Non-Sharks Bay Area Sports Thread XXVIII

[Star Platinum]

Anyone else enjoy Bryce Harper's foul ball the other day during the Giant's game? Best foul ball I think I might have ever seen. That's pretty pleasing after the first up and in and Harper having the balls to bark at the pitcher. I called the next one as a bean ball, but even better that it got his bat. Then sad multi-millionaire clown get mad... hahahahahahahahaha

https://x.com/i/web/status/1795924486941712648

I can't take the Giants seriously right now. They're just the baseball version of the late stage Doug Wilson Sharks to me and I'm stuck in fan purgatory waiting for them to fire Farhan and get a GM that actually knows how to build a farm system instead of just talk about it.

 

[landshark]

I can't take the Giants seriously right now. They're just the baseball version of the late stage Doug Wilson Sharks to me and I'm stuck in fan purgatory waiting for them to fire Farhan and get a GM that actually knows how to build a farm system instead of just talk about it.

If Doug Wilson had three cups in 5 years, then sure... I grew up a Cubs fan and became a Giants fan when I moved to SF in 2000. The things the Giants are going through now are nothing compared to the suffering through 20+ years of Cubs fandom.

 

[Star Platinum]

If Doug Wilson had three cups in 5 years, then sure... I grew up a Cubs fan and became a Giants fan when I moved to SF in 2000. The things the Giants are going through now are nothing compared to the suffering through 20+ years of Cubs fandom.

The guys running the Giants right now are stat nerds who probably barely even touched a bat when they were kids. The guys who were there when they won the 3 titles are long gone.

I don't feel like the Giants owe me anything cause I waited a long time for that first title and to get two more over the next four years was an embarrassment of riches I never expected. Especially that last one which was not a good team at all. But I also don't owe paying attention to them when I'm just waiting around for them to get a real GM that knows how to draft.

One of the things I really liked about the Craig Button interview was when he said something out loud that I always thought was just obvious, but eludes the Giants completely. You shouldn't move a prospect up a level until he's dominating the level he's at because it's not gonna get any easier at the higher level. The Giants continually promote guys who haven't dominated their league. I get that when injuries hit (which are never a surprise with the Giants) they have to have somebody to play, but it's no shock when they come back down to earth once they've been up a while.

 

[landshark]

The guys running the Giants right now are stat nerds who probably barely even touched a bat when they were kids. The guys who were there when they won the 3 titles are long gone.

I don't feel like the Giants owe me anything cause I waited a long time for that first title and to get two more over the next four years was an embarrassment of riches I never expected. Especially that last one which was not a good team at all. But I also don't owe paying attention to them when I'm just waiting around for them to get a real GM that knows how to draft.

One of the things I really liked about the Craig Button interview was when he said something out loud that I always thought was just obvious, but eludes the Giants completely. You shouldn't move a prospect up a level until he's dominating the level he's at because it's not gonna get any easier at the higher level. The Giants continually promote guys who haven't dominated their league. I get that when injuries hit (which are never a surprise with the Giants) they have to have somebody to play, but it's no shock when they come back down to earth once they've been up a while.

I hear you. I'm not saying the Giants are currently well run. I still enjoy tuning in (DVR makes everything better) and seeing what happens. Just like the Sharks this last season. Although watching a hockey team tank for a high draft pick is way more fun than doing something similar with baseball. Harper has such a punchable face... Baseball is more of a soap opera to me. What's gonna happen today? Hockey is more of an event, and generally way more intense for me.

Regarding when to promote a prospect... I think the feeder leagues for each are so vastly different that it's tough to make a comparison. There's way more levels of baseball dev leagues the prospect's team has control of to some extent... NHL teams have AHL and ECHL. MLB has at least 6 different leagues affiliated with the major league club. Giants as an example: 8 teams across 6 leagues.

But, there's just straight up more players aged 18-20 in the NHL than MLB. Even when you consider 4-5 years from being drafted in the MLB it puts them around 22-23... For hockey there's just not the varying levels of NHL-team-controlled development to keep prospects playing and developing with other similarly aged prospects. Drafted at 18 and then spend a year in Juniors playing against other kids or in college playing with kids your own age... Then what? Here's the AHL with full blown adults to play against, pros that have been doing it for years... Or the ECHL, but what's the quality of competition going to be like?

Meanwhile baseball players spend more time with prospects their own age in a team-that-drafted-them environment before they're exposed to full blown professional baseball playing adults of all ages. Highly drafted players can, and do, skip the whole minor league thing in the NHL. It's a rare occurrence in MLB:

Button's point makes more sense for MLB than NHL.

