There R Giants

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 journey and talk about what it’s like becoming part of the large, complex, and sophisticated development staff with the Giants.

Coaching...

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

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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

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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 beyond the Top 10 (22:30)Luis Matos chances to leap up rankings (26:00)How clubs will treat lost season (27:30)Who is just off the Top 30? (31:30)

Intro/Outro: “Hold On, I’m Coming” by Sam and Dave

Get full...

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 offices, how scouting the amateur and international markets are different, and the effects that technology is having on scouting and evaluating baseball talent everywhere.

The life of a minor league catcher (6:40)Transition from player...

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.

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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

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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

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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/Outro: “You’re Still a Young Man” by Tower of Power

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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

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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 C

Greatest Minor League Seasons 2b

Greatest Minor League Seasons 3b

Greatest Minor League Seasons SS
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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, of course, the Players!

Check out all of Carlos coverage by following him on Twitter @CarlosACollazo.

Intro/Outro: “Super Baby” by Matthew Sweet

Get...

Jeffrey Paternostro, lead prospect writer for Baseball Prospectus, dropped by to talk in depth about their Giants prospect rankings as well as the BP Top 101 that includes four different Giants prospects this year, including Marco Luciano as the #8 prospect on their list.

Intro/Outro: “Feeling Good” by My Brightest Diamond

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NBCSAuthentic’s Katie Woo stopped by to talk about the Giants’ system, changes to the minor league structure and more. Katie spent the last two year’s working for MiLB.com and has just recently come back home and joined NBC Sports Bay Area’s team and she’s enthusiastic about where the Giants are headed. There’s a lot of Hunter Bishop content here! Make sure you follow Katie’s work @katiejwoo.

Intro/Outro: “Return of the Grievous Angel” by Lucinda Williams

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One last present before the holiday break. I spoke with The Athletic’s Britt Ghiroli about what the lost minor league season means for player development and some of the ways that players attempted to get their work in. Britt recently published a story in The Athletic with Eno Sarris and Melissa Lockard on the topic and the many many unknowns that players and coaches are left with.

Intro/Outro: “Merry Christmas from the Family” by Jill Sobule

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Good morning! It’s a big day around the prospect world as we prepare for the Rule 5 draft tomorrow and also anticipate MLB announcing it’s “invitations” for teams to join their new minor league arrangement. We’re going to look at the new affiliate structure on Friday, but today it’s all about the Rule 5 draft.

I got together with the great Giants’ twitter follow, GPT (@giantsprospects) to provide you with a great Rule 5 preview podcast. And to accompany that, I’ve given a quick summary of most of the names we covered in our talk. The...

For those of you eagerly awaiting this year’s Prospect Handbook, today’s podcast should be a treat. Baseball America’s Josh Norris, who covers the Giants’ system for BA took some time to talk about his Giants Top 10 — which has surprises in it! We talked about guys who popped at Instrux, Joey Bart’s major league experience, Marco Luciano’s time at the Alternate Site, and lots and lots of Luis Matos chat!

You can follow Josh on Twitter @JNorris427 and of course, read his work at BaseballAmerica.com and in the forthcoming Prospect Handbook.

...

It’s always great fun to chat with The Athletic’s Grant Brisbee, who helped start my journey writing about Giants’ prospects. Grant and I revisit the past, talk prospect crushes gone by, and look for some signs that the Giants are successfully replicating the Dodgers’ great development system. A splendid time is guaranteed for all!

Intro/Outro: “The Slow Descent Into Alcoholishm” by The New Pornographers

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In this edition of There R Giants podcast, The Athletic’s Melissa Lockard joins me to talk about the Giants’ Instructional League camp and how lost development time of 2020 will impact future baseball decisions.

If you have a subscription to The Athletic you’ll want to keep Melissa’s Giants’ Instrux roster primer nearby while listening, as well as my own dissection of the roster.

Music Intro/Outro: “The Wanting Comes in Waves” by The Decemberists

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Shelly Verougstraete (@ShellyV_643) stopped by to play a game of Prospect “Would You Rather” and talked all things Giants’ prospects on this edition of There R Giants podcast. Shelly writes about prospects and dynasty baseball for a variety of online sites including @PitcherList, @DynastyGuru, @Prospects365 and @Rotographs, and covers her beloved Red Sox @OvertheMonster.

Intro/Outro music: “I Ain’t No Miracle Worker” by The Brogues

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Kyle Goings, better known to Twitter followers as @CoveChatter stopped by to discuss his Defensive Independent Game Score (DIGS) system. We talked about how the Giants current pitching is performing through the lens of DIGS as well as what DIGS thinks about Giants pitching prospects on the way up.

This was a really fun conversation, but we just scratched the surface of all the work Kyle has done —which includes scoring performances throughout major league history as well as the contemporary game. You can find all of this at Kyle’s DIGS website and I highly recommend giving...

