San Francisco Giants

As they continue their managerial search, the San Francisco Giants received permission to interview San Diego Padres' manager Bob Melvin for the opening, according to The Athletic's Dennis Lin and Andrew Baggarly.

Melvin, 61, just wrapped up his second season with the Padres—a disappointing campaign—and has one year remaining on his current contract. He automatically has become the favorite for the Giants' job, replacing the recently fired Gabe Kapler.

Lin and Baggarly reported that Melvin's quick rise to being the front runner indicates he was assured he would be a top candidate before he agreed to enter the interview process.

It was an underwhelming second season for the Padres with Melvin at the helm. Just a year removed from being in the NLCS, San Diego finished 82-80, good for third place in the NL West.

There was a widespread belief that there was some tension behind the scenes between Melvin and president of baseball operations A.J. Preller, who declined to comment on the situation.

It's been reported that Melvin and Preller clashed on a regular basis, per Lin and Baggarly.

It got to the point that the organization had to come out and announce that both guys would be returning to their respective positions next season, a strange look considering the decent amount of success during Melvin's tenure.

And now, the three-time Manager of the Year is being given the opportunity to interview for a divisional rival.

Preller was very coy when asked about whether he'd give Melvin a chance to pursue those types of opportunities earlier in the month.

"I think those are all kind of personal matters and private matters," Preller said. "We never really comment on those in terms of other clubs and interest in any of our employees. … With Bob, he's under contract. He's our manager. I think we're both excited going forward into the offseason."

It's a no-brainer as to why Melvin has quickly emerged as the Giants' top target. A Bay Area native, Melvin has been one of the most successful managers of the past decade, winning Manager of the Year with two different organizations.

Prior to his stint with the Padres Melvin had stops with the Seattle Mariners, Arizona Diamondbacks and Oakland Athletics, winning the award with the last two.

Melvin spent a decade in Oakland from 2011 to 2021, amassing a record of 853-764.

San Francisco has already interviewed in-house candidates like bench coach Kai Correa, third base coach Mark Hallberg, assistant coach Alyssa Nakken and special assistant Ron Wotus.

Some of its other external candidates include Mariners bullpen and quality control coach Stephen Vogt, Boston Red Sox coach Jason Varitek and Texas Rangers special assistant Nick Hundley, among others.

The San Francisco Giants and fans endured another disappointing season in 2023 that saw them in playoff contention late before fading and missing the postseason for the second straight season.

As bad as that is the fact that the team oftentimes felt irrelevant.

The organization has already taken steps to ensure that does not happen again this season. They fired manager Gabe Kapler at the end of the regular season and, amid reports from USA Today's Bob Nightengale that the New York Yankees and Mets, and hated rival the Los Angeles Dodgers are set to pursue Japanese righty Yoshinobu Yamamoto, have sent their own scouts to check in on the 25-year-old sensation.

The Giants need starting pitching help. The team did not have a consistent starting pitcher with an ERA under 3.00 this season. While Logan Webb was very good for them at times, and Alex Wood showed flashes, the team needs consistent play on the mound to compete against the Dodgers.

Yamamoto was brilliant in 2023, compiling an ERA of 1.14, and a WHIP of 0.860, and gave up just 22 earned runs and only two home runs all season.

Acquiring him not only bolsters a rotation that badly needs a genuine ace but also keeps him away from a rival Dodgers team that, too, needs pitching help.

Los Angeles won the NL West and 100 games almost despite its pitching, which was then exposed in dramatic fashion in the playoffs when Arizona put up 19 runs in three games against Clayton Kershaw, Bobby Miller, and Lance Lynn.

Yes, the Giants are still in need of bats, especially if they hope to keep pace with a Dodgers squad that has Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts leading an offensive juggernaut.

Good pitching can slow those bats and turn what was a 6-7 record against Los Angeles into a favorable record that allows them to be more competitive in a division that also has a young Diamondbacks squad that figures to be a playoff contender for years to come following their NLCS appearance this season.

