Hmmm. Giants open to calling pitches from the dugout. Good read with takes from across the league. Bailey didn’t seem too bothered. Game calling value, positive or negative isn’t really quantified, at least publicly, so maybe doesn’t see this trend hurting his value. www.nytimes.com/athletic/704...

I was thinking Frazier wouldn’t be a bad body to have in camp, up until they signed Arraez.

Deeply disturbed by my daughter calling dinosaurs “dodgers” “I like dodgers” is a sentence I never wanted to hear from my blood.

I’m taking this as they aren’t all that serious about Eldridge in OF. Otherwise one would think they would have given him a heads up earlier in the offseason.

He’s going to continue to take meatballs for strikes and swing at slop? Cool. These are just words, but this isn’t great.

Schmitt looking a lot leaner in the background. I think he’ll be improved at 2B with some range increase.

PIT becoming a bit interesting. They could use an upgrade at 3B. Triolo hasn’t done a whole lot with the bat, though defense is quite good. Schmitt is a fit for them. PIT has some SP depth, but not sure who would be a fair target. Maybe Thomas Harrington? Throws strikes with a mediocre mix.

Relevant today as one might see commentary that doesn’t really get Boston’s motivations for Devers trade.

Putting a “rookie” at third base, that’s a lot of pressure on Borg. He has been in the org as a player and a coach since 2004! He’s a rookie for a position in the major leagues. But has been in that role at various times in his career, including in LIDOM.

There are six “countries” with overlap between WBC and 2026 Cricket World Cup. Can you name them? I guessed only 2.

What was going on in the Giants bullpen in these years…

Apologies for the post spam. When I get some time, I will figure out how to group similar transactions like these.

I would guess that Boston penciled themselves in as coming out ahead on this trade even if they got zero value in the return. The way they see it, they won by getting off the Devers contract, anything else is a bonus.

Luis Arraez had a double plate approach problem in 2025. 1. 11th highest in baseball in % of pitches taken in the heart of the zone 2. 24th in swinging at pitches in the “Chase” and “Waste” part of the zones 3. Highest % of first pitch called strikes (Min 2,000 pitches, 132 qualified batters)

So, what do we think the Cardinals wanted from the Giants to top this?

10% better wRC+ translates to about ~0.7 more WAR over 600 PA, holding everything else equal. So for upgrades that Bader and Arraez bring, Giants are adding ~1.5 WAR. Value that at around 12-15M. So Giants are paying another 8-11M on top for lower volatility.

How much better are Bader/Arraez than Gilbert/Jesus Rodriguez? ZiPS: Bader - 102 Arraez - 108 Gilbert - 93 Rodriguez - 101 About 10% offensive boost + less volatility. Is that worth 23M? Bader/Gilbert defensively aren’t that far apart. Hard to imagine Rodriguez being worse than Arraez at 2B.

I would have guessed Brian Bannister was in the Giants org when Hicks signed, but he left to White Sox a few months earlier.

If Arraez plays everyday at 2B, Giants are pretty much giving up all the positive value they’ve built with the Bader addition and hopeful bounce back from Ramos. If Ramos doesn’t bounce back (-11 to ~ -5 FRV), the defense is likely to be worse overall in 2026 than 2025.

I’ve GitHub Actions, to run the workflow to pull transactions, set to 15 mins. But they aren’t really running every 15 mins. I’m guessing this is a bottleneck with GitHub. Not complaining, because it’s free. If anyone has an idea how to improve frequency, please DM.

Not sure I get this. Villarroel is a small, contact heavy guy, without much of a position. Sub .300 OBP in High-A as a 20 year old. Teng isn’t super impressive or a lock for a role this year but he was in the mix for innings to open the season. Whatever I guess.

Bot works!

Bryce Eldridge has perhaps an outlier low projection with OOPSY (89 wRC+). The BAT has him at 104 wRC+, ZiPS at 100, Steamer at 99. (None are good enough to be starting at DH for a playoff contender)

This becomes easier. Assuming Bader plays 500 PA worth in CF, Lee in RF. That’s nearly a win right there with improvements at both. Ramos bouncing back is another half. 1.5 win sandbag against negative outcomes elsewhere.

Bader is fine. But paying for 90 wRC+ bat with good CF defense is not great for a contending org. Good teams look to upgrade that, Giants are shelling out in FA for it. Indictment of where the org is. The bottom could fall out on the bat, then you have an expensive defensive replacement.

Not sure if it means anything, but Harrison Bader has struggled against LHP over the last two seasons, ~300 PA. A notable shift from his career.

I think either Gonzalez for Abrams or Davidson+Level+Whisenhunt is a “fair” trade. I wouldn’t do the former and probably not the latter, but just how I believe prospects are valued. I wouldn’t do below trade even if Jacob Young was included.

I peg Gonzalez+Davidson+Level+ Bresnahan+Whisenhunt at ~15 WAR in value. Abrams has three years of control left. Might get 9-10 WAR out of him, 12 at high end. So, accounting for $20M/3y, 7-10 surplus WAR. Suggested trade is a major overpay on paper imo. www.nytimes.com/athletic/699...

