Krueg's Trip to Scottsdale, Giants Outfield and Unproven Bullpen

Every day, excessive delays and denials from big insurers keep patients from accessing

the care they need.

And when care is urgent, these delays can be disastrous.

These practices cost billions in wasteful spending, driving up costs for American families.

But while big insurers put up barriers, America's hospitals and health systems are in your corner,

navigating endless reviews and appeals to get you the care you need when you need it

most.

It's time to curb these harmful practices and put the focus back on patients.

Brought to you by the Coalition to Strength in America's Healthcare.

I like Greg and Greg, Papa and Silver.

This is K&B honor.

The Sports Leader, filling in for Greg Papa, it's Larry Krueger on the Sports Leader.

Greg Silver, Larry Krueger and Walter Widthia for the next couple of hours here.

And we are talking all about the San Francisco Giants crew once a cactus league had a great

time in the Arizona sun.

It is the Tony Vitello era.

It is a unique kind of spring training because we got the World Baseball Classic going on

as well.

So the Giants have been kind of score watching box score hopping a little bit.

But mostly it's just about keeping tabs on their star players, whether that's the

hopefuls of the future, like a Bryce Eldridge or someone who has just come back from nursing

a hamstring injury, like a Raphael Devar's crew.

I'm trying to figure out where to even start because there's so many directions we could

go here between the WBC, between the cactus league.

But how do you feel about Tony V and just the way he commanded a camp going through it

for the first time?

Well, you know, he's got a lot of charisma.

He's a somewhat of a likable guy.

The players seem to really be buying in.

They seem to really enjoy him.

I mean, the Giants are kicking butt down there.

They're 13 and three.

I mean, they've won 81% of their cactus league games.

I like how the Dodgers are right there on their heels though.

The Dodgers are 11 and 6.

But yeah, the Giants are 13 and 3.

There were a lot of positives.

I mean, there really were.

I mean, just going down there, I mean, Ramos is swinging it well.

You know, a couple of the guys who are swinging it well.

Harrison Bader looks good.

Luis Mautos looks good.

The Giants, the guy they got from, was it in the Doval trade?

Hazus Rodriguez?

Yep.

Yeah, I mean, Hazus Rodriguez can hit.

I mean, that guy can hit.

So I mean, is he going to be the backup catcher?

Is he going to be a utility guy?

They're outfield.

This is probably the best depth I've seen in their outfield in a long time.

You know, they've got five legitimate major league caliber outfielders.

And then they also have, you know, other guys, you know, Will Brennan and,

and Bo Davidson and, you know, they've barricotos ripping it down there.

So there's, there's some interesting guys.

I mean, the Luis arise pickup.

I mean, you know, Casey Schmidt is swinging the heck out of it.

I mean, so look at, I mean, to me, it's a lot about Eldridge.

I mean, I think Eldridge is ticketed for the minor leagues.

But if they can force feed him and get him up there and keep his head above water,

they might not be that bad.

I mean, you got Bailey behind the plate.

Eldridge at first, you know, arise and Schmidt at second.

You've got Adamus at short, Chapman at third, you know, who's swinging it really well

down there as well as Christian costs.

So now you got costs on the bench and you got, you got Schmidt on the bench.

And now you've got this backup catcher who looks like he rakes.

You got plenty of outfield depth.

Heck, I mean, I don't even know if they have a spot for motto.

So he looks terrific.

So their position player depth looks pretty good.

They're, to me, they're going to run out of gas because of the pitching.

Like they're, the pitching's too thin.

I mean, there's just no doubt about it.

Last year they had Randy Rodriguez and, and they had Tyler Rogers.

They both pitched a ton out of the bullpen and neither is here and neither has really been replaced.

And they had Camille Zavall, which I understand was a very controversial player for a lot of fans.

But it did give you another option to go to when Ryan Walker was not finding

a stuff early in the year as the closer.

And now if that's the case, your options are a lot thinner there too.

Yeah, I mean, I did do an interview with Will Bednar,

who was a former first round draft choice by the Giants.

This is David Bednar's younger brother.

David's now the Yankee Closer and the Closer for Team USA.

And Will Bednar has been converted from starting pitcher to reliever.

