[Mick]

Also, SF is about $50 million below the tax threshold (considering benefits, minor league salaries, etc).  Source: Andrew Baggerly, The Athletic.

And, I agree Nick Hundley is the front runner. 

We shall soon see if he is Posey’s choice.

Baggerly's basically saying it's Hundley's job if he wants it. There are six other manager openings, and Hundley is an attractive candidate...and one of Posey's best friends.

Hundley lives in San Diego and turned down the opportunity to interview for the role citing family concerns two years ago.

Separate question: should the Giants bring back Dominic Smith, especially given Eldridge's recent wrist surgery?

No on Dom Smith.  Eldridge is going to be OK. And he’s going to be on the major-league roster at some point in ‘26. If it’s not April, then by June. Unless something goes horribly wrong. 

Second, Smith is a nice ball player. Pretty good fielding first baseman and had a nice year at the plate. But he’s not a power hitter and he can’t run. Which is not a good combination for a first baseman. He plays no other position.

Also, he can look at the roster situation and see that any playing time he gets will be very limited. Thus, there are probably greener pastures for him elsewhere.

Too bad. He actually led the NL in fielding percentage for left fielders in 2021, but as you pointed out, he has zero speed (worst range factor I can ever remember seeing) and he hasn't played anywhere but first base or DH since then.

Smith was 9th among MLB first basemen with 50 or more games played in batting average at .284. I get it, though...he had a 114 OPS+, but he was under 100 for the four prior years. And he had one error in the field all year. He was -2 Rtot after leading all NL first basemen in Rtot, assists and double plays just two years ago. But I'd rather see Devers or Eldridge play 10x out of 10.

[Mick]

Also, SF is about $50 million below the tax threshold (considering benefits, minor league salaries, etc).  Source: Andrew Baggerly, The Athletic.

And, I agree Nick Hundley is the front runner. 

We shall soon see if he is Posey’s choice.

Baggerly's basically saying it's Hundley's job if he wants it. There are six other manager openings, and Hundley is an attractive candidate...and one of Posey's best friends.

Hundley lives in San Diego and turned down the opportunity to interview for the role citing family concerns two years ago.

Separate question: should the Giants bring back Dominic Smith, especially given Eldridge's recent wrist surgery?

No on Dom Smith.  Eldridge is going to be OK. And he’s going to be on the major-league roster at some point in ‘26. If it’s not April, then by June. Unless something goes horribly wrong. 

Second, Smith is a nice ball player. Pretty good fielding first baseman and had a nice year at the plate. But he’s not a power hitter and he can’t run. Which is not a good combination for a first baseman. He plays no other position.

Also, he can look at the roster situation and see that any playing time he gets will be very limited. Thus, there are probably greener pastures for him elsewhere.

Too bad. He actually led the NL in fielding percentage for left fielders in 2021, but as you pointed out, he has zero speed (worst range factor I can ever remember seeing) and he hasn't played anywhere but first base or DH since then.

Smith was 9th among MLB first basemen with 50 or more games played in batting average at .284. I get it, though...he had a 114 OPS+, but he was under 100 for the four prior years. And he had one error in the field all year. He was -2 Rtot after leading all NL first basemen in Rtot, assists and double plays just two years ago. But I'd rather see Devers or Eldridge play 10x out of 10.