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Giants' general manager Zack Minasian recaps the MLB trade deadline, saying that selling 'sucks' | Willard & Dibs
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00:02All right, and Grandy is in for dibs, and let's not waste any time.
00:06We were talking just a moment ago about the Giants' deadline.
00:09I think there's more to say there, and so we'll get into it,
00:13and we're going right to the source.
00:15Here we go.
00:16With Grandy in for dibs, 95-7 the game, and on the River Islands guest line,
00:20and on YouTube with us as well if you want to check it out there,
00:22the general manager of the Giants, Zach Manassian, joins us on the show.
00:27Hey, Zach, how we doing?
00:29Thanks for having me.
00:30Doing well.
00:30Did you get a good night's sleep last night?
00:33Yeah, yeah, slept pretty heavy, but had the two-year-old there to wake me up early.
00:38They do that.
00:38Things move fast.
00:39Hey, before we get into some of the deadline stuff,
00:42we saw the development with Tony Vitello saying earlier today
00:46there's a chance that Matt Chapman doesn't play again this season
00:51and wanted to see if you wanted to weigh in on that and get your perspective.
00:56Yeah, still going through some of the medical trap.
00:59He was going through hitting progression, running progression.
01:02Some of those things just weren't responding the way he wanted to,
01:06so just doing some more testing, reviewing that,
01:09and, yeah, there is a possibility we don't see him.
01:12Don't want to speak on it too soon, but, yeah, it sounds like a real possibility
01:16we might not see him the rest of the year.
01:18Buster had said yesterday that you guys were willing to listen on anything,
01:22and obviously we don't want to start putting names and words in your mouth
01:25and whatnot, but there had been, in a situation like you're in,
01:29all names come up, but with Matt being hurt,
01:34did that kind of remove him completely from conversations
01:38over the last couple of weeks?
01:40Yeah, tough to say.
01:44You know, I think that's actually probably a better question for other teams
01:49and kind of how they saw things.
01:52I think usually during the trade deadline, if there is a significant injury,
01:57it does tend to push teams away, but tough to say in any one particular scenario.
02:03You know, with regard to the high-priced infielders that get a lot of the pub
02:07in discussing how you guys wanted to rework the roster,
02:11I kept thinking to myself, you know, the Giants and another team
02:15could have conversations all they want, but Willie and Matt both have no trade clauses.
02:20Have you ever gotten to a point where you've even approached either of those players
02:26about the idea of waiving that clause?
02:29Yeah, no, that hasn't happened.
02:31I mean, usually it's just something, I think those types of conversations,
02:36you know, stay private, but, you know, feel comfortable sharing it in this scenario.
02:41No, no, that hasn't happened.
02:43Zach, obviously there's a few, like, pools of players that get traded.
02:47There's the rentals, and you've got a couple of those with Robbie Ray and Luis Arias,
02:51and then you traded a couple of the players that are under team control,
02:55and someone like Elliot Ramos, for example, who was an all-star as recently
02:59as a couple of years ago.
03:00I'm curious if you could talk us through the logic of that deal
03:03with the New York Yankees.
03:05What prompted you guys to be willing to part with a homegrown all-star
03:10in Elliot Ramos and talk about who you guys got back as well?
03:13Yeah, yeah, it's a tough call.
03:16I mean, even trading rental players, it's not necessarily easy.
03:20Definitely trading players you have control of who are homegrown,
03:24drafted and developed by the organization.
03:26They're always difficult decisions.
03:28I think with Elliot in particular, to get the two talents we got back,
03:33it felt like something we didn't want to pass up.
03:37And then also, we feel like we're starting to build some better depth in our outfield
03:42throughout our system.
03:43So I think names we'll start hearing more and more about.
03:45Scott Bandura, Parks Harbors, play some outfield, Bo Davidson, Dakota Jordan, Trevor Cohen.
03:52Obviously, we've seen a bit of Jonah Cox up here, Victor Rarikoto, Drew Gilbert.
03:58So it started to feel like we were building some depth there to the point where,
04:03if there was something that came across the table we really liked,
04:07that we would have to consider it, especially when we're talking about the players that we got.
04:12So Henry Lalonde, upside, left-handed starter, mid-90s fastball, really good change-up strikes,
04:21an arm you can dream on a bit.
04:24And then Caden Kent, someone that we had our eye on in the draft, plays on the dirt, middle infield,
04:30very high baseball IQ, which wouldn't be a surprise.
04:34So the two players that we were able to get was really enticing.
04:39And then we felt like there's some players that are going to be deserving of opportunity here soon.