And he's had back problems.

He's had injuries, but, you know, he, he had a great year last year.

He's got, they got him in the bullpen, throws high 90s.

He's got a pretty nasty slider.

He's working on third pitch.

I wouldn't be surprised if Bednar kind of comes out of nowhere and winds up being a factor, you know,

late in games, but that's, you know, there's someone there's, I think there's probably a deal to be had.

I think the Giants will make a trade before opening day to add probably a pitcher.

I hope they don't move Casey Schmidt, but I do think that they could add a starter or a reliever,

like what they could probably use one more good starter, one more good reliever.

But overall, you know, I'm encouraged.

Now, they're not running down the Dodgers, but I think they're very much alive in the wild card race.

And I think they're going to score some runs.

And I also think they're not as thin as they've been in past years.

I think the minor league system is ready to graduate some guys to the big leagues.

And you're going to see it.

They made some good trades at the end of the year that I think you're going to benefit them as well.

So it looks pretty good.

They look pretty good.

Jesus Rodriguez is going to be a factor for them this year.

There's no question in my mind.

And then it's just a matter of, do they have enough bullpen?

Do they have enough pitching depth?

I would guess no, but I think they're going to play well until the pitching depth runs out.

And the pitching depth is certainly like when you think about all the positives in the cactus league right now,

there are a lot of positives to point to.

I'm not denying that whatsoever.

And Tony Vitello certainly needs this at his first go around for it.

But the biggest question mark has turned into a greater concern as we've inched closer to the season.

That is the bullpen.

That is an area in which you need depth.

And that's an area where you're probably going to depend on a lot of arms.

So we're not quite sure if they're ready, whether that's going to be ever,

whether that's going to be a season away, Carson Seymour.

We got a little bit of a sample of how would that go if you really depended on him

to be a middle inning reliever.

A Spencer Bivens is obviously coming back right and Walker trying to reclaim his 2024 form.

But I also think that we can look at it and look,

I'm not making much of the cactus league standings, right?

If we learn anything from last year, you don't freak out about that.

But there could be something to be said about carrying some positive momentum from that,

especially with a new regime and a new manager in place that can

bode well for the start of a season.

The Giants did start hot last year.

They wore wildly clutch and their approach at the plate,

I think was working really, really well.

They also needed an outfielder.

They went and got one and Harrison Bader.

They needed another available option at second base.

And they didn't get one that was defensive minded with Luis Arise,

but certainly someone that could help you offensively and has had a pretty nice

showing in spring training thus far.

And I would say that both Arise and the starting outfield look really strong

for this team, but you also think about the style of play at Oracle Park

and the types of games you need to win.

My concern, unlike even last year, when we were at this point in March

and trying to project toward the season,

I'm not really worried about the Giants being able to put up four runs or five runs

or often what we've looked at as the magic number.

It's, can you have a 4-2 lead going against that San Diego Padres lineup,

the New York Yankees lineup, the Phillies lineup all in the first couple of weeks

of the season and feel good about your ability to close it out when you're

facing hitters like Lindor, Schwarber, Bryce Harper, Fernando Tatees,

Mandy Machado, I could go up and down the list, but the bullpen does pose a major concern

for me when you got guys who are either going to be young and unproven

or players who have had a bit of the yips like the closing position, Ryan Walker.

Yeah, I mean, especially the way the Giants play.

I mean, every day they're going to the pan in the third inning, fourth inning.

So it's like, yeah, I mean, it just seems like it's really, really clear

that they're not deep enough in the bullpen.

But when does that start to, you know, impact the thing?

Does it impact them right away?

I mean, there are some arms down here or down there, I should say.

And now I'm no longer there, that are really looking good this spring.

I mean, Michael Fulmer, non-roster invitee has looked good.

Trevor McDonald, don't know tons about him.

He's looked good.

JT Brew Baker, he's looked pretty good.

So I mean, they have some, you know, Caleb Killian who went to the Rockies in the,

who do you got to?

He went to the Cubs in the in the Chris Bryant trade.

And then he kind of washed out.

Yeah, yeah.

And now he's back and he's, he's pitching well this spring.

