Connect with us

San Francisco, CA

SF Giants engaged with Scott Boras a year after Carlos Correa debacle

Published

on

SF Giants engaged with Scott Boras a year after Carlos Correa debacle


NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A year after their megadeal with Scott Boras client Carlos Correa fell apart, there’s no indication the San Francisco Giants or the superagent are shying away from each other this offseason.

“We all understand the capacity to do it is there, and the desire, from our meetings with them, is there,” Boras said Wednesday at his annual scrum on the final day of the MLB Winter Meetings. “So we expect them to be very actively involved in the free-agent market.”

Good news, considering the Giants could use some of Boras’ clients if they aren’t able to land Shohei Ohtani or Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

He represents third baseman Matt Chapman, NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell and the top two center fielders on the market, Cody Bellinger and Jung-Hoo Lee, who was posted Tuesday by his KBO club, the Kiwoom Heroes, beginning his 30-day window to sign.

Advertisement

Any would be a nice fit for a team seeking to upgrade its outfield defense, find a co-ace for Logan Webb and add stability to its lineup. None of them signed in Nashville, though, as everyone awaits Ohtani’s decision, which MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reported is expected by the end of this weekend.

The biggest Boras client on the move at the Winter Meetings wasn’t a free agent at all, but Juan Soto. According to multiple reports, the Padres and Yankees were in agreement on the only blockbuster move of the meetings, which would send the 25-year-old superstar to New York in exchange for five prospects, but the deal had not yet been officially announced by the clubs.

Once finalized, that’s one potential Giants target off the board, however unlikely the chances were of an intradivision trade of that magnitude.

Things should move quickly once Ohtani’s next team is revealed, though.

“It’s been an aggressive campaign for elite talent this Winter Meetings. But the idea that so many teams are involved in so many elite players … I think they have a 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d kind of thing for all the elite talents,” Boras said. “You can just tell in this market, the volcano has yet to erupt on the position player side, that’s for sure.”

Advertisement

As many as six free agents fall into that upper echelon, Boras said, but all have their flaws.

Chapman, 30, is a Platinum Glove-winning defender with impressive durability. But his bat has regressed since his best season in 2019, when he earned his only All-Star nod. No matter to Boras, as adept at making bad puns as he is garnering every dollar for his clients.

“I think the third-base market is usually one way or the other, there’s either some power or there’s some defense. Getting both in a player like that, not Gold Glove — platinum level — and getting power, you find that owners are a little bit upset,” Boras said. “So, really chapped, man.”

Snell, also 30, is one of four pitchers to win a Cy Young in both leagues. But this year, he did it while walking the most batters in the majors.

“When you look at Randy Johnson at 30 and Blake Snell at 30, you can actually see the guys who have led the league in walks — that’s the comment we hear most — have that strikeout, the mystery of having three pitches, whiff rates of 45% or more,” Boras said. “It’s just dominance.”

Advertisement

Bellinger, 28, is four years removed from being named the National League’s most valuable player at 24 years old. But he was non-tendered by the Dodgers last offseason after hitting .203 over the next three seasons, and even in his bounce-back campaign with the Cubs raised concerns with a hard contact rate below the league average.

The Giants pursued Bellinger last offseason, but he was prioritizing a change of scenery and was not interested in remaining in the NL West, according to a source familiar with the negotiations. That’s no longer the case, according to Boras.

“Cody has let (teams) know that he’s listening to everyone involved. There’s no exclusions,” Boras said. “This man has hit 40 home runs. We know that he has power beyond belief. But on the other side … the hard contact rate data has to be supplemented, and then you add the defensive component.

“How many people have hard contact rates that play center field and what they do with two strikes and low strikeout levels? I think you’re going to find out, wow, that’s a very small group of two or three players.”

Lee is the biggest unknown of all, coming from the KBO, which has only produced one major-league regular (Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim).

Advertisement

But he is only 25 years old, and when he was posted Tuesday, Boras said, “We had to hire operators to field all the calls because they came in fast and quick on him. So we know it’s going to be a very aggressive market.”

The only Boras client currently on the Giants’ roster is Michael Conforto, whom the agent used to draw a comparison to another potential fit in San Francisco, calling the market for former Phillies slugger and Sacramento native Rhys Hoskins “really good,” despite him missing all of 2023 after knee surgery.

“It’s kind of like when Conforto was on the market a year ago,” Boras said. “He hasn’t played for a year. Rhys has a great reputation as a leader, plus his 30-homer, 100-RBI consistency is something every team looks at. So we have a lot of suitors.”

Conforto eventually signed a two-year, $36 million pact that included an opt-out, offering a potential template for a Hoskins contract.

While Ohtani’s free agency has been shrouded in secrecy, with club officials scared to even mention his name, let alone confirm their meetings with him, Boras operates differently, as evidenced by the dozens of reporters he engaged for more than 30 minutes.