There will be other options available, such as Cy Young favorite Blake Snell, but none of them have the youth and promise of Yamamoto.

Bring him on board, let him work out the kinks early like his friend and fellow countryman Kodai Senga did with the Mets in 2023, and benefit once he starts sitting batters down and putting his teams in position to win.

The result should be a Giants team that begins to re-establish itself as a force in MLB rather than an afterthought, which it was far too often this past season.

San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has paused the search for the team's new manager in order to scout Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, according to Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic.

In 24 games in the 2023 season, Yamamoto has a record of 17-6 while maintaining an ERA of 1.16. He has racked up 176 strikeouts in 171.0 innings pitched.

Many MLB teams will be bidding for Yamamoto's services this offseason, including the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets (via Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY).

The Yankees have an ace in Gerrit Cole, who posted an American League-best 2.63 ERA to go along with 222 strikeouts in 2023. However, the rest of the club's rotation left a lot to be desired.

Outside of Cole, no other Yankees pitcher with at least 10 starts finished with an ERA below 4.

As for the Giants, they're looking for a bit more production from their pitching staff in order to finally return to the playoffs after setting a franchise record with 107 wins during the 2021 season.

Zaidi has coveted Yamamoto for awhile and he's not shy about his interest in the starter.

"It's been a pilgrimage over there from front office people to see him," he said, per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports. "He's really one of the top starting pitchers in the world. I know it sounds like an exaggeration, but it's not. It sounds like a big statement, but yeah, I think both of those guys will attract some interest and we're just continuing to do our work on them in anticipation of their posting in a couple of months."

San Francisco reportedly attempted to acquire Japanese pitcher Kodai Senga last offseason, although they weren't able to provide a counter offer before he ultimately ended up agreeing to a contract with the New York Mets (via Baggarly).

Signing Yamamoto would be a major acquisition, as the 25-year-old is arguably the greatest pitcher outside of Major League Baseball.

Already a pioneer for women in MLB coaching, Alyssa Nakken continues to make history after interviewing for the San Francisco Giants' manager job, according to The Athletic's Andrew Baggarly.

Nakken, 33, is believed to be the first woman to ever formally interview for a managerial position at the MLB level. She was among the first round of the Giants' in-house interviews this past week along with bench coach Kai Correa and third base coach Mark Hallberg.

Hallberg is currently believed to be the in-house favorite, per the San Francisco's Chronicle's Susan Slusser.

Nakken was originally brought to San Francisco's coaching corps as part of Gabe Kapler's 13-person staff that he put together ahead of the 2020 campaign. Kapler was relieved of his duties as manager on Sept. 29.

Since then, Nakken has been working as an assistant coach focusing on the areas of baserunning, outfield instruction and in-game preparation. She was deemed to be a critical piece of the Giants' record-setting 107-win season in 2021 as dugout liaison to pinch hitters.

It was also the year in which the franchise set a major league record for pinch-hitting appearances and hit a record 18 pinch-hit home runs.

Nakken also got the opportunity to coach on the field when she took over the first base coaching box in a 2022 game against the San Diego Padres. First base coach Antoan Richardson had been ejected.

It's been a long and steady rise for Nakken, who joined the organization as an intern in 2014 and worked all over before eventually getting invited to coach. Some of her previous roles included baseball operations, event logistics, business development and coordinating health and wellness initiatives.

A managerial spot is something she has had her eye on ever since becoming a coach.

"Manager and/or bench coach positions are two that my interests gravitate towards at this point in time," Nakken said after completing her first season in 2020.

It's been a landmark few years for women in baseball after Rachel Balkovec completed her second season as manager of the Tampa Tarpons, the New York Yankees' Low-A affiliate.

Ronnie Gajownik, a former softball standout at the University of South Florida, also finished her first season in charge of the Arizona Diamondbacks' High-A Hillsboro Hops.

In the front office, Miami Marlins general manager Kim Ng did a tremendous job in helping lead the ballclub back to the postseason.

