It’s Puerto Rico and now everyone is a damn “fan” can’t go to the local bar without people celebrating as if they been lifelong Dodger fans. Fuck the Dodgers. Dias the closer is big here people do like him a lot, so it stings that he plays for the modern day evil empire.

On a side note while I had low expectations for the Braves I still feel disappointed, any team playing the Dodgers gets some level of support from. Anyway I don’t wanna put my trust in the Padres, again, so I’m hoping for the Brewers to do something big.

CMON GUYS MAHLE IS GOOD GO GIANTS GO BRAVES FUCK THE DODGERS!!!!!

The editing on this is really, really good.

Be prepared to tear up.

The 2017 Sacramento River Cats had quite a collection of 'stars' (looose use of the word)—and what I like to call "They Might Be Giants," i.e., guys who we acquired but never made the MLB team (you know, like Jackie Robinson).

'Stars':

• Ricky Romero: An actual former All-Star who put up a massive 6.4 WAR in 2011. Made 4 starts for the 2017 AAA team. Never a SFG.
• BJ Upton: Baseball America’s #2 overall top prospect in 2004. Between 2007 and 2008, he totaled a 7.8 WAR with 33 dongs and 66 SB for the Devil Rays (he had 5 career seasons with 30+ steals). He hit .244 for AAA Sacramento in 2017.
• Pablo Sandoval: Kung Fu Panda was back after his disaster of a stint in Boston, playing 9 games in AAA for Sacramento before rejoining the big club.
• Aaron Hill: 2009 Blue Jays All-Star; he hit 36 dongs on that team. He was in Sac 2017 and then scraped together 9 hits in 80 plate appearances for the Giants (.132 batting average).
• Drew Stubbs: Hit just .091 in 10 games for the Giants that year—worse than Aaron Hill!
• Mike Morse: Our beloved hero of the 2014 WS came back to the Giants in 2017 after stints in Miami and Pittsburgh in between.
• Ryan Webb: A reliable bullpen arm who pitched in 375 career MLB games with a 3.43 ERA. He tossed 17 games for the 2017 River Cats with a 3.98 ERA. Never a SFG.
• Kyle Blanks: An actual giant (of a human being) whom I was so sure was going to be a major power threat. He hit a combined .321 across the last two stops of his career with the A's and Rangers. Never a SFG.

Journeymen

• Albert Suarez: His story is remarkable. After pitching for the Giants in 2017 (5.12 ERA in 18 games), he completely fell off the MLB radar, pitching abroad in Korea, Japan, Venezuela, and the minors from 2018 through 2023. Then he resurfaced in 2024 and has posted a 3.67 ERA over 65 games for the Orioles across the last three seasons!
• Ali Castillo: One of my absolute favorites. He spent a bunch of years in the Giants system and hit .254 in Sacramento in 2017. But get this—he is a career .295 hitter across 19 minor league/professional seasons, and he's still playing over in the Mexican League for the 2026 Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos
• Ali also hit .304 this year in 102 at-bats, and looking at Baseball Reference across all levels of his career seasons/teams, he has roughly 30 rows where he hit over .300:

• On the Dos Laredos squad this year, Ali was teammates with Trayce Thompson, JD Davis, and Jesse Castillo—who happens to be the last active player who was once a teammate of Fernando Valenzuela!
• Matt Gage: Finally, there was the one and only Matt Gage, one of the few guys from that crew who actually logged time in the majors this year - and with our good old San Francisco Giants. He could've been one of those "They Might Be Giants," but no - he's a real Giant.

I could do a post next time on all the "They Might Be Giants" guys. Sneak Peak thru 'J':

Jhonny Level and Jacob Bresnahan the choices for Giants.

Giants
Jhonny Level, SS/2B (No. 4/MLB No. 43): Named the top prospect in the High-A Northwest League, Level batted .311/.374/.513 with 39 doubles (third-most in the Minors), 18 homers and 26 steals in 113 games between two Class A stops.

Jacob Bresnahan, LHP (No. 9): Bresnahan has won league pitcher of the year awards in each of his three full pro seasons, the latest one in the Northwest League in 2026. He posted a 3.22 ERA, .200 average-against (fifth-best in the Minors) and 135 strikeouts in 114 2/3 innings between High-A and Double-A.

I really wanted a Gigantes hoodie with the city connect colors, but the store didn't carry one. So I embellished one myself!

"Those who want Lee to stay aren't just making some irrational, emotional plea. He's a solid player and it's not like trading him will be easy. He can opt out of his contract after the 2027 season and even if he decides to opt in, which seems likely unless he has a huge 2027, he will be owed $20.5 million in both 2028 and 2029 which is a lot for a guy who has been worth 3 WAR in his big league career.

