MLB EXECS WEIGH IN: PREDICT Giants as FAVORITES to LAND Tatsuya Imai | J.T. Realmuto RUMORS

MLB EXECS WEIGH IN: PREDICT Giants as FAVORITES to LAND Tatsuya Imai | J.T. Realmuto RUMORS

MLB executives predict the Giants off season. Do they have the Gmen getting big names? Let’s find out 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. What’s up y’all? Welcome to Locked On Giants. My name is Alan Styles and it is part of the Locked On podcast network. Now because of great people like you, the number one sports podcast network. 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 at 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 talking about a survey that 16 MLB executives filled out and where the Giants fall as far as their off season. We are also discussing the possible interest that the Giants have in JT Riomuto. And last but not least, because I will be off tomorrow celebrating Thanksgiving. I know a lot of you will be as well. I hope a lot of you also have the day off. If not, our first responders and everyone like that. we appreciate what you do for us. But because of that, I wanted to have a little bit of fun at the end of this episode and discuss who is most likely to surprise in 2026. This is part one of a series that we’re going to do and this time it’s going to be internally and we’re talking about position players. So, I will reveal who I just can’t quit and who I still believe in could surprise us. Somebody that’s been hanging out with the Rivercats. That is what we’re going to talk about in the last segment. And as you can tell, I’m very excited about it. This 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. We are starting with an ESPN article where Jesse Rodgers was a part of this. They surveyed 16 MLB executives and they gave their thoughts on a lot of different things, but the Giants came up because they were talking about big names in the off season and whether or not the Giants will land them. So, I’m going to go through all of the questions that connected to the Giants and some that are connected by proxy as well. So, let’s start here. Execs voted on where big names will land. Some votes don’t have all 16 because they were allowed to skip whatever they wanted to skip. Obviously, these execs are in the no on what’s going on. So, these polls aren’t completely random. That’s why I think it’s kind of a big deal. Let’s start with the first question. Will Kyle Tucker get more than $400 million and who will give it to him? Survey says yes for six voters and no for 10 voters. So 10 voters and 10 Mo execs do not think that Kyle Tucker will get 400 mil, but six do think he will cross that threshold. Who will sign him? The New York Yankees with six votes, the Los Angeles Dodgers with four, of course, the Toronto Blue Jays with three, the Detroit Tigers with one, the Philadelphia Phillies with one, and the Orioles with one. The Giants did not get a vote there. The Giants did not get a vote. None of the 16 MLB execs thought the Giants would be in on Kyle Tucker. Let’s get to the next question. And again, that’s what the Giants have been telling us. They’re not trying to spend that money. So, I don’t know why we should be terribly surprised, but you never know, right? Just because they’re not on the list, maybe they are moving in silence a little bit. Where will the top three free agent starters with MLB experience sign? Notice how they specifically said with MLB experience survey says Frammber Valdez, five votes for the Blue Jays, four votes for the New York Mets, four votes for the Orioles, one vote for the Tigers, and one vote for the Astros. No Giants. I know a lot of you were not super thrilled with the Giants maybe going in that direction. These 16 MLB execs don’t think the Giants will go in that direction. Dylan CE survey says Mets with six votes. Blue Jays with three, Red Sox with two, Atlanta Braves with two, Chicago Cubs with one, and the San Francisco Giants with one vote. One MLB exec thought that the Giants would land Dylan Cece. Rangers Suarez, Red Sox four, Phillies four, Blue Jays three. We see a theme here. Braves two, Giants one vote. Again, I don’t know if it’s a different exact because obviously two different starters. maybe this exact thought. I I feel like the Giants are going to spend a little bit of cash here. So, there is one person that thought that the Giants would get Dylan CE, one person that thought that the Giants would get Ranger Suarez. And this is what Jesse Rogers also had to say. The usual suspects plus Toronto show up here. Most of these teams have been perennial favorites for Japanese players coming over to Major League Baseball for the first time. As we get into Ace Tatsuya Imayi, these teams are among those with a leg up on the rest of the competition as they’ve put time, money, and energy into recruiting in Japan. At 27 years old, Imi is the right age for a