CRITICAL: Giants NEED to add Antoan Richardson to Vitello’s staff | EMBRACING Positionless Baseball

CRITICAL: Giants NEED to add Antoan Richardson to Vitello’s staff | EMBRACING Positionless Baseball

Should the Giants bring back coach Antoine Richardson adopting positionless baseball and some crazy realignment theories when it comes to MLB? That’s all coming up on Locked on Giants. [Music] You are Locked on Giants, your daily San Francisco Giants podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. Hello and welcome to Locked On Giants, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, where it’s your team every single day. My name is Alen Sal. On the show, we provide daily episodes Monday through Friday talking about the San Francisco Giants in a way that combines passion, analytics with the eye test, and a little bit of fun. I’m from the Bay Area, but I live in Sacramento now. I also host a show at Sacktown Sports 11:40, the Allen South Show, 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Be sure to check that out, as well as MCing Sacramento Rivercats games. All in all, I’m lucky enough to cover a team I’ve been a fan of all my life. Today we are discussing the possible return of Antoine Richardson adopting positionless baseball and what that means and some crazy realignment suggestions as the uh Major League Baseball thought process starts to expand. This episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Let’s just make it very very simple. Uh the Giants need to bring back Antoine Richardson. Who is Antoine Richardson? If you are not aware, he was with the Gabe Kappler regime. He was the first base coach and he went over to the Mets and things are not working out with the Mets. Okay? He’s known as a people person and can get the Giants back on track where it comes to one of the worst statistics that the Giants have had over the last couple years and that’s stolen bases. This is from Yahoo Sports. The Mets and Antoine Richardson were unable to reach a deal on a new contract and the first base coach is now expected to depart the club according to a report Monday from ESPN’s Jeff Passen. Richardson joined the Mets soon after Carlos Mendoza was hired as a manager in 2023. He previously served as a first base coach in San Francisco. That was from 2019 to 2023. During his time in Queens, Richardson was lauded for his work with the Mets base runners, helping the club set a record of 39 stolen bases in a row without getting caught and assisting Juan Sto to tie for first in the NL with 38 seals in 2025. This is from Juan Sto himself. We’ve put in a lot of work since the beginning of the season, uh, Sodto said after becoming the fifth Met in the 3030 club, Antoine did an unbelievable job. He’s been helping me since day one. So, I think I give him all the credit. He’s the one who put me in this situation and in this spot to do what I’ve done. Then you have this from KBR. So, I pulled this. This is from when they moved on from Antoine Richardson. Just to give you some background, the Giants coaching staff under Bob Melvin is already getting filled out and it won’t include Antoine Richardson. Richardson, who is known to be the first Bahamian MLB coach, told cambbr.com that he won’t be with the Giants in 2024. He had worked in the organization again since 2019 and was San Francisco’s first base coach for the past four seasons. Richardson was well regarded within the team, particularly for his ability to connect with players. Before serving as first base coach, he worked as the organization’s minor league outfield coordinator and a field coordinator. In his first base coach role, Richardson was also responsible for coaching the outfielders. He had played outfit for 12 years professionally, logging 22 MLB games for the Yankees and Braves. So that’s a bit of Anwine Richardson’s background. And it’s pretty simple. The Giants are second to last. They were behind the Tigers when it comes to stolen bases. The difference is the Tigers, they were top 10. They were number 10, but the Tigers were top 10 in home runs. And the Giants, I believe, were 19th. They were, they were not top 10, I’ll tell you that much. Yeah, the Giants were 19th. So, this is something that a lot of people have sent comments to me. I’ve actually got some DMs on Instagram and I appreciate it. If you ever have any questions, uh, be sure to to reach out and not necessarily going to give you a shout out cuz I don’t know if you want your name on here, but I really do appreciate it. If you don’t mind, let me know and I can give you a shout out. But, uh, there have been a number of people reach out to me and say, Allan, you talk about stealing bases all the time. You talk about, you know, being able to being more old school and putting pressure on the defense. What’s up with the Giants? What’s your take on the Giants and their lack of stolen bases? And I don’t even think the speed is an issue. You know what’s weird is the Giants have a bunch of and and major league baseball is just weird right now when it comes to someone bases. I was watching the game and and we’ll talk about the World Series because man, it was insane. Okay, Smurfs or no Smurfs. That was incredible baseball. It just was it it pains me, but it was incredible baseball. We will talk about it here in the next segment as we talk about