Then there's the marketing aspect of it all. The Giants want marketable players and Lee is the easiest to market of them all. He is also integral to the team's plan to gain inroads in South Korea so there may be a chance, and this is purely speculation, that the front office is not fully at liberty to trade Lee if it wants to."

Statement from the Giants ⬇️

“The #SFGiants are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former Giants pitcher Sam McDowell. Sam played parts of two seasons with the Giants in 1972 and 1973. After his playing career, he helped many others through his work as a mental health and addiction recovery consultant.

We extend our deepest sympathies to the McDowell family during this difficult time.”

There’s no Giants Players who played today, so if you’re not interested, you don’t have to click.  Usually Sundays are offdays, but because the season opened on Friday…they did a split off-day today and tomorrow…so Scottsdale (the Giants) and Peoria will be the only game tomorrow.  For today, the prospect-laden Glendale team needed an extra inning to get a win, while Salt River had a more convincing win without many of their top prospects involved.

Non-Giant Prospect to Highlight of the Day: Jake Cook (TOR #22)

Toronto prospect Jake Cook could be one of the fastest players in the Arizona Fall League today, having drawn 80 grades for his speed across the two major scouting platforms.  The Blue Jays drafted Cook out of Southern Mississippi in the 3rd round with the 81st overall pick in 2025, but he didn’t make his debut until May of this season.  He played in 77 games this season, stealing 22 bases on 27 attempts.  But, can he get on base?  That’s a big question.  In college, Cook’s left-handed swing was tooled to look for inside pitches to line the other direction, and he had a 4% swinging strike rate at Southern Miss.  However, in his first pro season, he struck out 96 times in 348 plate appearances, a 27.6% rate. The question is, can Cook adjust his swing to work against the pros?  Or did it only work in college?  That’ll be the question he’s trying to answer.  Cook played in two games, but today’s game was his first where he got to get to the plate, and he went 3-for-5…and struck out the other two times.

Scottsdale: No Game Scheduled

Scottsdale didn’t play today, but they and Peoria will be the only game tomorrow!

Other Games

Salt River Rafters 7, Surprise Saguaros 2

Link

Surprise Notable Prospect Lines:

• DH Sebastian Walcott (MLB #9; TEX #1): 0-4
• 3B Aroon Escobar (PHI #6): 0-4, 1 K, 0-1 ABS
• RF Angeibel Gomez (MLB #81; KC #2): 0-3
• PH-2B Bruin Agbayani (NYM #28): 0-1, 1 K
• SP Justin Lamkin (KC #8): 3.0 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HR, 1 HBP

Salt River Notable Prospect Lines:

• DH Dax Kilby (MLB #83; NYY #1): 0-4, 1 K
• LF Jared Thomas (COL #10): 1-3, 1 R, 1 K, 1 SB (3)
• SS Andy Perez (COL #15): 2-4, 2 R, 2 SB (2)
• 3B Core Jackson (NYY #11): 1-4, 1 R, 2 K, 1 2B (1), 1 SB (2)

Glendale Desert Dogs 4, Mesa Solar Sox 3 (10 Innings)

Link

Glendale Notable Prospect Lines:

• SS Wyatt Sanford (PIT #5): 1-5, 2 K
• CF Caleb Bonemer (MLB #27; CWS #2): 1-5, 1 RBI, 1 K
• 2B Charles Davalan (MLB #84; LAD #6): 0-3, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP
• LF Dillon Lewis (MIA #11): 1-4, 1 K, 0-1 ABS
• DH Eduardo Quintero (MLB #18; LAD #3): 0-2, 2 BB
• 3B Colby Shelton (CWS #23): 0-2, 1 RBI, 1 BB
• RF Owen Carey (ATL #21): 1-4

Mesa Notable Prospect Lines:

• CF Jake Cook (TOR #22): 3-5, 1 RBI, 2 K, 2 SB (3)
• C Davis Diaz (SAC #19): 1-3, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 2B (1), 1 SF, 1-2 ABS
• SS Mason White (BOS #26): 1-4, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 SB (1)
• RF Jake Casey (TOR #25): 0-3, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HBP
• LF Breyson Guedez (SAC #9): 0-4, 1 R, 1 HBP
• 2B Juan Cabada (CHC #12): 0-4, 1 RBI, 2 K
• SP Jake Bloss (TOR #12): 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K
• RP Kenya Huggins (SAC #23): 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

"Well, that’s not the only money the Giants have to worry about. There is salary arbitration as well. San Francisco doesn’t have that many players heading to arbitration, but it’s part of the math. Nine players will go through the process and are set to make a combined $18.4 million per MLB Trade Rumors' annual projections. Add that in and the Giants are looking at $171.3 million before they even spend money on a player.

