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00:00We know this about baseball.
00:02Sometimes the difference between a good team and a bad team
00:05or a good season and a bad season is just that team that sort of happens
00:10about six to eight times during a year.
00:14They get the big hit at the right time.
00:16And they do.
00:17They lead the league in walk-offs.
00:18They had two more over the weekend.
00:20They've got all of these one-run victories.
00:23It doesn't feel like the Giants are a dominant team,
00:26but they've got a dominant record.
00:28They're a game behind the Dodgers.
00:30That's right, yeah.
00:31And the Dodgers played the Padres this week while the Giants played the Rockies.
00:35Like, it is not infathomable that the Giants would be in first place
00:38when they arrive in L.A. on Friday.
00:40Well, they almost should be, quite frankly, because Colorado is not only bad,
00:44they are historically bad.
00:46And when I say historically bad, I mean they might be the single worst team
00:51in the history of modern baseball.
00:53They might be.
00:54Their record right now, they have a 185 winning percentage,
00:57and if you look at that throughout the course of an entire year,
01:01that's about a 30-win pace.
01:03And there haven't been many teams since 1901 that have won fewer than 30 games,
01:08and their run differential is almost automatically going to be the worst in history.
01:13They're minus 198 in run differential over 65 games.
01:17That is minus three per game.
01:19So we talk about, yeah, the Giants in the one-run game, and they're 16-12.
01:24They've played the most.
01:25They've won the most one-run games, and that's been amazing.
01:28But the Rockies on the flip side, they are so horrific.
01:32I mean, if you only win two of these three, that's going to feel like a letdown.
01:36Well, they only won two or three the last time they played the Rockies.
01:39And I was here.
01:40But I'm with you.
01:41I'm with you.
01:41When you play in the Rockies, you win that series.
01:44They did sweep the Marlins last week, did the Rockies.
01:47But that's the Marlins.
01:48That's not a good team either.
01:49So, yeah, we'll see.
01:51But I hear what you're saying.
01:52Yeah, they should be able to make up some ground here on at least one of the two teams,
01:58at least one of the two teams you would think.
02:00All right, let's get out to the phones.
02:02888-957-9570.
02:05Are the Giants finally, at long last, have they changed the conversation?
02:09And by the way, hint, hint, they have.
02:12Like, if you don't feel that way, my response to you is kind of going to be like,
02:18well, then you, I think you missed the bus.
02:21And that's okay.
02:22You might want to miss the bus.
02:23I'm not telling you who to root for.
02:24I don't care what sport you like.
02:26But it's been a while, I would argue, since the greater thought was that Giants baseball is cool.
02:36And if you go to a weekend series, I defy you to come out of there with any other opinion.
02:45It is a very cool place to be right now.
02:47Yeah, attendance is up.
02:48They're winning a lot of games.
02:50They have a good regular lineup.
02:52They've got a great rotation.
02:53They've got multiple closers.
02:55And they've got a manager that everybody knows and respects.
02:57So the product right now is not quite Chef's Kiss, Michelin star,
03:02but it's a really, really good, reliable product.
03:05Yeah, and probably one that is going to force the front office to try to make it Chef's Kiss,
03:09which we'll get to a little bit more here in a minute or two.
03:13But let's go to Guru in San Jose.
03:14Hi, Guru.
03:15Thanks for calling.
03:17What's going on?
03:19Hey, Mark.
03:20Hey, Dan.
03:21What's going on?
03:21Hey, there.
03:23Hey.
03:24Yeah.
03:24So, I mean, so one of the things you talked about is Giants baseball cool.
03:30And, I mean, are we missing the plot here, basically, right?
03:35And, I mean, I think that what has happened over the past couple of months has been, like,
03:39we needed proof that Buster Posey coming on board was going to change things.
03:45And, indeed, it has in the right direction, right?
03:49I think Dan said it good at the top of the call or at the top of the show where we now know who's going to play every day.
04:02And we now know who to root for.
04:03Like, I'm going to have a baby girl in a couple of months here, my first child.
04:10Congratulations, Guru.
04:11And I now know that I'm going to get that baby a Jung-Hoo Lee jersey.
04:16I didn't know that a year ago.
04:18And so just that feeling.
04:20And then, also, when the Giants were going through their losing streak and then they made a couple of changes.
