December 8, 2025 • 36 mins
On the first day of the winter meetings, Susan Slusser reports in about what Buster Posey and Zack Minasian discussed with the media, plus: is the team still in on big-name starters? Is Bryce Eldridge a potential trade piece after all? And FP Santangelo talks Hall of Fame - Jeff Kent makes it in while Barry Bonds' chances grow ever more dim.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
At the ball sitting McCovey cove in the water. McCovey
cove wishes it was that clear. By the way, it's
another episode of splash In. I met p Santangeo, your
friend and your other friend on this show. Susan Slusser
joins us from the Winter Meetings in Orlando. Susan, you
came over from London to the Winter Meetings. I'm back
in San Francisco. We're back in the USA. Any news today.
(00:29):
I guess the number one thing I want to ask you,
and we've been talking about this, did you finally meet
Tony Vitello. I have.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
I finally met Tony Vitella, and he is I think
you've said, like, first of all charm, total charm. But
he's very funny, so uh, he was cracking loads of
jokes today, which you know what this is the time
of year, this is it's great, like get the temperature
right away, get everyone, you know, kind of like he's
(00:58):
won all the reporters over. So that's he's already done
the hard part.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Well that's good. Well, we'll see, we'll see what happens
within there's like five in a row. I'm sure he's
going to be the same. They're owing o right now,
what's what's the latest news? Like this is going to
be your show today. You're at the winter meetings. This
is a big deal. What's the latest news on the Giants?
What'd you hear today?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Well, you know, it's it's really interesting. The Giants have
so many needs, right and they've got to fill two
starting spots in the rotation they've got for my money,
they need to get another big bat who's also a
good defensive outfielder. That's a pretty big ask right there.
(01:37):
Uh and you know what a bunch of other things.
Do they need a closer, maybe upgrade at second base.
There's a bunch of things. And we kept hearing like
maybe a little bit of a limited budget. Greg Johnson
told me in a Q and A I did a
month ago, we don't want to give out nine figure
salaries or long term deals, especially to starters. Athletic reported
(02:00):
that they were out on uh am I already. I
keep hearing that they've checked in on all of these
big names and that they're not necessarily out. So you know,
it's it's it's really hard to say right now, but
I like the fact that they are checking in on
all of those guys, even if it's just due diligence,
(02:22):
which I said last week, you know, of course they're
going to do their due diligence and kick the tires
on everybody. The fact that certainly there are a lot
of agents that feel like the Giants are still in
on some big name guys, and some reporters hearing that
the Giants could could even be a team that lands
a big name starter, I'd be a little surprised given
what we've been hearing about the budget, but they they
(02:45):
are certainly considering everything. And then when we met with
Buster Posey today and Zach Menazian sort of the little
you know every day at the winter meetings you meet
with the front office, and and Tony Vattelo was there
too for all of us today, we asked, you know,
these budget limitations, how much of an impact is that.
(03:08):
You know, Greg talked about the nine figure deals and
Busser said, you know what this ownership when we went
to them last year with a dev's deal, you know,
he said, well, he said, they didn't blink, and then
he went, they maybe blinked a little bit, but you know,
we talked to them and you know, they understood what
we're trying to do and why it was important, and
(03:29):
they you know, they were willing to pick up that contract.
Obviously huge deal, huge contract. So I think what the
front office feels like is that ownership has their back.
So if they went with to them with say, you know,
let's say franker Valdez, I think they feel like if
they presented it in the right terms and said, this
(03:52):
is the guy that we need. He's going to take
us to the next level. This is why we like
him so much, I think they feel like ownership would
do whatever. I'm not saying that's what's going to happen,
but I do think that they feel like we we
should talk to everybody and if there's somebody we really
really want and if it's a deal we feel like
is fair, we've got a shot maybe with ownership going like, hey,
(04:13):
well we didn't want to do this, but for this guy,
we understand why we why we want might want to
Now I still think, you know, look, I'm like I'm
I'm looking at their rotation. I go web Web You've
got a true number one. Robbie Ray, You've got a
you know, these are two frontline starters you've got already.
I'm fine with a guy who's more of a traditional
(04:33):
number three guy. You know, somebody who would could come
in on a two or three year deal, Uh, Chris Bassett,
Zach Gallon would be you know, really ideal. And I
do think they're in on him, even though you know
he's he's a little bit on a coming off of
a down year. He finished strong. Someone like that I
think would be fine. I don't think you have to
go out and get am I who's a who's something
(04:55):
of an unknown too talent, even though the great talent
and the young guy. And I don't think you need
to be in on Faldes. But what they need FP
they need a big bat. They need a great defensive
outfielder who can also hit. There's only a handful of them.
I don't think that they're going to get Tucker. I'm
not sure they're even pursuing Tucker. I think he's definitely
(05:18):
outside the price range because that's going to be four
hundred million plus. But a Cody Bellinger, if if i'm
then those are the kind of that's the kind of
guy I'm going or trade for. Somebody you know that
to me should be their priority right now? Is a
big bat, good defensive outfielder.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Well, I mean a couple of things we know about
Buster Posey so far that he keeps things close to
the best, and it's good business, right, I'm not gonna
I'm not going to show my cards. I might even
do an okie doke and say we're not going to
sign a guy for an eight figure deal or whatever
it is, and then all of a sudden it's done.
We learn that with Willia Damas, we learned that with
(05:57):
Raefield Devers. Like you said, it's kind of good business
practice not to show your cards. Like they're gonna give
you guys just enough so you have something to go right,
but like what they're telling you and what's going on
behind the scenes. And I think Giants fans get all
upset because they read an article somewhere here or there
and it says this. But like, if I'm doing business
and I'm trying to make my team better, I'm not
(06:19):
showing you my cards, man, because then the other people
see it and it jack's up the price. And if
we're not in on this guy, maybe we can sneak
around the back door and get that guy whoever it is.
So I kind of like this this philosophy with Buster.
I like being surprised. And also when you go to
ownership as a front office and you say we want
(06:40):
this guy and this is how much gonna cost, you
really have to trust the people that are making those decisions.
If I'm writing the check, and I think Greg Johnson
in ownership, trust Buster Posey and Zach Manasci and the
front office that is a giants based on the deals
they've done already. Now it's way easier to say, Okay,
I'm going to sign that check and we're going to
sign this guy because I trust you guys to make
(07:01):
good decisions, where maybe in the past there was some
weird decisions made. And then as an ownership if you
come to me, I don't have confidence in you anymore
like to make those decisions. And we won't say who
or names, but they're maybe with the last regime there
was some hums. So like, if you're coming to me
and I don't have confidence in you, but right now
you're Buster Posey, you're a world champion, Hall of Famer,
(07:24):
You've shown that you know what you're doing. And if
you come to me with like a big gulp contract, like,
oh my god, I believe that this is going to
make our team better. So I kind of like the
strategy involved right now. And if I was ever a
front office guy, I wouldn't say anything to the media.
I wouldn't say anything other than what's in that hotel
room and what we're trying to do, and let's just
(07:44):
give them just enough so they can do their jobs.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Well. I will say that last year Busters first year
obviously in the job, but he kind of said right
right away when when you know, everybody was talking about
Roki Sasaki and he was like, yeah, absolutely, we're going
after him. I don't know if necessarily there's a downside
to that. You do want to signal to your fan
base that you are in on big name guys. Now
(08:06):
that has bit the giants in the butt. Obviously in
the past, they missed out on a lot of the biggest,
biggest free name, big biggest free agent names. Judge Harper,
et cetera.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Show, Which is why, which is why, which is why?