So I mean, there's a number of different arms.

Gregory Santos is a big guy who throws really hard.

He's back with them now.

So yeah, it's all got to come together and we're not really sure how it's going to come

together or if it will come together.

And you just never know bullpen's are weird.

Some, you know, some years you look at it and you're like, oh, man, they got nothing

down there.

So suddenly they discover three or four guys and it's a whole lot better than you think.

Other years, you're like, you know what?

This thing looks great.

Like I thought the not the giants last year, they're, they're bullpen looked incredible.

As far as you had Randy Rodriguez, who is just like a guy with a closer arsenal, but

he didn't really have a closer role.

So you're kind of spotting him in the sixth and seventh and you got this guy who's just

punching out tons of guys and the leagues hitting 083 against him or whatever.

And Rogers was a rubber arm who really played well pitch well last year.

And it's like, you look at those guys and you're like, wow, you know, these guys wouldn't

expect these guys to pitch as well as they did and they pitch really well.

And they still like, if you told me in March, the giants are going to hit a wall and they're

going to, their bullpen's going to run out of gas.

I would have said, no way, no way.

They're so deep.

They're so loaded.

But sure enough, when you use the pen every day from the third inning on, oh, it's

tried to trade and injuries, right?

You had the double whammy of both in our sector where you were baseball's best bullpened

by a mile and then got thin really, really quickly.

Yeah, you thin the herd on the trade, but then man, I thought I thought a Randy Rodriguez

is a rubber arm guy that was going to be able to throw L day every day forever.

Yeah.

And then all of a sudden, he's Tommy John at the end of the year.

So, you know, they need some, they either need to find another reliever, find another

starter.

They look like they're an arm or two short, but unlike past years where they haven't

really had much to trade, they actually do have some pieces throughout their system

that are pretty coveted and they might be able to trade for the peace or two that they

need to stay afloat in the wild card race.

Well, we have a texture on the Golden State Lumberan showroom text line 510, asking Lucas

Gialito still out there could be a fit.

Yeah, he is still out there and I do think they need another starter and another reliever

that's a little bit more seasoned in this league group.

I was very much in favor of the framber Valdez signing.

I know that the morning show had some back and forth debates on that, but aside from the

fact that he could be an option that keeps you afloat after race contract is done after

this year, aside from the fact that he has the type of stuff as a ground ball pitcher

that would play really well in this ballpark, he also gives you a lot of innings, right?

And so you talk about reliance on the bullpen.

This is a bullpen now that's got more question marks by far than it did in the last year

in the year before there.

And so you think about the bullpen and the dependence on it will also how can you help the bullpen

out have a starter that can go pretty deep into games where seven, maybe even getting

eight and maybe the occasional complete game is still very much on the table.

Framber Valdez completely fit that mold for me and I think, you know, for that reason,

I like landing route, right?

But we don't know how deep he's going to be going into games because he hasn't done

the full 162 and while I really liked that the progress and the growth he made last year,

he also didn't get to finish out the season because he had that scary incident of taking

the ball to the knee, which kept him out for the final month or so.

He's another talented arm now, you know, he's a really, you know, he's a power arm.

He's very talented.

I mean, you know, things could break well for them and, you know, two or three of these

question mark arms could all, you know, fulfill their potential and stay healthy and they

could be quite a bit better than we think.

Or all those guys could flame out within a 10 day period in April and they could be, you

know, an absolute, absolute mash unit trying to fill out a rotation in a bullpen.

So, you know, it's a long, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's not a sprint,

you know, it's a marathon, it's baseball is probably the sport more than any other sport

where you just don't really know, you know, you got to just kind of lay it, let it play

out and see, you know, do you have enough?

Well, it seems like most years, the giants have not had enough, but this year there's definitely

some juice there.

I think Tony gives them a little bit of juice.

I'd like what, what baiter gives them in center field.

I like moving junk who to a, to a flank and getting him out of center field.

They've got pretty good depth across the board.

I mean, they got major league, they got a major league lineup.

They got a major league bench and it's really just going to come down to what kind of

health do they have in the mound?

If they can stay even relatively healthy.

I think they're shot of being the, being a wild card team in the national league this

year is pretty good.