04:27They waved Lamont Wade and they brought in a couple of new guys.
04:30When Buster said, it's time to go, that is a very galvanizing quote.
04:36And I think we're underrating the significance of that because it is, I mean, it just gives the sense of things are different now.
04:46And, like, that in and of itself has brought fans back to the ballpark.
04:52And now I look forward to going to Giants games.
04:55It wasn't like before.
04:56And, like, I mean, and, like, on top of that, Giants have one of the best pitching staffs in baseball.
05:03They by far have the best bullpen in baseball.
05:05If we're going to be nitpicky, they do need to, I do think they do need to get a bat in the, at the trade deadline.
05:12I think, I mean, you cannot keep playing one-run games.
05:16Regression to the mean is a real thing.
05:18But, like, just the attitude of the team and the way they go about things is very endearing.
05:25And as a fan, like, I never left the Giants.
05:29I've been a fan of the Giants since the Barry Bonds days.
05:33But this is almost like me coming back and, like, looking forward to watching every game.
05:39It's because, A, the Giants are winning.
05:41And, B, they're going about it in the right way.
05:43So, yeah, just my opinion.
05:46Yeah, have a great day, guys.
05:47All right, Guru.
05:47Yeah, thanks, Guru.
05:48Congratulations on the forthcoming child.
05:51If we were going to build a voice that sounds like the polar opposite of our Guru, I think that's it.
05:59Might be.
06:00Yeah, that's that Guru.
06:01So, that's two very different Gurus.
06:03And I don't think nobody will get them confused.
06:06No, no doubt.
06:07And I do think that what he's saying is, for me, kind of the sweet spot of where Giants fans are,
06:13where, you know, the Farhan and the Gabe Kapler era didn't feel like it was what Giants baseball is like what we used to have,
06:22which, you know, with Bochy and Sabian, it's like, all right, it's going to be Timmy and Kane and Voguey and Mad Bum.
06:29Okay, here's our rotation, and here's our lineup, and we're going to throw them out there, and we'll hope for the best.
06:34And it won in those three years.
06:36In the other year, 2016, it was close.
06:38Listen, now you look at this year's team, and you've got 65, 65, 64, 64, and 64 among your hitters, games played.
06:47Two guys have played all of them.
06:49Three guys have missed just one.
06:51Yaz has played in 60.
06:52So, you have a lineup where you just roll it out there.
06:55Here's our lineup.
06:56And if your pitcher's better than our hitters, well, we still might win.
06:59Well, and also, I mean, you know my thought on when it comes to what we do, what they do,
07:05anything that is entertainment in this world, to me, on some level, is about storytelling.
07:11And when Buster got the job and started talking about how I'm here to help make memories,
07:16I think that that's the business we're in.
07:18We're in the business of making memories.
07:20Well, that's a lot easier to do when you allow your audience to know the people involved.
07:26And so, we can even go on a journey that maybe we don't like, Willie Adamas.
07:31I don't want to go on the I'm hitting 190 journey.
07:34That's not what I'm rooting for, for the guys who play on my favorite team by any stretch.
07:40But, we're all on the journey together.
07:43So, even when it's a negative stretch, the whole crowd, and I wrote this at one point
07:48on Saturday where Willie looked really lost in one specific at-bat, and I'm like,
07:54you're starting to feel the angst.
07:57I thought for a while it was like, yeah, Willie's here and he's going to come around.
08:03And then, there was a period of time where it was like, oof, boy, this is taking a while.
08:10But, that's okay.
08:11Willie Adamas, good dude, great clubhouse presence.
08:14Something happened over the last week and a half where people's patience is starting to wear thin.
08:19It's starting to wear people down.
08:21And so, no, that's not a good thing.
08:23But, in an awkward way, there is something positive in that.
08:28The Giants fans are allowed to get to know each of these players and exactly what they're doing
08:35and what they're going through at the plate or in the field.
08:38And it gives you a different entry point into what you're watching.
08:42Because, I would argue, when it was Farhan and Gabe, there's a lot of people coming in and out of the game,
08:48getting two at-bats a night, only hitting against righties or lefties.
08:51And you're like, is this guy hot or is he struggling?
08:54I don't even really know.
08:55I don't know because I get to see him in the second inning.
08:58And then, he doesn't come back again.