multi-year deal and should benefit from the success of others from Japan that came before him. Who will sign Japanese ace Tatsuya Imayi? survey says there’s a drum roll somewhere. Giants with five votes. They have the most votes out of any for Tatsuya Imi. Giants with five votes, Yankees with three, Dodgers with three, Cubs with two, Blue Jays with one, Padres’s with one. And here is the quote. The Giants have been in the hunt for a Japanese pitcher in the past. Pairing Immaya with Logan Web makes a ton of sense. That’s from a specific executive. Unsurprisingly, the Dodgers were tied for the second most votes as they have secured the top three Japanese free agents over the past two offseasons in Show Yamamoto and Sasaki. Dodgers, another said, seems like they have that market somewhat cornered. I hate hearing that. Chicago, who extended a qualifying offer to Japanese left-handers Shot Imaga this winter that was accepted, is also in the mix. The Cubs have already stated they need more pitching and they should have room even after Ianaga returned. Another exec said, “So, I don’t want to do the thing where I’m giving everyone hope, but it’s not me. This is what the execs are saying. They truly believe that the Giants have put in the work.” And it’s not necessarily, in my opinion, it’s not necessarily about the fact that the Giants have this connection and need a pitcher in MI. It’s the fact that execs are acknowledging what Buster Posi has told us that they went overseas that they’re trying to connect with those players and build a pipeline similar to what the Dodgers have. Execs are taking notice and they think that the Giants might get that return on their investment in the form of Tatsuya. So that’s huge to me. Obviously, we don’t know what’s going to happen, but I think that’s a I think that’s a big deal and I think that’s an important note here as we get into the off seasonason because even if they don’t get Tatsuya, the Giants are showing us, I guess, the new version and the new way of how they’re trying to do things. They go out and get Tony Vital, right? They’re trying to start their culture there. Tony Vital said he’s going to go to the Dominican. You got Buster Posie and Manassian going overseas to Japan to see what’s going on over there. So, a lot of things they are showing us to differentiate themselves from the regimes of the past. So, as much as you might feel annoyed when they sign Joey Wemer and things like that, just know that clearly they are making changes. So, this made me feel good. Cautiously optimistic. All right. Cautiously optimistic. But that was the big one in this article. The Giants, not overwhelming favorites. There’s only 16 execs, but the Giants favorites to land Imi. And a lot of people recognizing, a lot of execs recognizing, yeah, the Giants are trying to build up that pipeline and see what happens there. And you know, you can’t say no to Rafi Des, especially with the bad luck that the Giants have had in signing free agent hitters. So, you had to go that way. But who knows? They could have been in on Murakami as well if they weren’t able to to land layers when they were. So, I thought it was great stuff. Again, we don’t know what’s going to happen, but it is always good to see the Giants names. As everybody’s wondering, Allan, when are they going to spend money? It does seem like it’s headed in that direction, and hopefully that ends up being the case. Obviously, there’s a lot of a lot of things that have to work out here in regards to in regards to the Giants and is he actually going to turn down the Dodgers if the Dodgers do throw that deferred money at him? Who knows? But at least we know he don’t like the Dodgers or he wants to go up against the Dodgers and there’s a really good way to do that. So, a great week for the Immayi narrative, if you will. That is uh that those are the main parts that I wanted to share with you. One last one just on tar scubble. Uh most of the execs voted that they will play it out. The Tigers will there were 10 execs that said let it play out. Three that said trade him and zero said that the that the Tigers will sign extend him. That means that three execs did not vote on that and participate on that. Uh just a little little interesting on that one. All right, let’s get to the other side. And when we do, we are discussing an article from Ken Rosenthal and Jen McAffrey as they talk about the Giants possible connection to JT Realm Mutoo. But what does that mean for Gold Glover Patrick Bailey? It’s all coming up on Locked on Giants. 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 missed the start of the 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. I have to tell y’all about my favorite jeans, my doers. 