808 KNPR joined the conversation, a lot of good texts coming through on the Golden State

lumber and showroom text line, appreciate the YouTube chat and everyone who's hanging

out with us today.

We'll continue this discussion when we come on back.

By the way, Team USA, final pool play game today against Italy.

That's a, that's the Coletti and Ron Wotis team Italy right there.

So it's been fun to see a lot of our familiar faces in the Giants organization be representing

their respective countries.

We'll talk all about it when we return on these sports later.

Every day excessive delays and denials from big insurance keep patients from accessing

the care they need.

And when care is urgent, these delays can be disastrous.

These practices cost billions in wasteful spending, driving up costs for American families.

And while big insurers put up barriers, America's hospitals and health systems are in your

corner, navigating endless reviews and appeals to get you the care you need when you need

it most.

It's time to curb these harmful practices and put the focus back on patients, brought

to you by the Coalition to Strength in America's Health Care.

The NFL Draft presented by Bud Light is coming to Pittsburgh and it's your chance to witness

the future of the game for free from April 23 to April 25, feel the energy of the NFL

draft.

Now back to Greg Papa and Greg Silver on KNBR, these sports leaders.

And then when they were teammates and she's completed a no-hitter, he gave him the ball,

and he gives this one a ride out to right, the slugging Luis Arise is at it again.

Luis Arise hitting a multi-home run game.

How about this one?

I think Marcus Boucher voiced this yesterday on the morning show, but the fun stat with

Arise, he has more multi-home run games in the world baseball classic, which is twice

in eight occasions crew.

In Major League Baseball, he has done it once in 840 games.

So if you can get a second one as a member of the San Francisco Giants, I don't care what

ballpark that's in, but that'd be pretty cool, man.

Hey, at least for the time being, you know that Luis Arise likes the big moments.

You know that the three time batting champion is having a lot of fun this spring and you

just hope that he can continue this trend when he plays at the opposite of a hitter's

ballpark known as Oracle, starting on March 25th.

I think it was a great addition to get him.

You got to line up full of guys who strike out too much.

You got to have at least one guy who is the anti-strike out guy and he is that.

So you think about it, Adamus strikes out, Chapman strikes out.

If you put Eldridge out there, what's he going to do?

He's going to strike out a ton.

So you're going to have to have somebody in the lineup that doesn't strike out or you're

going to get no hit.

You know, I mean, they literally are going to get no hit if they don't get a couple contact

hitters in there.

And so I know a lot of people that were very anti-arrise.

I mean, what kind of a team can't struggles to hit like the Giants requires a guy who's

won three batting titles, only to see their fans go, what, why, you know, what are you

doing?

It's like, I get it.

Batting average is not emphasized the way it was, but you can't discount what this guy

can do.

I mean, this, this guy just two days ago against in the WBC, had like two homers, five

RBI's, a double, like nine total bases, the guy rakes.

And personally, you know, I like to see some action.

You know, it cost a lot to go to a baseball game.

I want to see, I want to see the ball hit.

I want to see guys run.

I want to see the ball hit in the gap.

I want to see some, I want to be entertained.

And to me, the three outcomes of a walk, a strikeout in a home run, it's not, it's not

doing it for me.

I need to see, I want to see some guys in the base pass.

I want to see some action out there.

And I think he'll bring that.

I mean, Luis arrives to take a page out of a pop us book and use his phrase, he is

a one tool player, right?

There are five tool players.

Luis arrives is a one tool player and he's really damn good at that one tool, which is

making contact with the baseball and not striking out.

He's a three time batting champion.

But I think to your point, and which is more than fair to bring up as we get ready for

a new season, Krug, is we saw the giants last year when they were playing incredible baseball

where they would be clutch where they would have an answer for everything where they

had a lights out bullpen that was able to help them protect leads.

And then we also saw the version at times as known as the streakiest streak and team

in all of baseball that could not get on base for the life of them.

So what were the biggest frustrations with this team last year?

I know there was a lot of frustrations with Bob Melvin on the back half of the year

and the way he managed games.

Well, that's not going to be a factor because they decided to move on.