Advertisement

“I’m kind of a First Amendment guy,” he said. “I kind of think journalists are a very, very important part of our game. Their questions and what they do, (increasing) interest, those types of things are frankly really important to the promotion of the game, to the advancement of players, all those things.

“So, me? You know how we handle things. We always are as communicative as can be in negotiations without interrupting or violating the confidentiality of teams. I think everybody has their own method. Me, I’ve never put any restrictions on anybody for what they say.”



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

San Francisco, CA

Trump delights crowd with comical Biden impression as he attacks Kamala’s record in ‘Communist San Francisco’

Published

on

Trump delights crowd with comical Biden impression as he attacks Kamala’s record in ‘Communist San Francisco’


Donald Trump has mocked Joe Biden’s golf swing, speaking style, and walk almost a week after he dropped out of the presidential race.

The former president eventually turned his attention to his new opponent Kamala Harris at a rally in key swing state Minnesota on Saturday night.

Trump revved up the 8,000-strong crowd in St Cloud with his impressions of the president, and called Harris ‘Marxist’ and ‘evil’ for her immigration record.

‘I don’t wanna waste a lot of time because it’s over now, right, he’s gone, I told you he would be, I told you he wasn’t going to make it,’ he said of Biden.

Advertisement

But instead he spent huge chunks of his more than an hour-long speech attacking Biden, despite no longer running against him.

Donald Trump has mocked Joe Biden’s golf swing, speaking style, and walk almost a week after he dropped out of the presidential race

Trump referenced his and Biden’s bizarre bickering about their golf handicaps during the debate, and claimed the president challenged him to a game.

‘Joe Biden, I watched him – I was always a good athlete but I don’t wanna brag – Joe Biden challenged me to a round of golf,’ he claimed.

Trump then stepped away from the lectern and mimed a series of terrible swings to mock Biden’s golf ability.

The former president claimed he offered Biden $1 million if he could score less than 100 on a round of golf, and that Biden turned him down.

Advertisement

‘He said he was a six (handicap) right, during the debate, and then immediately he said he was an eight, I said ‘that was quick, we keep going like this he’ll be a 30 in about two minutes’,’ he said.

Trump also made fun of Biden’s gingerly walks from stage, slow shuffles down stairs, and one time when he went to the wrong side of a stage to the stairs.

He complained his frequent mockery of Biden was taken out of context as someone told him they heard he couldn’t find the stairs at a rally.

‘I was playing and having fun imitating Joe Biden not being able to find the stairs, and they said that Trump couldn’t find the stairs off the stage,’ he said.

Trump then stepped away from the lectern and mimed a series of terrible swings to mock Biden's golf ability

Trump then stepped away from the lectern and mimed a series of terrible swings to mock Biden’s golf ability

This was Trump mocking Biden attempting to putt on the green

This was Trump mocking Biden attempting to putt on the green

‘Tonight I’ll have a very bad night, I haven’t done that little routine in a long time because of that.

Advertisement

‘I can find the stairs, I’ll let you know when it’s my time not to find the stairs… I’ll say it’s time to go, nobody’s going to have to tell me.’

When Trump moved on to Harris, he viciously attacked her as a ‘radical left lunatic’ and claimed ‘defund the police, that was her big thing’.

‘She was thought of so badly they were just killing her and now that she’s in the position they’re trying to make her, let’s say a Margaret Thatcher,’ he said

‘I don’t think so, that’s not going to happen. Thatcher didn’t laugh like that, did she?’

Thatcher was UK prime minister from 1979 to 1990 and nicknamed the ‘Iron Lady’ for her strong will and political longevity.

Advertisement

‘Kamala Harris was the original Marxist district attorney she destroyed San Francisco and she will destroy our country, she will be the worst president we’ve ever had, she will be worse than Crooked Joe Biden,’ Trump continued.

When Trump moved on to Harris, he viciously attacked her as a 'radical left lunatic' and claimed 'defund the police, that was her big thing'

When Trump moved on to Harris, he viciously attacked her as a ‘radical left lunatic’ and claimed ‘defund the police, that was her big thing’

Trump was particularly critical of Harris on immigration, saying she was Biden’s ‘border czar’ during the immigration crisis of the past two years.

‘She has no clue, she’s evil,’ he said, in one of at least two times in the rally he referred to Harris as ‘evil’.

‘Under border czar, millions of migrants are pouring across our border, they’re coming not just from South America – they’re coming form Africa, from Asia, the Middle East, they’re coming from everywhere,’ he claimed.

Trump has frequently pushed a false claim that Latin American countries are deliberately sending criminals and mentally ill citizens to the US, and repeated it in an attack on Harris.

Advertisement

‘They’re coming form prisons and jails, mental institutions, insane asylums, terrorists at levels that we’ve never seen before,’ he said.

‘They’re taking their criminals and they’re dumping them, we’re like a dumping ground. So in Venezuela, the crime is way down, it’s almost gone, the jails are half empty.’