09:00So, that's kind of one of the things that I really feel is important about this,
09:05what you're talking about.
09:06The everyday lineup kind of a vibe.
09:08And it's like a product, you know.
09:10If you go to whatever restaurant you like to go to, if you go there a lot,
09:15you come to expect certain things that they have on the menu.
09:18And if you go there and those items are changed and the menu's changed every other day,
09:23and it's like, well, the chicken sandwich that I really like, what, you don't have it today?
09:27No, we have the left-handed chef today, so the lefty doesn't have the chicken sandwich.
09:31You've got to wait for the righty on Friday.
09:32You're not going to go back to that restaurant because the things, the product in this case, is not consistent.
09:38And even though, yeah, Willie Adamas is hitting $1.92, that's not good.
09:43And he's going to be in the lineup tomorrow and Wednesday and Thursday.
09:46He's going to be out there, and you hope for the best, but at least you know, with this Giants team,
09:51what you're going to get.
09:53And even though individuals have struggled, they're 10 games above .500.
09:5738-28.
09:58Right.
09:58Yeah.
09:59Even though you've got, you know, a guy hitting, you know, $1.92, and your catcher's hitting $1.85,
10:05and late-night Lamont, who's now an angel, apparently, is hitting $1.67.
10:11And, you know, all the rest of it, Yaz is hitting $2.32, which, hey, it's actually not bad for this team.
10:16And he, obviously, huge game for him yesterday.
10:20Huge game for him yesterday as they came back from two different deficits.
10:23Eric in Walnut Creek.
10:25Eric, thanks for your patience.
10:27What's going on, man?
10:29You know, you guys have pretty much been saying what I was going to say,
10:33except one little caveat that I was going to mention is this team is so much better on the bases,
10:37and I think that's a function of Buster Posey.
10:40I think that, you know, going back to consistent, traditional baseball with a traditional lineup,
10:45and then letting Bob Melvin manage a little bit more and letting him be aggressive on the bags.
10:51And I've actually seen that, like, the last 10 games of, okay, we've got to get guys home.
10:55How are we going to do this?
10:56I mean, if you watch Fitzgerald play, he is their best base runner.
11:01Chapman, Jung-Hoo, now Johnson, you know, shout out Big Lebowski.
11:07They're running so much better.
11:10The thing is they still need a bat, another bat to drive these guys home at the end of the game.
11:16I think they have the foundation of what could be good, you know,
11:19and that's what Buster has brought to the plate.
11:21The signings over the summer sucked.
11:23You know, Verlander, I just call that a lazy signing.
11:27And Adamas, you know what?
11:30I would bench Adamas for the Rockies series.
11:33I mean, they can't do it now.
11:34Bring up Wisely, Fitzgerald's at short, Wisely's at second, and say to Adamas,
11:39I need you locked in for the Dodgers series.
11:41You're just not going to be able to play every game and collect your check.
11:45You already got some of that money, but come on.
11:46Lock in, guy.
11:48We need you to drive the ball.
11:50We know you're not an average guy, but in late innings, we can't have you swinging at balls or low and away.
11:56And that's what I would say.
11:57I would double down on what they're doing now as of late.
12:00Great base running, aggressive base running, small ball, drive the guy home.
12:06Eric, thanks, man.
12:07The one thing I'd say, though, about your Adamas point,
12:09if I'm trying to get someone to lock in, the one thing I would never do is sit him in Colorado
12:15because that's what Colorado is.
12:18Colorado is a lock-in producer.
12:20That's where you go get your confidence.
12:23If I'm going to sit Adamas for anything more than a game, and by the way, I'm not,
12:27but if I'm going to sit Adamas for anything more than one game, I'm going to do it at home.
12:30I'm going to do it at the place that bothers hitters more than any place in America.
12:35And they sat him yesterday, right?
12:37Didn't we talk about this late last week about maybe you sit him before you have an off day,
12:42and so now he gets two days, and I thought that maybe he could rent a dog,
12:45and I don't know if he did, but yesterday...
12:47No word on that yet.
12:48No word.
12:49I'm looking for a second source on that, but he sat yesterday, and he sits today,
12:52and yeah, now you go to Colorado, and he has time to yawk in before you go to L.A.
12:58Yeah, you've got six games at hitters' parks now.