And so now we got to judge Tony Vitelo by how he does it, but runners in scoring position

is a stat that is constantly getting used when we talk about the giants.

There were a lot of mental mistakes and base running errors, whether it was guys getting

sent at the wrong time, guys not being fully aware.

We all remember Elliott Ramos not remembering the infield fly rule and there was outfield

defense, which was a big problem.

But you also said the striking out factor and we always would kind of riff on Walter's

Blue Jays around the office, but what do they do better than anybody last year?

They got to a world series and arguably should have completed a world series championship

by being a team that could put the ball in play.

And so you mentioned Willie Adamis, Rafael Devers, Bryce Eldridge, if he starts on the

opening day roster or whenever he does come up, Matt Chapman, these are all guys that strike

out a lot.

And the giants way too many times last year, not only was it leaving runners stranded, it

was not even being able to get runners on in these one, two, three innings that just

felt so damn hopeless at times to where Luis arise.

Yes, it's a lot of soft contact.

Yes, there was a risk of grounding into double plays and I understand he's not going

to be a power hitter, but you think about the chance of game is on the line.

Pictures got a deal with a guy getting into two strikes and Luis arises up at the plate.

He's going to make pictures work for it and that that matters when you're dealing with

a bullpen, especially later in the season and guys are getting tired and injuries mount

up and you start seeing a little bit more unknowns and unproven arms.

It's not just the giants that have to deal with those kind of problems like they did last

year.

It's a league wide phenomenon.

I mean, you got to balance, you know, I mean, the whole one tool thing.

I mean, it was Wade Boggs, a one tool guy.

Yes, you know, he was also like a five time batting champion was Tony Gwyn throughout

much of his career, a one tool guy.

Yes, Tony was fast for a long time, but then eventually put on a lot of weight.

He was not fast.

He was not a power hitter.

He was not, you know, an awesome fielder.

He was a great contact hitter.

So, you know, it's, I know I get it.

We're in a devalue, the batting average era, but still, man, three batting titles is

three batting titles.

And there it's going to be times this year where, you know, Luis arise comes to the plate

and they need a hit and he's going to deliver one.

So, you know, the, I think the, you know, the giants are obviously in this division with

the Dodgers, the Dodgers are this force of nature that they're almost like never going

to lose.

I mean, it's almost no way, it's almost impossible for them not to win the division over the

course of 162.

Well, in the way they construct their roster too is even when they have injuries in last

year, it was, it was really thin in the starting rotation and with all their pictures that

missed a bunch of time.

But the way they construct their team is they know they're going to be playing for October.

So it doesn't matter if it's 93 wins or 106 wins.

Right.

And they don't care if, if they, you know, sit a guy out until the playoffs, you know,

I mean, they don't, they don't need to, you know, push anybody like I've talked to Dodger

people, Ned Coletti and others, he's not doing Dodger media.

It's like they get a guy who has an injury.

They, you know, if they can give him a week, they give him two.

If they, if they, you know, if the guy's going to be out too, they give him three.

They're never rushing guys back.

They're, they're never stretching guys out.

And, you know, they get, they get guys and they just pay them big bucks to do nothing.

Last year they paid, paid comfort out a bunch of cash to sit on their bench and hit 189

or whatever he hit.

So they, they just have, they have, you know, the money that they set against the Giants

then he was hitting bombs, all the sudden, I was, I was, I know that was Walter's

favorite part of the season, for sure, watching Michael Conforto come in and just turn

into an all-star.

I know.

I mean, but maybe just shows they, they can have, they can have guys and they don't have

to rush them back.

They don't have to worry about it.

Oh, you're hurt.

Don't worry.

We'll save you to the playoffs.

I mean, they, they have that, that luxury.

So they're, you know, they're their own element and their own entity.

But I think, I think the Giants look pretty good this year.

I really do.

I think they're going to be, I think they're going to be a playoff team.

I think they're going to be a wild card team.

I think they're going to score a few more runs and they're going to need some breaks on

the mound.

That's for sure.

Because it will, it won't, they're going to have somebody's going to have to come

out of the woodwork and really pitch well.

Whether that's Will Bednar or JT Brew Baker or some arm we're not thinking of, but somebody's

going to have to pitch really, really well that we're not banking up.

