San Francisco, CA
Should San Francisco Giants Put Together Trade Package For Cy Young-Caliber Ace?
This offseason will be huge for the San Francisco Giants and their new executive Buster Posey.
After missing out on the playoffs for the fifth time in six years under the leadership of former president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, they moved on from him and brought in the legendary player to take over those responsibilities.
But with Posey’s contract being much shorter than other deals around the league, it seems like the window for him to turn this Giants team into a contender is small.
How San Francisco approaches things this winter will be telling as well.
They have not shied away from spending money in the past, but they haven’t been able to land the superstar free agents who hit the open market.
Perhaps that changes this time around and they are able to lure Juan Soto away from the New York Yankees, or convince Corbin Burnes to come out west, or sign slugging first baseman Pete Alonso to a long-term deal.
One thing Posey and the Giants have to figure out first is if they want to bring back their ace Blake Snell on a huge contract after he put together an elite back half of the season that will allow him to opt-out of his current deal and hit the open market.
The two-time Cy Young winner was searching for something in the $300 million range last winter, and despite his elite form in 2023, no team was willing to meet those demands.
San Francisco was able to land him on a relatively affordable deal that had outs if he performed well, and after it looked like they would surely have him back next year, his execution down the stretch now should earn him the massive contract he originally was seeking.
If the Giants aren’t willing to hand out that much cash, they’ll have to bring in another top-end arm so they can compete for a spot in the playoffs.
Someone they could make a trade for is Framber Valdez.
Chandler Rome of The Athletic highlighted how the Houston Astros are weighing options on how to ensure they’ll be competitive in 2025 and beyond, and that could include moving the star left-hander if they get back the right package in return.
“Replenishing the farm system while maintaining the Astros’ status as a contender should be one of Brown’s foremost goals this winter. No easier path exists than exploring trades for one of these two impending free agents, even if it goes against the club’s previous patterns. Remember, nothing is off the table … The surplus of starting pitching Houston accrued this season might make it easier to part with Valdez,” the insider writes.
Adding the two-time All-Star and World Series champion would be a huge boost for this rotation.
Not only would Valdez be a replacement for Snell, but he would also cost much less than the two-time Cy Young winner if they work out a long-term deal. He would also still give San Francisco a one-two punch at the top alongside Logan Webb.
Because the Giants are in the National League, the Astros might be much more inclined to trade him to San Francisco, which could help them outbid other pitcher-needy teams.
There has been no indication the Giants are interested in making this type of move, but if they decide signing Snell to a megadeal isn’t in their plans, then this is definitely something Posey and his front office should pivot to this offseason.
San Francisco, CA
Sea lion pup found in San Francisco’s Outer Sunset malnourished but ‘feisty’
A California sea lion pup found last week on a San Francisco street corner is malnourished but “active and quite feisty,” The Marine Mammal Center said Monday.
The sea lion, believed to be about 10 months old, had apparently wandered into city’s Outer Sunset neighborhood and was discovered early Thursday morning, authorities said.
The pup was spotted near 48th and Irving Streets, one block from Ocean Beach and Sunset Dunes park. A trained responder from the Marine Mammal Center was joined by San Francisco park rangers and police officers to safely corral the pup, now named ‘Irving’, into a carrier crate.
Dubbed ‘Irving’ by his rescuers, Irving weighed in at 40 pounds and is considered malnourished, the Marine Mammal Center said.
“The sea lion is active and quite feisty which is a positive initial sign in terms of general behavior,” the center said in a news release on Monday.
During an exam by veterinarians, a series of blood samples were also taken to determine whether there’s any underlying ailment.
Irving is being tube fed a fish smoothie blend two times per day to boost hydration and weight; offers of whole herring will also begin shortly.
The quick actions by police, recreation and parks staff and Ocean Avenue Animal Hospital gave the young sea lion a second chance at life, said Lauren Campbell, animal husbandry manager at The Marine Mammal Center.
“As a roughly 10-month-old pup in his first year of learning how to forage on his own, this animal has a long road to recovery due to his severe malnutrition,” Campbell said. “We are hopeful that in the coming weeks with continued specialized care that this pup starts to make positive strides toward recovery and release.”
Irving will be held in the Center’s Intensive Quarantine Unit until clearing medical protocols, before likely being transferred this week to a traditional rehabilitation pool pen. A long-term prognosis and potential release timeline are not currently known.
San Francisco, CA
Giants Head Home to San Francisco After Shutout Loss
After Sunday’s 3-0 loss to the Washington Nationals, the San Francisco Giants headed back to the West Coast. They’re going back to the Bay Area, too.
The Giants have a date with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a three-game series at Oracle Park starting Tuesday night.
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So, San Francisco probably wanted to get out of Washington, D.C., with a win. That didn’t happen at Nationals Park on Sunday afternoon.
Nationals reliever Andrew Alvarez, the third pitcher used by the team on Sunday, picked up the victory with 4 1/3 innings of work. Giants starter Robbie Ray absorbed the loss, falling to 2-3 this season.
Ray worked six innings, giving up seven hits, three runs (all earned), walking one, and striking out seven Nationals. If the Giants’ offense had found a way to tack on some runs, then Ray’s outing wouldn’t have looked so bad.
The Giants’ bats, though, had eight hits. The big number for Giants manager Tony Vitello to look at in the box score after this one was, well, pretty big. San Francisco left 10 runners on base on Sunday, going 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. This indicates that San Francisco had plenty of opportunities to score some runs.
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They just didn’t get the job done.
Let’s go to the bottom of the fifth with the Giants and Nationals in a scoreless tie. With nobody out, the Nationals’ Keibert Ruiz connected for his third double this season. Nasim Nuñez scored to put Washington up 1-0.
With one out, Curtis Mead sent a Ray pitch over the left-field wall, a two-run blast that gave the Nationals a 3-0 lead.
San Francisco had a scoring threat in the top of the eighth inning. With runners at first and second base and nobody out, Casey Schmitt grounded into a double play. Matt Chapman, who was on second base, went to third. But the Giants were unable to bring him home.
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Rafael Devers and Drew Gilbert went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Giants, producing half of the Giants’ hits.
The Giants fall to 9-13 this season, sitting in fourth place in the National League West Division. The Nationals’ record goes to 10-12, good enough for third place in the National League East Division.
All eyes now turn toward Oracle on Tuesday night. It’ll be a chance for two longtime rivals to renew their rivalry.
Baseball fans know that the Giants-Dodgers matchups usually are must-see TV.
That’s probably going to be the case once again as Giants fans watch their team battle the Dodgers. Those lucky to have tickets to the three-game series at Oracle Park will show up in Giants colors, hoping to see Los Angeles head back to Southern California with either a series loss or a Giants’ sweep.
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Buckle up, Giants fans. It’s about to get rowdy at Oracle Park.
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San Francisco, CA
Why do gray whales keep dying in San Francisco’s waters?
The 4,140-sq-km bay is the largest estuary on the west coast of the US. Before 2018, this species of whales wasn’t known to stop seasonally or consistently in the bay, bypassing it on their migration route down to Baja California and back up the Arctic, said Josephine Slaathaug, who led a recent study on gray whale mortality in the bay.
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