You keep it close to the.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Vest now I disagree. I disagree. I would rather have
my fan base know that we missed out, but we
made every possible attempt to get a guy than to
even question that we maybe didn't go after him. I
think it's more important for them for teams to signal
to their fan base we are we are willing to
make these financial sacrifices for this to be the best
(08:47):
team possible, rather than keeping it secret just to avoid
like going like, oh, we missed out again. You know
what if you miss out like twenty eight other teams
also missed out, right, Well, they're probably not all going
after but only one team's going to wind up with
Sho heeo Tani. It was always going to get be
the Dodgers. That was pretty apparent after the fact, But
the Giants made a good faith effort. I think. I mean,
(09:09):
they get slammed for whatever they do. Either way, they're
going to get slammed, So so show you're going to
like I think they should if it's a big name.
There's I think there's really little downside to saying I
think the fans want to know.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Well, I mean, those are great points and the only
pushback I'll give you that every Giants fans watching this
has had a therapist and a couch. Based on all
the bridesmaids that have almost signed with the Giants, including
some bad tweets by big reporters. So we're all kind
of gunshy to that, and we all kind of have
PTSD on the fact that there's been so many close
calls that maybe we just maybe that's just a me
(09:47):
thing and I'm projecting right now. I'd rather not know
they get all excited and then all of a sudden
have the rug pulled out from under me. But hey, however,
you get it done, You get it done. Whatever your
style is your style. I kind I kind of like
keeping things close to the back versus it's all out
there for everybody to know. Bryce Eldridge. A lot of
talk about Bryce Eldridge. Are the Giants? Is he on
(10:07):
the market? Are the Giants going to trade him? Are
they shopping around? Personally? Before I throw it to you,
because you're there boots on the ground. You know, when
you talk about anybody in any organization, I don't think
there's any untouchables, because if you throw something out there
and somebody bites and all of a sudden, you're like,
WHOA Like everybody, there shouldn't be any untouchables in an organization.
(10:29):
It doesn't mean you're going to trade that guy. It
doesn't mean you're going to do that deal, but why
not you see what's out there?
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Well, I mean, fpu know, most top prospects do not
wind up being every day big league players. I mean,
then the odds are against it. It's tough to make
the big leagues when you look at the first round
draft picks. It's not like some other sports. It's not
an automatic. You're you're just gonna wind up being a
(10:56):
big league player in a regular It doesn't happen like that. Now.
You also don't want to be the guy that trades,
you know, Max REI like, there are some so every
once in a while there's a big whoopsie, right, Fernando
Tatis Junior. You don't want to be that guy, but
you have to take risks. And prospects are really pretty
(11:20):
much unknown until they turn into big league regulars, and
then that's a very different dynamic. You can sell your
top prospect Teams romanticized top prospects. They want they you know,
they look, they all look at Bryce Eldridge and they go,
this is a guy who's going to hit fifty home
runs and look at the swing. We don't know, we
(11:40):
don't know yet I think everybody overvalues their own prospects,
and I think that if you can get a huge
return in exchange for a good prospect, I like the
idea of doing that. Now, look, we've got two great
examples right in front of us of reasons why not
to Buster Poe was the Giants' top prospect and the
(12:02):
number two back then was Madison Bumgarner. Giants pretty pretty
wise not to move either of them in a deal.
But Marco Luciano was just jumped a couple of days
ago for nothing, and for years he was untouchable, you know,
and now gone Joey Bart. They get almost nothing for
Joey Bart. Many of their top prospects the last few
(12:23):
years have either been gone through major injuries and are
no longer really factors, or just didn't quite pan out
the way that was expected for a whole different number
of reasons. That said that, the system has been as
a digression. The system as a whole, I think has
been underrated because the Giants have produced a lot of
(12:45):
really good players, just not the guys who were expected
to be the you know, but Logan Webb, Camillo d'aval,
Randy Rodriguez, you know, a landed route like they there
are all sorts of good names and good players that
they've they have produced. Patrick Bailey obviously was a first
round pick. Elliott Ramos is obviously a first round pick.
(13:05):
These guys are all regulars and contributors. So I'm not
I am not in any way slamming the development or whatever,
but I just feel like if you can get a
pretty much a sure thing on the big league level
for somebody who's not a sure thing, I'm in favor
generally speaking of doing it.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Yeah, we agree a million percent on that.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Yeah. Anyway, so we all sort of asked around this
question today with with Buster Posey, and I asked Buster
if he has a philosophy on whether he prefers to,
you know, as some teams do. The Tigers for a
long time held onto all their top guys that worked.
A lot of teams trade their top guys padres that works.
(13:49):
You know, there's no right or wrong way. So asked
if he has a philosophy, and he basically said, you know,
he's in favor of doing whatever the movie is that
will help the team the most, which is exactly you know,
the right answer. A little frustrating where we're trying to
figure out are you going to trade Bryce or not?
But he also really he spent a long time complimenting
(14:09):
Bryce Eldridge Eldridge and explaining how he and Raphael Dovers
could both you know, be on the roster at the
same time, which is pretty simple. Brice Eldridge pretty much
just essentially what it boils down to. So you know,
they don't have to trade him. But the other part
of this to me that won't come as a surprise
to UFP is when you've got to he's said profiles
(14:32):
as such a special hitter, but he doesn't really have
a position. For me, that that also lessens his value
a little bit. I would rather have an I love,
I love Bryce Eldridge, and he's a fantastic guy, absolutely
top notch. But I think even more so that makes
him somebody that I I if I were a general manager,
(14:52):
thank goodness I'm not, and I just have a team
of great talkers who can't play baseball. But I would
I would be a little bit more in to trade
somebody who is maybe not quite as fersatile.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
He doesn't have a position. He's got Ron Washing his
infield coach. He's gonna be a gold Glover in a year.
I mean, I know we have that later in the show.
But since my right field, since it's a natural segue,
like we're gonna talk about Jeff Kent and Barry Bonds
in a second. We were going to talk about wash later,
but like, since it's a natural segue right now, Like
he's one of the best coaches I ever had end
(15:24):
of my career in Oakland. He was teaching me things
about second base, a position I played my whole life
that I'd never even heard of before. Like, for instance,
a ball to your right, instead of like working to
get around it and fielding it in front of you
and throwing on the run, just open up, like I'm
going to demonstrate, just open up and backhand it this
way so you didn't have to get all the way
around it and then throw across your body. Little things
(15:46):
around the bag, little things about double play turns, double
play feeds, stuff I'd never heard in my life that
made the position so much easier. And you know, all
the names in the development, whether it's Ozzy Alby's or
even Freddie Freeman at first base Atlanta, all the guys
Marcus Simeon with the A's that just couldn't field. So
now you add a guy that's a manager, and we'll
(16:06):
talk about the influence that'll have with Tony Vitello and
a guy that's just cool as hell and gets it.
But also it's a hard worker. A lot of times
in Major League Baseball you have coaches that stop coaching
because it's the major league level. And Wash is out
there every day early doing all the drills. And the
way he communicates and the way he implements his philosophies
(16:27):
to you, whatever it is, it just sinks in quickly
and it's not hard, and he's just I got so
excited when I saw he was going to be here.
Number one for selfish reasons. I love him and I
miss him. And whenever our travel's connected and he was
the manager of this team or that team or the
infield coach, I'd always go say hi to him. But
one of the biggest influences in my career, and it
(16:48):
was almost too late. It was the last year my
major league career, and I'm like, I used to joke
with him all the time, like Wash, where have you
been all my life? Like I wish I would have
had all this stuff so along with Bryce Eldridge and
Raphaeldever's at first base, like he has a chance to
make them really good. And you know I'm joking about
gold glove, but why not to me? And I'll let
you talk here. Like to me, defense like offense has
(17:12):
a ceiling, it's God given. Yet hold out a second
offense has a ceiling, it's God given. You can work
your ass off in the cage and you can only
get so far. Defense is an attitude and a work
ethic and wanting to do it in like a guy
like Wade Boggs that made fifty errors in the minor
leagues became a really good third baseman because he worked
at it. So now you've got guys that know what
(17:33):
they're doing, can implement it, and we're with work ethic there.
