INTERNATIONAL FOOTPRINT: Giants COULD be IN on Imai Tatsuya AND Munetaka Murakami | Bailey vs. ABS

INTERNATIONAL FOOTPRINT: Giants COULD be IN on Imai Tatsuya AND Munetaka Murakami | Bailey vs. ABS

With the growing footprint of international prospects, are the Giants committing enough resources to be a part of that conversation? 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. What’s up y’all? I’m Alan Styles and welcome to Locked on Giants, part of the Locked On podcast network. Now the number one podcast network thanks to you. 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 11:40, the Allen Style Show, 10 a.m. 2 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 Giants approach to international prospects. We’re also going to talk about whether or not ABS can help Patrick Bailey. That’s right, when it comes to hitting. And last but not least, a player profile on Herelmi Maldonado. And there’s a specific reason we chose him today. 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, there’s been so much talk about the international prospects, specifically in Japan and areas like that with the Dodgers getting Yamamoto and and the other players that they’ve got, Sasaki, guys like that. And the Giants have been a part of that conversation a little bit. Obviously, you have uh the the league in Japan. You have the KBO. A lot of different opportunities for the Giants to be a part of the conversation. Then you have all the Latin American countries where the Giants have definitely tried to uh make their presence known as well and they did it like I said with the KBO with Young Hulie and they want to continue to do it. This is a conversation that Buster Posey had with NBC Sports Bay Area with Alex Pavvich and it gives kind of an insight into what they’re thinking and there’s some interesting notes in here uh moving forward. So, this is what Pavves had to write. Right-hander Tatsuya Imi is considered to be one of the top 10 players on the market and infielder Munitaka Murakami is right there with him. They could be joined by third baseman Kazuma Okamoto, right-hander Kona Takahashi, a Taiwanese right-hander Yosi Shu, and others. There are several former big league pitchers who had success in either Japan or South Korea, and are looking to come back, led by former Pittsburgh Pirate right-hander Cody Pon. So, I’m going to talk about him later in the week. I just wanted to give you a heads up there. Teams will even get another crack at Shota Imaga who came over in 2024 and just had his team option declined by the Chicago Cubs and infielder Hassang Kim who loomed as an obvious option for the Giants last year before they signed Willie Adamis. Here’s the quote from Buster. We most definitely want to have a presence there. Buster said on Giants talk last week. You can see the impact that Japanese players have had on teams. Really, I guess you can go back the last decade now. We know how important it is to try to land those guys and just how talented they are. Here is a good note from Buster. When I was over there, I was impressed with the pitching. The pitching didn’t feel like it was too too far behind. I say the hitting is probably a little behind still, but there are plenty of really good players. While the Giants have done a lot of work on Murakami over the years, most of that was before Posey traded for Raphael Devers, which gives them long-term starters at first and third base, obviously with Matt Chapman and Bryce Eldridge in the mix with Devers at first, uh, and a designated hitter. Some Giants people think Miraami can handle the outfield, but he’s expected to have plenty of big market suitors who can play him in the dirt. Imi stands out as the much cleaner fit this off season and he’s expected to be posted soon by the Cebu Lions opening a 45day window to negotiate with MLB teams. We’ve talked about him before 5’11.92 erra in Japan 178 strikeouts. He always has limited homers which I think is a huge reason the Giants are interested in him especially in Oracle Park. somebody that already limits homers, then you put him in Oracle Park. That’s a could be a match made in heaven, at least on paper. And in theory, he has dramatically cut his walk rate in recent years, pairing a splitter and slider with a fast ball that touches the upper 90s. Uh, one note that I thought was fascinating hearing how they spent a lot of time on Murakami is that they they decided to go with Devers even though he is the proven one. But then when you actually look at the contracts, Devs is really only going to be signed for about two more years. De Murakami based on the athletics projection for Murakami, they got Murakami going for 160 for six years. So Devers is making a little bit more for a little bit