With the recent dismissal of manager Gave Kapler, the San Francisco Giants are on the hunt for their new manager and Mark Hallberg, the team's third-base coach has emerged as the leading in-house candidate, according to the San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser.

Slusser reported that Hallberg interviewed for the open position at some point this week along with several other members of the Giants' organization.

Hallberg, 37, is close friends with former San Francisco star catcher Buster Posey, who he played with in college, and is well-respected by people in the ball club.

Hallberg has been with the Giants dating back to the 2020 season, one season prior to Posey's retirement and was named the team's third-base coach following the 2021 campaign.

He and Posey played together at Florida State in 2007 and was a staple for the Seminoles while playing shortstop. He slashed .360/.447/.476 in 250 at bats and was named All-Conference First Team in the ACC.

Other in-house candidates for the Giants' is bench coach Kai Correa and former third-base coach Ron Wotus, who is now a special adviser with the team. Donnie Ecker, the bench coach for the Texas Rangers' and the hitting coach for San Francisco's 107-win team in 2021 is also up for the job.

Ecker is expected to be a hot commodity given the Rangers deep run.

New York Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón faced eight batters in the first inning of Friday's contest against the Kansas City Royals.

All eight batters got on base.

Rodón allowed two walks, two singles, a double, a home run and a stolen base as the Royals racked up six runs in the first inning.

Carlos Rodon is the 3rd starting pitcher in MLB history to give up 8+ Earned Runs while not recording a single out. pic.twitter.com/BdhukRBNuA

— . (@HalToHell) September 30, 2023

Yankees P Carlos Rodón faced 8 batters without recording an out in his start against the Royals tonight.

That is the most by a starter without recording an out in MLB since then-Mets P Steven Matz in 2019 (Matz also faced 8 batters) pic.twitter.com/wwPEnrk7xH

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 30, 2023

Carlos Rodón's final line:

0.0 IP, 8 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 1 HR

He finishes his dreadful first season in pinstripes with one of the worst starts we've seen from a #Yankees pitcher in recent memory, perhaps ever.

— Max Goodman (@MaxTGoodman) September 30, 2023

https://twitter.com/SethDRothman/status/1707921612807241969

Carlos Rodón's fastball is down 2 mph and slider 2.7 mph....

— Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) September 30, 2023

Rodón was eventually yanked for Yankees pitcher Matt Bowman, but not in time to save him from ridicule by fans watching on social media.

Remember when that question about whether or not you think you could get a hit vs a mlb pitcher?
I changed my mind. 3 for 4 with two doubles if that pitcher is Carlos Rodon

— Kyle Cashlington (@Yank33Clipp3r) September 30, 2023

Yankees down 9-0 against Kansas City after one inning. Boy, that Carlos Rodon is, well, something.

— Stuart Rothenberg (@StuPolitics) September 30, 2023

Carlos Rodon’s final start for Yankees:

5 runs, no outs recorded, yanked in first inning

Anyone see that receipt lying around??

— Christian Toto (@HollywoodInToto) September 30, 2023

In his defense, Rodon pitched a perfect 2023 Yankees season game. I mean, it's so on point.

— Chris (@gitrdone923) September 30, 2023

Btw I hope no one had Rodón in their ESPN fantasy team because I just checked and that’s a lovely minus 24 points he’s bringing his pickers

— Danielle Blake (Dodgers Delenda Est) (@abradacabla) September 30, 2023

Rodon ending his season by not getting ONE batter out is just pathetic.

I really hope he turns it around next year, but my goodness what a sour way to finish

— Devin 😈 (@angry_gcole) September 30, 2023

Wow Carlos Rodon.. way to end the season with the worst line of your career (which after this season isn't really a shock).. #Yankees

— Chris Baldassano (@Baldassano) September 30, 2023

It was Rodón's final start of the 2023 season, and it raised his overall ERA on the campaign from 5.74 to 6.85 in a single start.