13:00The Dodgers, especially once you get to the J-months, that's a hitters' park.
13:04The ball really, really carries there, and we know about Coors Field.
13:08This is a week to see, and the Dodgers' pitching staff is all hurt, too,
13:12so it's not a great pitching staff either.
13:14This is a week to let your bats kind of wake up a little bit, at least you hope.
13:20So, no, I think that if you're going to play it, you do it at home.
13:24They did.
13:25Back when you mentioned it, I think I shared this with you last week,
13:28the Giants were of like mind with you, which is give them a day off,
13:31and they had it on the schedule in Detroit, and the day before it happened,
13:36he ripped two balls back up the middle to center field,
13:40and he went to Bob Melvin and said, don't do it.
13:42I found something.
13:43I found something.
13:44So Bob said, okay, all right, you're back in.
13:46You're back in the lineup.
13:47You're our guy.
13:48And it turns out he had not found something,
13:51and he went right back to slumping, seemingly even worse.
13:54And so, yeah, they did it this weekend, and they got away with it.
13:57They won the baseball game, and off you go.
14:00But, no, I'm not turning shortstop over to Brett Wisely or any of those other things.
14:05Casey Schmidt, yeah.
14:05Well, and you're – I mean, Wisely, you'd have to bring up.
14:08Who are you sending down?
14:09Like, who are you getting rid of or DFAing or whatever for this?
14:13So, no, you're going to have to ride this out.
14:16Willie Adamas is your shortstop.
14:18He's going to be your shortstop.
14:20This year, next year, the year after that, we can go on and on and on.
14:24You're going to have to ride this out and plan for and hope that better days are coming.
14:29And I do believe they are.
14:30I don't know how much better.
14:31I don't think it can go like this forever.
14:34I was going to say, I don't know how much worse this can get.
14:36And I'm just looking at the last 20 games.
14:38He is 6 for 66 over those last 20.
14:42Good Lord.
14:43With a triple.
14:45That's it.
14:46And one stolen base.
14:47An OPS of 329.
14:49Yet, your team is 11-9, Mark.
14:52Over the course of those games.
14:53And that doesn't include yesterday's win.
14:55So, really, you're 12-9 in the last 21, even though your big-ticket item has been awful.
15:02You're still winning, is the point.
15:04It's incredible.
15:05It's absolutely incredible.
15:06If you were 5-16 over that stretch, then we can really talk about drastic measures.
15:10And I think that that's why so many of us are bullish on the idea of the Giants being bullish.
15:19Like, in other words, if you ask me right now, do I think that Buster Posey is going to do something?
15:24And everyone says at the deadline, my number one response is, why wait?
15:28Why wait?
15:28Yeah.
15:29I'd go over-offer.
15:30If you've got somebody, I don't know who they want, but if you've got somebody circled right now, call them now.
15:36Call them now.
15:38And over-offer.
15:39Don't let it wait until July.
15:42That other team may want to wait.
15:44They may want to wait for more competition.
15:46But maybe not.
15:47Go wow them with an offer.
15:49And get the person that you want.
15:51Because, you know, here we go into some division games in June and July and all of that.
15:56And put your best foot forward now.
15:58Don't wait for August.
15:59You're right there.
16:00You have navigated the first, like, man, we're closing in on the first half of the season.
16:05And you're there.
16:07Yep.
16:07You're there.
16:08You did it.
16:08You're even Steven with the Dodgers and Padres.
16:11And the deadline is still seven-plus weeks away.
16:14So if you could make an acquisition now, you would get an additional seven weeks,
16:18even if it is someone like Ryan O'Hearn, who I've been talking about,
16:21with the Baltimore Orioles, who, by the way, have plummeted now.
16:24They're third to last in the entire American League.
16:27So they're going to be looking to sell sooner rather than later.
16:30But if you could get them now and get an additional seven weeks before the deadline,
16:33it feels less like a rental.
16:36Yeah, no doubt.
16:37But, by the way, the larger point, do I think the Giants will do something?
16:40Absolutely.
16:41This is a classic deadline acquisition team.
16:44You're good.
16:45You're in it.
16:46Your pitching staff is totally sustainable, so you've got to add.
16:51You've got to add because, A, they need a bat,
16:53and you need to send a message to the clubhouse that you have confidence in them.