longer, which comes out to about 10 mil or something like that around there. But Devers is proven, right? and we know what he can do in this league. So, that’s essentially kind of what you’re paying for. Funny enough, the Red Sox are interested in Murakami. So, it’s just a cycle, man. It’s just a ridiculous cycle. But, yeah, they are interested in him because the needs that we’ve seen from the Red Sox is that they’re looking for a middle-ofthe-art order hitter since they decided to move on from theirs. But, we don’t need to go back down that rabbit hole. know how it went. As far as whether or not the Giants are doing enough, I do think they’re doing enough. Uh, also in the story, they mentioned that Buster, it was kind of eyebrow raising, and I don’t know if this is on purpose. I don’t know if Buster didn’t say anything uh to Pavs about it, but in the story they say that they went to uh they went overseas for about 5 days and they saw a lot of these guys play and they saw Imi pitch, but they don’t discuss what they thought. Maybe that’s on purpose because Buster knew this was coming out, but they have seen him pitch in per in person. They went out there and saw him. So, uh, you know, the way Buster made it seem and all of the research that maybe a lot of us weren’t aware they were already doing on Murakami until Devs, it came out that Devers was available, it feels like they’re doing enough. I think when you look at other teams like the Dodgers, look, you can do all the research you want, but if these other guys are getting offered more money, and I know they were huge into Yamamoto, and they essentially offered the same amount of money as Yamamoto, so maybe it’s a a matter of playing a little bit of catchup. To be honest with you, it kind of reminds me of the the content world that we’re in right now and how a lot of people didn’t want to go to YouTube just because, you know, if you’re from more of a traditional standpoint, if you’re on the radio, like I’m on the radio, but even people that are on the radio are realizing how things are evolving and they’re playing a a level of catchup. I think that that might be what’s happening with a lot of teams and teams like the Dodgers, they kind of saw what was coming and they were able to establish those relationships earlier. So, I don’t think the the Giants aren’t doing enough. I think they’re just maybe trying to establish the same relationships and trying to establish a culture uh that maybe the Dodgers already have because once you get one or two guys out there now, other players, they know that there’s a level of familiarity when they get out to LA because there are other guys that share their culture and even if it’s not exactly their culture, if they’re both from overseas or, you know, whatever the case may be, they uh they can I disconnect on that, you know. So, I think the Dodgers did a good job of that. Don’t want to talk too too good about the Dodgers. Don’t want to get in trouble, but uh the the Giants are doing it. I think other teams are on it as well. It’s just going to take time. It’s just going to take time. So, as far as I is concerned, I’m going to tell you right now, it really feels like I don’t want to jinx it, but a lot of the prognosticators and a lot of the projections that you see uh you see a guy like him connected to the Giants, I know that that is uh he is a player that the Giants are heavily heavily interested in because it does seem like a match made in heaven. But, I mean, the price tag is what it is. And like we talked about late last week, something’s got to give with what they’re saying and what they’re going to end up having to do. On the other side, everyone’s talking about how ABS will negatively affect Patrick Baileyy’s value as far as the catching is concerned, but what about hitting? Maybe he can focus up a little bit more on hitting and that can take his bat to the next level. Let’s talk about it. More locked on 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, I was thinking about this and how this subject came up is speaking of content creators, uh this guy, his name is Fuzzy. He is a huge content creator. He plays a lot of MLB The Show and has started to do some deep dives into players and things like that. And this is a breakdown that he had for Patrick Bailey. Now, before you roll your eyes, I’m with you. But I do feel like it brought up a conversation that might make a little bit of sense. So, uh, this is from Fuzzy. Again, you can check him out, uh, if you play MLB The Show. I’m not much of a gamer, but I know it’s huge. and he is a streamer pretty much a baseball focused streamer. Patrick Bailey his first 112 games last year. He hit 206 with two home runs and a 586 OPS. That is just that 586 OPS