But yeah, in general the Giants shouldn't be rushing folks, but the fan base situation is waay different as well. No top notch free agent signed, you damned Giants?!? Better try and get these prospects going a little sooner... all while ticket prices go up.

I just enjoyed watching them win three world series in a five year span less than a decade ago. I'm ok if they take a minute to get shit together. I think Farhan is an excellent opportunist, and I will always fondly look back on the 2021 Giants for that 107 win season. I think that was peak stat nerd showcase. I'm ok to let that little bastard keep trying.

Giants ownership just want to be real estate megatards, they're not terribly interested in the product on the field. Float on you beautiful landfill... if you need a reason to be irritated with the the Giants, it's ownership, not Farhan.

 

[DG93]

The guys running the Giants right now are stat nerds who probably barely even touched a bat when they were kids. The guys who were there when they won the 3 titles are long gone.

I don't feel like the Giants owe me anything cause I waited a long time for that first title and to get two more over the next four years was an embarrassment of riches I never expected. Especially that last one which was not a good team at all. But I also don't owe paying attention to them when I'm just waiting around for them to get a real GM that knows how to draft.

One of the things I really liked about the Craig Button interview was when he said something out loud that I always thought was just obvious, but eludes the Giants completely. You shouldn't move a prospect up a level until he's dominating the level he's at because it's not gonna get any easier at the higher level. The Giants continually promote guys who haven't dominated their league. I get that when injuries hit (which are never a surprise with the Giants) they have to have somebody to play, but it's no shock when they come back down to earth once they've been up a while.

Odd timing to rail on the Giants FO when the fruits of the rebuild are finally starting to make a statement. I'm not sure if Farhan is the long-term answer, but the prior FO certainly had to go as the game had certainly passed them by and they dug a massive hole for Farhan to dig his way out of. So I think if anything, the prior regime was Doug Wilson, and Farhan is Grier in this analogy.

 

[Lebanezer]

Baseball is a trash product right now. Say what you will about 3 on 3 overtime in hockey, but a runner on second in extra innings and a pitch clock completely changed the entire strategy behind baseball. Add that to the sabremetric obsession with true outcomes (walks, ks and hrs), and you have a boring, rushed, waste of time. Plus, it takes me over an hour to get up to SF to go to a game, and the game is over in 2 hours now. I'm not going to spend more time commuting than being at the park. Rob Manfred is an idiot.

 

[Bizz]

Baseball is a trash product right now. Say what you will about 3 on 3 overtime in hockey, but a runner on second in extra innings and a pitch clock completely changed the entire strategy behind baseball. Add that to the sabremetric obsession with true outcomes (walks, ks and hrs), and you have a boring, rushed, waste of time. Plus, it takes me over an hour to get up to SF to go to a game, and the game is over in 2 hours now. I'm not going to spend more time commuting than being at the park. Rob Manfred is an idiot.

All of that and right now there really is only maybe 4 or 5 truly generational players in the game right now who can be counted on for consistently high end production. Outside of Ohtani, Trout, Judge, Harper, and *maybe* Soto there really isn't much else. Acuna could be great but he's injured half the time. Everyone else is either flash in the pan or is riddled with injuries. Then you have teams like Toronto that have a boatload of young talent that they bragged about and most of them have already started declining in their mid-20's.

 

[landshark]

Baseball is a trash product right now. Say what you will about 3 on 3 overtime in hockey, but a runner on second in extra innings and a pitch clock completely changed the entire strategy behind baseball. Add that to the sabremetric obsession with true outcomes (walks, ks and hrs), and you have a boring, rushed, waste of time. Plus, it takes me over an hour to get up to SF to go to a game, and the game is over in 2 hours now. I'm not going to spend more time commuting than being at the park. Rob Manfred is an idiot.

I'm on the fence about the pitch clock, it totally cuts down on the time between pitches where folks are just standing around scratching their crotch and spitting tobacco. I hate the limited number of throw-overs for pick offs. I'm not overly irritated with the limited number of mound visits and kind of enjoy the 3 batter rule for relief pitchers. They probably could have called it good there.

The Manfred Man can f*** right off. Putting a guy in scoring position for free to start each extra inning is soooo f***ing stupid I can hardly stand it. It was bad enough putting the DH in the National League... But, the Manfred Man is a f***ing abomination! Nothing like watching a pitchers' duel only to have it end with Manfred Men in extra innings.

