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00:00I do think, though, San Francisco Giants and Tony Vitello are certainly center stage
00:08and 888-957-9570.
00:11And I started this conversation yesterday,
00:13and I think that I feel good about the way we put this out there.
00:18It was funny.
00:19I was walking around this morning.
00:20I was listening to the Joes, and they had David Sampson on,
00:23who used to run the then-Florida Marlins.
00:26And at one point, Shasky goes, look, I don't like calling for people's jobs.
00:33And Sampson goes, yes, you do.
00:35He just stops him.
00:37He goes, yes, you do.
00:38This is what you do for a living.
00:40And it really hit me because I remember saying to you yesterday,
00:44even starting in this business, I made a promise to myself
00:47that I was not going to use these microphones to hammer for people's jobs.
00:52At the same time, you can say what you see is just kind of, I think,
00:58the way that you package it.
00:59So I feel good about how I packaged it yesterday,
01:03but I would like to say it even more firmly today.
01:07What I said yesterday is Hector Borg needs to be reassigned.
01:11I've not even met Hector Borg, so I can't even tell you.
01:15I don't have an opinion on whether or not he brings something positive
01:18to the clubhouse.
01:20He's been in the Giants organization for a long time.
01:23And so I don't have any specific overall assistant coach problem
01:29with Hector Borg.
01:30But here's the problem I do have.
01:32He can't be the third base coach anymore.
01:34And I mean effective immediately.
01:39Stanley just used a big word, credibility.
01:43And if the San Francisco Giants, if that's what they're looking for,
01:46credibility, then you have to start reacting to things a little bit quicker
01:53than they're reacting to things.
01:55Vitello said publicly today that he just met Hector Borg during spring training.
02:01He also said publicly that they will, on the off day today in Colorado,
02:06get together and talk about the situation.
02:11I would expect the Giants to have someone else coaching third tomorrow night.
02:15Well, it's not as easy as fans are outraged and he's made mistakes
02:20and now you've got to pull them because there's a certain amount of standing by your guy.
02:24And like Tony said in his comments, you've got to have to get all together
02:28and figure out what needs to change and what are the mistakes that are being made
02:31and go from there as much as you can't just throw the manager out after 56 games
02:37because he's not been great.
02:39And, you know, the mistakes that Tony Vitello is making aren't as obvious
02:43and as apparent as a third base coach,
02:45but you're not going to run Vitello after this amount of games.
02:49And so maybe Hector Borg gets more of a rope than what fans want to give him.
02:53Yeah, I'm not into it.
02:55Like that's a completely different job.
02:57It's a completely different position.
02:59You can't reassign a manager, but you can reassign and shuffle your assistants all over the place.
03:05Does that ever happen when a third base coach gets removed from the third base box
03:09and reassigned in a year?
03:12It seems to me it's very, very rare that a third base coach gets removed,
03:17especially before June.
03:18It's probably rare.
03:19I can't really speak to what happens in all organizations because I don't know.
03:23I'm not following, you know, what the Rockies are doing with their first and third base coach.
03:27Um, but I would also say that desperate times call for desperate measures.
03:33So even if it is rare, I'm not really bothered by that.
03:37I'd like to share a quote with you.
03:39Okay.
03:40This is from Tony Vitello this morning.
03:43Quote, I think we need to pick up the information we got from the last three days.
03:49That's an important piece, by the way.
03:51I'm going to circle back to that, but back to the quote.
03:54I think we need to pick up the information we got from the last three days and I'll get together
03:59as a group
03:59since it's an off day and everybody's got some time and tell everybody to gather up some thoughts
04:06and we need to look at any possible way that we can improve, any possible way to eliminate mistakes as
04:13well.
04:14And that was specifically in response to Hector Borg.
04:19So what I see and what I hear is a manager early in his tenure who is looking for some
04:27support and some control.
04:29Um, and I think that 22 and 34 is actually here to have Tony's back.
04:37This is just what I smell.