is crazy. Patrick Bailey his final 23 games last year 300 batting average four home runs and a 839 OPS. Fuzzy goes on to write, “One of the most gifted defensive catchers to ever walk planet Earth. Just casually figured out how to slug and I’m begging to see it again in 2026.” So, a lot of people dragged him for this. A lot of Giants fans dragged him for this because obviously the number one thing when it comes to evaluating baseball in general is sample sizes. and he’s completely ignored that there is a very large sample size and there is a not so large sample size. 112 games to 23 games. Fuzzy, that’s also just called a hot streak. That that is just called getting hot. We’ve seen players do it before and we have a lot of history right on on Patrick Bailey so far. So that’s not to say that I don’t want it to be the case. That’s not to say that I I don’t want you to be right. uh Mr. Fuzzy. But the reality is we’ve seen Patrick Bailey for a couple years now for his career. Uh he has had a thousand 1,136 at bats. He has 261 hits, 21 dingers. That’s good for 230 122 runs. Okay. 149 RBI’s, six stolen bases. His on base percentage is 287. His slugging percentage is 340. and his OPS is 626. That is his career, right? And let’s just talk about 2025 since he had it split out. 409 409 at bats, 91 hits, six home runs, 222 batting average, 47 runs, 55 RBI’s, one solen base. I feel like I remember that stolen base. 277 on base percentage, 325 slugging, 602 OPS. So his OPS was actually lower. Everything was lower, right? His batting average, his on base percentage, his slugging, and of course because of that, his OPS all lower. And his OPS plus was 73 for his career is 78. All lower. So I do think that maybe Fuzzy was looking for some clicks. And honestly, not even looking for clicks. I think he legitimately wants uh wants Patrick Bailey to to figure this hitting thing out as we all do. But that s sample size is not doing anything for me. But what it did raise in my head is whether or not the thought process, you know, I love the the inner workings of the athlete and you know when you talk about the the mental side of things. What it did make me think is is it possible that ABS might help Patrick Bailey? Now, the main thing we keep hearing about ABS is that it’s going to take away the ability for catchers uh to frame to frame pitches and to uh steal strikes, things like that. And I believe we were talking about this before and as many times as you get a challenge right, it just keeps going on and on and on. there’s no real limit which can affect uh somebody like Patrick Bailey cuz you keep stealing it, they keep challenging it, they keep getting it right. Well, you’re not getting anywhere. But hear me out on the mental side of things and and how he could be approaching this whole thing. The reality is he knows what it is, right? And maybe there is a level of you don’t have that same and I’m not saying he hasn’t been focused but when you know you are a defensive catcher the level of intensity or or whatever you want to call it when it comes to hitting might not be as such because hey I got to make sure that my framing is right. I got to make sure that everything that the team needs of me I do correctly. when you take away and what I will give fuzzy is that we have seen flashes from Patrick Bailey. So when you take away how important framing is and he’s still going to do it because maybe the team doesn’t challenge whatever it is. I saw something that said that Patrick Bailey may cause teams to lose on more challenges and good catchers like Patrick Bailey because they’ll assume that something was framed when it was actually in the zone. So that’s a separate part of the ABS. But even still, even if we play this thing traditionally and look at it traditionally, Patrick Bailey going into each and every game, there will be a different mentality, right? Oh, well, and I’m not say I don’t know Patrick Bailey, and I’m not saying that he doesn’t have this mentality already, but oh, I I didn’t get the runner over. Let me make sure, you know, when I get back to uh behind the dish, I steal a strike or whatever it is. There is going to be, this is more of a human approach to me. There is going to be more of a I need to get this runner in because I can’t just run back behind the dish and steal a strike and everybody is okay with it because I’m the defensive guy. My defense doesn’t have the same level of value anymore. So, I have to make sure that I come correct behind the dish. I would assume that Patrick Bailey is I don’t want to say working harder than he’s ever worked before, but I would say that there is a certain level of intensity in his offseason workout when it comes to hitting the baseball that we’ve probably