All right.

808 KNBR.

If you want to join our conversation, we've got Rich Eisen coming up in about 40 minutes

for 130.

And so maybe just a quick little reset of the topics of the day when we come on back.

It is Greg Silver.

It is Larry Krueger.

It is Walter here for another hour 10 and then we'll hand it off to dirty work on this

Tuesday on the sports leader.

This is Papa and Silver on KNBR sports leader.

Feeling in for Greg Papa, it's Larry Krueger on these sports leader.

Papa and Silver with Larry Krueger continuing along another hour and five and then we'll

get it over to dirty work for this Tuesday afternoon.

Good to have you all be part of the show today for one five eight five six two seven to

chime in at any time.

And of course, we are live on YouTube, Twitch, these sports leader dot com, the app.

There's a lot of different ways you can get us around the globe.

All right.

So we had a little collection of sound here and Rich Eisen is going to join us coming

up at one 30 crew.

But since we were all in on the Giants, the WBC, a little roster construction, let's go

back to six days ago where Tony Vitello in the middle of a cactus league game spoke on

the looming roster decisions and we can tie that into some of the names that we've been

talking all about here in the last half hour.

Here was Tony Vee on the upcoming opening day roster and the decisions for his first

year as major league manager.

Yeah, I related to my only experiences as a head coach.

Well, even as a recruiting coordinator, I chime in in January.

You start to feel the college season coming around and by about February right before Valentine's.

You got to break some people's hearts and it's not fun.

But I think the one cool thing here is the communication is first of all a nox really good

right there.

But the communications at a really high level between the front office, the management,

the coaches, even some of the leaders on the team, some of the veterans.

And we're at least going to go into these debates with with good information and come

out with what we think is best for the team.

All right.

So there is Tony Vee Tello and of course in the middle of a broadcast, you're going

to keep it pretty broad and we still have a ways to go.

In fact, a little Scottsdale action going to be broadcast on the big screen at Giants

Fan Fest at Oracle Park this coming Saturday.

And so March 25th is still over a couple of weeks from now when you got to make these

big decisions.

But while that was all going on, Drew Gerard and Karnasio ended up getting a hit in that

spot.

So we were getting into the starting outfield and how it's been nice to see Harrison

Bader and Junghu Lee and hoping that Elliott Ramos can have a bounce back year, especially

as an outfield defender.

Then you got a couple of guys in Luis Matos and Gerard and Karnasio, which are out of

options.

And you do think about this opening day roster coming up.

Where fans at have you seen enough of Luis Matos?

I for one have always liked the potential and the big power of Gerard and Karnasio.

But last year, he had the season from hell because he was having a fantastic spring training.

And then right when Papa and I were at a March madness event, we got word that Gerard

and Karnasio and going for a ball in the outfield, broke his finger.

And then he was out for a while and then he would have a couple of nice games put together

and then he pulled the hamstring and he just any time he was starting to get into a groove,

he would just get sideline again.

So now we enter this season coming up with him with more question marks than we would

have liked there too.

Yeah, I mean, I don't, I'm not getting your guy's fascination with Gerard and Karnasio.

And I mean, he's 30 years old.

He's got 10 career home runs.

I mean, it's like, what?

What?

Am I missing something here?

Is this guy supposed to leave with that?

Did I die?

And this guy had a good career when I was, when I was dead.

I mean, I don't, I don't understand why there's this fascination.

He's not a good fielder.

He's not in great shape.

He's 28 years old.

He's never really established himself.

I don't even think he's a prospect.

To me, he's like a total suspect.

I, you didn't even mention Drew Gilbert, right?

Because Gilbert, isn't he going to be in that mix somewhere?

Oh, yeah, I think he's dealing with injury right now.

Yeah, so, but I mean, so you got Junghu and Gilbert and Bader and Ramos.

And then, you know, he's looking good down there right now is McCray.

Now McCray struck out a ton last year.

And he's another guy who's kind of a minor leager.

But I think he's only struck out.

I mean, you could go look at it.

I think he's only struck out once or twice this spring.

He's, he's definitely making better contact.

He's a great athlete.

He's got real power, real speed.