04:39What I smell right now is a manager that's so green and is so gosh, so not in a position
04:48of power with major high priced vets
04:51that he sort of needed this.
04:53He needed this comedy of errors before they'll go, dude, let, let, let the dog out of the cage.
05:01Let, let, just let Tony go and let him go do what he would do.
05:06That sounded to me like a quote of someone who would like somebody else coaching third base tomorrow night.
05:11And that's a fair thing to read into it.
05:13It's also complicated because Hector Borg is an organizational guy.
05:17He was a minor league player with the Giants and he's been in and around the Giants for a long,
05:22long time.
05:22And organizationally, if you look at some of the directing of the director of scouting and special advisor to the
05:29president of baseball ops,
05:31these are also guys who've been here a long time.
05:33So if Borg was hired based on the fact that many in the organization liked him,
05:39and I read the quotes from the Pavlovich piece and NBC sports Bay area from February,
05:43where Tony's on a zoom with him and says, yeah, I love this guy.
05:46And already people in the organization were probably nudging him like you're going to love this guy.
05:51And then he loved him.
05:53And here we are two months in and it has not gone well.
05:56I went to AI Mark to answer my own question about third base coaches getting fired.
06:02What'd you find?
06:02I found that last year, three third base coaches were removed.
06:06One, Warren Schaefer was promoted to interim manager.
06:10Okay.
06:10Because Bud Black got fired.
06:11All right.
06:12So that's not a demotion.
06:13That's a promotion.
06:14Matt Tuiasasopo in Atlanta in June removed and reassigned as the team's minor league infield coordinator.
06:22August, Sean Larkin from Arizona was removed and he was reassigned to infield coaching.
06:29Okay.
06:29So those are just two immediate examples.
06:31Last year.
06:31Just last year.
06:32Right.
06:33Okay.
06:33So what happens?
06:34Go ahead and add May, 2026, the San Francisco Giants reassigned Hector Borg.
06:39And I, and I will like, if he's out there tomorrow night, I'll be here on Monday afternoon questioning their
06:46cojones.
06:47I'm so sorry.
06:48Like, I do not want to be a jerk.
06:50This is absurd.
06:52What are we doing?
06:54This is absolute insanity.
06:57This is so easy.
06:59He's not for the job.
07:01He's not doing the job.
07:02Like you have to let Tony, like, please give Tony some teeth.
07:08It feels to me like the organization has not done a great job of letting Tony have his teeth because,
07:14and he can't grab it yet because he just showed up from Knoxville and he's staring Rafi Devers in the
07:19face.
07:20Like, I don't know.
07:20You can't hit a fastball.
07:22I don't know what to do about it.
07:23But like, come on.
07:25The organization gave him this third base coach.
07:28The guy's dying for some wins.
07:30He's out there, like, in press conferences after the game, rubbing his temples while he's staring at the box score.
07:37And then you're giving him three to two losses because an organizational guy who you love is sending people when
07:44they're going to be out by 20 feet and he keeps doing it?
07:47Come on, everybody.
07:49This is not mean.
07:51This is, this is two plus two.
07:53Yeah, but you got to figure out a way to do it that works for the organization and for Hector
07:58Borg.
07:58I don't think you're just going to outright fire him.
08:00No, reassign him.
08:01It comes down to where you're going to reassign him.
08:03You got Ron Washington, who is the defensive coach.
08:06So I don't think that you're going to have him just, what, sit there and hold Ron's clipboard.
08:09I don't know.
08:10Be the bench coach.
08:11Ron Wotus, third base.
08:12Just switch roles.
08:13Yeah, Hector, just go sit down for a few games.
08:16Like when Tony says, hey, we're going to get the information we got for the last three days.
08:23That's fascinating because those three days are when Hector came back.
08:26Right.
08:27Hector.
08:27That's what he's talking about, right?
08:29This is, this is, this is difficult.
08:30I hate this.
08:31Hector just lost his, his grandmother.