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Acquiring another catcher is not among the socks top priorities, or so it has seemed, but the Red Sox are showing interest in JT Riomuto. According to people briefed on their discussions, acquiring another catcher is not among the socks top priorities, or so it has seemed. But the Red Sox are showing interest in JT Realmuto according to people briefed on their discussions. The usual caveats apply. It is early in free agency. Teams are touching base with a large number of players. The best guess with Ri Muto is that he will still resign with the Philadelphia Phillies with his team that he’s been with since 2019. The lure of another team would need to be strong. Rio Muto and his family own a home in Clearwater, Florida, site of the Phillies spring training facility and spent part of the off season there. The Phillies lacking an internal replacement for Rio Muto also are motivated to keep him. The Athletics Tim Britain projected Riuto will land a three-year $45 million contract. Earlier this off seasonason, The Athletics Matt Gelb noted Yadier Molina signed a three-year $60 million contract extension in April 2017, covering his 35 to 37 age seasons. The San Francisco Giants, here we go. The San Francisco Giants might be a better possibility. President of baseball operations, Buster Posey, a former catcher, surely understands Real Muto’s value, both tangible and intangible. Jeff Barry, a senior adviser in the front office, is both posies and Real Muto’s former agent. Giants catcher Patrick Bailey is the Giants top framer, or excuse me, the game’s top framer, but batted only 222 with a 602 OPS last season. If Real Muto lands with any team other than the Phillies, it will be a surprise. But quality catchers are scarce and Real Muto, even at an advanced age, even after a season of offensive decline, is the best available in free agency. So, I wanted to give you JT Riuto’s stats from 2025. 2.5 War, 502 at bats, 129 games, 12 home runs. His batting average was 257. 57 runs, 52 RBI’s, eight stolen bases. Yeah. He also netted out as the second fastest catcher in the league behind Shay Langalers. Take that for what it’s worth. A 315 on base percentage, a a 384 slugging, and his OPS was 700. So again, for his standards, if you look at his career, he hits 270 on his career. He has 180 home runs, 104 stolen bases, 677 RBI’s. His on base percentage for his career 328, his slugging 447, and his OPS 774. So that is a bit of a dip, but he’s 34 years old. My biggest question when it comes to JT Realm Muto is, okay, are you giving up on Patrick Bailey for a 34 year old? That’s my biggest confusion. Patrick Bailey is in his mid20s. He’s about to hit his prime and I don’t know is is 15 a year. If you’re giving JT Rio Muto that that $60 million contract, right, or over the three years, that’s 20 a year. Not even 15. That’s 20 a year. Are you signing that? Are you giving him that to be behind or to platoon with Patrick Bailey? that that doesn’t make a ton of sense to me. But obviously the other conversation would be, well, no, we’re moving on from Patrick Bailey, and you’re moving on for Patrick Bailey for somebody who’s 34 years old. That also doesn’t add up as well. So, I don’t know. I I get the agent connection for sure. It’s just what do you do with Patrick Bailey and giving up on somebody who’s gone backtoback gold gloves even with ABS on the way. That just seems off that that I don’t know that that seems like the Yeah. And it wasn’t 60 million. It was 45 million. That’s why I had 15 million in my mind. So it was it would be a little bit less than what Yadier Molina got back in 2017 for his age 35 to 37 season. So a little less than that. 15 million a year to platoon with Patrick Bailey. That just doesn’t seem like a a great a great use of your your dollars. Even though it’s not my money, a great use of your dollars. I like JT Riuto. I think he’s still got something in the tank. I think the Giants are just in a tough spot with Patrick Bailey. Right. If you’re going to move on from him, that’s fine. But to move on from him from somebody who is leaving his prime or already has left his prime, that is what I think the issue seems to be. So, you know, I completely understand the connection. I’m just not really sure why the Giants would move off of Patrick Bailey for this specific situation. I mean, call him make him 32. Make JT Ramuto 32 and we can talk. But 34, man, that’s as a catcher and I know he’s been durable. That’s a tough one though. That’s a tough sell to me. So, we’ll see what happens there. And even in the article, they don’t necessarily say what happens to Patrick Bailey. They don’t say, well, they would move off of Patrick Bailey or they would platoon. They didn’t even say that. They just said they got Patrick Bailey and he can’t hit right now. That’s what the article says. So, had to share that with you. I think it is something people would be torn on because I know a lot of you do want to move on from Patrick Bailey. I know a lot of you