It's like even even a Damas who at times last
year would short arm baseballs and double pump with his
glove and get off rhythm with his legs. Chapy, you
just leave alone. But like, so this is going to
influence the infield defense a lot. And I think I
think Bryce elders while you say doesn't have a position,
and I kind of agree with you as we talk
(17:53):
right now and as we speak. But with Ron Washington there,
the influence is going to be unbelievable. Okay, I'm done.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
You go, Okay, well, okay, great. Ron Washington could turn
Eldridge into a phenomenal first basement. Rafaeld Devers is still
there and he's Rathfaeld Devers, and I think he's going
to be a better first baseman than Eldridge because he
was a you know, an okay, major league third baseman
and he barely played any first base last year, you know,
(18:21):
and looked pretty good. So I think he's only going
to get better, and he's going to be working with Washington.
I think he's going to be an outstanding first baseman. Honestly,
if Ron Washington could turn Bryce Eldridge into an outstanding
right field or somehow problem solved, that's the position they need.
It's kind of almost too bad. I mean, I love
(18:42):
the Devers Deeld it was brilliant. It came out of nowhere,
but it's kind of left Eldridge without without an everyday spot,
and I you know, at twenty one year old DH,
that's not ideal, you know. I do think he could
be a good first Baseman. I do. I don't. I
don't doubt that JT. Snow has talked extensively, including here
on our show, about you know, how he thinks that
(19:05):
Bryce Eldridge has improved and the big strides he's taken
and how much more he can and will improve. So
I do think that that's the reason I feel like
he doesn't have a position is because of Devors, not
really because of Bryce Eldridge. So yeah, but a little
bit hyperbolic with my he doesn't have a position stance,
(19:25):
that's not really what I feel like. But I think
he's blocked. I think he's most basically mostly blocked by Devers.
So hey, do they trade Deverse? Don't? I don't see
that happening, But I wouldn't do that. What they need, though,
is they gig a big bat, good fielding right field
or center field or either of those things. I think
(19:46):
would be fantastic and I think should be their top priority,
because the offense is what really limited this team last year.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
All right, Well, I'm gonna need a scoop out of
you soon, and hopefully tomorrow we find out about the
coaches staff for the Giants. The rest of the coaching
staff for the Giants. But we got to talk about
the Hall of Fame. Hey, we got to talk about
Jeff Kent and Barry Bonds, and Jeff is in. Barrie's
not your thoughts on that. I have my own thoughts
on that, but I want to let you go first
because I was talking so much a minute ago. So
what are your thoughts?
Speaker 2 (20:17):
I mean, what else is new?
Speaker 1 (20:20):
That's why I drink this right here, a little coffee.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Maybe slow down, you know, I never know how to
approach some of the Hall of Fame questions because I'm
a little bit too close to it. I was on
the Eras Committee the first time Barry Bonds and Roger
Clements were up before the committee. I'm on the ballot
committee that formulates the ballot for the Eras committees. Both
(20:47):
both jobs are taking extremely seriously and really enjoy and
we're asked not to speak about the inner workings of
any of the committees for obvious reasons. I mean, this
is this the stuff where there are a lot of
people involved. We all take it very seriously, but you know,
some of it's a little it can be a little
bit sensitive, especially for the Hall. I get that, and
(21:09):
there's nothing more sensitive than sort of the steroid subject.
But before I was averund any of these committees, I
always said, and I continue to say, we will know
how the Hall of Fame really feels about Roger Clemens
and Barry Bonds when they go before the Erask Committee.
And so far they are over too, and the Hall
(21:33):
has instituted changes in eligibility that essentially will make it
impossible for either to either of them to get in
certainly for the near future. Look that any of these
rules can change at any time. If they've changed rules,
(21:54):
all it takes is, you know, different people involved, or
a different you know, stance on the steroid era in general,
and things could certainly change. Who knows, But Bonds now
because he did not get five votes yesterday will not
be eligible the next time in three years when this
Eras committee meets again, And if he doesn't get five
(22:16):
votes at least five votes that time, he won't be
back on ever you know, well ever is again, you
know whatever, lose loosely these under these rules, he would
not get back in. So those rules could could potentially
change in the future. Jeff Kent, I love it when
anyone gets into the Hall of Fame I feel like
this era in particular is very underrepresented, and I feel very,
(22:41):
very strongly that second base is underrepresented. You know, Lou
Whittaker is still not in, Bobby Gritch is still not in.
These are very good candidates. So I love that a
second baseman who Jeff Kent is not only the all
time leading home h hitter among second he's the leading
home run hitter among middle infielders because he has hit
(23:05):
more than any shortstops, so very deserving. I covered him
as a backup in Sacramento and a little bit in
San Francisco, and I always enjoyed my interactions with him.
I know he had a reputation as being kind of
gruff and difficult at times, but I thought he was
(23:26):
really interesting to talk to and pretty accommodating. I thought
that always got a little overblown. And watching Bonds and
Kent in that lineup back to back was for a
baseball fan, for a baseball reporter, for anybody that loves baseball,
that was, I mean, borderlinees surreal. That was like the
(23:48):
great one of the greatest combinations of all time, just
flat out amazing.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
So I'm glad that Jeff got in. You know, he
was a good teammate. He helped me out a lot
that the year with him. We used to joke that
he had three different personalities, JK, Chuckles, and Mikey. JK
was the guy that sat in his locker and didn't
say anything. Chuckles was when he had three hits, and
Mikey is when he was pissed off and you had
to stay away from him. So he had like three
(24:15):
different personalities that we used to joke about. But he
gave me a great hitting tip one day and he said,
I noticed you did something last at bat. You filed
a pitch off and then you took the same pitch
right down the middle, And he said, if you file
a pitch off, don't get away from your game plan.
If that's the pitch you were sitting on, stay on
that pitch because the pitcher is going to think that
(24:36):
you're switching to another pitch and he's going to double
up on that pitch. I can't tell you how many
hits I got that year, and this was toward the
end of my career, where if I did file a
pitch off, I would stay on that pitch and I
get it again. So I go to him like JK.
That's great man, Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
So.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
He was a good teammate. You just had to know
when to approach him. And the dynamic between him and
Barry was like two little kids trying to outdo each other.
Like if Jeff had two rows on the playing Barry
had to have three. If Barry was five minutes late
for stretching and Jeff would be six minutes late for stretching.
Because there was always that ego dynamic between those two,
which I think made them better a lot. I think
(25:10):
they pushed each other in different ways. You couldn't have
had two more guys. And if this, I apologize, this
doesn't make sense that we're polar opposite but the same.
Like they came from different backgrounds. They you know, they
were different people, but when it came to being great
and wanting to be great, they were equal in that sense,
and they pushed each other and they made each other better.
(25:32):
I knew Jeff when he was eighteen at cal Berkeley.
I was a sophomore playing baseball at cal Berkeley. Came
back for my sophomore year and they recruited this shortstop
from Long Beach. It was a cowboy. I don't still
don't get the cowboys.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
From I'm we're all confused about it, and I still.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
Don't get that healthic. But and Jeff when he was eighteen,
was tough man. He was like he didn't care what
anybody thought about him. He was super cocky. He wasn't
well liked, if I'm being honest. As an eighteen year
old freshman Cal Berkeley. So I was supposed to take
over at shortstop and he came in and he was
playing shortstop and throwing balls in the stands. He made
like fifteen twenty years in fallball. I had a great
(26:10):
fall ball And it came to opening day and he
was starting at shortstop and I was back on the
bench of my sophomore year. So after about twelve games,
I went and talked to Bob Milano, the head coach there,
and I said, do you see me playing here because whatever, whatever, whatever,
And do you see me playing Passcal? And he said no,
I don't. Very honest, he said, I want you to
use your scholarship for a great education. I said, thanks,
(26:32):
you can have my scholarship. I'm transferred. But now the
point in that story is I get to say I
got beat out by a Hall of Famer. So that's
pretty cool. Hall of Famer beat me out at shortstop
in college.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
I mean, yeah, I'd take it. Yeah, it's that's really cool.
