Melvin both failed to get this team over the mediocrity hump? Are they just filling out the the lineup card incorrectly?

On the cocktail side of things Ben is drinking a Proto-Punch while Matthew is drinking a Pink Flamingo. Recipes below.

• 1 1/2 oz Congac
• 1 1/2 oz Bourbon
• 1 oz Lemon juice
• 2 oz of Oleo Saccharum syrup (or less, try less)
• 4 oz of club soda
• Combine the congac, bourbon, lemon juice and oleo saccharum syrup in a highball with no ice. Stir well to combine. Add ice and top with the club soda. You can also scale this up to larger quantities by keeping the ratios the same, but in that case you should combine and pre-chill the first four ingredients. When you’re ready to serve have guests or your future self add the club soda themselves.

• 1 1/2 oz White Rum
• 1/2 oz Dark Rum
• 1 oz Grapefruit Juice
• 1/2 oz Lime Juice
• 1/2 oz Plum Syrup (or Grenadine)
• 1/4 oz Demerara Syrup (if plum syrup is too tart)
• Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Double strain into a chilled coupe glass.

Our new cocktail podcast, The Perfect Sip, is on hiatus but new episodes are in production. (Yeah, it's taking a long time ... life, you know?) If you haven't listened yet, you can catch up here: https://the-perfect-sip.captivate.fm/listen

Speaking of cocktails, today Matthew is drinking an Apple of My Eye while Ben is drinking ... It's Just Lemonade ... Surprise! . Recipes below.

• 1 1/2 oz Apple Brandy
• 1 oz Bourbon or Rye
• 3/4 oz Apple Spiced Demerara Syrup
• 1/4 oz Lemon Juice
• 3/4 oz Unsweetened Cranberry Juice
• Shake all ingredients with ice until well-chilled. Double strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a dash of cinnamon.

• 2 oz Gin
• 1 1/2 oz - 2 oz Lemon juice syrup (50/50 lemon juice and water)
• 1 dash Lemon bitters (optional)
• 4-6 oz Club soda
• Add gin and lemon juice syrup, and lemon bitters to a highball glass and stir to combine. Fill the glass with ice and top with club soda. Garnish with floating brandied cherries and lemon wedge if desired.

There can be only one ... Bob. The brothers break down the dismissal of manage Bob Melvin. Were they surprised? Do they agree? What kind of manager do they want to replace him?

They took a minute or two to make simple cocktails, Matthew is drinking and Old Fashioned while Ben is drinking a Gin & Ginger Beer. Recipes below.

• 2 oz bourbon
• ¾ oz demerara gum syrup
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• Orange peel (for garnish)
• Luxardo cherry (for garnish)
• Combine bourbon, demerara gum syrup, and bitters in a mixing glass with ice and stir until well-chilled. Strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube. Express the oil from an orange peel over the drink. Garnish with the orange peel and a Luxardo cherry.

• 2 oz London dry gin
• 3-4 oz Ginger beer
• 7 Brandied cherries for garnish
• Add gin a four cherries to an empty high ball glass. Fill glass with ice. Top with ginger beer and remaining cherries.

#ripgin #youcrankyoldbattleaxe

We'll call it ... the Negroni. Our theme park enthusiasts take stock of the 2025 season: predictions are reviewed, milestones are celebrated, tears of sorrow and tears of relief are shed over a bright red cocktail. Then they ask each other the big questions: Was this season good or bad? Should Bob Melvin be fired or retained? Did Buster make any mistakes? Can he make mistake? One thing is clear, no ERT for these thoosies; one ride on the Negroni was enough. Hit the dispatch music, Bob!

Our new cocktail podcast, The Perfect Sip, is on hiatus but new episodes are in production. (Yeah, it's taking a long time ... life, you know?) If you haven't listened yet, you can catch up here: https://the-perfect-sip.captivate.fm/listen

Speaking of cocktails, today Ben is drinking a Negroni because he lost the bet while Matthew is drinking The Fitzgerald to taunt Ben. Recipes below.

• 1 1/2 oz London dry gin
• 1 1/2 oz Sweet vermouth
• 1 1/2 oz Campari
• Orange twist for garnish
• Combine the gin, vermouth and Campari in a mixing glass with ice and stir to desired dilution. Strain the cocktail into a rocks glass and carefully add a single large chunk of ice. Express the orange twist over the glass and drop into the glass. Then trick your brother into a bet where he has to drink it.

• 2 oz gin
• 1 oz lemon juice
• 1 oz simple syrup
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• 2 dashes Peychaud's bitters (Matthew's stamp)
• Combine all ingredients in shaker with ice. Shake 10-12 seconds. Double strain into a coupe glass.

#doitforginny