They should just set up a f***ing pitching machine and turn baseball into a modified home run derby. If it wasn't for the DVR allowing me to watch a game in about an hour I'd have stopped.

Dear Manfred, just go full Blernsball already and get it over with.

 

[Sandisfan]

I'm on the fence about the pitch clock, it totally cuts down on the time between pitches where folks are just standing around scratching their crotch and spitting tobacco. I hate the limited number of throw-overs for pick offs. I'm not overly irritated with the limited number of mound visits and kind of enjoy the 3 batter rule for relief pitchers. They probably could have called it good there.

The Manfred Man can f*** right off. Putting a guy in scoring position for free to start each extra inning is soooo f***ing stupid I can hardly stand it. It was bad enough putting the DH in the National League... But, the Manfred Man is a f***ing abomination! Nothing like watching a pitchers' duel only to have it end with Manfred Men in extra innings.

They should just set up a f***ing pitching machine and turn baseball into a modified home run derby. If it wasn't for the DVR allowing me to watch a game in about an hour I'd have stopped.

Dear Manfred, just go full Blernsball already and get it over with.

View attachment 878200

I hate Manfred ball that Idiot!

I can live with the pitch clock if loosened, Hate the three hitter rule (could live with modification like one time one hitter and one time two hitter faced). The abomination of runner on 2nd should have Manfred serving 10 years in prison.

I like the sarcasm of the pitching machine idea and the GIF. Manfred is a tool and after his departure and getting someone sane (would love to remove DH from both leagues but at least from NL) and change the things I mentioned back like my Ideas and then remove him officially from the baseball history and remove from photos like the old Soviet regimes.

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

I hate Manfred ball that Idiot!

I can live with the pitch clock if loosened, Hate the three hitter rule (could live with modification like one time one hitter and one time two hitter faced). The abomination of runner on 2nd should have Manfred serving 10 years in prison.

I like the sarcasm of the pitching machine idea and the GIF. Manfred is a tool and after his departure and getting someone sane (would love to remove DH from both leagues but at least from NL) and change the things I mentioned back like my Ideas and then remove him officially from the baseball history and remove from photos like the old Soviet regimes.

When you say remove the DH, do tou mean to have only eight players batting the lineup then? I dont want to bring back the pitchers hitting spot. Eight spots would give regular guys more at-bats, which I want to see.

 

[Cas]

The pitch clock is the best thing to happen to baseball in decades - it simply forces players and umpires to adhere to the rules as written instead of standing around doing nothing. Frankly I'd even shorten it - 12 seconds from receiving the ball to delivering the ball, combined with both feet in the batter's box at all times.

The Manfred Man is stupid.

Pitcher's batting is also stupid.

As for three true outcomes, the problem is simply that it really is the best way to play. The game will need to be altered - I continue to advocate for pushing the mound back to 66 feet, pushing the outfield fences back 10-20 feet, and increasing the minimum bat weight to 36 or even 40 oz. Reduce power, decrease strikeouts, incentivize speed.

 

[Lebanezer]

The pitch clock is the best thing to happen to baseball in decades - it simply forces players and umpires to adhere to the rules as written instead of standing around doing nothing. Frankly I'd even shorten it - 12 seconds from receiving the ball to delivering the ball, combined with both feet in the batter's box at all times.

The Manfred Man is stupid.

Pitcher's batting is also stupid.

As for three true outcomes, the problem is simply that it really is the best way to play. The game will need to be altered - I continue to advocate for pushing the mound back to 66 feet, pushing the outfield fences back 10-20 feet, and increasing the minimum bat weight to 36 or even 40 oz. Reduce power, decrease strikeouts, incentivize speed.

Pitcher vs. hitter is a 1v1 competition. There's more to it than just the pitcher throwing and the hitter hitting. As soon as you put a time limit on it it adds an unnecessary sense of urgency for both hitter and pitcher. It also gives an insane advantage to baserunners. The pitch clock completely changes how baseball is played. There is no need to rush through the interactions. Guys who take obnoxiously long between pitches can be punished, but 20 seconds is way too fast.

 

[Cas]

Pitcher vs. hitter is a 1v1 competition. There's more to it than just the pitcher throwing and the hitter hitting. As soon as you put a time limit on it it adds an unnecessary sense of urgency for both hitter and pitcher. It also gives an insane advantage to baserunners. The pitch clock completely changes how baseball is played. There is no need to rush through the interactions. Guys who take obnoxiously long between pitches can be punished, but 20 seconds is way too fast.

Baseball is entertainment and watching both pitcher and batter play a pointless waiting game is not entertaining.