Freelance writer Marc Delucchi joined me for a free wheeling chat about the trade deadline, next winter’s moves, and much, much prospect talk. Always great fun getting to talk with Marc about the Giants’ system. Follow him on twitter @maddelucchi.

Intro/Outro: “Where Do We Go From Here” by the Original Cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer from the album “Once More, with Feeling.”

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Baseball America’s Executive Editor J.J. Cooper was gracious enough to join me on this edition of the There R Giants podcast to talk about the negotiations between Major and Minor League Baseball and what developmental baseball might look like in the future.

Hope you enjoy this one!

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Carmen Kiew drops by to talk Brandon Belt, Joey Bart, Hunter Pence, kayaking in McCovey Cove and the weird experience that is 2020 Giant’s baseball! It was great getting to catch up and talk ball with my old McCovey Chronicles colleague who I don’t get to talk ball with near enough. Hope you enjoy this episode! It was a fun one to record.

Also, since this episode taped on Tuesday afternoon, I’m happy to report that my saying “I think Brandon Belt will be alright” didn’t jinx him at all!

You can watch...

Listen now (36 min) | My good friend Kevin Cunningham of Giantfutures.com/ and I try to make some sense of negotiations for the future of minor league baseball.

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Listen now (32 min) | I had a great time talking with NBCS-Bay Area’s Dalton Johnson. Dalton does a fantastic job covering the Giants’ system and brought us a lot insight to the world of development in the time of COVID. We talked about the Sacramento camp, players who aren’t in the Sacramento camp, and the future of the Giants.

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KNBR’s Mark Sanchez stops by to talk about Summer Camp, Alternate Camp, Joey Bart and much more! This includes some great news about what we might expect to see coming out of Sacramento’s alternate camp site! You can (and should!) follow Mark’s work @MarkWSanchez. Happy Opening Day everyone!

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This week I’m joined by the Richmond Flying Squirrels play by play announcer Trey Wilson. Trey and I talk about the cancellation of minor league baseball, the working life a minor league employee, and several of the players Trey watched in Richmond last year. You can follow Trey on Twitter @TreyWilson757 and you should also keep a follow for @GoSquirrels.

Let me drop a couple of links here that are discussed in the podcast:

First the maps of national coverage of MLB and MiLB:

And second, Trey’s podcast interview with newest 60 man...

A J2 special episode! On the traditional signing day for international free agents (traditional, but not this year!) Baseball America’s Ben Badler stops by to talk about the IFA market, Giants international program, the international draft and much more. Ben gives us his view of the Giants most recent J2 classes and the upcoming ones, including discussions of Marco Luciano, Luis Matos, Rayner Santana, Aeverson Arteaga, Esmerlin Vinicio, and others.

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The great Jim Callis was nice enough to spend some time talking with me for this week’s podcast and I couldn’t be more grateful! Jim’s just about as knowledgeable a source on the MLB draft as you’re going to find and he has lots of interesting insights on the Giants’ draft, the Giants’ system and even some speculative (and in my case, dumb) talk on what the 2021 draft could look like. This was recorded on Monday so the big news of the week was yet to break, btw so we were still talking through a lot...

I’m very excited to share this week’s podcast where I’m joined by The Athletic’s Melissa Lockard to talk about the Giants’ draft. One of the great things that Melissa brings to her Giants work (besides, of course, her overall professionalism, experience, and knowledge) is a long history of covering Farhan Zaidi and draft runner Michael Holmes during their careers with the A’s. That familiarity underpins our conversation as we discuss who the Giants selected in 2020 and what it might mean for the the organization going forward. You can (and should!) follow Melissa on Twitter @MelissaLockard...

This week’s podcast comes in both audio and video formats — but I highly recommend you watch the video below to get the full value of this amazing session. Matthew Collier, creator of FaBIO (Fielding and Ballpark Independent Outcomes), takes a seriously deep dive into the Giants’ system and potential draft targets from the D1 college ranks. There is a ton of data here — much of which has never been seen before.

In the first half of the video Matt walks me through FaBIO’s view of four Giants’ pitching prospects: Seth Corry, Trevor McDonald, Kai-Wei Teng, and...

We’re getting the band back together! My old “Minor Lines” collaborator Kevin Cunningham joins me for a discussion on 2020 development options, the future of the minor leagues, and more. Always great to get together with Kevin who has the best pipes in the business! You can find Kevin’s current baseball writing here, and follow him on Twitter — and No, Kevin we don’t have a bleeper on this show. We can’t afford the technology! But don’t worry everyone — it’s mostly SFW!

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Let the media empire begin! I’m branching out to a (hopefully weekly) podcast. And for my first episode I’ve invited in noted draft expert Brian Recca — who you might know as SF Draft Talk on Twitter (@Brian_Recca) to talk about the upcoming draft and some guys he has his eyes on for potential draft picks. Brian and I discuss our experience on the recent Prospects Live national mock draft and also some of the spillover effects of the 5 round draft and the effects of COVID-19 on amateur baseball. I’m still working out the technology and trying...