ALERT: Bruce Bochy RETURNS to the Giants | Bonds gets ANOTHER SHOT at HOF | Pat Burrell also BACK

ALERT: Bruce Bochy RETURNS to the Giants | Bonds gets ANOTHER SHOT at HOF | Pat Burrell also BACK

Bruce Bochi is back. Pat Burl is back. And Barry Bonds has another chance at the Hall of Fame. It’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 Network. Your team every day. Hello and welcome to Locked On Giants, part of the Locked On podcast network where it’s your team every single day. My name is Alen Styles. 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, and I host a show at Sacktown Sports 1140, 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’re discussing Bruce Bochi returning to the Giants and another financial update by the way. Pat Burl returning to the Giants as well, but how? That’s really the question. And Barry Bonds getting another chance yet again at the Hall of Fame. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the app today. So Bruce Bochi is set to return to San Francisco. This is part of the Greg Johnson media tour that he’s been doing. This time uh he sat down with Susan Sleser of the San Francisco Chronicle and said as much. And this is from that article. The San Francisco Giants chairman indicated the team is formalizing an advisory position for three-time World Series champion manager Bruce Bochi. This comes as no surprise when Bochi stepped back from the Rangers after the season. The consensus was that he’d find a role with the Giants awaiting him. Now, with MLB newbie Vitello named the team’s manager, Butchie’s return carries even more significance beyond the symbolism. Vitello now will have two of San Francisco’s greatest managers Bochi and Dusty Baker available as mentors and Buster Posie entering his second year as a Giants top baseball executive will have his own former manager as a resource. So this is great stuff, right? I have no issues with this. I don’t know why anybody would have an issue with this. He’s not going to be a coach. He’s going to be upstairs in an advisor role and is just going to be there for Vitello any questions he may have. And this is what you have to do when you are hiring somebody that is lacking a bit of that specific uh experience, especially somebody that hasn’t even been around the major league game before. Some of these other guys that may not have been full-on managers, at least they may have maybe known how the game works or they were on benches, things like that. Velo doesn’t have any of that. So, get him as much help as possible if they’re willing to help. I’ve talked about how I’ve been lucky enough to meet Dusty Baker and to not hang out with him, but got to speak with him a little bit. So, having him around, having Bruce Bochi around, just two guys that very much so want to see the Giants succeed, want to be a part of that success and want to see Tony Vitello succeed. So, I think that is a great note uh to bring in and good on Buster, good on the Giants brass front office and ownership. just recognizing something fairly obvious. I think it was also just about what Bruce Bochi wanted to do. And I would say good on Bruce Bochi. Sometimes you got to know when to hold them. You got to know when to fold them. And you got to know when it’s time to walk away. And Bruce Bochi decided it was time to walk away from the manager part of the game. But that doesn’t mean you have to walk away forever. You know, you have some parents out there, some friends that they retire from their original jobs, but then they want to help out in their community and they want to do things to better their community and sometimes they want to do it for monetary reasons. Sometimes they just want to do it for the love of it and to make everybody uh better in that way. So, good on Bruce Bochi. I think it’s going to be great. I think they are really going to put together a heck of a staff and just a community, right? Uh there is a saying it takes a village when raising a child and things like that. Well, sometimes it can take a village to succeed and it definitely might take a village to beat that Dodgers team and not just the Dodgers team. I mean the Padres’s finished in front of uh the the Giants as well. So it might take a village just to win the NLS and to compete in the NL. So that was something that I really wanted to highlight. Let me know how you feel about it. I don’t know why anybody wouldn’t feel great about it. Unless you just wanted Bruce Bochi to be uh the the manager, but I don’t know that Boch wanted to be the manager. And me personally, when that all came out, if you are newer to the show, thank you for joining and listening and watching. But I did not want Bruce Bochi. I understood why they would go through the flow, but I was really I was really impressed with how Buster Posey just didn’t let it get that far. didn’t let things fester because immediately when the when their seasons ended, it was Bruce Bochi, the writing’s on the wall and you know, you can look at it like a a a boyfriend or a girlfriend that you may have had when you uh try to do it again, right? And I would say the batting average on running back old