04:44Zach Manassi and GM of the Giants with us here, Willard and Dibs.
04:47Grandy in for Dibs, 95-7 the game.
04:49Zach, not just with the deadline, but the draft as well.
04:53You guys were clearly leaning, pitching heavy.
04:56And I'm curious to know, to what level do you guys feel in recent years, whether purposeful or not,
05:04you kind of got away from what historically has been the organizational philosophy of pitching and defense,
05:11and how much of your recent moves sort of pointed to that?
05:16Yeah, you know, it's interesting.
05:18I think you tell yourself, pitching defense, pitching defense, pitching defense,
05:23and then all of a sudden someone pops up, it's like, ooh, you know,
05:26and do you allow yourself to get away from it a little bit at times?
05:30And look, it's just the nature of it and just being totally honest with things that can happen.
05:35And I think as we approach this year and we knew we had an opportunity to get players in the
05:39draft
05:40and we knew we would have opportunities to get players at the trade deadline,
05:44that it was something that we really wanted to acquire.
05:49Buster was adamant.
05:51I was adamant.
05:51We don't want to necessarily do it at the expense of talent.
05:54So we're taking a less talented pitcher than, say, a positional player that we would be able to acquire.
06:00And I think that's why you see acquisitions like Caden Kent, Joniel Hernandez.
06:06But also when you look at the pitchers that we got, it was intentional to try and get those types
06:10of arms
06:11that we think of upside who can be impactful here in the big leagues, both in the draft and the
06:16trade deadline.
06:16So it's something we've talked a lot about and feel fortunate to get the arms that we got.
06:20Zach, as you and Mark are talking about, a lot of arms on their way back to you guys.
06:25One that isn't an arm is Marcelo Meyer from the Red Sox.
06:29He was the trade that featured Eric Miller and then I think single A, high A outfielder Carlos Gutierrez headed
06:36to Boston.
06:37Marcelo Meyer, as recently as like 18 months ago, one of the top prospects in all of baseball,
06:42has had some injury, bad luck, and hasn't had a ton of success in limited at-bats at the big
06:48league level.
06:49What do you guys see in Marcelo Meyer?
06:51Because I know he's a name that has the fan base excited because he's a name that a lot of
06:54Giants fans know
06:55just from following top prospects in baseball a couple of years ago.
06:59Yeah, no, we're certainly excited.
07:01I mean, to trade an arm like Eric Miller out of our bullpen, which struggles have been documented, wasn't easy.
07:08But to get this type of talent, 23 years old, a lot of time left, a lot more growth that's
07:15going to happen there,
07:16just felt like an opportunity we couldn't pass up.
07:18Someone that we think can be impactful on both sides of the game.
07:22As Mark was talking, we talked about defense.
07:25We think he's going to be a plus defender.
07:27He can run the bases.
07:27There's power.
07:28There's hit ability.
07:29So we think there's a really strong, well-rounded game.
07:32And that's the type of game we want to play, where we can beat teams in a lot of different
07:37ways.
07:37And we feel like Marcelo is going to bring that to the table.
07:40A lot of people here that are excited to get to work with him, Ron Washington, Hunter Mence,
07:45we're all excited to see him.
07:47And as we look to try and build a core group, we're hoping he's the type of player that can
07:54be right there with Bryce Eldridge for years to come.
07:56I know that this trade was official yesterday.
07:58Do you have any update on when you think Giants fans might see him playing in games?
08:02I know he's currently on the injured list.
08:04Yeah, we do a pretty good medical review, obviously, prior to a trade.
08:08So I have a sense that he's feeling great and that he's ready to get out and start a rehab
08:14assignment here soon.
08:15We don't have a specific date.
08:16He's actually going to come to San Francisco.
08:18Our doctors, medical staff can see him in person, get a little bit better feel for that.
08:23But we're really hoping it's sooner rather than later.
08:25And as the team gets back in town, we're able to review those things.
08:29Hopefully that can be ironed out where we can talk about a specific date to expect him here at Oracle
08:35Park.
08:36He was such a highly touted guy not long ago.
08:39Do your scouts see something that you all think you can unlock?
08:42Why do you think his start has not been better?
08:48Yeah, I think a lot of the underlying as far as how hard he hits the ball and his bat
08:53speed, some of the things we saw defensively, those raw physical tools are still there.
09:00And some of it's just the natural maturation of getting to the big leagues.
09:03I think he's only 300 major league plate appearances in.
09:07And then the other part is the health.
09:11He's had to battle some injuries.
09:13He's played some different positions.
09:15And it's a lot for any young player to handle.