a positionless baseball because that’s what got me onto it. But I was watching and Dalton Vshow was on first base and he’s their center fielder, the Blue Jay center fielder. He had some ridiculously low amount of stolen bases. And it just doesn’t really compute to me that these positions that these guys play back in my day, if you were a center fielder, you sold bases, right? There were certain positions where you didn’t know, but if you were a center fielder, you stole bases. A lot of times, if you were a shortstop, you stole bases. Unless you were a power hitter uh in left field, you would probably be stealing some bases second base. And none of these guys steal bases anymore. I I do think it’s a bit of an epidemic, but uh the the Giants in particular, they’ve been bad for years at this, just bad for years. Uh number one on this list, and let’s just go through as far as who made the playoffs and who didn’t. So, we know Chandler Simpson is a complete stud. Uh and he’s the fastest guy in Major League Baseball. The Rays came in at number one with 194 solen bases. You know how many stolen bases the Giants had? 68 68. That is so bad. It is so bad. So, the Rays didn’t make the playoffs. That’s fine. But after that, the Brewers number two, they made the playoffs. The Cubs number three, they made the playoffs. The Mariners tied with the Cubs, they made the playoffs. The Mets did not. We just talked about that. Uh the Red Sox, they made the playoffs. The Marlins did not. The Yankees at number eight. You got the Yankees sealing bases now at number eight. Uh, the Rangers, no. Nationals, no. Guardians, yes, at 11. Phillies, yes. And yeah, we’ll stop there at number 12. So, I mean, it’s a decent mix, but majority of those teams made the playoffs. It’s just it gives you a different look. And Antoine Richardson is a guy I mean, if you told me, and I’m not trying to do the back in my day thing. If you told me there was only so many pickoffs in an at bat and you all you had to do was convince the pitcher to pick off and then you literally don’t have to worry about it. How in the world are you not stealing more bases nowadays? Like I was looking at Drew Gilbert’s stats from Tennessee and it was pretty insane because Drew Gilbert is my height. Drew Gilbert is 5’9. He he he how he went in the first round is still astounding to me. But Drew Gilbert, his senior year, I think he had 11 home runs. He had 360, something like that. A ton of RBI’s, don’t get me wrong. Plays a great center field. He had like six stolen bases. He did not steal bases like that. I think he had double digits once at Tennessee. So, these are guys, and we can go back to the Jean Julies as well. You have to you have to evolve. If Drew Gilbert wants to be in the league, he’s going to have to learn how to steal bases. If Jung Hu Lee wants to continue to make the money like he makes, he’s gonna have to steal bases. Elliot Ramos, I know his speed isn’t like the other guys, but I think you’re you can do enough to to get on the base pass and and wreak some havoc. And we know, look, Tyler Tyler Richardson, obviously he just can’t hit right now, but we know what he can do. I know Christian Cas will will do some things as well, but these guys got to they got to put pressure on the defense because that is winning baseball. And as I just illustrated, that’s playoff baseball. Speaking of playoff baseball, let’s talk about positionless baseball and why that’s so important to get into the playoffs and to be successful in the playoffs. I’m really excited for this segment because I’ve been on this for years and the Giants have been going in the opposite direction. Don’t move. More locked on Giants coming up. The NFL season is back and honestly, there’s nothing better than being in the stadium surrounded by fans cheering on your team. But let’s be honest, getting tickets can be a hassle. Between cues, login screens, and prices jumping at checkout, it’s frustrating. That’s why I use Game Time, the app that gives the advantage back to fans. It’s fast, easy, and backed by the Game Time guarantee. You’ll always get 100% authentic tickets delivered on time and at the best price. Plus, all fees are included, so the price you see is the price you pay. I pulled up Game Time and in just a couple taps, I saw amazing deals. I’m talking about your favorite NFL games as low as $100. The app made it super simple. I can even see the exact view from my seat before buying. And I love zone deals. Pick the section Game Time picks the seats and you save big. Honestly, it’s faster, cheaper, and less stressful than any other way I’ve bought tickets. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, that’s promo code locked on MLB. L O C K E D O N ML LB for $20 off. Swipe tap ticket. Go download Game Time today. I can’t wait to talk about positionless baseball. And this is a very difficult episode for me because I’m going to have to give the Dodgers kudos multiple times. They won one of the most incredible World Series games and we knew they were going to win, right? I mean, Freddy Freeman, he’s done it before and they just continued to uh just push push push and the Blue Jays could not get a hit at all. They could not do they couldn’t do anything. So, we knew that that was going to be the case and the Dodgers get it done. That aside, good for them. Hopefully, the Blue Jays just get one, get it back to Toronto and we’ll see what happens there. That aside, I wanted to talk about the Giants uh and their lack of positionless baseball as it pertains to their roster, their current roster, and who they could bring in. Let’s take a look again at the at the Dodgers. Mookie Betts goes from a gold glove right fielder to one of the best shorts stops in the league defensively. Now, hitting wise, Mookie’s been struggling, and I know he finally got a hit. I one for eight or something like that. But defensively, he’s been incredible to see that flip. Mookie, I got to be honest, one of my favorite players. Like I said, smaller guy to make it in the league doing what he’s doing, but he’s a Dodger now. So, that’s uh it’s pretty sad sad day. It was a sad day for me when that happened. But Mookie Betts moves from right field to shortstop. One of the most random and somehow underrated uh feats in in Major League Baseball to to accomplish that. Max Muny can play every infield position besides shortstop. Kik Hernandez who is somehow the ageless wonder and doesn’t matter what else happens with the Dodgers, he is on that roster every single season. Kik can play essentially every position besides catcher and pitcher. So you have him as well. Uh you have Tommy Edmond. Last night, Tommy Edmond moved from second base to center field in the World Series and then made a pretty impressive catch out there. So, that’s Tommy Edmond. Then you have Shi, who show at some point, depending on what they decide to do, could go back to playing in the field, right? He could go to first base. He could go to right field if they wanted to. They don’t have to, but if they wanted to. They’ve been doing this forever since the Chris Taylor, right? Like we’ve talked about, Kik was on those previous teams. The Dodgers have been pioneers in this. And I hate to say it, but they have. And other teams have adopted it because a game like last night, you see it front center. They can make so many moves and hang around, hang around, hang around, and literally play two baseball games, but not lose. and the Blue Jays lost uh Springer, which was terrible, but they can make it all the way through 18 innings and not lose much defensively because of how dynamic and how flexible their roster is. And the Giants, they do not have that. Matt Chapman plays third, that’s fine. Willie Adamus, I’m sure, could play second or third, but he’s a shortstop. Uh they’ve already moved the whole uh the whole drama with Rafi Des that was more so in Boston, but Rafie Des plays first. I I mean in my mind, could Rafie play second if needed? Probably, but I don’t know if they want to go down that path. That’s something I I would like to talk about in the summer, but they want him to play first and go back and forth with uh with our guy Bryce Eldridge because one’s lefty, one’s righty. Okay, I’m f I’m fine with that for now. Uh Bryce and then you have uh let and then you have the outfield Elliot Ramos. I don’t think he can play right field at Oracle Park. He’s a left fielder. Jung Hale, I think he could play all three positions. That’s fine. And then right field, the Giants don’t have a starting right fielder. When it comes to Casey Schmidt, Casey Schmidt can play all all four. So you you don’t you’re not really going to see Casey Schmidt at shortstop like that. But you know, similar to Max, he can play all three. probably keep him away from shortstop. So that’s not as dynamic. I don’t think anybody’s as dynamic as the Dodgers, but that is not as dynamic as it needs to be. And that is why I if Tyler I think I might have called him Tyler Richardson earlier, Tyler Fitzgerald, if Tyler Fitzgerald was able to figure out the hitting, he’d he’d be an incredible asset because he can legitimately play every position on the field. But you know, as my old coach used to say, you cannot steal cannot steal first. And that’s the issue with Tyler Fitzgerald. Right now, when it comes to Christian CS, and somebody in the chat or in the comments yesterday said, Allan, you’re going to talk about Christian CS. I think he he could have a shot at doing something. Look, starting wise, I just don’t see him starting at the beginning of the season. I think he’s an incredible asset because again he can play you’re not gonna have him at first because you got too many but he can play all three infield positions and he probably could play outfield if you put an outfield glove in his hand. So Christian Cost to me is very valuable and you know he’s just going to I mean he kind of does remind me of Chris Taylor. He he does he can be that guy for the Giants kind of a spot starter. He gets hot you give him a stretch and he can play wherever you need. So, Christian Cost to me is is pretty darn valuable. And as far as trades go, I think he’s one of those positions where when it comes to his value with other teams, probably just more valuable to keep him than to throw him in as a sweetener or whatever in a trade. So, I think Christian C is extremely valuable with the guys that are coming up. I mean, you know, Drew Gilbert, he’s an he’s an outfielder. He can play all three outfield positions. Grant McCrae, he can play all three outfield positions, but not a ton of guys that can do what the Dodgers can do. And you start to look at and and you