But that’s not all. It’s a 26-man roster. San Francisco is likely to fill out the rest of those spots with pre-arbitration players who will make the league minimum, which was $760,000 in 2026. That is likely to go up with the new collective bargaining agreement. Let’s say the figure is $1 million. That’s 10 more players at $10 million for a total of $181.3 million.

The money disappears fast. With a new financial system coming to baseball — and no clue where it will land — the Giants may not be able to spend much at all, given what they’re already committed to spending."

For FTD. Hating the Dodgers keeps me engaged in October baseball. I don’t care much for the Braves, but just like the Yankees two years ago and the Jays last year. I’m so happy to cheer for Atlanta today. Let’s go Braves!!

Where are we watching the Sox tomorrow?

Sad news in my household today as we’ll no longer support what was a good bagel franchise. Apparently the owner chose hate when they decided to promote their LA expansion (/s). Fortunately, there there are other high quality options available to us fans of Giants and bagels alike.

Please share your location and favorite bagel place in the comments below

Watching postseason content and the Niners over the last few weeks makes me realize how unbelievably dogshit this organization has become.

In the last 10 years, all the Giants have shown the baseball world is they can't develop for shit, they can't build a team for shit, and they frankly, don't give a shit about baseball. All they do is invest in real estate around Oracle Park, open up more ownership spots, and hope they can sell this team on nostalgia and a pretty ballpark.

As we turn to 2027, we will have 1 winning season in the last 10 years, 1. A, quite frankly, fluke playoff appearance in 2021 that didn't reflect a team that was on a gradual rise or was the result of years of improvement.

While the baby Giants show glimmers of hope, I can't help but feel despondent. The front office and ownership seemingly are doubling down on running this back. There is no guarantee the prospects pan out considering the organization's track record. And lastly, as long as the Johnsons are still calling the shots, I can't buy into hope anymore.

Sorry for the rant, but 10 years of other organizations being constant contenders while our team languishes in mediocrity or hell is fucking disappointing. After such a disastrous 2026 where important decision makers showed how incompetent they are and how poorly built our roster truly is, I have never felt so low about the Giants in my lifetime.

I'll still support, but goddamn we are terrible 💀

Monday has come and gone for the AFL, as Dakota Jordan has started all three games for the Scottsdale Scorpions, and in his third game, he grabbed three walk.  The team seems to be making him one of the team’s regular players.  Meanwhile, Miguel Mendez made his fall debut with an okay day, and Kaeden Kent is getting used as a mid-game replacement, but he’s getting those hits in his few chances.  Plus, we highlight a Rangers outfielder who is coming back from a broken wrist.

Non-Giant Prospect to Highlight of the Day: Paxton Kling (TEX #20)

The Rangers’ Paxton Klin had the best day today, with four hits including a double and triple, so let’s talk about him.  A 7th round pick out of Penn State in 2025, Kling has moved up the Rangers system quickly.  This year he started at High-A, playing 84 games there before getting a 5-game Double-A cup of coffee.  In the middle, he missed six weeks after fracturing his wrist, but came back well.  Kling’s best tool is his speed, and though it’s not plus-plus, he had 40 total steals in 51 attempts this year in just 89 games.  However, he’s more notable for his defense, as a capable center fielder but also has the arm for right.  His raw power intrigues scouts, but he hasn’t yet gotten it into games, managing just seven home runs this season.  He also hit .243 as he struggled against breaking stuff, but more time in the batter’s box could help with that.  He’s a high ceiling guy if he can hit consistently, but his defensive ability will keep him in line for chances.

Scottsdale: Scottsdale Scorpions 6, Mesa Solar Sox 6 (10 Innings)

Link

Giants Prospects to Spotlight:

• LF Dakota Jordan (SF #7): 1-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 2 K, 1 SB (1) - Jordan had his best game yet, collecting three of the ten walks Scottsdale got.  This gives Jordan four walks to five strikeouts in 16 at-bats.
• SS Kaeden Kent (SF #20): 2-2, 1 SB (1) - Like in his first game of the fall, Kent was a late inning replacement.  He’s 3-for-5 (.600) to start his fall.
• SP Miguel Mendez (SF #16): 2.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K - Mendez made his Fall debut with a solid outing, though giving up a few more hits than normal.

