[Giants]

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What I noticed:

- Majority of those in important roles are between 41 and 46 years old. 

   * Vitello, HC (46), 
   * Bench Coach, Jayce Tingler (45) spend the  past four seasons as the bench coach for the Twins, and managed the Padres for two seasons to a 116-106 record. Finished second in NL Manager of the year. Worked for the Texas Rangers for 13 years. He and Vitello were teammates at Missouri
   * 3B coach Hector Borg (40), lots of  experience for a 40 year old, 
   * 1B coach Shane Robinson (41). Both the 3B and 1B coach are on a MLB staff for the first time, but he was baserunning coordinator with the Mets who were fifth in stolen bases in MLB and first in stolen base percentage.
   * Hitting coach Hunter Mense (41). Assistant hitting coach for the Blue Jays for four years. This year, they led MLB in BA, OBP and hits, struck out the second fewest times, lowest strikeout rate in the majors, highest contact rate of any club.
   * Pitching coach Justin Meccage (45) was the pitching coach for AAA Nashville in the Brewers oranization. In 20 teams, they had the third best ERA, second fewest homers, second fewest walks, thire best WHIP. Coached multiple positions for the Pirates. His assistant, Christian Wonders is 33. Has worked in the Rays, Padres, and Red Sox system. Has coached both Patrick Bailey and Christian Koss
   * Bullpen coach Jesse Chavez (42), 18 year MLB career. 1.42 ERA in 11 postseason games

- Two old guys are terrific

   * Infield coach Ron Washington (73) has his work cut out for him with Arraez, Eldridge and Devers. 30 years as MLB coach. Managed Texas to two AL pennants, 3B coach for the Braves. Numerous Gold Glove infielders  including Dansby Swanson, Freddie Freeman, Adrian Beltre, Michael Young, and Eric Chavez. Taught Hatteberg how to play first  base.

   * Director of ML Pitching Frank Anderson (66) comes from U/Tennessee where he was  Vitello's pitching coach. He's a college coach who has coached more than 100 pitchers selected in the MLB draft including 10 first rounders.

- Returning to the Giants are:

   * Assistant Hitting  Coach Oscar Bernard
   * Quality Control Coach Taira Uematsu
   * Bullpen Catcher Eliezer Zambrano
   * Field Coordinator/Catching Coach Alex Burg (promoted)

Who said 73 is old?  ;)

Given that it's eight years past full retirement date (for a 73 year old), I'm going to say it's old.  ;)

I'm also going to say that Washington is the most important coach on the staff. Giants finished 27th of 30 teams in fielding last year, -51 Rtot. They lost thirty games by one run last year, and in eight of those games, they gave up at least one unearned run. SF's outfield was the worst in baseball, defensively and they lost Yastrzemski, the one guy who could play. If they win half of those games, they win four more games. They missed the wild card by three games. Better fielding, and they are in the playoffs. Bader's defensive runs saved (67 last nine years), no outfielder tops his 77 outs above average. JHLee has a great arm, not a great fielder with subpar range. He'll do well in RF. And lest we forget, Heliot Ramos was terrible last year, led league in errors with 9...but the year before, he only had one total error, and was so good that he played CF more than he played LF. His overall Rtot was +7 in 2024. I think he reverts to his 2024 form.

All of those coaches are important. Take the hitting coaches and hitting philosophy. The new hitting coach is from Toronto, 798 runs scored, fourth in MLB. Giants scored 705, below MLB average of 720. Our new leadoff hitter Arraez led the league in hits the past two seasons. Bader's OPS was .796 last year, Ramos returns to form, better health and power at DH. Better running as well, given the new coach. I'll bet we get at least fifty more runs, win six additional games.

BTW, better fielding will help our ERA. Last year's ERA was solid, 3.82, 10th in MLB. But our FIP was 3.74, 2nd overall in MLB. We're thin, but if we stay healthy, we're even better than last year. Accounts for two more wins.

I like Vitello, a lot, and I think his staff is superb. Either it will be amazing, or it will crash and burn. I think it'll be amazing.

Better fielding (+3 wins), better hitting and baserunning (+6 wins), better pitching (+2 wins), and respectfully, a better manager (+2). Last year we won 81 games, let's add 13. 

94 wins this season, that's my prediction. Incidentally, the Dodgers won only 93 games last season.

Duly noted.  The official prediction posting will be coming out in late March.  That gives you time to revise your call if you are so inclined….

As for LA, put me down for something in the range of 105-110 wins.