Rodón signed a six-year, $162 million deal with the Yankees in December.

Yankee fans seeing Carlos Rodon pitch in 2023 and realizing he’s owed 27M per year until 2029 pic.twitter.com/01CD9vZ2w4

— David Mendelson (@DMendy02) September 30, 2023

Carlos Rodón earned $7,611,111 for each of his three wins this season. Talk about a bargain! #RepBX

— Funhouse (@BackAftaThis) September 30, 2023

https://twitter.com/Thomas_Carrieri/status/1707923839764639894

https://twitter.com/dsantana310/status/1707920364058161181

Carlos Rodon is a cautionary tale about spending big $$$ on veteran FA pitching. Warning signs were there for him. But it feels like more often than not, big FA contracts for pitchers are failures.

— Jake T. O'Donnell (@jaketodonnell) September 30, 2023

The guy that signed Carlos Rodon to a 9 figure contract allegedly has job security somehow #RepBX

— Enrico Pallazzo (@GMoneyELITE) September 30, 2023

The Yankees ended the first inning Friday already down 9-0.

The Pinstripes will return tomorrow against the Royals before finishing out the series, and a disappointing 2023 season, Sunday.

The San Francisco Giants will have a new manager in 2024.

Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi announced that the team had decided to relieve manager Gabe Kapler of his duties.

Here’s the statement from Farhan Zaidi. Gabe Kapler is out with a year left on his contract: pic.twitter.com/tOHDoPfo99

— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) September 29, 2023

"After making this recommendation to ownership and receiving their approval, I met with Gabe today to inform him of our decision," Zaidi said. "In his tenure as Giants manager, Gabe led our team through an unprecedented pandemic in 2020 and a franchise record 107 wins and postseason berth in 2021. He has been dedicated and passionate in his efforts to improve the on-field performance of the San Francisco Giants and I have tremendous respect for him as a colleague and a friend.

On behalf of the Giants organization, we wish Gabe the best of luck in his future endeavors and thank him for his contributions over the last four years."

Kapler had a 295-248 record with the Giants, but a bulk of that success came in the 107-win, 2021 season. The team went 29-31 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, 81-81 in 2022 and are currently 78-81 in 2023.

This season's record comes after the team was alive in the postseason race for much of the season. The Giants were 49-41 at the All-Star break but have sputtered to a 29-40 record since.

This is exacerbated by an 8-17 skid in September that pushed the team out of the playoff hunt in a race that appeared to be very winnable, with the Miami Marlins currently holding the final Wild Card spot with 82 wins.

The San Diego Padres have passed the Giants for third place in the NL West, despite sitting behind them for most of the season, and the rise of the Arizona Diamondbacks has the division looking even more difficult going forward.

The Giants will now begin the search for a new manager, with current-Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell being a potential option after his contract expires following the season.

Matt Lively of CBS Bay Area reported that Buster Posey will have a say in who the next manager is. Posey spent his entire 12-season career with the Giants, with his final season coming in 2021. He is now involved with the ownership group, and Zaidi said he "always takes his opinion into consideration."

As the San Francisco Giants continue to fight for a wild card spot in the National League playoffs, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and manager Gabe Kapler have received a vote of confidence from ownership.

Giants chairman Greg Johnson told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle both men will be back with the team in 2024.

Zaidi has an option for next season in his current contract that hasn't been officially exercised yet. Kapler signed a two-year extension with the Giants in November 2021 that runs through the 2024 season.

This has been an unusual season for the Giants dating back to last winter when they tried to make a big splash in free agency.

Per Jon Heyman of the New York Post, Aaron Judge got the New York Yankees to increase their offer to nine years and $360 million to keep him from signing with San Francisco.

After Judge made his decision, the Giants entered into a 13-year, $350 million agreement with Carlos Correa. On the day his introductory press conference was scheduled, the deal fell through because of an issue with his physical.

