The San Francisco Giants have spent the bulk of the last month trying to claw their way back into the Wild Card race. They have gotten big contributions from young players like Heliot Ramos and Tyler Fitzgerald this season, but most of their roster is made up of veterans. Although Ramos was no longer a prospect, Fitzgerald, Kyle Harrison and Marco Luciano all graduated this year, leaving the farm system in a rough place.

In the past, both Harrison and Luciano were considered top 30 prospects, but without them, things got worse. In fact, MLB Pipeline moved them back from 17 in this preseason to 23 in their new ranks.

Bryce Eldridge has become their number one prospect. The first baseman has an exciting amount of power, but his position will hold him back in the rankings. The 19-year-old is the number 54 prospect on the top 100 and made the Future’s Game. He has posted an .859 OPS this season, but is still a few years away.

As for their other top 100 prospects, one might not even be considered that anymore. He hasn’t officially graduated, but Hayden Birdsong has become a staple in the San Francisco rotation. Soon, he won’t be prospect eligible, meaning they will have a new number two.

James Tibbs III was their first round pick in 2024, and ranks 99 on the top 100. While he is expected to be a fast moving college bat, it will still take time. Dakota Jordan, another draft selection, has some elite tools but there is a lot of concern about his swing and miss.

Their top players graduating isn’t the only reason the system has fallen in the rankings, though. Carson Whisenhunt was a top 100 prospect, but has since fallen off that list. The lefty has a great changeup and a 12.6 K/9 in the minors, but has struggled with walks this season. He is currently on the IL.

There are a lot of dart throws for the Giants. Rayner Arias is an 18-year-old outfielder with exciting tools, but hasn’t had the time to develop. Former first round pick Reggie Crawford has a great fastball and plus slider, but looks like a reliever at this point.

Then, there are players such as Wade Meckler and Carson Seymour who have lost some of their prospect shine.

Over the past few seasons, the Giants have relied on short term, high priced contracts for veterans. Even though they have graduated multiple players this season, the system still leaves a lot to be desired.

Matt LaFleur’s trip to Denver with the Green Bay Packers allowed him a chance to reminisce about one of the key mentors who helped him become an NFL head coach.

LaFleur took his entire team Thursday night to Shanahan’s Steakhouse before the Packers held a joint practice Friday with the Broncos at the team’s practice facility in Dove Valley. The two teams will play an exhibition game Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High.

Mike Shanahan is coaching royalty in this city. He’s also one of the most important figures in LaFleur’s life.

“Coach Shanahan has had a tremendous impact (on me),” LaFleur said. “He gave me my first position job in 2010 with Washington as the quarterbacks coach. I learned so much from him, not only X’s and O’s-wise, but how to manage a staff. The attention to detail he would put into it was like nobody I’ve ever been around. All of us, when you look back on it, we’ve had a lot of guys that have gone on to be head coaches, and I think it’s because we learned the right way from Coach Shanahan.”

LaFleur is 56-27 as the Packers coach, leading the team to a pair of NFC championship appearances in his five seasons. Long before he became one of the most successful young head coaches in the NFL, he was part of one of the most famous staffs in recent league history.

He was quarterbacks coach for Washington with Shanahan from 2010 to ’13. In both the 2012 and 2013 seasons, Shanahan’s coaching staff had five future NFL head coaches on it: Kyle Shanahan was the offensive coordinator; Sean McVay coached the tight ends; Raheem Morris was the defensive backs coach; and Mike McDaniel was an offensive assistant.

Washington won the NFC East in 2012 with rookie Robert Griffin III at quarterback but went 3-13 the following year. Jay Gruden replaced the elder Shanahan as head coach, and LaFleur spent 2014 as quarterbacks coach at Notre Dame before returning to the NFL and eventually being named Packers head coach in 2019.

Shanahan, who has been a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the coach/contributor category in both 2022 and 2023, was not at the dinner. LaFleur said he had a prior commitment.

“I’ve never been around someone who could focus as long as he could. I remember, back in 2012, when we were getting ready (for the draft). We knew we were going to draft Robert Griffin and we were getting ready to implement the zone read,” LaFleur said. “We didn’t want to talk to anybody around the league about it.

“He would just sit in there for hours. We had this cut-up that was a couple hundred plays long. It was Baylor’s offense. It was the Carolina Panthers with Cam Newton. It was Denver, with what they were doing with (Tim) Tebow. I’ll never forget. … We would watch it all, and we’d be in there for a couple of hours, and everybody is somewhat exhausted from the process and he’s like, ‘Yeah, let’s run it back to the top.’ We all looked at each other like, ‘How is this guy still doing this?’ He had some stamina when it came to watching tape. He was so thorough in the draft process with how he evaluated players.

“I think there were just a ton of lessons that we took from our time there.”

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Originally Published: August 16, 2024 at 5:12 p.m.

New Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald got a ringing endorsement from one of the best quarterbacks in franchise history.

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Matt Hasselbeck, a former three-time Pro Bowl quarterback with Seattle, was on hand for Thursday’s joint practice in Nashville between the Seahawks and Tennessee Titans. As he detailed Friday on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk, Hasselbeck said he met Macdonald for the first time on Thursday and was impressed by the 37-year-old coach’s overall approach and demeanor.

“He’s a first-time head coach,” Hasselbeck said. “This is the first time that this coaching staff has been together. They’re on the road for like four or five days in Nashville, Tennessee, which isn’t easy to do. And I just appreciated his organized approach. He’s not too high or too low.”

During his conversation with Macdonald, Hasselbeck said the first-time NFL head coach was laser-focused on areas where his team needs to improve.

“I gave him a couple things that I was impressed with,” Hasselbeck. “And he said, ‘We have a lot of work to do.’ Even though the (preseason opener against the) Chargers went pretty well for them in a lot of ways, I think he’s looking for like, ‘Hey, how can we do pregame better? How can we do everything better? How can we do our halftime better?’

“He’s very excited about some of the things that they have (and) he understands where they need to get better.”

Hasselbeck then dished out what’s becoming a familiar comparison in the football world, describing Macdonald as the defensive version of Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay. The 38-year-old McVay has developed a reputation as one of the brightest offensive minds in the NFL, while Macdonald has quickly earned a reputation as one of the top defensive minds after his success as the Baltimore Ravens’ defensive coordinator.

“He reminds me of a young version of a defensive Sean McVay vibe,” Hasselbeck said. “Probably less caffeinated than Sean McVay, but there’s something special there. You definitely can tell that he has it.”

Carroll’s fingerprints still there

The Seahawks’ decision to hire Macdonald this past January came after they made the stunning move to part ways with longtime head coach Pete Carroll, who guided Seattle to its greatest heights in franchise history during his legendary 14 seasons at the helm.

While plenty there are no shortage of changes and differences with the Seahawks under Macdonald, Hasselbeck said he thinks some of Carroll’s impact remains – particularly the fiery competition and never-ending energy that became staples of the program he ran in Seattle.

“I think Pete’s fingerprints are still on it,” said Hasselbeck, who helped deliver the first of Carroll’s 10 playoff wins with the Seahawks as the team’s quarterback in 2010. “The joyful energy, especially on the defensive side of the ball – or just the confidence and sort of like that moment of truth, like, ‘No, this ball is mine’ that you see from the guys on the offensive side of the ball – that competitiveness, that’s like Pete Carroll stuff to me.

“So like the fingerprints were still kind of there. But it’s almost like you get the benefits of all that like identity that’s still there, and yet there’s like a new fresh approach.”

Listen to the full conversation with Matt Hasselbeck at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

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