Locked On Giants – Daily Podcast On The San Francisco Giants

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick covers the latest with the San Francisco Giants. Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford were named finalists at their respective positions for the Silver Slugger Award. Both had excellent offensive years, and Posey looks to be in line to win the award. He led all catchers in wRC+ (min. 300 plate appearances) by a substantial margin. Crawford will almost certainly not win the award, given that Fernando Tatis Jr. is another finalist and is likely to win.

Ben also discusses the report that the Giants are being innundated with permission request to interview their coaches for positions with other teams. Generally speaking, teams are expected to grant such permissions when the open position would be a promotion. General manager Scott Harris was reportedly contacted by the New York Mets about their vacant President of Baseball Operations job, for which he declined to be a candidate.

Finally, Ben discusses the upcoming World Series between the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros, which gets underway tonight. The Dodgers appear to have been worn down by their race with the Giants, which included being pushed to the limit in a five-game NLDS. Major-league veteran Gordon Beckham joins the show to discuss his thoughts on the Fall Classic matchup.

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On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick answers questions from listeners about the San Francisco Giants' upcoming offseason. Ben discusses how the Giants have four openings in their starting rotation, and that will be their top priority. Kevin Gausman seems at least somewhat likely to return, given there is seemingly strong mutual interest. The Giants have had success revitalizing the careers of several starters, including Gausman, Drew Smyly, Anthony DeSclafani, and Alex Wood. All four were brought in on one-year deals, and hit the market in line for much bigger paydays following their time with the Giants. That should help the Giants sign more pitchers coming off down years, as they've established themselves as an extremely attractive destination.

On the offensive side, Ben expects the Giants to re-sign Brandon Belt, who has been among the very best hitters in baseball since the start of the 2020 season. If Belt departs, that would leave a huge hole in the lineup, although the Giants could figure out first base with some combination of LaMonte Wade Jr., Tommy La Stella, Darin Ruf, and Wilmer Flores. Keep in mind, however, that there's likely to be a universal DH in baseball next year, so the Giants will have an additional offensive spot in the lineup to fill every day. That could create a better opportunity for younger players like Joey Bart. Signing other offensive players, even big fish at the top of the market, remains a distinct possibility as well. The Giants have only about $40M committed for 2022, after being near $200M in annual payroll not long ago.

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Is Chris Taylor a better fit for the Giants than Kris Bryant? On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick answers questions from listeners about the state of the San Francisco Giants. Among the questions asked and answered are: Is Chris Taylor a better fit than Kris Bryant? Are Marcus Stroman, Marcus Semien, Starling Marte or Mark Canha realistic options? Do they go after Corey Seager? Do you think Farhan Zaidi spends big on anyone, or does he resist knowing that depth is so important?

Based on any weaknesses or problems our team had this season (there weren’t many!) or even something another team did that you liked (had a good player, emphasized certain skills, etc.) is there anything in particular you would like the Giants to address/change this off-season?

On a scale of 0 to 100, guess the chances the Giants sign Brandon Belt, Bryant, Kevin Gausman, Alex Wood and Anthony DeSclafani for 2022?

Any players the Giants might need to protect from the Rule 5 Draft?

Do you see Giants re-signing most of their pitchers, or repeating what they did last year and handing out one-year deals to guys who had down years or injuries?

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On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick explores the San Francisco Giants' production in the infield in 2021. Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford, and Brandon Belt were absolute studs and had career years. Darin Ruf, Wilmer Flores, and LaMonte Wade Jr. played valuable part-time roles. Evan Longoria was really good until he wasn't. Tommy La Stella had an overall disappointing first year in San Francisco, but it's easy to see why they like him and he will be back for the next two seasons. Donovan Solano came down to earth and is a free agent. Thairo Estrada impressed in limited opportunities, and may take Solano's role next year.

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Some good, some bad, some in between. On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick evaluates the 2021 Giants' outfield. In many ways this group was disappointing overall, but there was some good performance and even a legitimate breakout. Mike Yastrzemski followed up his MVP-caliber 2020 with somewhat of a dud in 2021. His offense dipped to mediocre levels, although he continued to play strong defense.

Alex Dickerson fell off a cliff and seems like a definite non-tender candidate. Austin Slater seemed to take a step back from 2020, but his numbers clearly indicate he continued to be a force against left-handed pitching. LaMonte Wade Jr. broke out and became Late Night LaMonte. Darin Ruf was a monster at the plate and figure to be back.

Overall, the Giants have a ton of flexibility when it comes to their outfield. Not one player is under guaranteed contract, but almost everyone can be retained if the Giants so desire. The one exception is Kris Bryant, who is a free agent, but the Giants have tons of freed up money and can choose to spend some of it on an outfielder if they so desire. Ben names Starling Marte, Chris Taylor, and others among the outfielders the Giants may attempt to sign.