relationships probably isn’t that good, right? What happens is it starts out good for a couple months, maybe even a year, and then you remember, hey, this is why it didn’t work out. Now, with Bruce Bochi, obviously with Farhan not being at the helm and Buster Posey, maybe it would have been different. But my point is, sometimes it’s hard to rekindle what happened. And what happened back in those 2010s was so unique and so one of a kind. I just think it would have been really hard and honestly impossible to to replicate that and to duplicate that. So, I I think everybody wins here. Bo is still connected to the Giants. Fans win because he’s still connected to the Giants, but the Giants do get a new voice to kind of move into the next phase of what they want to do and who they want to be as an organization. One other note, as uh I mentioned at the top of the show, this was interesting and we’re going to break down this Q&A that he had with Susan Celeste. There is a ton of action here, but I did want to uh give you this because a lot of people were uh asking me about the the budget stuff and reacting to when he had the conversation earlier this week with John Sheay of the SF Standard. So, like I said, he’s doing his rounds. So, we are getting all the information from the rounds that he’s doing. So, Susan Celeleser asked this. Where do you see things going uh with the budget? That’s her initial question and he says there’s always flexibility. Right now it’s been reported we’re at around 185 million in that vicinity. We do know we’ve got to address some of the issues to strengthen the team and that’s our plan. I know you media guys don’t believe it but we don’t have a specific number that we look at. Uh we look at all the needs and how best to address them and depending on the player the opportunity we will raise that number. It really is dependent on whether it’s short form, uh, long-term. You don’t want to have six or seven players locked up together in the $25 million range for seven, eight years. You’re going to be in trouble down the road and not have that flexibility. Certainly, we have a lot less flexibility because of the investments we’ve made in the current infield group and Janghu Lee. And I’ll close it with this. Like I said, we’re going to continue to get into this throughout the week. Are you comfortable exceeding the luxury tax threshold? He says we’re comfortable doing that if it’s the right situation. What is the right situation? That is the million-dollar question. So, I wanted to make sure that I snuck that in for you. We’re going to break it down throughout the week here. And honestly, he probably has another uh media availability that’s coming out, too. So, a lot of this information we can kind of piece together like Sherlock Holmes what he’s trying to say because when you make yourself that available, number one, we all appreciate it. And number two, uh it allows us to take the common themes and and kind of run from there. When we return, something else that was brought up, and this was straight up from the person, not from a secondary or third party. Pat Burl is back with the San Francisco Giants. Cool. The interesting thing is he doesn’t know in what capacity. Little interesting. Let’s talk about it on the other side. More locked on Giants coming up. This episode is brought to you by Prize Picks. You and I make decisions every day. But on Prize Picks, being right can get you paid. Don’t miss on any of the excitement of this sports season. Whether you’re following the NFL, NBA, or both, there’s no better time to jump in on the action. If you haven’t tried it yet, prize picks is the simplest way to play. Just pick more or less on at least two player stats, and if you get them right, you win. 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They feel that way, too. Simply put, Derer makes the world’s most comfortable pants without sacrificing style. Once you try them, they’ll be your go-to pair. Trust me. And if you’re in San Francisco, check out Der store at 567 Hay Street. Pick up a pair for yourself or grab one as an amazing holiday gift. Mention my promo code locked on SF in store to get 15% off your first order or shop online at shopd.com/locktonsf for that same 15% off. That’s shopd.com/lockedonsf. Your new favorite jeans are waiting. So, this is very interesting as I’ve said a couple times already or fascinating, however you want to put it. Pat Burl said straight to Susan Sleser and this is what she said on X. Pat Burl tells me he is staying with the Giants or he’s not sure the role yet and has yet to talk to Tony Vitello, but he’s looking forward to whatever opportunity presents itself. He’s such a positive presence. He seems to be someone who’d click with Tony Vitello really well. So that’s and Susan Sleser was adding that bit at the end. That is the information that we’re getting from her. Apparently Pat Burl told her, “Yeah, I’m coming back in some capacity.” So to read the tea leaves for all of you that have been wondering, is Pat Burl going to continue to be the hitting coach because that did not go extremely well besides a couple stretches throughout the season. That