09:17So we're hoping we can give him some runway.
09:20It's not to say that he wouldn't play multiple positions, but certainly hoping we can tell him, hey, you're going
09:25to go play here and have at it.
09:28You know, I had a mentor tell me for young players, the most important statistic is plate appearances and innings
09:34pitched.
09:35And there's still a lot more for him to have to continue to grow.
09:38So still believe in the physical ability.
09:40This is someone we've been extremely high on since he was a junior in high school.
09:45And to get our hands on this type of talent, it just felt like something we had to do.
09:49Giants GM Zach Manassian is with us here on 95.7 The Game.
09:53Zach, I don't want you to like predict and speculate here, but I know you've got ages and timetables to
09:59a certain degree.
10:00Of the guys you acquired yesterday, and you can throw the draft in, I guess, as well.
10:06So do you have some names that realistically could be a part of the Giants in 2027?
10:13Yeah, it's a good question.
10:17It's probably something we'll ask a lot of each other as we go through this and get to know a
10:24lot of these players that we've acquired.
10:26I certainly wouldn't want to put any limitation on anyone from, say, Jackson Flora to Miguel Mendez.
10:35You never know.
10:38I think with maybe the exception of Joneal Hernandez, who's in the Dominican Summer League right now,
10:45these are all players with legitimate upside who could move relatively quickly.
10:51So to say they're here in 27 helping us, I don't know if I'd quite go far just yet.
10:56We'd like to get them playing in the Giants organization and get an even better feel for them.
11:01But the majority of these players, these aren't players that we're hoping to see five years from now,
11:07four years from now, in some long plan like that.
11:11These are guys that we're hoping help.
11:13If not 27, we're seeing them in 28.
11:16Zach, obviously this has been a struggle of a season.
11:18I don't need to tell you that.
11:19And you guys just sold at the trade deadline.
11:22Six guys off the Major League roster have been traded.
11:24We're going to see a lot of new faces the rest of this season.
11:27That's for sure.
11:28I'm sure you guys are hearing some Giants fans as a result of the season and the trade deadline,
11:33maybe fearing maybe it's going to be another couple of years until the team is legitimately competing once again.
11:39What would you say to Giants fans who feel that?
11:41That maybe they're looking at another year or two of maybe some struggles before legitimately competing again?
11:47Yeah, I think as far as an answer for 27, really none of us know just yet.
11:52I think we have a responsibility to put a good team on the field each and every year.
11:58I think the one thing I feel comfortable saying is that we're going to see a lot of young players
12:05get opportunity the rest of this season.
12:07So pitchers like Blade Tidwell, Carson Wizenhunt, we're going to see them get starts.
12:13When Marcelo's back, we're going to see him get some runway and get out there and play every day.
12:19So I think it's important with Burratt to get a sense of where those players are.
12:24And look, that can dictate a lot of a timeline too.
12:28So still have very talented players on this roster.
12:32I think Rafi might lead the big leagues in extra base hits since May 1st.
12:36Webby's been great.
12:38You know, it stinks not having Chapman over there at third, man in the hot corner.
12:44You know, Willie's, I think, almost at 20 homers on the year.
12:47So still expect to go out there and be a contender.
12:52But we'll see what happens as we approach the offseason and try to acquire more talent.
12:57But I still feel like there's an obligation sitting in this chair in this office that we need to try
13:02to put a good team out there each and every year.
13:04Zach, now that it is official that Luis arises elsewhere, is your plan for Casey Schmidt to man second base
13:12next year?
13:13Or where are you on his positional future?
13:18Yeah, we haven't gotten there yet.
13:20I think some of that is we'll see how Marcelo fits in.
13:24I think Casey's time in left field went pretty well.
13:30Another thing there that maybe felt like we could talk about trading Elliott and bringing back the talent that we
13:36did.
13:36So I think Casey's just put himself in a great spot by showing the versatility that he has.
13:42My guess is if you ask Casey, he'd love to be in one spot and we'll look at that.
13:48But it's the nice thing about having the versatility that we have on the roster right now with some of
13:53the players that we have playing different positions.
13:56So tough to say what position would be his in 27.
14:01But the way he's performed, I feel pretty comfortable saying that he's someone we want on the field each and
14:06every day.
14:06Zach, we were talking earlier about the philosophy of acquiring a lot of pitching lately in the draft and then
14:12most recently yesterday at the trade deadline.
14:14It feels like of the position players that are highly touted in your system and some of the position players
14:19you are acquiring, it almost feels like unanimously they're shortstops.