don’t, but do you want to move off of him from somebody for somebody who’s 34? That is the the biggest question to me and then sign him to a three-year deal. I don’t I don’t know about that one. All right, let’s have some fun. In the last segment, I will reveal who is my most likely to surprise in 2026. I got multiple, but I’m going to start with somebody that I just can’t quit. I don’t know why, and I can’t wait to to see and hear what y’all have to say about him and who you can’t quit either. One more segment with you. More Locked On Giants coming up. Thank you for making Locked On Giants your first listen of the day. And thank you for making the Locked On Sports Podcast Network the number one sports podcast network. All right, it’s just time to have a conversation. Who is most likely to surprise in 2026? And this is just part one, right? We’re going to have pitchers, we’re going to have external guys. We’re going to have internal guys. We’re going to have young guys. We’re going to have guys that haven’t debuted yet in Major League Baseball. But I’m keeping this one very classic, very clean. And the player that I am going to throw out there for most likely to surprise in 2026, I can’t quit him. And I know why I can’t quit him. And it’s because of what he did what, two years ago now. Tyler Fitzgerald, hear me out. Hear me out on this one. The flash that we saw, it wasn’t as small of a flash as you thought. He played in a decent amount of games. Okay. Uh in 20 what was that? 2024. Tyler Fitzgerald. We know how hard it is to uh to hit at the major league level. I don’t know why I don’t want to give up on him. That sophomore season is always tough. Everybody is paying attention to you. Now your expectations have changed. There’s a whole scouting report. I I I understand he didn’t have it, but in 2024, 15 home runs, 280 with an 831 OPS. He also had 17 stolen bases, and he hit home runs in five consecutive games. I can’t give up on him just yet. Here’s the other reason I won’t give up on him, and I mentioned this to y’all when the season was coming to a close. Tyler Fitzgerald when they pulled up Grant McCrae, you know where Tyler Fitzgerald was playing? Center field. Now, I do not think Tyler Fitzgerald is going to be the center fielder for the San Francisco Giants in 2026, but it speaks to his ability to play multiple positions, and I think that matters. You look at the Giants lineup right now. You look at the Giants roster. Yeah, you can move guys to the outfield and you can move guys around, but Tyler Fitzgerald can play second, can play short. He can play all around the infield and now they feel comfortable enough. I know it’s just Triple A, but they feel comfortable enough to put him in center field and see what he can do there. I can’t quit him. those memories that I have of him just doing his thing in 2024, I’m not ready to say goodbye yet. And he is my most likely to surprise in 2026 simply because number one, like I said, his ability to play other positions and number two, Casey Schmidt had a good season, but if you look around at who is going to have a chance to surprise, I think the outfielders are just going to be beating each other up all season long. that carousel and then they might bring in somebody another outfielder. So, it’s going to be hard for the guys like Grant McCrae and Luis Moss is out of options and they brought in Joey Weame. So, it’s going to be hard for the internal guys. Wayade Meckler is on the the roster still. It’s going to be hard for those guys to get time. I think that if Casey Schmidt doesn’t get off to a hot start, Tyler Fitzger and and and that is that is no disrespect to Christian CS because Christian CS would be next in line, but out of all the guys that we’re talking about, the only guy to perform at that high of a level, even with the hot streaks from Luis Moss and Drew Gilbert, even with those hot streaks, the only guy to do it at that level was Tyler Fitzgerald. And maybe it was a Jeremy Lynn streak. Maybe it was a random Jeremy Lynn stretch. Okay, it’s possible. But I’m still not ready to fully give up on that dude because he’s got defensive flexibility, positional flexibility, because he steals bags, he got great speed, and because he has popped from the right-handed side at Oracle Park. I’m not ready now. One more season because he did not hit well in Sacramento. By the way, it’s not like he he didn’t do the Luis Moss thing, the Luis Mtos cycle where he can’t hit with the Giants, then he goes down with the Rivercats and mashes, then gets pulled up. Tyler Fitzgerald was a complete mess. He was. So, I’m actually using that as a positive to possibly say it was so bad for Tyler Fitzgerald. he’d be a year removed from that crazy hot stretch that he was on that maybe going into next season, fresh mindset, got his mind right, and he can go into this with less expectations and feel a bit