does not seem to be the case. I I don’t think right. I can’t see a world where you haven’t talked to the manager, but you’re going to be on the staff. You’re going to be on the coaching staff, and you’re telling other people before you’ve talked to him. I I don’t I don’t see that. I would never call for someone’s job, and I will always appreciate Pat the Bat and what he did for the organization. For me as a fan, it somewhat clearly sounds like he won’t be the hitting coach. And it’s just kind of funny because, you know, this is what happens when you hire these legends and former champions. It’s really hard to let them go. And you don’t have to let them go. It’s also just really hard to let them go. I’ve said before they’re going to be coaches that Tony Vitello gets to choose. They’re going to be some that Buster Posey and others within the organization get to choose or at least will push to the front of the line. But the fact that Pat the Bat hasn’t even spoken to Tony yet makes me think he’s headed upstairs with Bruce Bochi uh and Dusty Baker in some sort of advisor role or he might be going back to the minor league ranks if he would want to do that. It would just be very random and weird for him to be uh outwardly publicly telling people because I’m sure Susan Slusser just like we all do get information that’s off the record. So, for this to be on the record and for uh Pat the Bat to not have an issue with her saying this out loud, it must have really nothing to do with the team. That’s how I’m taking it. That’s that’s how I’m taking it because I don’t know how else to take it. If he is going to be on the staff in whatever capacity and he’s telling Susan Sleser before talking to Tony Vital, who Tony Velo is doing his media run, I’m sure you you all have seen him. He’s been all over Bay Area radio stations. He also was on Busting with the Boys and that was outstanding. Everybody really liked it. And now Busting with the Boys, those guys are are Giants fans, too. He’s just so charismatic and you are are going to fall in love with him the second that he puts on that black and orange and it’s go time for the first game of the season. Heck, the first preseason uh game or spring training game, whatever the case may be. So, uh, that that aside, yeah, this Pat the bad stuff, I saw it and at first I was taken aback a little bit, but it has to be an advisor type situation. And I and I’ll say this about Pat Burl, there were times where and a hitting coach in general, I think it also goes to what the goal was, right? I’m not the type of person to put it all on one person and blame everything on one entity. Pat the bat and what he was saying. Obviously, he had been successful which got him to this position and the Giants really liked him. You know, there were some moments there that it’s one of those jobs that’s hard to separate what somebody is teaching versus what somebody is doing and who they are. If you have a Rafy Devers, any of these big money players, Rafy Devers, Willie Adamus, and Matt Chapman, right, and Jung Huli is an interesting case because he’s still getting used to the major leagues. But any of those guys, if they’re up to bat and they’re not getting a job done, and it’s man on third, no outs, whatever the case is, and they strike out or they get jammed and they don’t get that run home or things like that, I don’t necessarily know that that’s Pat Burl’s fault, right? I don’t necessarily know that that’s on Pat Burl for not working with Rafie Des enough. These guys make so much money. They’ve been doing it for so long. there is a line. So, I do wonder if it’s some of the developmental pieces, which is more so why or if it was just optics, you know, and if you have a team that struggles to hit, you got to get riding the hitting coach. But if you don’t actually think it’s really the hitting coach’s fault, you keep them around because you do value what that person does bring to the table. So to me the fact that they are going to keep him around even if it’s just as an adviser that signals that this was more so about the optics and I would say it’s the optics if we’re looking at it at as a pie chart I would say I don’t know 30% optics maybe 40% optics and the other part of that was the developmental maybe another big piece another 60% if you will would be the developmental piece which is really important for the and and look, Elliot Ramos has been hitting, right? The right fielder situation. I don’t know if they think that’s on him. If it’s the Tyler Fitzgerald thing, even though Casey Schmidt has been hitting, Bryce Eldridge just made his way up, so he shouldn’t count. And Patrick Bailey, we know that he’s struggled. Is he going to continue to switch hit? But I do think, you know, somebody’s got to pay for that. Uh, but I’m not putting, you know, Will and Willie Thomas ended up having a solid season. Rafie Divers obviously came over in that trade and Matt Chapman is Matt Chapman. So I’m not putting it all on Pat Barl, Pat Burl. Some of it is just Pat Barl as well. Uh some of it is just optics and you know just needing new voices and with all these young dudes coming up that that’s the more