[Giants]

1770488350[/url]']

1770446666[/url]']

1770432853[/url]']
What I noticed:

- Majority of those in important roles are between 41 and 46 years old. 

   * Vitello, HC (46), 
   * Bench Coach, Jayce Tingler (45) spend the  past four seasons as the bench coach for the Twins, and managed the Padres for two seasons to a 116-106 record. Finished second in NL Manager of the year. Worked for the Texas Rangers for 13 years. He and Vitello were teammates at Missouri
   * 3B coach Hector Borg (40), lots of  experience for a 40 year old, 
   * 1B coach Shane Robinson (41). Both the 3B and 1B coach are on a MLB staff for the first time, but he was baserunning coordinator with the Mets who were fifth in stolen bases in MLB and first in stolen base percentage.
   * Hitting coach Hunter Mense (41). Assistant hitting coach for the Blue Jays for four years. This year, they led MLB in BA, OBP and hits, struck out the second fewest times, lowest strikeout rate in the majors, highest contact rate of any club.
   * Pitching coach Justin Meccage (45) was the pitching coach for AAA Nashville in the Brewers oranization. In 20 teams, they had the third best ERA, second fewest homers, second fewest walks, thire best WHIP. Coached multiple positions for the Pirates. His assistant, Christian Wonders is 33. Has worked in the Rays, Padres, and Red Sox system. Has coached both Patrick Bailey and Christian Koss
   * Bullpen coach Jesse Chavez (42), 18 year MLB career. 1.42 ERA in 11 postseason games

- Two old guys are terrific

   * Infield coach Ron Washington (73) has his work cut out for him with Arraez, Eldridge and Devers. 30 years as MLB coach. Managed Texas to two AL pennants, 3B coach for the Braves. Numerous Gold Glove infielders  including Dansby Swanson, Freddie Freeman, Adrian Beltre, Michael Young, and Eric Chavez. Taught Hatteberg how to play first  base.

   * Director of ML Pitching Frank Anderson (66) comes from U/Tennessee where he was  Vitello's pitching coach. He's a college coach who has coached more than 100 pitchers selected in the MLB draft including 10 first rounders.

- Returning to the Giants are:

   * Assistant Hitting  Coach Oscar Bernard
   * Quality Control Coach Taira Uematsu
   * Bullpen Catcher Eliezer Zambrano
   * Field Coordinator/Catching Coach Alex Burg (promoted)

Who said 73 is old?  ;)

Given that it's eight years past full retirement date (for a 73 year old), I'm going to say it's old.  ;)

I'm also going to say that Washington is the most important coach on the staff. Giants finished 27th of 30 teams in fielding last year, -51 Rtot. They lost thirty games by one run last year, and in eight of those games, they gave up at least one unearned run. SF's outfield was the worst in baseball, defensively and they lost Yastrzemski, the one guy who could play. If they win half of those games, they win four more games. They missed the wild card by three games. Better fielding, and they are in the playoffs. Bader's defensive runs saved (67 last nine years), no outfielder tops his 77 outs above average. JHLee has a great arm, not a great fielder with subpar range. He'll do well in RF. And lest we forget, Heliot Ramos was terrible last year, led league in errors with 9...but the year before, he only had one total error, and was so good that he played CF more than he played LF. His overall Rtot was +7 in 2024. I think he reverts to his 2024 form.

All of those coaches are important. Take the hitting coaches and hitting philosophy. The new hitting coach is from Toronto, 798 runs scored, fourth in MLB. Giants scored 705, below MLB average of 720. Our new leadoff hitter Arraez led the league in hits the past two seasons. Bader's OPS was .796 last year, Ramos returns to form, better health and power at DH. Better running as well, given the new coach. I'll bet we get at least fifty more runs, win six additional games.

BTW, better fielding will help our ERA. Last year's ERA was solid, 3.82, 10th in MLB. But our FIP was 3.74, 2nd overall in MLB. We're thin, but if we stay healthy, we're even better than last year. Accounts for two more wins.

I like Vitello, a lot, and I think his staff is superb. Either it will be amazing, or it will crash and burn. I think it'll be amazing.

Better fielding (+3 wins), better hitting and baserunning (+6 wins), better pitching (+2 wins), and respectfully, a better manager (+2). Last year we won 81 games, let's add 13. 

94 wins this season, that's my prediction. Incidentally, the Dodgers won only 93 games last season.

Duly noted.  The official prediction posting will be coming out in late March.  That gives you time to revise your call if you are so inclined….

As for LA, put me down for something in the range of 105-110 wins.