San Francisco pivoted from there to sign a handful of players, including Mitch Haniger, Michael Conforto and Joc Pederson, to short-term deals. It has allowed the team to remain competitive with a 75-71 record, tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Cincinnati Reds for the final playoff spot in the NL.

Kapler is in his fourth season as Giants skipper after being hired in December 2019 to replace Bruce Bochy. He has a 292-238 record with one NL West title in 2021.

Zaidi was hired to be San Francisco's president of baseball operations in November 2018. He previously worked as general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2014-18.

The 2021 Giants won a franchise-record 107 games during the regular season. Zaidi was named MLB Executive of the Year for that season.

Given their season-long issues at shortstop, the San Francisco Giants are taking a chance on Paul DeJong.

Per USA Today's Bob Nightengale, the Giants signed DeJong to a contract, and he's expected to join the team in time for Wednesday's game against the Philadelphia Phillies.

DeJong was designated for assignment by the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday.

The Blue Jays acquired DeJong from the St. Louis Cardinals prior to the trade deadline on Aug. 1. He only recorded three hits in 44 at-bats in Toronto before being designated for assignment.

Shortstop has been a significant problem position for the Giants all season. They've hit a collective .229/.285/.352 with 11 homers and 53 RBI in 125 games.

San Francisco's shortstops have 0.7 FanGraphs' wins above replacement, tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the seventh-lowest total among all teams.

Brandon Crawford has been the Giants' primary shortstop, but he was placed on the injured list for the third time this season on Sunday due to a strained forearm. Johan Camargo has started each of the past three games with Crawford out.

DeJong hit .233/.297/.412 with 13 homers and 33 RBI in 279 at-bats with the Cardinals this season before he was traded. He finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2017 and was named to the All-Star team in 2019.

The Giants have lost seven of their last 10 games and are 16-19 since the All-Star break. They are still in control of a playoff spot with a 65-60 overall record, but they only lead the Arizona Diamondbacks by 0.5 games for the NL's final wild card position.

The San Francisco Giants are calling up left-handed starting pitcher Kyle Harrison, who currently ranks as the team's top prospect and No. 20 overall in baseball.

Robert Murray of FanSided broke the news on the 22-year-old, who is expected to pitch Tuesday at the Philadelphia Phillies.

Left-hander Kyle Harrison is being called up by the San Francisco Giants and is expected to pitch Tuesday in Philadelphia, according to sources familiar with the situation. Harrison is the Giants’ top prospect and regarded as their best pitching prospect since Madison Bumgarner.

— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) August 20, 2023

The Giants selected Harrison with a third-round choice in the 2020 MLB draft.

Harrison has torn through the minor leagues, notably posting a 14.6 K/9 rate along the way.

This season, Harrison has gone 1-3 with a 4.66 ERA (1.52 WHIP) in 20 starts for the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats. He's struck out 109 batters over 67.2 frames.

Harrison missed a little time with a strained hamstring, which Giants president Farhan Zaidi revealed to reporters on July 8.

However, Zaidi followed up on August 1 and said that Harrison was on an "accelerated rehab program," noting that he had already thrown a couple scoreless innings in Arizona for the Giants' rookie league club.

Farhan says Kyle Harrison is on an "accelerated rehab program" and could join the Giants soon 👀 pic.twitter.com/6LuKjVnUA6

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) August 2, 2023

Harrison returned to Sacramento on Aug. 5. He has made three starts since then, going 9.1 innings while allowing four earned runs and tossing 13 strikeouts.

Harrison will join a Giants team in desperate need of pitching with starters Anthony Desclafini and Ross Stripling on the 60- and 15-day injured lists, respectively.

He'll also get called up to a team that's in the middle of a tightly contested playoff race. The 64-59 Giants currently hold the second of three NL Wild Card spots, but four teams (the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Miami Marlins and Arizona Diamondbacks) are either tied or one half-game back of them in the standings.

So Harrison will be thrown into the fire right away, but he's a welcome sight for a team that needs more healthy and quality arms now.