So there's him, I like Matos, man.

I'm Matos sitting over 400 right now.

And everything off the bat is loud.

He's, you know, he's got ability to throw.

He can play center field in a pinch.

I like Matos.

I think Matos needs to be given.

The same way Ramos was given more of an opportunity and finally broke through.

I think Matos needs that opportunity this year.

And I think I talked to him in the clubhouse the last day before I left.

And he's feeling good about the way he's playing right now.

He's feeling really good about his chances.

I really like him.

To me in Carnation is a minor league or he's not, I don't even think he's a major league talent.

But I like the addition of Brennan.

He has him some depth and McCray.

He has him some, you know, another guy in the minor leagues that they can call up if needed.

But I think for the first time they got five, they got five major league caliber outfielders this year.

And that to me, that's exciting.

They haven't had five major league caliber outfielders in many years, really in the last

20.

I mean, to see them with five major league caliber outfielders is really encouraging.

Yeah.

I mean, look, as far as McCray and Gilbert both go, I think I would prefer to see them both

start the year in AAA, not to say that they can't come up and show some flashes.

McCray.

I absolutely love what he can bring to the table defensively.

But every time he's been at the bigs, he has struck out way too much.

Gilbert.

Last year he hit it well at course and obviously the energy that captivated the whole nation

with the way he was chewing on Robby Ray's sleeve and the choking with Matt Chapman and everything.

I think he's a great ball of energy, but I also want to see a little bit more development

out of him.

I think why lean and karnasione over somebody like Matos is, Matos was kind of, you kind

of want a little bit more out of him.

And I hear what you're saying on he can have more opportunities, but I also think he's gotten

enough opportunities to be someone to come in and really rake it against left handers,

where it just wasn't quite the level of consistency I was hoping for.

And Gerard, although I don't love him as a defensive outfielder, even though he's got

the big body and the big arm, I think that is much more of a better choice as someone

that could be a D H, especially if you just feel like Bryce Aldridge needs to start the

year in Sacramento and get a little bit more seasoning before you feel like he's ready.

Yeah, I mean, you know, we'll just agree to disagree.

I just don't see in karnasione as major league at all.

I mean, I, has he ever done anything, I mean, he's almost 30 years old.

Has he ever done anything in the major leagues that would make you think that this guy

would be your D H. This is one of your, your D H is supposed to be a great hitter.

This guy's a two 15 career hitter.

I mean, I don't get it, man.

I'm not getting it.

I was, was there games played that I didn't see?

I mean, why, why is your R and karnasione considered a major leaker?

I just think I get that.

No, I mean, I get what you're saying and the numbers are what they are, right?

I think it's been, there could be a greater sample size.

The injury is certainly plagued him last year.

Generally, the power off the bat is something that's always been intriguing to me.

And offensively speaking, you got to see the average go up a little bit.

Like to your point, the D H has to be someone that can give you some consistent production

at that point.

I just think that I'd take the bat of someone like an N Karnasione with a little bit more

op-o power.

And if Motto's can be someone that you trust consistently against the left handed pitching,

sure by all means, but you know, he's also out of option.

Well, I guess they're both out of options, right?

So they could also be a DFA if they want to bring in some new faces on this roster.

And so I get that we're at the stage where like we're getting into the weeds.

It's all kind of pining and the 26 will be the 26 at this point.

The larger concern in it.

And we can talk about Gilbert and McCray and N Karnasione and Motto's.

But really, it's, can you get some steady outfield offensive production from your starters?

Harrison Bader had a really good offensive year.

Last year, playing a combination of the twins and the Phillies.

But those are two easier ball parks to hit the ball in.

Jung Huli, we saw the stints where he was looking like a future superstar.

And the weekend he had at Yankee Stadium last year was sensational in April.

But then he also, you know, really dry spell there in June where he wasn't even a contact

guy.

He was striking out way too much.

He just couldn't get on base and he kind of represented one of the low points of the

giant season last year where he's trying to lay down a bunch on a base as low an attempt.

It's like, what are we, what are we doing here with this offense?

And then Ramos is someone who, I mean, come on, I talk about Motto's and wanting more

production against lefties.

