There R Giants

The great Jim Callis joins me to talk about the Giants’ 2021 draft, and on the way we take some side trips to remember Dick Tidrow, discuss Allan Simpson’s efforts to create the draft coverage we know today, and reminisce over the advertisements one used to find in the back of The Sporting News. It’s a pretty great conversation! If you’re not already, you should definitely follow @jimcallisMLB on...

My good friend Brian Recca, who you might know from Twitter as “SF Draft Talk” stops by again to talk about the MLB Draft, which begins with the 1st round this Sunday night! You should definitely be following @Brian_Recca for all your draft-related info, and check out his tremendous spreadsheet primer. It’s a resource I use all the time! Brian will be live chatting the draft on Twitch as well, if...

On today’s edition of There R Giants podcast, Richmond 3b David Villar talks to me about getting through 2020, how he’s seeking to improve his game, and how all the many connections between players in the baseball world. David is currently one of just three players in the Giants’ system with 10 HR and is coming off a June in which he slugged .506. After David, I talk with Richmond hitting coach Do...

It’s a Eugene Emeralds two-fer on this week’s edition of the pod. First up, one of the Giants top prospects, Eugene starting shortstop Will Wilson stops by to talk about what it’s like to get traded so early in his career, getting to work with Brandon Crawford, life at the alternate site, and how his first full season is going so far. Following Will, his manager Dennis Pelfrey visits me to dig pre...

My guest this week is the Giants Director of International Scouting Joe Salermo and this is one I’m really excited to share with you. Joe and his staff are responsible for bringing so much talent into the Giants organization over the last few years. You’re going to hear Joe talk about names you know very well and are already excited about, and you’ll hear him talk excitedly about names you might n...

Richmond starting pitcher Caleb Kilian joins me to talk about adjusting to Double A, how he spend the 2020 pandemic (it’s pretty incredible!), and how he works to improve himself in the days between starts. It’s a great conversation with one of the rising pitching stars in the system. For those of you wondering about the slightly odd timing — I was originally planning to include this interview in...

This week I’m joined by Phil Goyette. Phil writes prospect-based fantasy content for Rotoballer, Baseball Farm and other outlets. And lately he has created a formula, working with Matt Eddy of Baseball America , to estimate “Barrel” percentages and xwOBA for minor league hitters — these are the kinds of “batted ball” stats we’ve come to rely on major league baseball, but the public data is sadly l...

Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen joined me for a deep dive into the Giants system with a side discussion of project valuation in general. Eric also gave me insights from his trips to the Giants new Extended Spring Training site at Papago Park with first-hand observations of youngsters like Manuel Mercedes, Adrian Sugastey, Aeverson Arteaga, and much more! Near the end of the pod, Eric talks a lot about...

Today’s podcast is a little different as I have two different interviews to share with you in this podcast. First up is LHP Joey Marciano who is off to a fantastic 2021 in the Richmond Flying Squirrels bullpen. You may recall that I spoke with Joey a year ago when he talked about his work to come back from retirement . Now that he’s back I wanted to know how it felt to return the game and what is...

Alex Stimson who handles radio duties for the Giants new High-A affiliate the Eugene Emeralds is my guest this week. Alex and I talk about the Emeralds roster in depth and he shares observations on Will Wilson, Patrick Bailey, Kai-Wei Teng, Logan Wyatt and many more. Follow Alex on Twitter @AlexStimson — he wants to hear from Giants fans listening in so let him know you’re out there. You can also...

The Voice of the San Jose Giants Joe Ritzo joins me in this week’s There R Giants podcast to discuss the exciting talent on the 2021 San Jose club. Joe has been the full time play by play announcer on San Jose broadcasts since 2007 and has watched generations of talent come through the Giants system, so he’s the perfect guest to discuss this year’s crop of Low-A Giants prospects. Comparing 2021 an...

My friend and former fellow blogger Conner Penfold joins me to talk about the Alternate Site scrimmages that took place in Sacramento over the last month and look forward to the Sacramento River Cats season, which opens tonight in Las Vegas. You might know Conner from his days writing Giant Potential , or follow him on Twitter @@giant_potential. But he’s now the Media and Baseball Operations Coord...

The 2021 Minor League Season is just days away and NBC Sports Bay Area’s own Dalton Johnson joined me to celebrate the coming year. We talked sleepers, pop ups, and of course, lots of Heliot Ramos, Joey Bart, Will Wilson, and Hunter Bishop content as well! Follow Dalton all season on Twitter @DaltonJ_Johnson or at NBCSports.com/bayarea. Standouts from Camp: Grant McCray and Garrett Frechette (1:30...