never seen before because he’s been the defensive guy. I’m willing to say that. And that is no bag on Patrick Bailey. That’s just how I think humans work, right? There’s also a reason, this goes beyond baseball. Why do guys always ball out in their contract year? Why do they always ball out in their contract year, right? Why does it always happen like that? Even though they’ve been a a certain type of player their whole career, but every time, every three years, every four years when a contract comes out, now there’s another level of focus. It’s just human nature. So that that is the hope that I’m leaving out that we have seen flashes and maybe he can build on those flashes because ABS is honestly taking something off of his plate. I will also say say this for everybody that does want to move him. I do feel like you have to at least see him now. I get it. You what you would maybe move him now because you don’t know how his value is going to be affected by ABS, but I have to give him a year. I have to give him a year with Jesus Rodriguez. You know how I feel about him. Let them battle it out a little bit and see what Patrick Bailey has. That’s how I feel about it. You can agree, disagree in the comments, but I feel like Patrick Bailey, and I don’t say the D-word when it comes to sports. I don’t say deserve too much or fair. I know people don’t like words like that, but you don’t have another proven catcher, right? Unless you go out and trade for some. And not all of them are perfect. JT Riomuto is in his mid30s. I I don’t think you want to go in that direction at least yet. Let’s just see what he does. He’s only what 26. Let’s see what he does with something in a way off his plate a little bit. See how he reacts to it. Pressure either makes diamonds or burst pipes. And you know, e even if even if he doesn’t hit well or hits similarly this next season, he’s still going to be one of the best catchers in the league. He’s got two gold gloves back to back. There’s still going to be a level of value and you can and you can always just keep him and say, “Hey, you’re a defensive guy now, right? Jesus Rodriguez is the direction we’re going or or wherever else.” There’s a lot of different options. So, that’s what I would say on Patrick Bailey versus trying to move him now. Maybe this thing could help him in a way that we wouldn’t uh we wouldn’t assume. On the other side, let’s talk about Herelme Maldonado. He is a flamethrowing young pitcher, but the Giants have a big decision to make on him today. It’s all coming up on Locked on Giants. Thank you for making Locked on Giants your first listen of the day and thank you for making Locked on the number one sports podcast network. One more segment with you and we have a player profile today, but it’s a very specific player profile as I have been teasing. Hereli Maldonado, a Venezuelan pitcher, number 23 on the Giants prospect list. But here’s the thing, the Giants have to make a decision on Heromi Maldonado. Here it is from mob.com. The deadline for adding players to 40man rosters is approaching. teams have until 6 PM Eastern today to protect them from the rule five draft which will take place December 10th at the winter meetings in Orlando, Florida. So, there are a couple guys that are up for the rule five draft that are top 100, top 50 prospects in Major League Baseball. Those decisions are obvious. This one may not be so obvious, and let me explain to you why. for the Giants. Signed for $14500,000 and 600 bucks as well. Out of Venezuela in 2021, Maldonado can reach 101 miles per hour with late life on his fast ball and can overpower hitters with a sweeping 82 to 85 mile per hour slider as well. Tommy John surgery in December 2023 cost him all of the following season and means he has not progressed past single A where he recorded a 397 erra with 69 strikeouts and 59 innings this year. Maldonado flashed low 90s when he signed initially and pushed it as high as 97 during his US debut the following year. He reached 99 miles per hour when he got to full season ball in 2023. But that Tommy John surgery happened in December after rehabbing all of last year. He’ll be ready to return to the mound at the beginning of the season. Before he got hurt, he was sitting high 90s with that late hop and some armside run on his fast ball. His 82 to 85 mile per hour slider was more unhitable, generating a 54% swing and miss rate against single A hitters. He didn’t show much feel for his fading uh upper 80s change up, which was too firm and rarely found the strike zone. Maldonado’s compact arm action hides the ball from hitters, making him even tougher to hit. He needs time to figure out his control and command and very well could end up in the bullpen, but he’d have closer