I mean it really, it's does it Rey? It just
it just looks so weird, right. You look at those
teams and you go like, well, obviously both of those
guys should be in. It's like the the steroid I
feel like there should be a better solution for dealing
(27:03):
with this stoid era. And you know, Kent was one
of the guys who was very vocally in favor of
testing kind of earlier than other guys. He was very
vocal anti cheater. I think that probably helped him with
the committee too, along with all his I mean, he
got in for obviously baseball accomplishment reasons, but he always
(27:25):
was one of those guys, like, you know, I covered
Frank Thomas. Frank Thomas was the same way. These were
guys who pretty early on were saying, hey, like we've
got a problem here. Baseball was slow to respond to that.
I think that the fact that some of the architects
of the game and the people who were the leaders
(27:45):
of the game and that era are in the Hall
of Fame after not taking some steps that would have
maybe ended the stooid era a little earlier. I feel
like maybe holding two people accountable for it is a
little bit is potentially a little bit unfair. We all
(28:06):
wrestle with it, right like we all wrestle with it.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
But I don't know.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
The Hall of Fame is a it's a museum, and
it's a shrine to the game's greats. And love him
or hate am very was the greatest player probably ever.
So it's just it's all strange, but good. Good for
Jeff Kent, and you know what, It's fun to see
somebody who's had that reputation is like, I'm tough and
(28:33):
I'm kind of I've got this edge. And he's been
so emotional these past two days. I swear every time
John Shay asked him a question, he started crying, like,
who are you, Jeff Kent?
Speaker 1 (28:46):
That might be Mikey.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
I'm not sure that was Mikey.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
But I gotta I gotta speak about Barry. And I
did a Giants thing at the ballpark yesterday and one
of the questions I got from the people at the
ballpark was what I thought about Barry Bonds in the
Hall of Fame. They said it's gonna happen at four
o'clock today, And I've said this publicly and it's probably controversial,
but I don't think the Hall of Fame is the
Hall of Fame until Barry Bonds is put in it.
(29:11):
Until you can tell me how many pictures that Barry
Bonds hit home runs off of that were on steroids.
Then when you live that and you know how rampant
it was and how many guys that were taking it
that were never in the Metro Report Team photo which
I'm in, you just can't really judge. So when you
(29:31):
talk about his career in what he did and how
base the Hall of Fame tells the story about baseball.
And I just think it's a shame that maybe one
hundred years from now, when we're all dead and buried,
that people might not know the story of Barry Bonds.
So whatever you think about Barry, like, the story has
to be told. If you go to the Smithsonian Museum
in Washington, d c. Of American history, like there's parts
(29:54):
of our American history that aren't flattering, there's parts of
like our history that aren't cool, but they tell the
story in that Museum of the History of the United
States of America. So along those lines, I feel like
the Hall of Fame has to tell the story regardless
of what's going on. And I texted Barry today and
he got right back to me. I said, are you okay.
(30:15):
I said that I think it's complete bs, and that
was my text and being fully transparent here, and he
texted me back he said, I'm blessed, Bud, and I said,
you are so yeah. I just I understand it. I
wish they would have both got in. But I'm sticking
to my guts in this that he was the best
player that I ever even was around playing against him,
(30:36):
and then to be his teammate for a year, and
how well he treated me as his teammate when I
heard that that could be the contrary, and how well
he's treated my family and my son, and even to
this day I consider my friend. It's just it's not
the hall and place. I think it's terrible.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
I mean, you know what the counterpoint is that there
are a number of Barry's artifacts in the Hall of Fame.
You know, he like bones is in there.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
His towbone is in there, and they dusted it off
and then they just put this is Barry Bond's toe.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
You know, bad Balls and Gloves FP, and I think
it's still up. There was an exhibit about the steroid era,
you know, and there's Kenseko stuff in there, and Bash
Brothers stuff and Barry Bond stuff and and all of that.
And someday you and I probably should have a full
(31:31):
pod just on the steroid era. You were in the
middle of it. You you you know, you you're not
gonna name names and stuff, but you dealt with all
of that as you as you've alluded to, and I'm
glad you did. But I just feel like, uh, it's
it's just a I don't understand how the Hall is
(31:52):
and baseball in general sort of has approached the steroid era.
You know, it's it's and it it's so long ago,
and and you're talking about some of the games. Great,
there's guys Clements too in the Hall that did this.
This is oh well yeah, I mean it's.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Not the Vatican.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
It's not like I covered guys who are in the
Hall who I'm you know, I'm just gonna leave that
right there. But uh, Roger Clemens, I mean, we're we
just keep mentioning Roger Clemens was one of the greatest
pictures of all times and and the greatest picture of
his era. I mean, this is okay. You know again,
(32:35):
I'm probably not supposed to say quite so much since
I'm on these committees, but yeah, there there are new
things in place, and it's kind of changed the complexion
of what we're looking at. And I think we do
know what what, how the how the hall feels about
the stories are and how they're going to deal with it.
They've they've told us without actually saying so too bad
(32:57):
and oh hey a note f P. On the coaching staff.
I did find out who the last two guys are today.
I just know I'm not sure exactly the roles. And
then as I said, they sort of said they're still
trying to figure out some roles. But Shane Robinson and
Hector Borg we're both added to the staff. It hasn't
been announced, but I was told those are the final
(33:19):
two names, both internal promotions, which is fantastic. I love
it when guys from within the system are brought up,
so fantastic. Looking forward to getting to know those guys.
Guess is that I don't know if it's a first
base third base situation, or if there's somebody else's going
to have different rules and they're going to figure those out.
(33:40):
But I think those are the two names, and hopefully
they will give us the full rundown on the coaching
staff very soon. That would be great. I mean, I
would like more news than that, frankly tomorrow, but I'll
take I'd take it.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
Well, maybe we'll do an emergency pod of something big breaks.
But I don't know those guys, so I'm not gonna
sit here in comment. I'd like to get to know
them this season. I'm looking forward to getting to know
everybody in the staff that Tony and Buster and Zach Hyer.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
How are we doing on subscriptions these days? We I
think maybe should be telling the people to do some subscribing.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
Yes, subscribe to our podcast right now, or we don't
like you. It's splash Hit Territory. Next goal is three
thousand subscribers. Click on this button part of the File
Territory network. Come on, let's go. This is the greatest
podcast in the history of podcasts, ever, in history of
podcasts ever. So click on that button and we will
like you so much more. We like all the comments.
(34:40):
Susan and I read the comments.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
We responded, We're going to do a mailbag soon. Yeah,
I think this week is going to be dedicated to
winter meeting stuff, just because this is the week, that's
all anybody wants to talk about. But let's do a
mailbag soon next next week, we'll tell the people how
to get in touch with you with me. You can
do it on the YouTube comments, you can do it
(35:02):
on my twitter, you can do on a FP's Twitter.
I we would love to do some sort of mail
bag thing because we both I think we both really
like interacting with fans. Honestly, FP. I tell people this
all the time, like, do not discount fan comments or questions.
I've gotten ideas from fan questions before. Yes, I've got
(35:25):
the story ideas I've gotten. I've asked questions to team
officials based on things that fans have asked me, and
I've been I thought like, that's a great question. You know,
I don't have all the answers. You definitely don't have
all the answers. So I want to hear from you
guys and maybe start up a little conversation and try
(35:45):
to get that going a little bit. Uh. Frequently Also,
I won't be here all the time. I'm just kind
of a regular contributor, so you know, f P you
can just you can do like full mail bags sometimes
if you want, because I'm sure you're going to get
some good ones. You're you're used to that from the
radio days anyway. But I love that idea.
Speaker 1 (36:04):
Yeah, I get pissed off ideas from some of the
comments too, So that's really cool. And I have a
winter meeting with a beer here coming up shortly. That
was a good show, Susan, thanks a lot for taking
time out. I know you have busy days there in Orlando.