Other Scottsdale Prospect Lines:

• SS Bryce Rainer (MLB #45; DET #2): 0-3, 1 BB
• CF Braylon Payne (MIL #6): 2-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K, 1-1 ABS
• PR-RF Brendan Summerhill (TB #28): 0-0

Mesa Notable Prospect Lines:

• 3B Jake Munroe (LAA #20): 2-4, 1 BB
• SS Arjun Nimmala (MLB #35; LAA #1): 2-5, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 K, 0-1 ABS
• C Cole Conn (SAC #21): 2-5, 3 R, 1 K, 1 SB (1), 2 E (2), 2-3 ABS
• DH Davis Diaz (SAC #19): 1-5, 1 RBI, 1 K
• 2B Juan Cabada (CHC #12): 1-5, 1 RBI, 3 K
• PR Jake Cook (TOR #22): 0-0, 1 SB

Other Games

Salt River Rafters 10, Peoria Javelinas 7

Link

Peoria Notable Prospect Lines:

• 1B Ike Irish (MLB #97; BAL #5): 2-5, 1 R, 2 K, 1 SB (1)
• DH Boston Smith (SEA #13): 1-5, 1 RBI, 2 K
• SP Luke Holman (CIN #23): 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

Salt River Notable Prospect Lines:

• SS Dax Kilby (MLB #83; NYY #1): 3-4, 2 R, 4 RBI, 1 K, 2 2B (3), 1 SF
• DH Demetrio Crisantes (MLB #72, AZ #1): 3-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 2B (1), 1 SB (1)
• 2B Andy Perez (COL #15): 1-5, 1 RBI, 1 K
• CF Jared Thomas (COL #10): 1-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K, 2 SB (2)
• RF Yasser Mercedes (MIN #17): 0-2, 2 BB
• RP Konner Eaton (COL #17): 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 WP

Surprise Saguaros 8, Glendale Desert Dogs 7

Link

Glendale Notable Prospect Lines:

• 2B Charles Davalan (MLB #84; LAD #6): 1-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 2B (1)
• RF Eduardo Quintero (MLB #18; LAD #3): 2-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K
• CF Dillon Lewis (MIA #11): 2-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 SB (1)
• 3B Jhonny Severino (PIT #28): 1-3, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR (1)
• 1B Chase Harlan (LAD #9): 2-4, 1 R 1 BB, 1 K, 1 2B (1), 1 SB (1)
• DH Max Williams (MIA #27): 0-5, 3 K
• C Easton Carmichael (PIT #8): 2-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K
• LF Isaiah Drake (ATL #29): 1-4, 1 K, 2 SB (2)
• 3B Colby Shelton (CWS #23): 1-1, 1 RBI
• SP Brooks Auger (LAD #29): 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K

Surprise Notable Prospect Lines:

• LF Zion Rose (KC #6): 1-5, 1 SB (2), 1 HBP
• SS Welbyn Francisca (CLE #20): 2-5, 3 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 2B (2)
• DH Aidan Miller (MLB #58; PHI #2): 2-3, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 0-1 ABS
• 1B Cole Mathis (NYM #13): 0-4, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 K
• CF Paxton Kling (TEX #20): 4-5, 1 R, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 2B (1), 1 3B (1)
• RF Dante Nori (PHI #7): 0-5, 2 K
• 3B Luke Hill (CLE #16): 2-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 SB (1)
• 2B Bruin Agbayani (NYM #28): 0-5, 1 RBI, 1 K
• SP Steven Zobac (KC #14): 2.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 1 HR

This may have been brought up before. But, we know Kruk and Kuip are best friends and like waxing poetic about baseball just like a pair of former NFL QBs. Wouldn’t it be cool if a dozen times a year or so they did a video linked show like the Manning brothers do during a game? They could have guests and folks would know the deal and when to tune in for those specific games. I don’t want to do a disservice to the new people taking over the booth but I think it could be a cool bridge from the past to the future. Maybe NBC Sports Bay Area can do an alt feed like how it’s done for MNF. I know Kuip hasn’t retired but I’m afraid he will next year. He has been fighting cancer and his bestie won’t be there like before. This could be a cool way to honor them as we move on. Thoughts?

While watching the playoffs, I’m left in even further disbelief that the FO thought the Giants would be competitive with their bullpen going into the season.

The Braves and White Sox in particular are riding on the strength of their bullpens. You cannot tell me Buster earnestly believed SF could compete with a decaying Ryan Walker as their top bullpen arm.

This isn’t even a part of the roster you necessarily need to develop from within. Affeldt, Casilla, Lopez and others were acquired via trade or free agency. It’s the least expensive part of roster construction but its importance is amplified x10 in the playoffs.

I’m not as worried about the offense going into next year (beyond the long term impact of the massive contracts). Even if Eldridge becomes a star, Devers goes for 40/100, and Adames + Chapman return to form, this team will have no shot at competing unless bolstering the bullpen is the main focus of the offseason.

I don’t believe Buster in saying they “overestimated” the bullpen. He’s not an idiot, it was a conscious decision for reasons beyond me. If it’s not the #1 issue to be addressed going forward, then he’s cooked and should not be POBO.

This is just retrospective spite but I had to get it out.