important piece of this with Tony Vitello and what they are creating and the system that they want to create and the culture that they want to create and hey this is how you know this is how we approach at bats and for everybody to kind of fall in line on that. That’s probably another piece of the pie chart. I don’t know what percentage we’re at now where it’s, hey, we have to move forward simply because we are trying to refresh this thing. So Pat, we’re not even sure if it’s fully your fault. Some of it is because that’s just how it goes. Some of it isn’t, but that’s also how it goes. But we got to move on because uh we have to try something new and we have some new young bats on the way up. So we’ll we’ll take you from there. Uh, by the way, speaking of new bats, I know I talked about him uh last last week or what was it earlier this week? Parks Harbor. He is participating in the Arizona Fall League uh home run derby because he has been crushing it. A couple more home runs to add to his already solid resume in the Arizona Fall League. So, just a quick note on that. You can go check that out. I think I saw it on uh minor league or pipeline or major league pipeline, something like that. MLB prospect pipeline I think is what it is. So you can go check that out and obviously if he does win it, we will be talking about it here on this show. But shout out Pat the bat. We love him. And it didn’t work out, but he’s still going to stay within the organization. In what capacity? I guess we’ll find out one more segment with you when we return. Barry Bonds has yet another chance at the Hall of Fame. We’ll explain to you how that is and if his time is actually running out for real this time. More Lockdown Giants coming up. The NBA is back and there’s no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of a game or want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team’s making that late push. Right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So, head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. So Barry Bonds is getting yet another chance at the Hall of Fame, as well as Jeff Kent, by the way, to former Giants great. So a couple of guys that haven’t got in yet. Uh they will have an opportunity to get in and there will be eight players who will be considered for the 2026 Hall of Fame class. and they are going to be considered through the contemporary baseball era ballot. So, what the heck is that and how does it differ from the BBWA ballot? Got some great questions. So, I got some answers for you. The National Baseball Hall of Fame created something called the ERAS Committee, which was previously known as the Veterans Committee to essentially re-evaluate the Hall of Fame cases of players who fall off the BB WAA ballot. And this is from Yahoo Sports, by the way. The eras committee considers three separate ballots. The contemporary baseball era/players ballot, which includes players from 1980 to present day. the classic baseball era, which consists of players pre-1980 and includes the Negro Leagues and Pre-Negro League stars and the contemporary baseball era managers, executives, uh, umpires, that ballot, which includes non-players who made a major impact on the sport from 1980 to present day. The ERAs committee votes on one of those ballots per year, rotating among the three. After three years, the cycle resets for the class of 2026, which will be voted on in 2025. It was a contemporary baseball era players ballot turn to be up to vote. The eras committee is made up of 16 people. Okay. The panel includes members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, executives and veteran media members. That does not sound good for Barry Bonds. Per the Hall of Fame’s website, candidates need 75% of the votes from that 16 person panel to be inducted into the baseball uh hall of fame, the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Now, this is from the this is from the athletic. Kurt Schilling, Raphael Pomero, and Albert Bell are not on the contemporary ballot this time after appearing on it in 2022 when the committee unanimously elected Fred McGriff. So Fred McGriff did get in this way. Other players who have been on past era committee ballots but not on this one, Dwight Evans, Steve Garvey, Lou Whitaker, Will Clark, Oral Hershiser, and Mark Maguire. This is a very interesting note. All right. Starting this year, any candidate on the ballot who does not receive at least five votes will not be eligible for the ballot during the next three-year cycle. Additionally, any candidate who doesn’t receive at least five votes on multiple appearances on ERA committee ballots will not be available for future ballots. And that is that is a big deal because if Barry Bonds if he doesn’t get if he does not get in or get that amount of votes then he won’t be able to even be around the next time it it comes through if that makes sense. So that is something new. I guess normally they would vote to be able to vote on someone regardless of whether they would be able to continue on or not. So, it’s Roger Clemens as well. I guess I’m burying the lead there. They’re joined by Carlos Delgado, like