Besides, we spent decades without interminable periods between pitches. The 30+ second waits between pitches were a relatively recent phenomenon. We can get rid of them just fine, because we're just helping move things back to how baseball was played. A pitch clock rule has been in place since 1901 - it was just poorly enforced. MLB has simply taken away the discretion from the umpires because they wouldn't or couldn't enforce the existing rules.

I'm also fine with giving baserunners more of an advantage - it incentivizes speed and would on the margins help move the sport away from power.

 

[Lebanezer]

Baseball is entertainment and watching both pitcher and batter play a pointless waiting game is not entertaining.

Besides, we spent decades without interminable periods between pitches. The 30+ second waits between pitches were a relatively recent phenomenon. We can get rid of them just fine, because we're just helping move things back to how baseball was played. A pitch clock rule has been in place since 1901 - it was just poorly enforced. MLB has simply taken away the discretion from the umpires because they wouldn't or couldn't enforce the existing rules.

I'm also fine with giving baserunners more of an advantage - it incentivizes speed and would on the margins help move the sport away from power.

The waiting game isn't pointless, it's part of the strategy of gaining an advantage over your opponent. Making the umpires enforce the rule without an actual clock, where it can be discretionary, is more palatable than a visible clock.

The baserunners shouldn't be given such a huge advantage once they get on base. Stealing bases is supposed to be a skill. It shouldn't just be a matter of watching the clock and taking off when you know the pitcher is running out of time. Just like the ghost runner, these rules are simply there to prioritize the games ending quickly, but it comes at the cost of strategy and skill, and that leads to a worse product.

I agree with moving the sport away from the power obsessed approach.

 

[landshark]

I do agree with the pitch clock giving the base stealers a bit of an edge. That's why they shouldn't limit the throw overs. I do like the pitch clock over all tho, I think.

I like watching the pitcher's spot hit, or get pinch hit for... There's a bit of management on making the call of letting your pitcher hit or pinch hitting for them that's completely lost with the DH. I like bunting. I like the hit and run. I like the double switch. I think the DH took away from the spirit of the game in that you play both sides and getting a useful out of a pitcher is part of the strategy.

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

I do agree with the pitch clock giving the base stealers a bit of an edge. That's why they shouldn't limit the throw overs. I do like the pitch clock over all tho, I think.

I like watching the pitcher's spot hit, or get pinch hit for... There's a bit of management on making the call of letting your pitcher hit or pinch hitting for them that's completely lost with the DH. I like bunting. I like the hit and run. I like the double switch. I think the DH took away from the spirit of the game in that you play both sides and getting a useful out of a pitcher is part of the strategy.

Meh. I dont miss those anymore. I do like the DH spot. It gives Jorge Soler a vhance to hit. Or old fat guys who are bad in the field at their age. Or Luciano lol

 

[Sandisfan]

Meh. I dont miss those anymore. I do like the DH spot. It gives Jorge Soler a vhance to hit. Or old fat guys who are bad in the field at their age. Or Luciano lol

Soler at this point might set a record for futility with men on base. Someone on a forum where just a small group of mostly older Giants Fans and has written of his near historically bad numbers with men on base so far this season. It's like .070 or worse with men on base and still bad like .250 bases empty. It might be in his head at this point if he hit at an average number the Giants might have 2 or three more wins.

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

Soler at this point might set a record for futility with men on base. Someone on a forum where just a small group of mostly older Giants Fans and has written of his near historically bad numbers with men on base so far this season. It's like .070 or worse with men on base and still bad like .250 bases empty. It might be in his head at this point if he hit at an average number the Giants might have 2 or three more wins.

He's just snakebitten. When he makes contact, he hits the ball extremely hard and you need that. Lines drives. I think he'll improve now that summer is here and it's a little warmer in SF. True summer in SF is like late Aug- early Sept though.

 

[landshark]

He's just snakebitten. When he makes contact, he hits the ball extremely hard and you need that. Lines drives. I think he'll improve now that summer is here and it's a little warmer in SF. True summer in SF is like late Aug- early Sept though.

Soler is killing me softly with his bat. Avg exit velo is down from his avg and 5 more degrees on launch angle. His strike out rate is also up several points. Barrels per plate appearance in the dumper. He's not seeing it or feeling it. If he's a warm weather guy then yeah, I guess he can show up in Aug-Sept when it gets warm in SF and they're likely already out of it.

I'm enjoying Matos and Ramos tho. I think maybe Ramos could break the "different left fielder for starting day every year since Bonds" streak in 2025/2026.