Maybe we'll do an emergency pod. We'll see they see
what's going on. So thanks for your time tonight. That
was fun, my pleasure all right. Like I say the
(36:25):
way out every single time, you say it on my
radio show and can be our swing heart in case
you hit it on the splash It podcast.
At the ball sitting McCovey cove in the water. McCovey
cove wishes it was that clear. By the way, it's
another episode of splash In. I met p Santangeo, your
friend and your other friend on this show. Susan Slusser
joins us from the Winter Meetings in Orlando. Susan, you
came over from London to the Winter Meetings. I'm back
in San Francisco. We're back in the USA. Any news today.
(00:29):
I guess the number one thing I want to ask you,
and we've been talking about this, did you finally meet
Tony Vitello. I have.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
I finally met Tony Vitella, and he is I think
you've said, like, first of all charm, total charm. But
he's very funny, so uh, he was cracking loads of
jokes today, which you know what this is the time
of year, this is it's great, like get the temperature
right away, get everyone, you know, kind of like he's
(00:58):
won all the reporters over. So that's he's already done
the hard part.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Well that's good. Well, we'll see, we'll see what happens
within there's like five in a row. I'm sure he's
going to be the same. They're owing o right now,
what's what's the latest news? Like this is going to
be your show today. You're at the winter meetings. This
is a big deal. What's the latest news on the Giants?
What'd you hear today?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Well, you know, it's it's really interesting. The Giants have
so many needs, right and they've got to fill two
starting spots in the rotation they've got for my money,
they need to get another big bat who's also a
good defensive outfielder. That's a pretty big ask right there.
(01:37):
Uh and you know what a bunch of other things.
Do they need a closer, maybe upgrade at second base.
There's a bunch of things. And we kept hearing like
maybe a little bit of a limited budget. Greg Johnson
told me in a Q and A I did a
month ago, we don't want to give out nine figure
salaries or long term deals, especially to starters. Athletic reported
(02:00):
that they were out on uh am I already. I
keep hearing that they've checked in on all of these
big names and that they're not necessarily out. So you know,
it's it's it's really hard to say right now, but
I like the fact that they are checking in on
all of those guys, even if it's just due diligence,
(02:22):
which I said last week, you know, of course they're
going to do their due diligence and kick the tires
on everybody. The fact that certainly there are a lot
of agents that feel like the Giants are still in
on some big name guys, and some reporters hearing that
the Giants could could even be a team that lands
a big name starter, I'd be a little surprised given
what we've been hearing about the budget, but they they
(02:45):
are certainly considering everything. And then when we met with
Buster Posey today and Zach Menazian sort of the little
you know every day at the winter meetings you meet
with the front office, and and Tony Vattelo was there
too for all of us today, we asked, you know,
these budget limitations, how much of an impact is that.
(03:08):
You know, Greg talked about the nine figure deals and
Busser said, you know what this ownership when we went
to them last year with a dev's deal, you know,
he said, well, he said, they didn't blink, and then
he went, they maybe blinked a little bit, but you know,
we talked to them and you know, they understood what
we're trying to do and why it was important, and
(03:29):
they you know, they were willing to pick up that contract.
Obviously huge deal, huge contract. So I think what the
front office feels like is that ownership has their back.
So if they went with to them with say, you know,
let's say franker Valdez, I think they feel like if
they presented it in the right terms and said, this
(03:52):
is the guy that we need. He's going to take
us to the next level. This is why we like
him so much, I think they feel like ownership would
do whatever. I'm not saying that's what's going to happen,
but I do think that they feel like we we
should talk to everybody and if there's somebody we really
really want and if it's a deal we feel like
is fair, we've got a shot maybe with ownership going like, hey,
(04:13):
well we didn't want to do this, but for this guy,
we understand why we why we want might want to
Now I still think, you know, look, I'm like I'm
I'm looking at their rotation. I go web Web You've
got a true number one. Robbie Ray, You've got a
you know, these are two frontline starters you've got already.
I'm fine with a guy who's more of a traditional
(04:33):
number three guy. You know, somebody who would could come
in on a two or three year deal, Uh, Chris Bassett,
Zach Gallon would be you know, really ideal. And I
do think they're in on him, even though you know
he's he's a little bit on a coming off of
a down year. He finished strong. Someone like that I
think would be fine. I don't think you have to
go out and get am I who's a who's something
(04:55):
of an unknown too talent, even though the great talent
and the young guy. And I don't think you need
to be in on Faldes. But what they need FP
they need a big bat. They need a great defensive
outfielder who can also hit. There's only a handful of them.
I don't think that they're going to get Tucker. I'm
not sure they're even pursuing Tucker. I think he's definitely
(05:18):
outside the price range because that's going to be four
hundred million plus. But a Cody Bellinger, if if i'm
then those are the kind of that's the kind of
guy I'm going or trade for. Somebody you know that
to me should be their priority right now? Is a
big bat, good defensive outfielder.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Well, I mean a couple of things we know about
Buster Posey so far that he keeps things close to
the best, and it's good business, right, I'm not gonna
I'm not going to show my cards. I might even
do an okie doke and say we're not going to
sign a guy for an eight figure deal or whatever
it is, and then all of a sudden it's done.
We learn that with Willia Damas, we learned that with
(05:57):
Raefield Devers. Like you said, it's kind of good business
practice not to show your cards. Like they're gonna give
you guys just enough so you have something to go right,
but like what they're telling you and what's going on
behind the scenes. And I think Giants fans get all
upset because they read an article somewhere here or there
and it says this. But like, if I'm doing business
and I'm trying to make my team better, I'm not
(06:19):
showing you my cards, man, because then the other people
see it and it jack's up the price. And if
we're not in on this guy, maybe we can sneak
around the back door and get that guy whoever it is.
So I kind of like this this philosophy with Buster.
I like being surprised. And also when you go to
ownership as a front office and you say we want
(06:40):
this guy and this is how much gonna cost, you
really have to trust the people that are making those decisions.
If I'm writing the check, and I think Greg Johnson
in ownership, trust Buster Posey and Zach Manasci and the
front office that is a giants based on the deals
they've done already. Now it's way easier to say, Okay,
I'm going to sign that check and we're going to
sign this guy because I trust you guys to make
(07:01):
good decisions, where maybe in the past there was some
weird decisions made. And then as an ownership if you
come to me, I don't have confidence in you anymore
like to make those decisions. And we won't say who
or names, but they're maybe with the last regime there
was some hums. So like, if you're coming to me
and I don't have confidence in you, but right now
you're Buster Posey, you're a world champion, Hall of Famer,
(07:24):
You've shown that you know what you're doing. And if
you come to me with like a big gulp contract, like,
oh my god, I believe that this is going to
make our team better. So I kind of like the
strategy involved right now. And if I was ever a
front office guy, I wouldn't say anything to the media.
I wouldn't say anything other than what's in that hotel
room and what we're trying to do, and let's just
(07:44):
give them just enough so they can do their jobs.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Well. I will say that last year Busters first year
obviously in the job, but he kind of said right
right away when when you know, everybody was talking about
Roki Sasaki and he was like, yeah, absolutely, we're going
after him. I don't know if necessarily there's a downside
to that. You do want to signal to your fan
base that you are in on big name guys. Now
(08:06):
that has bit the giants in the butt. Obviously in
the past, they missed out on a lot of the biggest,
biggest free name, big biggest free agent names. Judge Harper,
et cetera.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Show, Which is why, which is why, which is why?
You keep it close to the.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Vest now I disagree. I disagree. I would rather have
my fan base know that we missed out, but we
made every possible attempt to get a guy than to
even question that we maybe didn't go after him. I
think it's more important for them for teams to signal
to their fan base we are we are willing to
make these financial sacrifices for this to be the best
(08:47):
team possible, rather than keeping it secret just to avoid
like going like, oh, we missed out again. You know
what if you miss out like twenty eight other teams
also missed out, right, Well, they're probably not all going
after but only one team's going to wind up with
Sho heeo Tani. It was always going to get be
the Dodgers. That was pretty apparent after the fact, But
the Giants made a good faith effort. I think. I mean,
(09:09):
they get slammed for whatever they do. Either way, they're
going to get slammed, So so show you're going to
like I think they should if it's a big name.