know, part of this is why pulling up infielders uh is important because I know I talked about Mookie, but that’s so random. You just don’t typically see that a lot. But when you pull up these infielders, it’s always easy. That’s why as a primary outfielder, it was it was rough. a lefty outfielder, you have to be on your P’s and Q’s because somebody is always coming for your spot and there is nowhere for you to go. Especially if you are not big enough to play first base, there ain’t nowhere for you to go. So, if you’re able to pull up these these infielders and these infielders are the ones that are balling out for you, it gives you a lot more flexibility because similar to like I said, Tyler Fitzgerald, you can move them to the outfield if need be. Right. There was a guy, the guy I talked about yesterday from Hawaii. He ended up I I ended up battling with him and he was a shortstop, but he was hitting, I was not. And the coach said, “Hey, we’re going to we’re going to try him out in the outfield.” Now, eventually things worked itself out and he got back into the infield and I got back on the field. But that’s what it is with infielders. You know, there just a level of flexibility there. And I’m not saying to prioritize pulling up infielders, but I am saying guys that can play multiple positions, if you can check off that infield box, it is easier to check off that outfield box. And a guy like Elliot Ramos, it it’s just tough sledding. And a lot of people said, Allan, he was the first homegrown all-star in so long. I’m not trying to move him. Th this is just the the reality of it. I mean, Elliot Ramos to me, you you can look at the Dodgers lineup and they have guys that can’t do much uh defensively. The difference is just how good they are offensively. So, that’s why this upcoming season is so important for Elliot Ramos to see if he’s going to take that next step. Like, Tayscar Hernandez is awful on defense. They got to sub him out at the end of games and we didn’t see that. We saw that a little bit with Elliot Ramos, but there just wasn’t a ton of situations where I think the Giants deem that necessary, but we did see it. You just when it comes to playoff baseball, late game baseball, you see it a ton. Tasker Hernandez is terrible in the outfield. You know, they’ll sub him out without even a moment’s notice. Now, they want to keep that bat in the lineup, so it makes it confusing, but Tayaska Hernandez has taken another leap. He got that big paycheck, taken another leap offensively. So if Elliot Ramos, he doesn’t have to be Tasks Hernandez, but be similar to that, then yeah, you’ll you’ll work your way around it because as I said yesterday, hitting is so important. I mean, it’s right there with defense, of course. And you obviously the guys can do much of the both are the guys that can play for years. And if Tyler Fitzgerald learned how to hit again or remember how to hit again, that dude would play for 10 years in the league, maybe 15. So, as the Giants start to pull up some of these guys, as the Giants look to, and if you’re going to go get a Kyle Tucker, then fine. I mean, that is your cornerstone outfielder for the next five, whatever amount of years you side him for, that’s fine. There were conversations about Bryce Harper that I was having on X and somebody said, Allan, cuz I said, I don’t know that Bryce wants to play the outfield again. I mean, it’s been tough enough for him to stay healthy playing the infield and playing first base. Somebody said Bryce said he’d be willing to play the outfield. Okay. I mean, you know, that’s just not that high on my priority list right now. And I love Bryce. I played him. Humble brag. And we beat them. Then they beat us. But, uh, yeah, it it just a lot of it’s just too much redundancy. And the Giants have to find a way to add more guys that are flexible and more dynamic when it comes to this lineup because this is where baseball’s been going. And the Dodgers have been all over it. and the Giants have not. One more segment with you. Let’s discuss this crazy. You’re going to have some fun crazy Major League Baseball realignment and what it would mean as far as ending some really interesting rivalries. This is probably going to annoy you because it annoyed me, too. But you’re going to want to listen and you’re going to want to watch. Locked on Giants. We’ll be right back. So, I saw this. It was from Fox Sports. Okay. And obviously with the idea of uh with the idea of Major League Baseball expanding depending on where that new team on the east and new team on the west goes. There’s conversation about Charlotte. There’s conversation about uh Portland, Sacramento, uh Utah, Salt Lake City. So, a lot of different conversations. I came across this and it was just so crazy to even process that I wanted to share it with you. So, this is what Fox Sports says the realignment could look like uh if they went through with it and did it this way. So, you would have four divisions in each. You would have the NL Midwest, the NL Central, the NL Southwest, the NL Northwest. In the east, you would have the AL Northeast, the AL Mid-Atlantic, and the AL Great Lakes, and the AL Southeast. So, I’m just going to tease you with some of the uh the AL stuff before we get to the NL because obviously uh you you you’re not going to want to you’re not going to