14:23I'm just curious what you guys feel that the future of all these shortstops are because obviously if these guys
14:30work out, they all can't play shortstop.
14:32I imagine you think that maybe you can mold them to play anywhere across the field.
14:36Yeah, yeah.
14:38Look, it's just nice to have the athleticism.
14:40And if they are shortstops and they have to move off that position, your hope is that you're getting a
14:45good defender given how demanding the shortstop position can be.
14:48So, look, we just played the Padres and looking at them, Manny Machado was a shortstop.
14:55Jay Cronenworth was a shortstop.
14:56Jackson Merrill was a shortstop out of high school.
14:59Fernando Tatis Jr. was a shortstop.
15:01Obviously, Bogarts is playing short.
15:03So, I think those things tend to have a way of working out.
15:08Our player development staff is going to be really intentional about getting these players reps at other positions to continue
15:15to test them.
15:16So, you know, in the minor leagues going all the way down, you'll see Luis Hernandez get third base reps.
15:21You'll see Joshua Gonzalez get second base reps.
15:24You'll see Johnny Level and Gavin Keelan play places other than short.
15:27So, certainly not something we're worried about.
15:31It's a nice challenge for Randy Wynn and Kyle to make sure those guys are getting better everywhere they can.
15:36And I think those things do have a tendency to work out.
15:39Zach, speaking of things that we are worried about, I think we're all worried about this.
15:44And I'm wondering how it's affecting today.
15:45I don't know how all of the CBA negotiations are going to go, but how does the specter of that
15:53affect the way you guys are conducting yourselves today?
15:57Yeah, it's difficult to bring it into the equation because, I mean, those conversations are so far above me.
16:05I'm a spectator, too.
16:07And I think for us, we just try and focus on running our baseball operation as normal as possible.
16:15Make the best decisions that face us each and every day.
16:18So, and then hopefully it ends up resulting in a good product on the field.
16:25So, not something that's easy for us to put in the equation because we just don't know.
16:30And like everyone else, we kind of wait and see and hope for the best.
16:34Zach, we really appreciate your time today.
16:37Overall, you feel pretty good about what you guys did yesterday?
16:41Yeah.
16:42Look, being a seller, this isn't the most professional thing to say.
16:46It sucks.
16:47So, you know, it's not where we want to be.
16:49It really isn't.
16:50And we're going to continue to challenge ourselves to make sure we're not in that spot again.
16:55But when you are in that spot, you need to do really well.
16:58We were fortunate, I think, to add the talent that we added.
17:02We're excited about where our system is.
17:04Continue to challenge our guys at the major league level and just get better because we absolutely need to get
17:09better.
17:10Thank you so much for hanging out a little bit today.
17:13We really appreciate it.
17:15Thanks, guys.
17:16Thanks for having me.
17:16All right.
17:17There he is.
17:17Yep.
17:18GM of the Giants, Zach Manassian with us here on 95-70 Game.
17:22Busy time of the year is over now.
17:24Yep.
17:25Draft is gone.
17:25Trade deadline is gone.
17:26It really looks a little more relaxed.
17:28Yeah.
17:28Um, what stood out to you?
17:31Um, didn't want to talk about how close potentially they were to trading the big three contracts.
17:37Of course.
17:37Um, when it relates to Matt Chapman specifically, and I guess also Willie Adamas, uh, he says never even got
17:44to a point where they approach them about potentially waiving their no trade clause or approving a potential trade.
17:49You and I talked earlier about asking him that question, and I, I, I, I didn't know if he would
17:55give a definitive yes or no, but he did.
17:57A definitive no.
17:58No.
17:59We have not ever even approached Matt Chapman or Willie Adamas about waiving their no trade clause.
18:04Which, the way I interpret that is there were never trade things that got anywhere serious.
18:10Matt's hurt, and Willie is...
18:12Very difficult to move.
18:13Darn, darn near untradeable right now.
18:16Yeah.
18:16So, that's interesting.
18:17The other one that stood out was when I asked him about, uh, how fans might feel if this maybe
18:22means they're not going to be competitive for a couple of years.
18:25Oh, you liked your question better.
18:26Okay, go ahead.
18:27I, you, I've shouted out two of your questions first.
18:31You got, you got a, that's a good question.
18:33I did.
18:33You did, and you celebrated.
18:35I can't believe you asked me that question.
18:37Um, I mean, if he hadn't been on video with us, I would have celebrated more.
18:41Oh, yeah, you would have ran around the room.
18:42Yeah, you gotta.
18:42He can see you now.
18:43He can see me.
18:44So.
18:44Yeah, you can't.