Bot is live, should be working based on some test runs. If this works, I’ll create two more bots. One for Giants minor league transactions and one for all minor league transactions across baseball.

You can’t make multiple bsky accounts with the same email? Ugh.

I want to learn how to make bots on Bluesky. Goal for today is to create a bot that posts Giants transactions. Lets see how far I get.

BA ranks Eldridge, Gonzalez, Davidson, and Level in top 100. Not sure exactly how BA thinks about it, but to me it suggests BA would not trade Jhonny Level or Bo Davidson, or anyone in ~75-100 range, for Luis Hernandez. Not sure I agree. www.baseballamerica.com/rankings/202...

This is pretty much a giveaway by Miami. I liked Martinez a bit when he signed, but his first pro year in the DSL was terrible enough that he might have been released. A bit hard to believe that $250K in intl bonus pool can be had for negligible cost this year.

Here is my 2026 Giants international signing day review. Reports and video on Luis Hernández, Alexis Gallego, and Angelo Ugueto. Also has a brief look ahead for upcoming classes. open.substack.com/pub/giantspr...

Happy International Signing Day! Depending on my day goes, I’ll have a substack post (link in bio) reviewing the class with the notes I’ve gathered and a bit of video.

In the last 10 months, San Francisco Baseball Associates LLC has sold 11%-12% of the team for an estimated 350M-450M. I wish every time the 17M to Blake Snell thing is written (pays out this week btw), so is this point. If ownership wants to direct focus on cash out, maybe mention cash in as well.

Josuar Gonzalez juuuust misses the T10. He’s at no. 11. He is near the top of the pack in two categories: - 2nd in run (70 grade) to Connor Griffin (PIT) - T-1 in fielding (70 grade) w/ Billy Carlson (WS) Per BA’s old grading system: 65. Adjusted grade: 50 (-15, high risk)

Final Luis Hernandez hacks before he officially signs with Giants on Thursday. I’ve been watching Hernandez videos for a few years now. He has always had that bat path, but can start seeing some noticeable gains in bat speed over the past 6 months.

I wanted to put together a couple of additional trades. Matos for Bryce Elder is something I’ve posted. My second one was going to be for Bryce Teodosio. Very weak bat, on the bench for Angels, so cost shouldn’t be a whole lot. But then took a second look, FG has Meckler starting in CF for LAA lol.

A rule of thumb for myself, a 3 WAR player with one year left, will net a package built around a 50 FV prospect. That’s usually a top 75-125 type prospect. Giants have two of them I think, Level and Davidson. So, expect one of them to go in any notable deal.

My guess at the trade packages: Hoerner: Bo Davidson + Trevor McDonald + Joe Whitman Donovan: Jhonny Level + Keyner Martinez + Gerelmi Maldonado I see about 3-3.5 WAR surplus value with Hoerner. About 5 WAR surplus with Donovan.

A few “clearance” aisle bullpen trade targets i like (ymmv on the fairness deeming them as such): Org prospect level/cash type cost: 1. LHP Josh Simpson (MIA): one option left 2. RHP Kevin Kelly (TB): 925k arb, 5.90 ERA 3. LHP Austin Cox (ATL): outrighted in Nov 4. LHP Grant Wolfram (BAL)

Left from March. Right from Baggarly. Took just a year to get back to Zaidi Way. Opt-outs = middling payroll teams way to boost contract value. Churn = find incremental value at the edge because you can’t develop nor pay for it. www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/... www.nytimes.com/athletic/695...

Giants can get more out of the young pitching group, it would be hard to get less. The question though is, will that be sufficient? Many high risk variables they’re hoping to fall their way. I respect the self belief, but it’s a lot of pressure on players and staff. www.nytimes.com/athletic/695...

2025: 10% ownership stake by Sixth Street

I believe this is the first addition to the Giants ownership group since 2023 when Arctos Sports Partners, Buster Posey, and Aneel Bhusri were added. www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news...

Giants had the third worst wRC+ vs. LHP in 2025 (78 wRC+). Giants OF had 73 wRC+ vs. LHP. Giants have not done anything to address this so far. Wiemer was an attempt, but he’s already gone. If the plan is to rely on Matos and Encarnacion, would same error as last offseason (noted below).

Leones del Escogido are vindicated. If you understand this reference, seek help.

Giants OF was -15 FRV (positive arm value brings them above the -18 OAA). Getting that to 0 is like adding 1.5-2 team wins. Pretty significant benefit, but also an Herculean task. What Shane Robinson accomplishes could be the difference between a wild card spot and missing out by a game or two.

Cabrera was on my list of 10 SP trade targets, of which one felt mandatory to add if they weren’t going big in FA. Doubt that they’ll add from here now after Houser/Mahle. Cabrera and Gore were at the bottom of the ten for me though. Have concerns about Cabrera’s floor. bsky.app/profile/gian...