by
Greek Giant
There is not much news on the Giants front these days with the two League Championship Series taking center stage, as they should, in the Major League Baseball world. Yesterday, however, MLB announced the finalists for the 2023 Gold Glove Awards and our very own Patrick Bailey was named as the lone Giants representative. In other news, this the fist time in a dog’s age that Nolan Arenado will not win the gold glove at third base. He was left out as a finalist, in a shocking develpment. Here is the list:
American League finalists:
Pitcher: José Berríos (Toronto), Sonny Gray (Minnesota), Pablo López (Minnesota)
Catcher: Jonah Heim (Texas), Alejandro Kirk (Toronto), Adley Rutschman (Baltimore)
First base: Nathaniel Lowe (Texas), Ryan Mountcastle (Baltimore), Anthony Rizzo (New York)
Second base: Mauricio Dubón (Houston), Andrés Giménez (Cleveland), Marcus Semien (Texas)
Shortstop: Carlos Correa (Minnesota), Corey Seager (Texas), Anthony Volpe (New York)
Third base: Alex Bregman (Houston), Matt Chapman (Toronto), José Ramírez (Cleveland)
Left field: Austin Hays (Baltimore), Steven Kwan (Cleveland), Daulton Varsho (Toronto)
Center field: Kevin Kiermaier (Toronto), Luis Robert Jr. (Chicago), Julio Rodríguez (Seattle)
Right field: Adolis García (Texas), Kyle Tucker (Houston), Alex Verdugo (Boston)
Utility: Mauricio Dubón (Houston), Zach McKinstry (Detroit), Taylor Walls (Tampa Bay)
National League finalists:
Pitcher: Jesús Luzardo (Miami), Taijuan Walker (Philadelphia), Zack Wheeler (Philadelphia)
Catcher: Patrick Bailey (San Francisco), Gabriel Moreno (Arizona), J.T. Realmuto (Philadelphia)
First base: Freddie Freeman (Los Angeles), Carlos Santana (Milwaukee), Christian Walker (Arizona)
Second base: Nico Hoerner (Chicago), Ha-Seong Kim (San Diego), Bryson Stott (Philadelphia)
Shortstop: Francisco Lindor (New York), Dansby Swanson (Chicago), Ezequiel Tovar (Colorado)
Third base: Ke’Bryan Hayes (Pittsburgh), Ryan McMahon (Colorado), Austin Riley (Atlanta)
Left field: Ian Happ (Chicago), David Peralta (Los Angeles), Eddie Rosario (Atlanta)
Center field: Brenton Doyle (Colorado), Michael Harris II (Atlanta), Alek Thomas (Arizona)
Right field: Mookie Betts (Los Angeles), Fernando Tatis Jr. (San Diego), Lane Thomas (Washington)
Utility: Mookie Betts (Los Angeles), Tommy Edman (St. Louis), Ha-Seong Kim (San Diego)
Brian Sabean and Ned Coletti Interviewed by Larry Krueger
Three days ago Larry Krueger interviewed Brian Sabean and Ned Coletti on his “Krueg Show.”
I listened to about half of it before I got real bored. I can sum it up this way; Coletti and Sabean were very classy in explaining how they no longer root for the Giants and how the new Giants regime basically pushed out 98% of the previous regime. For me the most interesting part of the interview is the discussion on how each of the former Giant executives miss their time together in the Giants front office. Brian Sabean was the Giants GM from 1998 till 2014 and Coletti was an Assistant to Sabean for much of that time till he was plucked away by the Dodgers front office in 2005. They are close friends and they speak with great respect about each other. There are some nice tidbits on how Bruce Bochy was a very tough competitor and how the Giants philosophy was to always find an edge and out-prepare the front office and Managers of their opponents. Bochy, they explained, was also very open to new ways of gaining information and an edge on his opponents, whether it be by Analytics or traditional scouting reports.
League Championship Series Continue
Game 3 of the National League Championship Series takes place tonight in Phoenix. Game time is 2:07 PM local time. Game 4 of the ALCS takes place in Arlington. First pitch is scheduled for 7:03 PM, Houston time.