We break in the new year by reflecting on the signings of Jung Hoo Lee, Jordan Hicks, and the trade for Robbie Ray. Bye Disco and Haniger, we barely knew ya! The Giants avoid arbitration with three key players, but will probably face an arbiter in February with JD Davis. The need is obvious: at least a healthy starting pitcher and some power, but the Dodgers are apparently cornering the market on everyone! There is still hope with several key free agents still available. Let's just hope Farhan can actually make some of these happen or it's going to be a very long year.

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Not that we're shocked, but the greatest unicorn player since Babe Ruth and most prized free agent in...well, maybe forever, decided that his services should stay in southern California but with the Bums. That's right, the ONE team we didn't want to see him go to was the Dodgers. $700 million over 10 years. The richest sports contract in history. The Giants were reportedly on the outside of the 3 finalists, which were Toronto, Anaheim, and LA, so they didn't really have a chance in the end. Where do the Giants pivot? There is still a lot of talent out there, and signing a few all-starts versus one unicorn can still be a better value deal, despite missing on the marketing opportunities (which, by the way, may pay for most of Ohtani's contract in LA).

Chad and Eric try and point the ship in the right direction for the Giants to sail, but seeing Ohtani in Dodger blue for the next 10 years has us....concerned to say the least. We review the available free agents, whom the Giants have signed, yet-to-be-signed arbitration-eligible players, and review the 2023 baseball awards.

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Once we heard that the San Diego Padres gave the Giants permission to speak with Bob Melvin, we knew it was just a matter of days before Melvin was signed and announced as the 39th manager in franchise history. That was made official this morning with an introductory press conference. What a strange turn of events. On July 18, the Giants were 1.5 games back of the Dodgers for the NL West, and had a firm grip on the #1 wild card seed. A few months later, not only is Gabe Kapler fired, but the manager of the All-star-studded Padres bailed ship with a year left on his contract for the Giants. Sounds similar to another ex-catcher and Padres manager that came north, eh? Chad and Eric review the positives and the challenges of the Melvin signing, and the fact that Farhan Zaidi was extended through 2026. Also, Bruce Bochy did it again! After winning Game 7 of the ALCS against another former Giants manager in Dusty Baker, he is now 6-0 in winner-take-all games, and it was his 13th managerial victory in an elimination game. Of course, 6 of those came in the 2012 postseason alone! We preview the matchup between Bochy's Rangers and the speedy, 84-win Diamondbacks, who edged out Philly in 7 games. So much to talk about!

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The Championship Series are set, and we find two ex-Giants' managers against each other in the American League with Texas vs Houston, while the powerhouse Braves and Dodgers were eliminated in the division series, leaving the upstart Diamondbacks against the slugging Phillies in the National League. The teams with the best five best records in the regular season went 1-13 in the playoffs! Willie, Chad, and Eric review the first two rounds, but focus on the Dodgers' failures, and the matchup between Bochy and Dusty. We touch on the Giant's managerial search and offer our opinions of what they need to look for in a candidate, and we make our LCS and World Series picks.

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The firing of manager Gabe Kapler wasn't unexpected, but his firing with three games left was. We speculate on why he was fired with three games left, and where the Giants go from here. This is a meaty, longer episode where we dive into the psychology of the firing, and whom they may hire as Kapler's replacement. The Giants finished below average in almost every category, yet finished just below .500. That in itself is a testament to squeezing blood out of a stone, but at the same time, the Giants were 13 games above .500 and only needed to finish with a barely sub-.500 record from that point to make the playoffs. Miami and Arizona made the playoffs with a mere 84 wins while the Giants had 79. That's only a 5 game differential. Just one extra win a month. Baseball is cruel. We also give our postseason picks, reminisce about Brandon Crawford's career, and we'll be back in a week or two to talk playoffs and free agency. This is gonna get weird!

