(10-01-2023, 08:50 AM)lex24 Wrote:If he acted the same in San Diego as he did in SF, you're right, they'd eat him for lunch. You're talking about every single player either being a star or having star seasons in their immediate background. I think Kapler would have acted differently with a team laden with talent, as opposed to a team bereft of talent, with players bought by management who couldn't play.(10-01-2023, 08:50 AM)lex24 Wrote:Giants Wrote:Hmmm…Melvin also took the Pads to NLCS in ‘22. Guess that doesn’t count.
I suspect that you also wouldn’t want a guy with a 12 year record of 951-975 (.494) and a post season mark of 8-16 during that tenure.
Looking strictly at the numbers you would walk away unimpressed from that candidate…
OTOH, you might think there is a lot more to the candidate than the numbers. You might dig into the story behind the numbers. And you might see something that resonates. Something that you think might unlock the potential of your team. Heck, you might even take a flyer on the guy (and then watch him hoist not just one or two but three trophies). Well done, you made the right choice.
I’m not suggesting that Melvin will lead SF to three trophies in five years but I would suggest there is a lot more to it than simple numbers. All things considered, I can think of no other candidate that is on the market who has a better track record than Melvin. I hope SD lets him go….
Mick Wrote:Giants beat the Dodgers, 2-1. Bailey threw out a runner at second for the final out.
Giants are now 6-6 against the Dodgers this season. Tomorrow's the last game of their season.
[quote=Giants]
Hmmm…
I suspect that you also wouldn’t want a guy with a 12 year record of 951-975 (.494) and a post season mark of 8-16 during that tenure.
Looking strictly at the numbers you would walk away unimpressed from that candidate…
OTOH, you might think there is a lot more to the candidate than the numbers. You might dig into the story behind the numbers. And you might see something that resonates. Something that you think might unlock the potential of your team. Heck, you might even take a flyer on the guy (and then watch him hoist not just one or two but three trophies). Well done, you made the right choice.
I’m not suggesting that Melvin will lead SF to three trophies in five years but I would suggest there is a lot more to it than simple numbers. All things considered, I can think of no other candidate that is on the market who has a better track record than Melvin. I hope SD lets him go….
Tell you what. I don't give a rip about the manager. I want a near-HoF combination up the middle; catcher, shortstop, 2nd baseman and center fielder. I want a world class closer and five really strong starters. I want a club president/GM who can deliver those bodies, and over six years, he should be able to do that.
Actually...let me walk that back a bit, and I'll say this...if Kapler had the talent that the Padres did, he'd win the NL pennant. At least.
I always love such comments cause, of course, they can be neither proven nor disproven. I will say this, Kapler (twice) has been fired seemingly in part due to his inability to hold the clubhouse. In part there has been emphasis on his “hands off” approach. In SD, I think that group would have eat him for lunch. Which, of course, is also unprovable etc.
But since we’ve”pushed” on this years Giants bet, I’ll throw out another. Kapler will not get a job as a manager at any time in next two years. That’s through ‘25 season. Bottle of Red. You on?
I'll pass on the bet. It has nothing to do with Kapler's skills as a manager. For good or ill, whether it's his fault or not, Kapler's reputation is officially poison. 2021 is a looooong time ago. No one cares that Posey and his pitching coach lead didn't participate in 2020 and they missed the playoffs by a game, no one cares that Kapler's team won 107 games, and no one cares that he took an untalented bunch who couldn't field or hit and won almost half their games.
Next year will be interesting. They'll need a miracle worker. I strongly suspect they'll miss out on Ohtani and Bellinger. They'll need to promote all of those rookies and hope that they don't have sophomore slumps and instead have sophomore year boosters like Posey did. Perhaps that will happen. Perhaps Schmitt will learn to hit, they'll deal Bart and other prospects for a real player or two. Maybe Yaz and Slater will effectively platoon. Maybe they'll have five effective starters. Right now, the Giants have the 24th ranked OPS in the majors and 23rd most runs per game. They have the 4th best FIP, the 11th best WHIP, and 15th best ERA+. Their Rtot is 25th best in the majors, their fielding percentage is dead last. They stole the fewest bases in MLB. They had the second fewest triples in MLB in a ballpark with "Triples Alley." Their hitters struck out the seventh most and were tied for the third worst team batting average.
It's a minor miracle that they're only a few games below .500. I'm resting my hopes on two notions:
1) That 2023's failure was as improbable as 2021's success, a perfect storm of awfulness, and
2) That all of those rookies will gel into an MLB masterpiece. That Bailey will be Freehan reincarnated. That the 21 year olds (Matos, Luciano and Harrison) are battle ready in six months. That Ramos, Meckler, Schmitt, Fitzgerald and Sabol all shock to the upside. That they deal Bart and Villar. That veterans Flores, Estrada, and Wade have career years. That JD Davis can sustain his spring success and Pederson learns how to turn down donuts, beer, chips, candy and fast food -- or better yet, leaves. That Slater and Yastrzemski are fully healthy and return to form. That Haniger gets healthy. That the expensive contracts (Conforto, Manaea, Stripling, Crawford, Pederson, DeSclafani, DeJong) all opt out or otherwise leave. That they find a remarkable starting five, hopefully among Webb, Cobb, Harrison, Winn, and Beck. That their relievers (Doval, Walker, Rogers, Rogers, Junis, Wood, Alexander, Brebbia) are and remain effective.
Not holding my breath, though. I'll watch Kyle Harrison pitch against the Dodgers in the season finale today.
I do have one question: after a very successful 2021, the Giants lost head of pitching (Brian Bannister, this year) and Ethan Katz (last year), who left for the White Sox and they lost Donnie Ecker (hitting coach) to the Rangers...interestingly, to become their bench coach and offensive coordinator. Ecker's Giants were sixth in the NL in runs per game in 2021, and the Rangers were 28th. Last year, the Rangers were 12th, and this year, the Rangers were 3rd.
Why couldn't we keep Katz, Bannister and Ecker?
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