There's I think there's really little downside to saying I
think the fans want to know.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Well, I mean, those are great points and the only
pushback I'll give you that every Giants fans watching this
has had a therapist and a couch. Based on all
the bridesmaids that have almost signed with the Giants, including
some bad tweets by big reporters. So we're all kind
of gunshy to that, and we all kind of have
PTSD on the fact that there's been so many close
calls that maybe we just maybe that's just a me
(09:47):
thing and I'm projecting right now. I'd rather not know
they get all excited and then all of a sudden
have the rug pulled out from under me. But hey, however,
you get it done, You get it done. Whatever your
style is your style. I kind I kind of like
keeping things close to the back versus it's all out
there for everybody to know. Bryce Eldridge. A lot of
talk about Bryce Eldridge. Are the Giants? Is he on
(10:07):
the market? Are the Giants going to trade him? Are
they shopping around? Personally? Before I throw it to you,
because you're there boots on the ground. You know, when
you talk about anybody in any organization, I don't think
there's any untouchables, because if you throw something out there
and somebody bites and all of a sudden, you're like,
WHOA Like everybody, there shouldn't be any untouchables in an organization.
(10:29):
It doesn't mean you're going to trade that guy. It
doesn't mean you're going to do that deal, but why
not you see what's out there?
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Well, I mean, fpu know, most top prospects do not
wind up being every day big league players. I mean,
then the odds are against it. It's tough to make
the big leagues when you look at the first round
draft picks. It's not like some other sports. It's not
an automatic. You're you're just gonna wind up being a
(10:56):
big league player in a regular It doesn't happen like that. Now.
You also don't want to be the guy that trades,
you know, Max REI like, there are some so every
once in a while there's a big whoopsie, right, Fernando
Tatis Junior. You don't want to be that guy, but
you have to take risks. And prospects are really pretty
(11:20):
much unknown until they turn into big league regulars, and
then that's a very different dynamic. You can sell your
top prospect Teams romanticized top prospects. They want they you know,
they look, they all look at Bryce Eldridge and they go,
this is a guy who's going to hit fifty home
runs and look at the swing. We don't know, we
(11:40):
don't know yet I think everybody overvalues their own prospects,
and I think that if you can get a huge
return in exchange for a good prospect, I like the
idea of doing that. Now, look, we've got two great
examples right in front of us of reasons why not
to Buster Poe was the Giants' top prospect and the
(12:02):
number two back then was Madison Bumgarner. Giants pretty pretty
wise not to move either of them in a deal.
But Marco Luciano was just jumped a couple of days
ago for nothing, and for years he was untouchable, you know,
and now gone Joey Bart. They get almost nothing for
Joey Bart. Many of their top prospects the last few
(12:23):
years have either been gone through major injuries and are
no longer really factors, or just didn't quite pan out
the way that was expected for a whole different number
of reasons. That said that, the system has been as
a digression. The system as a whole, I think has
been underrated because the Giants have produced a lot of
(12:45):
really good players, just not the guys who were expected
to be the you know, but Logan Webb, Camillo d'aval,
Randy Rodriguez, you know, a landed route like they there
are all sorts of good names and good players that
they've they have produced. Patrick Bailey obviously was a first
round pick. Elliott Ramos is obviously a first round pick.
(13:05):
These guys are all regulars and contributors. So I'm not
I am not in any way slamming the development or whatever,
but I just feel like if you can get a
pretty much a sure thing on the big league level
for somebody who's not a sure thing, I'm in favor
generally speaking of doing it.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Yeah, we agree a million percent on that.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Yeah. Anyway, so we all sort of asked around this
question today with with Buster Posey, and I asked Buster
if he has a philosophy on whether he prefers to,
you know, as some teams do. The Tigers for a
long time held onto all their top guys that worked.
A lot of teams trade their top guys padres that works.
(13:49):
You know, there's no right or wrong way. So asked
if he has a philosophy, and he basically said, you know,
he's in favor of doing whatever the movie is that
will help the team the most, which is exactly you know,
the right answer. A little frustrating where we're trying to
figure out are you going to trade Bryce or not?
But he also really he spent a long time complimenting
(14:09):
Bryce Eldridge Eldridge and explaining how he and Raphael Dovers
could both you know, be on the roster at the
same time, which is pretty simple. Brice Eldridge pretty much
just essentially what it boils down to. So you know,
they don't have to trade him. But the other part
of this to me that won't come as a surprise
to UFP is when you've got to he's said profiles
(14:32):
as such a special hitter, but he doesn't really have
a position. For me, that that also lessens his value
a little bit. I would rather have an I love,
I love Bryce Eldridge, and he's a fantastic guy, absolutely
top notch. But I think even more so that makes
him somebody that I I if I were a general manager,
(14:52):
thank goodness I'm not, and I just have a team
of great talkers who can't play baseball. But I would
I would be a little bit more in to trade
somebody who is maybe not quite as fersatile.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
He doesn't have a position. He's got Ron Washing his
infield coach. He's gonna be a gold Glover in a year.
I mean, I know we have that later in the show.
But since my right field, since it's a natural segue,
like we're gonna talk about Jeff Kent and Barry Bonds
in a second. We were going to talk about wash later,
but like, since it's a natural segue right now, Like
he's one of the best coaches I ever had end
(15:24):
of my career in Oakland. He was teaching me things
about second base, a position I played my whole life
that I'd never even heard of before. Like, for instance,
a ball to your right, instead of like working to
get around it and fielding it in front of you
and throwing on the run, just open up, like I'm
going to demonstrate, just open up and backhand it this
way so you didn't have to get all the way
around it and then throw across your body. Little things
(15:46):
around the bag, little things about double play turns, double
play feeds, stuff I'd never heard in my life that
made the position so much easier. And you know, all
the names in the development, whether it's Ozzy Alby's or
even Freddie Freeman at first base Atlanta, all the guys
Marcus Simeon with the A's that just couldn't field. So
now you add a guy that's a manager, and we'll
(16:06):
talk about the influence that'll have with Tony Vitello and
a guy that's just cool as hell and gets it.
But also it's a hard worker. A lot of times
in Major League Baseball you have coaches that stop coaching
because it's the major league level. And Wash is out
there every day early doing all the drills. And the
way he communicates and the way he implements his philosophies
(16:27):
to you, whatever it is, it just sinks in quickly
and it's not hard, and he's just I got so
excited when I saw he was going to be here.
Number one for selfish reasons. I love him and I
miss him. And whenever our travel's connected and he was
the manager of this team or that team or the
infield coach, I'd always go say hi to him. But
one of the biggest influences in my career, and it
(16:48):
was almost too late. It was the last year my
major league career, and I'm like, I used to joke
with him all the time, like Wash, where have you
been all my life? Like I wish I would have
had all this stuff so along with Bryce Eldridge and
Raphaeldever's at first base, like he has a chance to
make them really good. And you know I'm joking about
gold glove, but why not to me? And I'll let
you talk here. Like to me, defense like offense has
(17:12):
a ceiling, it's God given. Yet hold out a second
offense has a ceiling, it's God given. You can work
your ass off in the cage and you can only
get so far. Defense is an attitude and a work
ethic and wanting to do it in like a guy
like Wade Boggs that made fifty errors in the minor
leagues became a really good third baseman because he worked
at it. So now you've got guys that know what
(17:33):
they're doing, can implement it, and we're with work ethic there.