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Welp, that's it. The Giants are all but mathematically eliminated from postseason contention after losing 3 of 4 in Colorado, both games in Arizona and the first game in LA. They are also under .500 with 9 games remaining against the Dodgers and Padres and have a very good chance at finishing the season with more losses than wins, something that seemed unlikely when they were 13 games above .500 and 2.5 games back of the Dodgers in July. This has been one of the biggest second half collapses by the Giants that we can remember. It was fueled by poor hitting, mediocre pitching, no speed, and poor defense. For some odd reason, it also manifested itself on the road, where the Giants have won only 5 of their last 31 games, their worst stretch since 1902. Yeah, that's historic. We talk about what went wrong, and how the Giants really had to TRY to not get into the postseason. Think about it. Even going 10-21 in those road games would have them in a spot right now. Heck 13-18 would have put them 5 games in the lead along with Philly right now. It's just incredible how this team has imploded. Even the national perspective has shunned the style of Giants ball (see Tom Verducci's article in SI.com). Also, Brandon Craword goes back on the IL for the fourth time, and is eligible to come off and play on October 1, their last game of the season. Let's all go to Oracle and send him off in a positive way, should this be the end of his Giants' career. Man, what this season could have been.

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The Giants are sabotaging their path to the playoffs that, 4 weeks ago, was still looking very likely. However, they have gone 9-23 since Aug 5, including a current 6-game losing streak, and now stand at an even .500 and 2.5 games back of the wild card with 22 games remaining. The big issue is not just the 2.5 games, but the fact that they'll have to leapfrog at least 3 teams to get that third spot, with Miami, Cincinnati, and Arizona all ahead of them. The Cubs are now solidly in the second wild card spot and only 1.5 games back of the division after sweeping the Giants. The Giants' playoff chance once stood at 75%, but have plummeted to just 13% on Baseball Reference, which is much lower than the other wild card teams. The reason for that is that the Giants face the Dodgers 7 times while Cincinnati gets to beat up on the weaker teams in baseball. The Giants will have to right the ship with a sweep of Colorado, there really is no way they can lose more series and hope to snag a playoff dance card. We also talk about Kyle Harrison's electric home debut, and Alex Cobbs near no-no. It's not all doom and gloom!

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After a break in recording, we come back to the mic to find the Giants buried in the NL West, but still firmly in the wild card race. With a 7-11 record in August, and the Dodgers going 17-2 during that same period, the Giants are now 11.5 games back with 38 to play, so they can kiss the division title goodbye. That said, the playoffs are still within reach, as they currently hold the second wild card. BUT, 5 teams are all within 1.5 games of each other for the second and third spots, and the Phillies are 2 ahead of that. Speaking of, the Giants have a huge series in Philly, as they try and take advantage of a wild card competitor. After losing 5 consecutive series, and going 2-14 over their last 16 road games, the Giants desperately need some road magic. Kyle Harrison finally gets the call up and will start in Philly on Tuesday...just don't walk half the lineup, kid.

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During our show today, the Giants made a trade for AJ Pollock and Mark Mathias from the Mariners for our favorite "player to be named later." Other than that, the Giants have less than 24 hours to pull off additional trades, and this one certainly doesn't move the needle with an aging 35-year-old Pollock hitting under .200 on the year and currently on the IL. What is surprising, is despite the 6-game losing streak, the Giants won 4 of 5 and have the third best record in the NL, hold the first wild card spot, and are only 2 games behind the Dodgers. That's a great position to be in. That said, we looked forward to August and what lies ahead is gonna be tough with two series against the Braves, and series against the Rays, Phillies, and Reds. Lots of winning teams coming up, but the Giants have to stay at or above .500 to keep in the race. It's gonna be an interesting month.

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Ok, we're borrowing this title from our friends over at Giants Chatter, sue us! The Giants are riding a 5-game winning streak after a sweep of Pittsburgh, and they'll continue their road trip into Cincinnati, DC, and Detroit. During this streak, the Giants have come within 1 1/2 games of the first place Dodgers and have passed the Diamondbacks into second place, while leading the wild card race. This team surprisingly has the second-best record in the majors since May 1. Yeah, April was that bad. Eric and Chad talk about this, the All Star game and break, the MLB draft (Giants had a good one!) and some rumors flying around that Ohtani could land in San Francisco. Oh please, don't get our hope up.

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