I mentioned, Jeff Kent, Don Mattingley, Dale Murphy, Gary Sheffield, and Fernando Valaduela. And like I said, you’re now going to have to get a certain number of votes to be able to make it to the next cycle. And I guess you’re just trying to wait it out, right? So if you’re wondering, well Allan, what did Barry Bonds get on the previous uh the previous goround for this era committee? Bonds and Clemens might be the biggest names on the ballot, but their chances of making the National Baseball Hall of Fame are probably slim. Both players were up for induction as part of the 2023 class on the same ballot and each received fewer than four votes from the 16 person panel. And remember, you need 75%. So, I think what they’re saying now is if you aren’t able to get to that 5%, we’re just going to stop putting you on the ballot. And I think it’s I just said it’s twice. So, I don’t believe they’re counting this previous goround where they both got fewer than four. I believe that starts now because all of the all of the articles would be saying, “Hey, this is Barry Bond’s last chance or they’re he’s no longer going to be considered as well as Roger Clemen.” So, I think that’s a new rule. So, if Barry does not get the does not get to that five mark this time, then in 20 what 2028, if he doesn’t do it again, I think at that point the book is finally closed. And I know people, especially if you’re a Giants fan, it’s polarizing everywhere. Some people think that he should just get an exhibit, think that he should have some type of asterisk. It’s crazy that his stuff is already in Coopertown as far as his helmet and other memorabilia, but obviously he is not in the hall. I don’t need to go over everything that Barry Bonds has done for the game. I honestly think that this World Series and funny enough as a lot of people are uh lamenting and in awe of what show Otani has done. I think that’s kind of rebrought up what Barry Bonds did and what he did before the allegations as well because every time you saw a show Otani and obviously show Otani is unreal and every time you saw a show Otani list that he was on majority of the time Shi Otani was behind one person right when you’re watching each round of the playoffs he was either behind one person or tied one person or maybe beat one person and that person was Barry Bonds. it was. So, you know, I think that he should be in. There’s so many uh issues that I won’t get into right now with the hall and who’s already in and how sticky the situation has been. I I think he should be in and you know the the conversation like I said I don’t want to get into it but just what he had done before the allegations and everything that went down and just how that rabbit hole is just so deep and so mucked up that it is yeah it’s pretty confusing but in closing it doesn’t sound great for Barry whenever I see the veteran media members so the same people that didn’t put him in the first time it kind of sounds like and a couple Hall of Famers as well. Doesn’t sound great, but if he can hang around, I don’t know if they’re going to put a limit if he’s hitting that five vote mark. It did start to get better for Barry towards the later years when he was getting when he was getting votes. Obviously, it wasn’t enough when he was still doing the initial version of the hall. So, if he can hang around and maybe they filter in some other quote unquote vet uh vet media members, maybe he’s got a chance. But I don’t know that he’s holding his breath at this point or any Giants fan or any baseball fan uh that believes that he should be in. So that’s just what it is. Wanted to give you an update there because I thought that was really fascinating uh to to see. Thank you for listening and watching Locked on Giants. Be sure to follow me on social media at the Styles Files Styles with an I. We will talk to you tomorrow. It’s a little dreary out here in Sacramento, so I I don’t know how the weather is wherever you’re at, but hopefully you’re staying dry. I know the tides are changing. I’m such a summer guy, man. I love the spring. I was born in the spring, but I’m such a summer guy as well. And we are about to hit the real deal fall and winter. So, be sure to stay warm and stay dry. We will talk to you tomorrow. Until then, peace.

Bruce Bochy is coming home. The legendary Giants manager is set to return to San Francisco as an advisor, reuniting with Buster Posey and joining Dusty Baker as a mentor for new skipper Tony Vitello. What does this mean for the franchise’s culture shift — and Vitello’s transition from college to the big leagues? Plus, Greg Johnson clarifies the team’s spending philosophy, saying the Giants are comfortable exceeding the luxury tax if the right opportunity arises. Pat Burrell’s future with the organization remains uncertain, and Barry Bonds is back in the Hall of Fame conversation through the Contemporary Era ballot. A loaded episode filled with nostalgia, front office insight, and another offseason turning point for the Giants.

0:00 Bruce Bochy is BACK
11:51 Pat Burrell is…back?
20:39 Another HOF chance for Barry Bonds

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