upside if he does at least 50 lbs heavier than his listed weight of 170. He’ll have to stay on top of his conditioning. So, this is obviously a really tough one. He’s only 21 years old. He clearly has a level of upside, but the Giants and I know teams in general, they really value the the the roster spots and that 40man roster. I I just don’t see any way he’s going to be able to sneak his way on there just specifically because uh you know, he’s still wait. He’s still trying to figure out his way in general on top of the health thing. So, I think I’m expecting him to be available in the rule five draft. And these are guys that sometimes you hear about him later on and you think, “Oh, the Giants had him or or oh, the the Red Sox or whoever had him and you realize the kind of different uh situations that happen throughout the league with all these different drafts and arbitration and all the different rules uh that get into uh the the nerdy book, if you will. But yeah, it’s just tough for me to see the Giants doing it unless they truly believe in his upside and they truly believe that he will be able to be one of their closers of the future. Now, we know the Giants are in the market for a closer. Obviously, that timing doesn’t add up. He hasn’t even been past single A. So, it’s not going to be him right now. If anything, you’re better off waiting for Randy Rodriguez in a year because at least you know he’s done it at the big league level. So, the fact that that’s how he profiles, I think they’re going to be other teams that are interested in him that can give him a shot, but when you have a decision to make with these roster spots, it just doesn’t feel like a spot. Even with the pitching you need, he’s going to be coming back. He’s going to be trying to get his sea legs back under him, literally his legs and also his arm and and all of that. So, I don’t see it happening, but he is the 23rd prospect on the list. So, I I think that does matter. At 21 years old, he’s a bigger dude. They want him to maybe thin out a little bit. So, yeah, it’s a really tough one. And I wasn’t even sure. I was just going through the prospect list, saw him saw his assumed arrival, right? And his assumed arrival was 2027. So, I don’t know. That does make it a bit fascinating, I guess, if you think that he could get there by 2027. Do you power through this season? Do you piece meal it together? I’m not saying Ryan Walker, but do you piece meal it together? You’d have him, you’d have the return of Randy Rodriguez, but you got one guy who’s unproven right now or he’d have to show you a lot this season in Herelme, and then you’d have Randy Rodriguez coming off of his own Tommy John. So, for a team with a big bucks at a lot of big positions and a new head coach and uh an an ownership group that wants to win and a front office that keeps telling us they’re trying to win, it doesn’t seem like the best approach from a from a closer standpoint. And we know there’s other guys probably floating around that could be potential closers, but I don’t see that as a recipe of success for what the the Giants are up against talking about the Dodgers and even the Padres’s. Padres’s got about three different closers. So, I don’t see that happening. We’ll give you an update tomorrow based on what the Giants end up doing. There are a couple other roster decisions, minor ones that the no pun intended, minor league that the Giants have made. So, we will have all that for you tomorrow. Thank you for listening to Locked On Giants. Thank you for watching Locked On Giants. Be sure to follow me on social media at the Styles File Syds with an I. And also follow the official Locked On Giants account on X and on Tik Tok. We will talk to you tomorrow. Until then, peace.

Are the Giants finally ready to spend big on international free agency? Today we dig into whether San Francisco will actually make a real push for top global talent like Tatsuya Imai, Munetaka Murakami, Kazuma Okamoto and more — and what Buster Posey’s comments on Giants Talk really mean for their offseason strategy. We also break down why the choice to trade for Rafael Devers complicates the Murakami interest, how Imai might be the perfect rotation fit, and whether the Giants are risking another year of half-measures. Plus, we dive into Patrick Bailey’s late-season surge and debate whether ABS could unlock another level of his bat in 2026. We finish with a look at breakout prospect Gerelmi Maldonado and the upcoming 40-man decisions that could reshape the organization’s depth. Loaded episode — let’s get into it.

0:00 New Director of Performance hired
10:09 Can ABS HELP Bailey’s hitting?
19:32 Player Profile: Gerelmi Maldonado

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