18:45You can't celebrate too hard.
18:46You would distract him.
18:47You would distract him.
18:48He would like, he was trying to give an answer.
18:50And we would get a bad answer as a result.
18:52Anyway.
18:52You have run around the room with Greg Cosell, though.
18:54That's totally different.
18:55Cosell's locked in.
18:56Yeah, but Greg, Greg, Greg has to be with us every week is not his choice.
19:01Uh, Zach can say no.
19:02Zach is, yeah, different spot.
19:05Uh, anyway.
19:05We talked to Zach like once or twice a year.
19:07I know.
19:07No, you asked him.
19:08Go ahead.
19:09I asked him.
19:09You asked wonderful questions, I thought.
19:11Oh, thank you.
19:11He didn't think so.
19:12I didn't get it from him.
19:13Uh, I asked him, what would he say to Giants fans who maybe feel like the combination of
19:18this season and the trade deadline mean maybe they're gearing up to be good in a couple
19:22of years from now, as opposed to next year or even two years from now.
19:26And he wasn't going to say, yeah, we're going to suck next year.
19:29But the only thing he could essentially say was a lot of the timeline is going to be determined
19:33by how well some of the new faces perform the final two months of this season, which
19:37is interesting.
19:37And he did say that this season sucked.
19:39Oh, yeah, he did.
19:41It sucks that we're sellers.
19:42And it did.
19:43And he's right.
19:44Yeah.
19:44Yeah.
19:44He nailed that answer.
19:46But for Giants fans trying to find meaning in the rest of this season, you heard it from
19:51Zach Mnazian.
19:52He said he, I think he used the word timeline or time frame.
19:56It might've been in terms of when they can be competitive again, that will be impacted
20:00by how Marcelo Meyer plays when he makes his Giants debut the rest of this season.
20:05Sounds like he's going to get a lot of second base the rest of the way.
20:08Probably.
20:08Who else is going to play second base?
20:10Maybe some third, too.
20:11Yeah.
20:11I mean, no Casey, no Matt, if neither of them play the rest of the year.
20:14And obviously no Luis Sarai.
20:16So you have two openings on the infield every day now that Bryce can't fill.
20:20The other answer I really liked is when it sounded to me like he kind of, he admitted,
20:28I thought, that, yes, the team did kind of get away from pitching in defense and that
20:35they were strategic in the draft and yesterday in getting pitching.
20:40He said they were adamant.
20:41Both he and Buster were adamant in getting pitching.
20:44And I love when he sort of talked about, like, you always want to go pitching in defense.
20:49And then sometimes you get distracted by the shiny thing, which I kind of thought to myself,
20:57it felt like he was not directly referencing, but the top example of what he's talking about
21:03is the Devers trade.
21:05Maybe even signing Adamas.
21:07Right.
21:07We need a hitter.
21:09Like the pressure that they felt to sign a big name hitter.
21:12And they traded their top pitching prospect to get him.
21:15And I think the way that he laid it out is totally fair because it's the way a lot of
21:19the Giants fans felt.
21:20Like, oh, you have an opportunity to get Devers?
21:22Go get him.
21:23Like, I don't, I think, and I always felt that pitching in defense was the way to win.
21:27But I thought that that meant that Devers' possibility was never going to be there to get
21:32someone like Rafi Devers.
21:33And then it's there.
21:34Oh, we got to take advantage.
21:35Hasn't worked out.
21:36But then suddenly you look up and you have X amount of dollars spent on your infield.
21:40And you have two and a half starting pitchers all year.
21:44This just in, Luis Sarai's is one for one with an RBI as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies.
21:50Cool.
21:51Game in Philly?
21:53In Philly.
21:54Oh, boy.
21:54I'm sure he got a standing ovation.
21:56Everybody drinking free tonight.
21:58He pumped his chest.
21:59Oh, did he?
22:00Way to go, Luis.
22:01Went to, looked into the dugout, pumped his chest, and then celebrated.
22:05Way to go, Luis.
22:06I love that dude.
22:07I'm happy for him.
22:08He's going to get to play in October baseball.
22:11Yep.
22:11Good for Luis.
22:12Go Warriors!
22:16And no surprise either.
22:19Luis Sarai's got a hit.
22:20Oh, he just gets hit.
22:20Yeah, he got a hit.
22:21That's crazy.
22:22All right, we're brought to you by Fremont Bank.
22:24Here for you.
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22:25888-957-9570.
22:27More on that reacting to Zach and Tim Calcami in 20 minutes.
22:32Granny's in for dibs.
22:33What are the dibs?
22:33Don't be.
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