Dennis Pelfrey was supposed to start his career as a Manager in the Giants system in 2020. Instead he’ll get his Giants debut next month as the Manager of the Eugene Emeralds. It’s been a long journey for Dennis who spent six years in Indy Ball as a player and many more years as a Coach and Manager in Indy Ball before coming aboard the Giants system. Here Dennis tell the story of his baseball jour...

The Athletic’s Melissa Lockard joins me to talk about players (finally!) reporting to minor league spring camp. We discuss storylines for the upcoming season and potential assignments for many of the system’s best prospects. Follow Melissa on Twitter @melissalockard. Intro/Outro: “Feed the Tree” by Belly This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access t...

NBC Sports’ Ahmed Fareed stops by to brainstorm ways to make baseball a more entertaining product just in time for Opening Day. Removable walls and borrowed soccer rules are just some of the ideas we have to up the fun quotient of the game. Intro/Outro “I’ve Got to Use My Imagination” by Gladys Knight and The Pips This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or ge...

MLB’s Jim Callis stopped by to talk about MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 Prospect ranking for the Giants’ system. Jim’s always a must listen! Ranking in a pandemic (1:20)How Driveline and other labs are changing development (5:00)Where Giants system ranks among MLB (6:30)Top Tier of the system (8:00)Ramos/Bishop comparison (9:15)Seth Corry (12:45)Kyle Harrison (16:30)Other Pitching Prospects (19:15)Players...

I’m joined today by Lukas McKnight, longtime member of the Chicago Cubs organization and front office who now helps run the baseball site PeloteroIntl.com . Along with his partner Tom Shafer, Lukas recently penned a series of guest posts at There R Giants on recent Giants international signees Marco Luciano , Diego Velasquez , and Mauricio Pierre . Lukas and I discuss the evolution of front office...

My good friend Marc Delucchi stopped by to talk about all of the “Prospect Week” content he produced at Around the Foghorn . Marc and I talk at length about specific prospect comparisons: Matos vs. Ramos, Bart vs. Bailey, Santos and Castro vs. Blake Rivera. It’s a deep dive into the system. Follow Marc on Twitter @@maddelucchi Intro/Outro “Best of You” by the Foo Fighters. This is a public episode...

Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group joined me to talk about Giants prospects and the organization’s path into the future. We talked a lot about pitchers, and a little bit about how much we hate “bulk innings” and “openers!” You should follow Kerry on Twitter @KO_Crowley. Intro/Outro “Outside Chance” by The Turtles This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers...

KNBR’s Mark Sanchez joins us from Scottsdale, AZ bringing us prospect tales from the early days of Giants Spring Training (and just a little bragging on a fellow Terrapin!). Follow Mark for all his reporting from camp @MarkWSanchez on Twitter. Intro/Outro: “Looking at the Sun” by Matthew Sweet This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus epi...

Giants LHP prospect Mac Marshall was nice enough to spend time with me discussing the mental side of the game, the incredible new technology available to help development, how he dealt with the loss of the 2020 minor league season, and what he’s looking forward to in the season to come. I hope you enjoy this conversation! Mac was recently the subject of a There R Giants profile as well . Intro/Out...

The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly stops by to talk about the Giants’ hopes for balancing prospect development and major league relevance as they head to spring training. We also discuss the newly announced development staff and extraordinary technology available to them these days. Plus, we engage in a little Peter Magowan Appreciation. Intro/Outro “Summer Teeth” by Wilco This is a public episode. If...

MLB.com’s Maria Guardado and I play a game of “Who Was the Best Giants’ Prospect?” while talking about Giants past, Giants present, and Giants future! Follow along with all of Maria’s coverage of the Giants on Twitter @mi_guardado. For some background on some of the greatest Giants’ minor league seasons, read some of my earlier posts: Greatest Minor League Seasons 1b Greatest Minor League Seasons...

Warming up the Winter with a little Draft Fever talk with Carlos Collazo! Carlos, who heads up draft coverage at Baseball America, stops by to talk about a draft which is going to be unlike any before it in a number of different ways. We talk about the challenges for players and scouts, the unprecedented ways that COVID has impacted the class, the new opportunities being introduced this year, and,...