08:33That's why he missed a few games.
08:35He flew out of the country because his grandmother passed away.
08:39I'd hate for him to lose his grandmother and his job in the same week.
08:43That sucks.
08:44Is that a consideration?
08:45I don't know.
08:46Well, maybe, but Ron Wotus took, took over for the White Sox series.
08:51And guess what?
08:52The best thing you can say about a third base coach, nobody noticed.
08:55Right.
08:56Like, I, I don't know, man.
08:58I don't know.
08:59Isn't 22 and 34 like no more Mr. Nice guy.
09:03Don't you think?
09:05I mean, honestly, as much as he struggled as a third base coach, he's not the biggest issue on your
09:09team.
09:10No, that's fair.
09:11He's a glaring issue right now.
09:12And interesting what you said about Tony having his teeth,
09:15because I was thinking about what move he's made all year where he was able to flex.
09:21Like I'm the manager.
09:22And one of them was when Matt Chapman actually had to sit out a singular game.
09:26Like Tony was able to make that happen.
09:29And then there was another one.
09:29Well, and Louisa Rice did that a couple of days ago.
09:31We thought he might be nicked up.
09:33He came in and pinch hit later in the game.
09:35So little like one game breaks for veterans.
09:38That might be the end of the list as far as like how he's flexed.
09:42I don't know if he's the one who said, Hey, we got to trade Patrick Bailey.
09:45That felt more like a Buster Posey to me.
09:47I agree with you.
09:47But doesn't it feel like time?
09:49Like I'm just saying, I would love to see Tony Vitello with his chest tomorrow before the game say,
09:57Look, we're reassigning Hector.
09:59And Tyler Malley is being moved to the bullpen.
10:04Like I would love to see that.
10:06I think the messaging would be great.
10:07It's not to be mean to Hector and Tyler.
10:10Tyler, it's to tell everybody, Oh, what's Buster's line?
10:15Time to go or time to boogie or whatever he said.
10:18Yeah.
10:19And I'm to go.
10:20And I think it's interesting the way you lay it out, because if he is going to flex, it's pretty
10:25clear he can't do it to Rafi or Willie or Chappie or Robbie or Logie, because those guys, I don't
10:32think that that's the best way to keep your credibility.
10:34So is it the rookie third base coach or the first year free agent pitcher who's struggling?
10:40Those are easier ones to flex on.
10:42They are, but they're also struggling even more than those other guys are.
10:46You know, like we mentioned the big money guys because they are the big money guys.
10:50Rafi Devers has been playing actually pretty well.
10:52Matt Chapman is the one who's been struggling.
10:54Matt Chapman is the one who's been struggling.
10:55No doubt.
10:56No doubt.
10:57And here's what I would say about that.
10:59Like, Giants, be prepared that when Elliott Ramos gets better and goes out to left, if nothing happens, let's say
11:07that's two weeks from now, three weeks from now that Ramos is ready.
11:11If Chapman doesn't do anything between now and then, if he's still got a 600 OPS in those three weeks,
11:18then yeah, Ramos left.
11:21Casey, third.
11:23Chappie, dugout.
11:24Yeah.
11:25Like, be ready.
11:26How about Casey shortstop, Adamas DH?
11:29I mean, as much as he's the worst defensive shortstop in baseball.
11:33My only issue there is I want Bryce Eldridge to be the DH every single night.
11:38I've already reached that, by the way.
11:39I want to update my whole five out of six games.
11:42Six out of six.
11:42You want six out of six?
11:43Absolutely.
11:43You want all 13 on this trip?
11:45What are we doing?
11:46What are we doing?
11:47Like, yes, he hits left-handers as well as right.
11:51I see that, you know, like I see a guy whose numbers should be better than they are based on
11:57how hard he's hit the ball.
11:58I just, yeah, that's how I feel right now.
12:01I feel like Tony needs some teeth.
12:03And I think it's time.
12:04I think we've arrived.
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