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On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick discusses the San Francisco Giants' season-ending press conference with president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and manager Gabe Kapler. Zaidi spoke about the team's desire to retain Buster Posey, who's going to spend some time talking with his wife and deciding his future. The Giants hold a $22M club option on Posey for 2022, and it's a no-brainer for the Giants to at least pick that up, if not extend Posey, assuming he wants to keep playing. Joey Bart doesn't appear ready to take over a primary role at the major-league level, and the free-agent market offers no solutions at the catcher position.

Ben also discusses how the Giants will approach Brandon Belt and Kris Bryant's free agencies, as well as all members of the starting rotation reaching free agency besides Logan Webb. There are a lot of talented free-agent pitchers out there this winter, as well as young stud position players like Carlos Correa and Corey Seager. Expect the Giants to be among the most active teams in baseball this winter as they have money to spend and a 107-win season to back up.

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On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick discusses the San Francisco Giants' upcoming offseason. He talks about the key players set to reach free agency, and the critical decisions the Giants will have to make. The first order of business is Buster Posey, who has a $22M club option for 2022 (with a $3M buyout). Posey has said that he wants to take some time with his wife to discuss his future, so it remains to be seen if he's 100 percent committed to playing next year and beyond. Brandon Belt is set to reach free agency, as is the Giants' entire starting rotation besides Logan Webb. Kevin Gausman, Anthony DeSclafani, and Alex Wood are all impending free agents, and Johnny Cueto has a way-too-expensive $22M club option that will be declined with a $5M buyout. Brandon Belt will likely be offered the $18.4M qualifying offer. Kris Bryant is set to reach free agency.

Players who will be back because they're still under club control include Webb, LaMonte Wade Jr., Evan Longoria, Brandon Crawford, Tommy La Stella, Jake McGee, Darin Ruf, and Mike Yastrzemski, among others.

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On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick tries to make sense of the San Francisco Giants' magical season ending abruptly on Thursday night at the hands of their bitter rivals. Wilmer Flores was ruled to have swung at a two-strike Max Scherzer offering, even though he didn't, and just like that, the game and the season was over.

Ultimately, the Giants didn't score enough runs to win. They scored just 10 runs in the five-game series, an average of just two runs per game. The Dodgers' pitching and defense shut the Giants down for most of the series, and in the end it was too much to overcome.

Logan Webb stepped up again and was brilliant, but the Giants could not give him the support he needed. Now our attention turns to a long offseason, one in which the Giants will be primed to spend big and have a ton of holes to fill.

It was a magical and incredible 2021 season for the Giants. They were supposed to win 75 games, per projection systems, but instead they won 107, they won the NL West, and they took the all-time talented Dodgers to the final pitch of NLDS Game 5. There's nothing to be ashamed of with this group. They exceeded everyone's expectations, and from top to bottom they deserve immense credit. They took a quantum leap forward in 2021, and the bar has been raised for 2022 and beyond.

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It all comes down to this. On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick answers listeners' questions about the San Francisco Giants' NLDS Game 5 tonight against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Among the questions asked and answered are:

Are we winning Game 5?

Give us some stats that’ll make us feel good about Thursday’s game.

Do you think the Giants will be aggressive early against Julio Urías?

Have the Giants had any success against Urías this year?

Do you think home plate umpire Doug Eddings will play a role?

With everyone available in the bullpen, how aggressive do you expect Gabe Kapler to be?

Webb followed by Kevin Gausman (if necessary) followed by Camilo Doval I would imagine if things go as planned, right?

Has Tyler Rogers been overused in this series and should he be considered unavailable for Game 5? Besides Doval and Gausman, who can be trusted to relieve Webb if/when necessary?

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On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick discusses the San Francisco Giants' 7-2 loss in Game 4 of the NLDS, with the Dodgers forcing a decisive Game 5 in San Francisco on Thursday night. Anthony DeSclafani started for the Giants, and he was shaky from the first pitch. Manager Gabe Kapler did his best to keep the Giants in the game, deploying his bullpen extremely aggressively, but they were uncharacteristically wild and the offense just could muster enough to compete.

Overall, the offensive numbers for the Giants in this series are not pretty. They're not getting on base nearly enough, and half of their position players on the roster are hitless, amounting to an 0 for 39 funk for the seven Giants combined.

Regardless, the series is tied at two games apiece, and the Giants have a great shot to advance on Thursday. Logan Webb will take the mound, with Kevin Gausman, Camilo Doval, and other high leverage Giants relievers ready to go. The right-handed lineup looks good on paper, and they'll have a chance to break out against Julio Urías, who was very good in a Game 2 Dodgers win.

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