Ramos was that guy when he was an all star in 2024.

But I think he's also a young enough player where you could see the defensive struggles

sometimes bleed into the offense and vice versa.

If Bader can just calm both of those guys down in the outfield, I'd like to see how that

can affect their game mentally and try to pay some dividends at the plate when they're

going to be more the everyday starters.

You know, Bader's interesting because he did hit over 300 with Philly when he went there.

And did he make a breakthrough?

Is he, you know, because this guy struggled offensively at different times in his career.

So is he going to be the offensive player that we saw in Philadelphia in the second half?

Because that could be really, really good.

Or is he going to struggle and are you going to want to, is Tony not going to want to

hit him near the top and want to hit him like in the nine hole because he's hitting for

such a low average?

So that's one thing.

To me, he's a little bit of a wild card.

I've loved to see Bader hit in front of a rise, whether that's Bader one or rise two,

Bader nine or rise one, but I'd like to see Bader in front of a rise.

I think that that that's a good combo one, you know, one guy can run and gets on.

The other guy is contact hitter and I could see a rise, you know, driving in Bader quite

a bit this year.

So, but you know, it's, it's, they, they got a lot of, they got a lot of question marks.

They got a lot of question marks, but I think overall, um, defend, you know, in the outfield,

you know, I, I think Ramos had a nightmarish year defensively, but he's a far better defensive

player than what we saw last year.

That was, I mean, I don't know if it was a lack of focus or just mental.

He just was, you know, taking, he was not thinking in the outfield.

He wasn't, you know, maybe he was, he was, I don't know, I don't know what this, this

guy was a decent center fielder coming up in the Giants farm system and then played

the more difficult right field for a while.

And now he's just being asked to play left field and it's a different angle and it's

different off the bat and it's, you know, it's a, people, anybody who's played the center

will tell you it's different on the flanks than it is in the center.

I just don't believe that Matos is as bad a defensive player as we all thought based

on last year.

I think it was a concentration issue.

I think you'll get it going.

I mean, you know, Ramos, what I said, Matos, I met Ramos.

Yeah, Ramos, I mean, now that he's married, now that he's a little bit more comfortable,

a little bit more established, maybe Ramos has more of a bounce back year defensively.

He was so bad last year that I got to think that it was just a focus issue more than anything.

Well, and look, I also think that he's too good of an athlete to not be someone that can be

more productive in the outfield defensively.

He doesn't have to be a gold glove caliber outfielder.

He doesn't have to be as good as someone like Harrison Bader playing right next to him.

But generally speaking, he is too good of an athlete to have that kind of year again.

If he is, then it's a real problem and we're going to be having some conversations about,

do you just try to DHM or what do you ultimately do because you can't make that

in everyday occurrence with the team that because of the question marks in their rotation and

certainly the bullpen, the margin for error on the defensive side and all other positions,

to me, decreases from where it was already at being a 500 team last year.

And you can't DHM, right?

This is a team that has devers and eldrige and those guys are going to need to DH.

So, Ramos has to play the field. He's got to play the field every day and he's got to play

the field better than he played it last year. And I think there's reason to believe that he will.

I'll say this about the giants. There's a good vibe around them this spring.

I think Tony, Tony's kind of new, he's a whole new look at baseball because he's doing

it in pro baseball for the first time. But I think he's also brought kind of a refreshing new approach.

You know, you've got Buster and Buster's got Kurt Cassali now in his front office. He's got

obviously a Minesian there. So, I mean, I don't know. I do have a belief in their hierarchy

and their brain trust more so than I've had in past years, largely because of my belief in Buster.

But I think Cassali Sharp is hell as well.

All right, 808 can be our number to join the conversation. Couple more pieces of sound we got one

from Dremon Green who has a message for the fans that are saying he should be traded from the warriors.

And then we've got from this morning, Ira Kaufman, a great story about Mike Evans in Tampa Bay,

the third and 28 rant in a brutal loss in which Tampa got upset toward the end of the year last

season. A guy that thought might be there for life is now coming to San Francisco and then we'll

talk to Rich Eisen at 130. Play those other couple of cuts. When we come on back, it's Papa and

Silver with crew on the sports later.