It's like even even a Damas who at times last
year would short arm baseballs and double pump with his
glove and get off rhythm with his legs. Chapy, you
just leave alone. But like, so this is going to
influence the infield defense a lot. And I think I
think Bryce elders while you say doesn't have a position,
and I kind of agree with you as we talk
(17:53):
right now and as we speak. But with Ron Washington there,
the influence is going to be unbelievable. Okay, I'm done.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
You go, Okay, well, okay, great. Ron Washington could turn
Eldridge into a phenomenal first basement. Rafaeld Devers is still
there and he's Rathfaeld Devers, and I think he's going
to be a better first baseman than Eldridge because he
was a you know, an okay, major league third baseman
and he barely played any first base last year, you know,
(18:21):
and looked pretty good. So I think he's only going
to get better, and he's going to be working with Washington.
I think he's going to be an outstanding first baseman. Honestly,
if Ron Washington could turn Bryce Eldridge into an outstanding
right field or somehow problem solved, that's the position they need.
It's kind of almost too bad. I mean, I love
(18:42):
the Devers Deeld it was brilliant. It came out of nowhere,
but it's kind of left Eldridge without without an everyday spot,
and I you know, at twenty one year old DH,
that's not ideal, you know. I do think he could
be a good first Baseman. I do. I don't. I
don't doubt that JT. Snow has talked extensively, including here
on our show, about you know, how he thinks that
(19:05):
Bryce Eldridge has improved and the big strides he's taken
and how much more he can and will improve. So
I do think that that's the reason I feel like
he doesn't have a position is because of Devors, not
really because of Bryce Eldridge. So yeah, but a little
bit hyperbolic with my he doesn't have a position stance,
(19:25):
that's not really what I feel like. But I think
he's blocked. I think he's most basically mostly blocked by Devers.
So hey, do they trade Deverse? Don't? I don't see
that happening, But I wouldn't do that. What they need, though,
is they gig a big bat, good fielding right field
or center field or either of those things. I think
(19:46):
would be fantastic and I think should be their top priority,
because the offense is what really limited this team last year.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
All right, Well, I'm gonna need a scoop out of
you soon, and hopefully tomorrow we find out about the
coaches staff for the Giants. The rest of the coaching
staff for the Giants. But we got to talk about
the Hall of Fame. Hey, we got to talk about
Jeff Kent and Barry Bonds, and Jeff is in. Barrie's
not your thoughts on that. I have my own thoughts
on that, but I want to let you go first
because I was talking so much a minute ago. So
what are your thoughts?
Speaker 2 (20:17):
I mean, what else is new?
Speaker 1 (20:20):
That's why I drink this right here, a little coffee.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Maybe slow down, you know, I never know how to
approach some of the Hall of Fame questions because I'm
a little bit too close to it. I was on
the Eras Committee the first time Barry Bonds and Roger
Clements were up before the committee. I'm on the ballot
committee that formulates the ballot for the Eras committees. Both
(20:47):
both jobs are taking extremely seriously and really enjoy and
we're asked not to speak about the inner workings of
any of the committees for obvious reasons. I mean, this
is this the stuff where there are a lot of
people involved. We all take it very seriously, but you know,
some of it's a little it can be a little
bit sensitive, especially for the Hall. I get that, and
(21:09):
there's nothing more sensitive than sort of the steroid subject.
But before I was averund any of these committees, I
always said, and I continue to say, we will know
how the Hall of Fame really feels about Roger Clemens
and Barry Bonds when they go before the Erask Committee.
And so far they are over too, and the Hall
(21:33):
has instituted changes in eligibility that essentially will make it
impossible for either to either of them to get in
certainly for the near future. Look that any of these
rules can change at any time. If they've changed rules,
(21:54):
all it takes is, you know, different people involved, or
a different you know, stance on the steroid era in general,
and things could certainly change. Who knows, But Bonds now
because he did not get five votes yesterday will not
be eligible the next time in three years when this
Eras committee meets again, And if he doesn't get five
(22:16):
votes at least five votes that time, he won't be
back on ever you know, well ever is again, you
know whatever, lose loosely these under these rules, he would
not get back in. So those rules could could potentially
change in the future. Jeff Kent, I love it when
anyone gets into the Hall of Fame I feel like
this era in particular is very underrepresented, and I feel very,
(22:41):
very strongly that second base is underrepresented. You know, Lou
Whittaker is still not in, Bobby Gritch is still not in.
These are very good candidates. So I love that a
second baseman who Jeff Kent is not only the all
time leading home h hitter among second he's the leading
home run hitter among middle infielders because he has hit
(23:05):
more than any shortstops, so very deserving. I covered him
as a backup in Sacramento and a little bit in
San Francisco, and I always enjoyed my interactions with him.
I know he had a reputation as being kind of
gruff and difficult at times, but I thought he was
(23:26):
really interesting to talk to and pretty accommodating. I thought
that always got a little overblown. And watching Bonds and
Kent in that lineup back to back was for a
baseball fan, for a baseball reporter, for anybody that loves baseball,
that was, I mean, borderlinees surreal. That was like the
(23:48):
great one of the greatest combinations of all time, just
flat out amazing.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
So I'm glad that Jeff got in. You know, he
was a good teammate. He helped me out a lot
that the year with him. We used to joke that
he had three different personalities, JK, Chuckles, and Mikey. JK
was the guy that sat in his locker and didn't
say anything. Chuckles was when he had three hits, and
Mikey is when he was pissed off and you had
to stay away from him. So he had like three
(24:15):
different personalities that we used to joke about. But he
gave me a great hitting tip one day and he said,
I noticed you did something last at bat. You filed
a pitch off and then you took the same pitch
right down the middle, And he said, if you file
a pitch off, don't get away from your game plan.
If that's the pitch you were sitting on, stay on
that pitch because the pitcher is going to think that
(24:36):
you're switching to another pitch and he's going to double
up on that pitch. I can't tell you how many
hits I got that year, and this was toward the
end of my career, where if I did file a
pitch off, I would stay on that pitch and I
get it again. So I go to him like JK.
That's great man, Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
So.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
He was a good teammate. You just had to know
when to approach him. And the dynamic between him and
Barry was like two little kids trying to outdo each other.
Like if Jeff had two rows on the playing Barry
had to have three. If Barry was five minutes late
for stretching and Jeff would be six minutes late for stretching.
Because there was always that ego dynamic between those two,
which I think made them better a lot. I think
(25:10):
they pushed each other in different ways. You couldn't have
had two more guys. And if this, I apologize, this
doesn't make sense that we're polar opposite but the same.
Like they came from different backgrounds. They you know, they
were different people, but when it came to being great
and wanting to be great, they were equal in that sense,
and they pushed each other and they made each other better.
(25:32):
I knew Jeff when he was eighteen at cal Berkeley.
I was a sophomore playing baseball at cal Berkeley. Came
back for my sophomore year and they recruited this shortstop
from Long Beach. It was a cowboy. I don't still
don't get the cowboys.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
From I'm we're all confused about it, and I still.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
Don't get that healthic. But and Jeff when he was eighteen,
was tough man. He was like he didn't care what
anybody thought about him. He was super cocky. He wasn't
well liked, if I'm being honest. As an eighteen year
old freshman Cal Berkeley. So I was supposed to take
over at shortstop and he came in and he was
playing shortstop and throwing balls in the stands. He made
like fifteen twenty years in fallball. I had a great
(26:10):
fall ball And it came to opening day and he
was starting at shortstop and I was back on the
bench of my sophomore year. So after about twelve games,
I went and talked to Bob Milano, the head coach there,
and I said, do you see me playing here because whatever, whatever, whatever,
And do you see me playing Passcal? And he said no,
I don't. Very honest, he said, I want you to
use your scholarship for a great education. I said, thanks,
(26:32):
you can have my scholarship. I'm transferred. But now the
point in that story is I get to say I
got beat out by a Hall of Famer. So that's
pretty cool. Hall of Famer beat me out at shortstop
in college.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
I mean, yeah, I'd take it. Yeah, it's that's really cool.