more comfortable. I mean, what he did, there was no way. We talk about it like a one-h hit wonder, right? certain musical artists when they have that huge hit and it’s hard to replicate it. It’s hard to duplicate it because it was just it was the right time, you release it in the summer, it was the right vibe, everybody was waiting for something and it’s all about timing and now they can’t do it again and they’re getting into the booth and they’re trying to do that again. I think that was Tyler Fitzgerald. He was trying to be that guy every time he stepped to the plate, even in Sacramento. And maybe a year removed from it, he can kind of relax a little bit, play a bit more free and say, “Hey, I’m just going to be me, right? I I am who I am. Yeah, I did what I did a couple years ago.” But he can more so because those expectations were unrealistic. He was homering in every game for five games straight. So, uh, that is where I’m at with Tyler Fitzgerald. And I get it, okay? A lot of people want to say Allan, he had his opportunity. And let’s just be clear here. All right. In 2025, he played in 72 games. It was not good. We don’t have to get into it, but it was not good. 217 batting average. He had four home runs. Think about that. He had more home runs in five games in 2024 than he had all season in 2025. Still managed to get nine bags and he wasn’t on base often. So, I’m telling you, he can help the run game on base percentage 278, slugging 327, OPS 606. We know it was bad. We know it was bad. But in 2024, do y’all realize he played in 96 games? Sometimes it it you remember it differently and it feels like maybe he only played in 30. He played in 96 games. 341 played appearances, 314 at bats. He had 280, 15 home runs, 34 RBI’s. He played in more games than you think. More games than you think. So, I guess he’s my guilty pleasure that I don’t want to give up yet. And we’ll see what happens this season. It’s going to be hard for him to get on the field. Don’t get me wrong. If Casey Schmidt does his job, we might not ever see him because you have Christian Cas waiting as well. So, I understand that. But for this segment, he’s my guy. I know a lot of people thought I’d probably say Drew Gilbert or Grant McCrae or somebody like that. That outfield is a mess. I’m staying away from that. But you got you got defensive flexibility. You got legit speed that we’ve seen him seal bases. Look, after this season, I’ll probably just throw my hands up, but you never know, man. We saw some greatness there. And I think it is there once he maybe gets his mind right if he gets the opportunity. First things first, you got to smash. You got to mash in Sacramento. That’s a hitter ballpark. That’s a hitters. That’s a hitter’s league. You have to. After you do that, let’s see what happens if you get your opportunity. Let me know who is your guilty pleasure, who you think is most likely to surprise in 2026. For part one, we’re doing internal internal. So, somebody on the River Cats, somebody that has maybe bounced back and forth, give me your name and we’ll go over them on the next show. Everyone enjoy your holiday if you have it off. If you don’t have it off, hey, keep working hard. I know payday’s got to be soon for some of you. Happy Thanksgiving. Happy Turkey Day. I hope everybody gets to enjoy some time with their family. I will be back on Friday to keep this conversation going and maybe by then something will have happened. Something will assign. I know the winter meetings that’s when a lot of it happens. But thank you so much for watching Locked on Giants. Thank you for listening to Locked on Giants. We will talk to you on Friday. Until then, peace.

MLB executives just revealed who they believe the Giants will actually land this offseason — and the results are eye-opening. Today we break down Jesse Rogers’ survey of 16 MLB executives and why the Giants were the top predicted destination for Japanese ace Tatsuya Imai, even beating out the Yankees and Dodgers. We go through the exec predictions on Framber Valdez, Dylan Cease, and Ranger Suárez, why the Giants only showed up once in that group, and what it says about their perceived willingness to spend. We also look at the latest buzz on JT Realmuto and why Buster Posey’s influence — plus his relationship with Realmuto’s former agent — makes San Francisco more of a player than people realize. Then we wrap with Part 1 of “Who might surprise us in 2026?” featuring Tyler Fitzgerald, a legitimate breakout candidate with rare athleticism, sneaky pop, and the versatility to survive the Giants’ overloaded outfield mix. Big episode with real insight into how the league views the Giants, who they’re targeting, and who could make an unexpected leap.

0:00 Secret Plan for Jung Hoo Lee
12:42 J.T. Realmuto Interest
19:39 Most likely to surprise in 2026 Pt. 1

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