want to hear this, I don’t know. I don’t think. But, uh the AL Northeast, they would keep together the Red Sox. It would be, this actually would be a crazy division and I would be okay with it. It would be a complete bloodbath, but I would be okay with it. The Yankees, the Mets, the Red Sox, and the Phillies. That’s crazy. That’s crazy. So that would be the AL Northeast, uh the AL Mid-Atlantic, Orioles, Nationals, Pirates and Guardians, the Great Lakes, the Twins, the Tigers, the Brewers, the Blue Jays, and the AL Southeast, the Braves, the Marlins, the Rays, and then they’re saying that a team would probably go to Charlotte, so they would be there. All right, now let’s get to the National League and uh see what you think. the NL Midwest, the Cubs, the White Socks, the Cardinals, and the Reds. So, the White Socks would now be in the NL. Yeah. And I guess I glossed over the Phillies and Mets would be in the AL now, which is crazy. Along with the Pirates, the Nationals, the Brewers, the uh Marlins, and the Braves. So, that is crazy. NL Midwest, uh, the Cubs, the White Socks, the Cardinals, and the Reds, not too crazy. The NL Central, the Rockies, the Royals, the Rangers, and the Astros. So, the AL West would be destroyed. Uh, this is where it starts to get fun. The NL Southwest, the Dodgers, the Padres’s, the Angels, and the Diamondbacks. Okay. I mean, the three SoCal teams just battling it out. I don’t mind that. And the And good luck to the Angels down there. The NL Northwest. Here it is. Drum roll, please. If you’re watching or in your car, wherever you are listening to this, the Mariners, the A’s, the Giants, and then they’re putting the Portland team in there. So, the NL Northwest would be the new division in this potential MLB realignment. Uh, the Giants would be in a division with the A’s who are going to be going to Vegas at some point. We think the Mariners and they’re saying Portland would get the team if Salt Lake got the team. It would be same thing. That’s insane. And as much as I can’t stand the Dodgers, I don’t I It’s funny how there’s always that East Coast bias where they weren’t willing to move away. They gave the what was it? The NL Northeast. They gave them more uh uh rivalries to add on to it. They took away all the rivalries uh from the I just think that you can’t do that simply for that. We get it. Yankees, Red Sox would they would say that that’s untouchable. I would say Giants Dodgers is number two. And maybe I’m biased, but you can’t get rid of that rivalry. You cannot have the the Giants in a division with the Mariners, the A’s, and Portland or Salt Lake City. I’m not against if you have to do realignment. I’m against removing the greatest rivalry 1A, 1B with the with the Red Sox and Yankees. removing that from a divisional a divisional matchup. You can do that. You cannot do that. And I don’t think Major League Baseball would do it. This is just Fox Sports and I just want to have some fun because I saw it. I thought it was ridiculous. Uh it is ridiculous. But, you know, maybe maybe some of it could happen. I could see some of the moves being made. I don’t know if if you want to do I understand it’s just all based on location, but you got to find a way to sneak the Dodgers in there. You got to find a way to sneak the Dodgers there. I would you could uh bump the Astros to the Southwest to the NL Southwest. bump the the Dodgers to the NL Northwest, even though I know it would sound funny with the Dodgers being in the Northwest and then just kick the Mariners or the Portland team somewhere else or the A’s. Who knows with the A’s just move the A’s. Just do that. So, just wanted to have some fun with you. Pretty crazy stuff. Look, we are not talking about I’m not even saying the L word, right? In 2027, we are enjoying baseball right now. 2026 is going to be a great year. That’s all that that is all we are focused on right now. We will handle that if and when we we have to handle that. But a lot of updates coming from Major League Baseball. Thank you for watching Locked on Giants. Thank you for making Lock on Giants your first listen every day. Be sure to follow me on social media at the_SASFiles. SAS with an I. For your second listen, find the all night locked on Mo Game Night every game every night until a World Series champion is crowned. Get local analysis on a national scale. Find MLB game night on Lockdown MLB on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcast. We will talk to you tomorrow. Until then, peace.

The Giants need to make one of their smartest offseason moves yet — bringing back Antoan Richardson. The former first base coach was known for connecting with players and unlocking their potential on the basepaths, something San Francisco desperately needs after ranking near the bottom of MLB in steals last season. We dive into how Richardson helped transform the Mets’ baserunning game, what his return could mean under Tony Vitello’s leadership, and why it’s time for the Giants to fully embrace a more dynamic, positionless brand of baseball — just like their rivals down south. Plus, we react to a wild potential MLB realignment that could shake up the entire National League.

0:00 Bringing back Antoan Richardson
10:20 Adopting position-less baseball
20:35 MLB Realignment Theory

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