I mean it really, it's does it Rey? It just
it just looks so weird, right. You look at those
teams and you go like, well, obviously both of those
guys should be in. It's like the the steroid I
feel like there should be a better solution for dealing
(27:03):
with this stoid era. And you know, Kent was one
of the guys who was very vocally in favor of
testing kind of earlier than other guys. He was very
vocal anti cheater. I think that probably helped him with
the committee too, along with all his I mean, he
got in for obviously baseball accomplishment reasons, but he always
(27:25):
was one of those guys, like, you know, I covered
Frank Thomas. Frank Thomas was the same way. These were
guys who pretty early on were saying, hey, like we've
got a problem here. Baseball was slow to respond to that.
I think that the fact that some of the architects
of the game and the people who were the leaders
(27:45):
of the game and that era are in the Hall
of Fame after not taking some steps that would have
maybe ended the stooid era a little earlier. I feel
like maybe holding two people accountable for it is a
little bit is potentially a little bit unfair. We all
(28:06):
wrestle with it, right like we all wrestle with it.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
But I don't know.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
The Hall of Fame is a it's a museum, and
it's a shrine to the game's greats. And love him
or hate am very was the greatest player probably ever.
So it's just it's all strange, but good. Good for
Jeff Kent, and you know what, It's fun to see
somebody who's had that reputation is like, I'm tough and
(28:33):
I'm kind of I've got this edge. And he's been
so emotional these past two days. I swear every time
John Shay asked him a question, he started crying, like,
who are you, Jeff Kent?
Speaker 1 (28:46):
That might be Mikey.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
I'm not sure that was Mikey.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
But I gotta I gotta speak about Barry. And I
did a Giants thing at the ballpark yesterday and one
of the questions I got from the people at the
ballpark was what I thought about Barry Bonds in the
Hall of Fame. They said it's gonna happen at four
o'clock today, And I've said this publicly and it's probably controversial,
but I don't think the Hall of Fame is the
Hall of Fame until Barry Bonds is put in it.
(29:11):
Until you can tell me how many pictures that Barry
Bonds hit home runs off of that were on steroids.
Then when you live that and you know how rampant
it was and how many guys that were taking it
that were never in the Metro Report Team photo which
I'm in, you just can't really judge. So when you
(29:31):
talk about his career in what he did and how
base the Hall of Fame tells the story about baseball.
And I just think it's a shame that maybe one
hundred years from now, when we're all dead and buried,
that people might not know the story of Barry Bonds.
So whatever you think about Barry, like, the story has
to be told. If you go to the Smithsonian Museum
in Washington, d c. Of American history, like there's parts
(29:54):
of our American history that aren't flattering, there's parts of
like our history that aren't cool, but they tell the
story in that Museum of the History of the United
States of America. So along those lines, I feel like
the Hall of Fame has to tell the story regardless
of what's going on. And I texted Barry today and
he got right back to me. I said, are you okay.
(30:15):
I said that I think it's complete bs, and that
was my text and being fully transparent here, and he
texted me back he said, I'm blessed, Bud, and I said,
you are so yeah. I just I understand it. I
wish they would have both got in. But I'm sticking
to my guts in this that he was the best
player that I ever even was around playing against him,
(30:36):
and then to be his teammate for a year, and
how well he treated me as his teammate when I
heard that that could be the contrary, and how well
he's treated my family and my son, and even to
this day I consider my friend. It's just it's not
the hall and place. I think it's terrible.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
I mean, you know what the counterpoint is that there
are a number of Barry's artifacts in the Hall of Fame.
You know, he like bones is in there.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
His towbone is in there, and they dusted it off
and then they just put this is Barry Bond's toe.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
You know, bad Balls and Gloves FP, and I think
it's still up. There was an exhibit about the steroid era,
you know, and there's Kenseko stuff in there, and Bash
Brothers stuff and Barry Bond stuff and and all of that.
And someday you and I probably should have a full
(31:31):
pod just on the steroid era. You were in the
middle of it. You you you know, you you're not
gonna name names and stuff, but you dealt with all
of that as you as you've alluded to, and I'm
glad you did. But I just feel like, uh, it's
it's just a I don't understand how the Hall is
(31:52):
and baseball in general sort of has approached the steroid era.
You know, it's it's and it it's so long ago,
and and you're talking about some of the games. Great,
there's guys Clements too in the Hall that did this.
This is oh well yeah, I mean it's.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Not the Vatican.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
It's not like I covered guys who are in the
Hall who I'm you know, I'm just gonna leave that
right there. But uh, Roger Clemens, I mean, we're we
just keep mentioning Roger Clemens was one of the greatest
pictures of all times and and the greatest picture of
his era. I mean, this is okay. You know again,
(32:35):
I'm probably not supposed to say quite so much since
I'm on these committees, but yeah, there there are new
things in place, and it's kind of changed the complexion
of what we're looking at. And I think we do
know what what, how the how the hall feels about
the stories are and how they're going to deal with it.
They've they've told us without actually saying so too bad
(32:57):
and oh hey a note f P. On the coaching staff.
I did find out who the last two guys are today.
I just know I'm not sure exactly the roles. And
then as I said, they sort of said they're still
trying to figure out some roles. But Shane Robinson and
Hector Borg we're both added to the staff. It hasn't
been announced, but I was told those are the final
(33:19):
two names, both internal promotions, which is fantastic. I love
it when guys from within the system are brought up,
so fantastic. Looking forward to getting to know those guys.
Guess is that I don't know if it's a first
base third base situation, or if there's somebody else's going
to have different rules and they're going to figure those out.
(33:40):
But I think those are the two names, and hopefully
they will give us the full rundown on the coaching
staff very soon. That would be great. I mean, I
would like more news than that, frankly tomorrow, but I'll
take I'd take it.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
Well, maybe we'll do an emergency pod of something big breaks.
But I don't know those guys, so I'm not gonna
sit here in comment. I'd like to get to know
them this season. I'm looking forward to getting to know
everybody in the staff that Tony and Buster and Zach Hyer.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
How are we doing on subscriptions these days? We I
think maybe should be telling the people to do some subscribing.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
Yes, subscribe to our podcast right now, or we don't
like you. It's splash Hit Territory. Next goal is three
thousand subscribers. Click on this button part of the File
Territory network. Come on, let's go. This is the greatest
podcast in the history of podcasts, ever, in history of
podcasts ever. So click on that button and we will
like you so much more. We like all the comments.
(34:40):
Susan and I read the comments.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
We responded, We're going to do a mailbag soon. Yeah,
I think this week is going to be dedicated to
winter meeting stuff, just because this is the week, that's
all anybody wants to talk about. But let's do a
mailbag soon next next week, we'll tell the people how
to get in touch with you with me. You can
do it on the YouTube comments, you can do it
(35:02):
on my twitter, you can do on a FP's Twitter.
I we would love to do some sort of mail
bag thing because we both I think we both really
like interacting with fans. Honestly, FP. I tell people this
all the time, like, do not discount fan comments or questions.
I've gotten ideas from fan questions before. Yes, I've got
(35:25):
the story ideas I've gotten. I've asked questions to team
officials based on things that fans have asked me, and
I've been I thought like, that's a great question. You know,
I don't have all the answers. You definitely don't have
all the answers. So I want to hear from you
guys and maybe start up a little conversation and try
(35:45):
to get that going a little bit. Uh. Frequently Also,
I won't be here all the time. I'm just kind
of a regular contributor, so you know, f P you
can just you can do like full mail bags sometimes
if you want, because I'm sure you're going to get
some good ones. You're you're used to that from the
radio days anyway. But I love that idea.
Speaker 1 (36:04):
Yeah, I get pissed off ideas from some of the
comments too, So that's really cool. And I have a
winter meeting with a beer here coming up shortly. That
was a good show, Susan, thanks a lot for taking
time out. I know you have busy days there in Orlando.
Maybe we'll do an emergency pod. We'll see they see
what's going on. So thanks for your time tonight. That
was fun, my pleasure all right. Like I say the
(36:25):
way out every single time, you say it on my
radio show and can be our swing heart in case
you hit it on the splash It podcast.
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