Source link

Continue Reading

San Francisco, CA

SF dog owner wants to find unhoused man who rescued his lost pet, gave tender loving care

Published

on

SF dog owner wants to find unhoused man who rescued his lost pet, gave tender loving care


SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Here’s a story that will brighten your day and perhaps even restore your faith in humanity. It’s about how an unhoused man rescued a lost dog and gave him a little extra TLC—or tender loving care—until that dog was reunited with its owner.

And when that man was offered a little money for his trouble, he turned it down.

Now, the dog owner wants to find that Good Samaritan to say thank you.

Bob Eicholz of San Francisco walks his two whippets Wardy and Taylor often. Wherever the dogs go, they have a GPS tracker on them.

Advertisement

But last Saturday, the dogs were staying with a pet sitter and Wardy got loose.

“He escaped from our pet sitter’s hose. Wasn’t her fault. He jumped over the fence. Got out,” said Eicholz.

And boy, did Wardy take off-like a whippet.

“They’re very skiddish. They’re extremely fast. They can run over 30 miles an hour,” said Eicholz.

“10 minutes later, a lady captured him. But she grabbed the collars, and he backed out and she kept the collars and he ran off. So now, he is in urban San Francisco with no collars. No ID of any kind,” said Eicholz.

Advertisement

MORE: Woman looking to adopt new pet reunited with dog lost 2 years earlier

Aisha Nieves was looking for a dog to adopt when she stumbled upon Kovu, who went missing from her home two years prior.

Courtesy Jarid Westerman LCHS Adoption Specialist

Wardy’s GPS tracker came off with one of those collars. He was missing for two days. Eicholz posted missing dog flyers all over the city and shared the information online.

“There were probably at one point 50 people helping me find him,” said Eicholz.

Advertisement

With the help of strangers, Eicholz kept tabs on where Wardy was spotted.

“He runs all over the Mission District, crosses Market Street; he goes to Hayes Valley,” said Eicholz.

Wardy ended up in the Tenderloin. Eicholz said a homeless man found the dog at a park off Eddy Street.

“The homeless man bought him a little crate, a blanket, a pad, food, dog toys and kept him for two days. This is man who has nothing, and lives in this park. And took care of our little boy,” said Eicholz. “Just makes me think you don’t realize how many kind people are out there until something like his happens.

Soon after Wardy went missing, another dog walker actually spotted him.

Advertisement

“I notice he had no owner; no collar and he took down the street,” said Monique Lee.

Monique Lee posted about it online and two days later got a call from a different dog walker who saw Wardy and a man at a bus stop.

That dogwalker approached the man and Wardy three days after the dog went missing.

“The man had Wardy in a little crate and blanket, and he was giving him love and care. you can tell Wardy was content with him,” said Lee.

“That’s him asleep in the crate,” said Eicholz.

Advertisement

MORE: SF family demands answers after dog lost while staying with sitter booked through pet care platform

A San Francisco family is demanding answers after their 2-year-old Maltipoo Coco went missing after escaping from a pet caretaker hired through Rover.

The woman showed the man the missing posters and explained that Wardy had run away. The man handed over the dog.

“That’s when he said, ‘Here, take the dog. You have to take the blanket. He loves this blanket’,” said Eicholz.

Wardy is home again.

Advertisement

As for Eicholz, he wants to find the kind-hearted man who gave Wardy so much.

“I’d love to know more about this man,” said Eicholz. “We’re looking for him. I’d like to say ‘thank you.’ I’d like to give him a little more money or buy him something he needs –just the kindness of someone to do something like that when I’m sure he has a lot of other things on his mind.”

Eicholz has these words for the man.

“That was incredibly kind of you to do that. You didn’t have to do that. It touches my heart deeply that you took care him. Not only food but you also bought him a place to stay. Thank you,” said Eicholz.

Now Streaming 24/7 Click Here

Copyright © 2024 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

San Francisco, CA

Go beyond Fernet at Bar 821, SF’s temple of digestifs

Published

on

Go beyond Fernet at Bar 821, SF’s temple of digestifs


Outside of amari proper, Bar 821 created a $20 “choose your journey” cocktail list, from which patrons select their favorite style of drink (fizzy, refreshing or spirit-forward), flavor profile (floral, fruity, herbaceous or bitter) and spirit of choice. The bartenders add house-made tinctures and syrups. “We threw it onto the customer to be the bartender, and we’re the hands,” Dajani said. 

Surrender to those hands and you may learn that, technically, not every bitter is an amaro. Underberg, the German digestif recognizable for its tiny, paper-wrapped bottles, is a separate category of liqueur called a “bonnekamp.” So what about Fernet — is it simply too cliche, too basic, for Bar 821 to consider stocking? No way. 

“We have 25 to 30 Fernets,” Dajani said. “I have been having stomach issues, so I’ve been drinking Fernet all week.”

🔗 Bar 821
📍 821 Divisadero St.

Advertisement





Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending