NL Notes: Waino, Chop, Zaidi
Sunday will mark the first postseason game played in St. Louis in three years, but Cardinals manager Mike Schildt will be trusting the game’s start to a relatively practiced postseason hand. Redbirds legend Adam Wainwright–a free-agent-to-be this offseason–will be taking the ball for Schildt, who is counting on the pitcher’s experience with what promises to be a raucous Busch Stadium atmosphere.
“You have to account for some of the vibe that’s going on out there,” Schildt told Anne Rogers of MLB.com today, “You have to be able to calm your nerves and you have to be able to control your adrenaline, because I’ve seen it where guys go out there and they’re feeling on top of the moon and their adrenaline is rushing, and two innings later they’re out of gas.”
As Rogers notes, Wainwright will be making his 24th appearance in a postseason game (13 starts), after first appearing in the national October spotlight in 2006 as a relief ace for then-manager Tony La Russa‘s World Series-winning Cards team. That year saw a 24-year-old Wainwright begin his playoff career with 9.2 scoreless innings, and he has only followed up that initial success by compiling a nifty 3.03 ERA across 89.0 career postseason innings. This year marked the now-38-year-old’s first season over the 30-start mark since 2016, and this October should provide him yet another opportunity to assure the Cardinals–and rival clubs–that he deserves a healthy free agent guarantee this winter.
More notes from around the National League in anticipation of Sunday’s NLDS doubleheader…
- The Associated Press is circulating a story involving Wainwright’s teammate Ryan Helsley, who did not take kindly to witnessing the en masse enactment of the Braves‘ “Tomahawk Chop” tradition during Game 1 of the NLDS this Thursday (link). In comments originally made to writer/hero Derrick Goold, Helsley, who is a member of the Cherokee nation, called the “Chop” “disappointing” and “disrespectful”. “[The tradition] just depicts them in this kind of caveman-type people way who aren’t intellectual. They are a lot more than that. It’s not me being offended by the whole mascot thing. It’s not. It’s about the misconception of us, the Native Americans, and how we’re perceived in that way, or used as mascots.” Of course, with the NLDS tied 1-1 heading to St. Louis for Game 3 of the best-of-five NLDS, it’s possible Helsley could have a say in preventing the series returning to Atlanta. The 25-year-old Oklahoman pitched to a 2.95 ERA in 36.2 innings in 2019, his rookie season.
- Giants executive Farhan Zaidi already made MLBTR headlines today, when he gave some insight into the team’s ongoing search for a new GM. In a separate set of quotes relayed by NBC’s Alex Pavlovic, Zaidi conducted something of a performance self-assessment in regard to his work at the 2019 trade deadline–and it’s clear Zaidi is a fair critic (link). “I feel like I alternate nights losing sleep about not potentially buying at the deadline and trying to improve our chances this year, or selling more at the deadline and setting ourselves up better for 2020 and going forward,” Zaidi admitted to Pavlovic. It stands to reason that the veteran baseball man would be left with some cognitive dissonance over his team’s activity this summer, being that the club took something of a walk-the-line approach in their dealings.
While San Francisco held onto impending free agents Madison Bumgarner and Will Smith (and sacrificed the potential prospect assets they might have acquired in a deal involving those players), the team also shaved down the bullpen by sending away Drew Pomeranz, Sam Dyson, and Mark Melancon in separate deals. To be fair, Zaidi was in perhaps the toughest position of any club executive heading into this year’s deadline, as his expected-to-flounder 2019 Giants ripped off a stunning run of success in advance of the Jul. 31 push-or-shove precipice. After playing to their expected level for much of the year, Bruce Bochy‘s boys of summer went 19-6 in July, ultimately forcing their front office leader into something of a compromising position. The Giants went 22-36 from Aug. 1 onward, ultimately finishing with a 77-85 record.
Quick Hits: Yankees, Sanchez, Astros, Peacock, Giants
While Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez has always been known for his ability to send balls into the stratosphere, Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News writes that his improvement defensively is paying dividends for the World Series-hopeful Yankees. Per Ackert, relievers Zack Britton and Adam Ottavino were admittedly skeptical of their new backstop when they first joined the Yankees, but both have been pleasantly surprised with Sanchez’s work not only blocking the ball (after catching his fair share of flak for surrendering passed balls, Sanchez has cut his total from 18 last year to just seven in 2019), but also managing a pitching staff that includes a deadly stable of hard-throwing bullpen arms with different tendencies. That could very well be magnified as the Yankees play in the postseason; with many questioning the team’s rotation, Aaron Boone figures to rely heavily on what might be the deepest bullpen of the remaining contenders.
Some other notes from around the baseball landscape…
- With the Giants’ search for a new manager underway, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle inspects ten candidates who could be the first new manager in San Francisco since Bruce Bochy took over in 2007. They include incumbent Giants coaches, staff members from Farhan Zaidi’s time in Oakland, and other outsiders. Hensley Meulens, Eric Chavez, Mark Kotsay, and others could all be in contention, though Shea notes that some names are more realistic than others, and that those discussed are merely speculative. Still, for Giants fans interested in what each brings to the table, it’s a worthwhile summary.
- If the Astros advance to the ALCS, right-hander Brad Peacock could be added to the roster, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Peacock was a notable omission from the Division Series roster after he struggled in a late-season return from a shoulder injury. There’s hope that he could be fully up to speed ahead of the Championship Series, should the Astros advance. He’s set to throw a simulated game today to stay sharp during his time off the field. With just 11 pitchers on the roster for the first round, Peacock could replace a position player if he is indeed added to the ALCS roster.
Farhan Zaidi: “High Priority” For Giants To Hire GM
Since Bobby Evans was removed from his post as the general manager of the Giants in September of last year, the team has yet to decide on a replacement for Evans. Of course, that doesn’t mean that the organization has been flying blind, as Farhan Zaidi was installed as the president of baseball operations in San Francisco in November of 2018 and has spearheaded the department for the better part of a year.
Now, though, Zaidi has made it clear that he and other Giants decision-makers plan to move quickly in their search for a general manager to co-pilot the franchise’s baseball ops department, according to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. After playing out the 2019 season without a second-in-command, Zaidi referred to the search for a GM as a “high priority” as the organization has also begun to vet candidates for the vacant managerial position.
It’s possible that the new GM could be hired in time to take part in the interviewing process for the Giants’ next manager, but that’s far from a foregone conclusion, with Zaidi saying that “there’s no favorite” for the job yet and that the hiring processes will be conducted simultaneously. Still, Zaidi and company are well aware that those two figures will need to have a close working relationship and will have that in mind during the hiring cycle. The interplay between front office and manager has grown in importance in recent years, with the two levels of administration needing to be on the same page as teams implement plans throughout all levels of the organization.
Despite Zaidi’s assertion that no one candidate has separated from the pack, Pavlovic speculates that Athletics assistant GM Billy Owens, familiar with Zaidi from their time together in Oakland, could have the inside track to the job. Owens was considered for the job last offseason, though ultimately the Giants elected to hold off on filling the post for the time being. Owens has experience in the scouting and coaching departments, serving as a minor-league hitting coach prior to assuming a position in the front office.
Per Zaidi, the Giants aren’t hunting for a candidate with a particular area of expertise, but rather looking for someone who will jibe well with the current front office and “[share] the load of managing the overall operation.” He hopes that such an approach will expand the pool of potential candidates, regardless of whether their background comes in scouting, player development, administration, or elsewhere.
In his first year at the helm, Zaidi already has his fingerprints all over the Giants’ makeup. He’s worked to expand the Giants’ analytics department to catch up to the rival Dodgers, his former employer. A seemingly endless cycle of bargain-bin outfield acquisitions has brought some potential pieces to the forefront, including solid performances from rookie Mike Yastrzemski and cast-off Alex Dickerson. Elsewhere, Donovan Solano and Trevor Gott looked like savvy acquisitions, while the signing of Drew Pomeranz later yielded Mauricio Dubon in a July trade.
While the Giants’ midseason hot streak ultimately expired too soon, the team improved its 2018 season and reached 77 wins, appearing to have made some marginal improvements to the roster. In his first full offseason running the Giants, the vacant GM and manager positions are the next priorities for Zaidi, who will have the chance to bring aboard his own staff to carry out an organizational plan.
Latest On Giants’ Managerial Opening
Before the Athletics’ season ended earlier this week, quality control coach Mark Kotsay made it known he’d be interested in managing a major league club in 2020. A few days later, at least one team is showing significant interest in Kotsay. He’s “a strong candidate” for the Bay Area rival Giants, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network.
Based on Heyman’s report, it seems Kotsay will be one of the six to eight external managerial candidates Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi interviews as he seeks a successor to outgoing potential Hall of Famer Bruce Bochy. The Giants have also been linked to former major league outfielder and current Dodgers special assistant Raul Ibanez, who’s believed to be close to the top of Zaidi’s list, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports California writes.
Like Ibanez, Kotsay’s an ex-MLB outfielder with no managerial experience. But while Ibanez has no coaching experience in the bigs, the 43-year-old Kotsay has filled multiple roles on staffs since his playing career ended in 2013. Kotsay worked as a hitting coach with the Padres prior to joining the Athletics ahead of the 2016 season. He served as the A’s bench coach that year before eventually shifting to his current role in advance of the ’18 campaign.
NL Notes: Giants, Cole, Mets, Cone, Rockies
It’s up in the air whether the Giants are in for a big-spending offseason, though it appears arguably the game’s top soon-to-be free agent would be open to playing for them. Astros right-hander Gerrit Cole has interest in the Giants, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. While Cole’s brother-in-law, shortstop Brandon Crawford, plays for the Giants, Schulman notes he’s not the source of this information. A Cole signing, which could require a commitment in the neighborhood of $200MM, would give a San Francisco team that could lose pending free agent Madison Bumgarner a much-needed ace. Considering the cost, it would also be somewhat of an out-of-character transaction for Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi. Back when Zaidi was the general manager of the ultra-rich Dodgers, they never even inked anyone to a nine-figure guarantee. However, in Zaidi’s first offseason with the Giants last winter, they did make an effort to reel in free-agent outfielder Bryce Harper. The Giants reportedly discussed a decade-long pact with Harper before he signed a 13-year, $330MM contract with the Phillies.
Here’s more on a couple other NL teams…
- Retired right-hander and current YES Network announcer David Cone told Joel Sherman of the New York Post he’s interested in becoming a major league manager or pitching coach, though he’s not “actively campaigning” for a job. Specifically, Cone would like to take over for the fired Mickey Callaway as the manager of the Mets, with whom Cone starred from 1987-1992 and finished his playing career in 2003. “If someone asks you for an interview with the Yankees or Mets, it is simple, you say, ‘yes,’” said Cone, who did have a phone conversation with general manager Brian Cashman in regards to the Yankees’ then-vacant managerial position in 2017. That was not a formal interview, though, and the role ultimately went to Aaron Boone. Cone has since remained in the YES booth, where he regularly incorporates analytics into his work. The 56-year-old’s modern approach to the game could potentially put him on teams’ radars, though his lack of coaching and front office experience may give clubs pause. As of now, there’s no indication any team is considering Cone for one of his desired roles.
- Rockies reliever Bryan Shaw just wrapped up his second straight disappointing season, but there was “some deadline interest” in him over the summer, Thomas Harding of MLB.com writes. Just as no trade came together then, it seems doubtful to happen going forward. For one, Shaw has logged a brutal 5.61 ERA/5.07 FIP with 7.96 K/9 and 4.05 BB/9 in his two-season, 126 2/3-inning Rockies tenure. He’s owed another $9MM in 2020 on top of it, and there’s an incentive in his deal that could turn a $9MM club option for 2021 into a guarantee. That’ll happen if Shaw appears in 40 games next year and finishes the season healthy. The 31-year-old racked up 70 appearances in 2019, so it would take a drastic fall in usage to prevent his ’21 option from vesting.
Managerial Rumors: Angels, Maddon, Giants, Ibanez, Farrell, Gibbons
Joe Maddon is reportedly a leading candidate to take over as the Angels’ next manager, but he’s not the lone possibility to replace Brad Ausmus. General manager Billy Eppler stated Tuesday that the Angels “plan on sitting down with a number of candidates” to discuss the job, per Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times. Maddon’s a highly accomplished manager who earlier spent three decades with the Angels organization in several different roles, which seems to make him a slam-dunk choice for the position. However, it’s worth noting that Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported last week that the Angels might be hesitant to meet Maddon’s asking price. Maddon made $6MM this year with the Cubs, who moved on from him after they fell way short of expectations in 2019.
- The Giants, who are seeking a successor to Bruce Bochy, are interested in ex-major league outfielder Raul Ibanez, Jon Morosi of MLB.com reports. Ibanez has been working as a special assistant to Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman since 2016, giving him familiarity with the Giants’ Farhan Zaidi. Before Zaidi took the reins as San Francisco’s president of baseball ops last offseason, he worked as the Dodgers’ general manager.
- Former big league skipper John Farrell remains interested in a third go-around as a manager, Rosenthal tweets. The 57-year-old last managed in 2017, when he oversaw a Red Sox team that finished 93-69 and earned an AL East title. Farrell managed three division winners and a World Series champion (2013) in Boston over five years, though he also guided two last-place clubs during his uneven reign. Prior to that, he managed the Blue Jays to a 154-170 record from 2011-12. Farrell has served as a scout and a pitching consultant in Cincinnati since 2018, and he interviewed for the Phillies’ and Reds’ managerial openings during the previous two offseasons.
- Fellow ex-Jays manager John Gibbons also could be a possibility for clubs, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com relays. The 57-year-old wants to manage again or at least serve as a bench coach, according to Feinsand. Gibbons lost his job in Toronto after 2018, ending a two-stint, 11-year run with the franchise. He led the club to a 793-789 record with a pair of playoff berths.
- Astros first base coach Don Kelly is a candidate to draw managerial interest in the coming weeks, Morosi hears. The 39-year-old Kelly, best known for his run as a major league utlityman for the Pirates, Tigers and Marlins from 2007-16, is only in his first season as a coach. He spent the previous two seasons in a pro scouting role with Detroit.
Zaidi On Manager Search, Free Agency, Park Dimensions
Farhan Zaidi’s first season as Giants president of baseball operations is in the books, and he’ll now embark on what could very well be a busier offseason than the one he navigated last year. The Giants will need to hire a replacement for longtime manager Bruce Bochy, conduct a search to add a general manager to work under Zaidi and, of course, address a roster that could lose Madison Bumgarner, Will Smith and several other free agents.
Zaidi met with the media today in a postmortem press conference, divulging that he intends to interview roughly six to eight external candidates as part of the club’s managerial search (Twitter links via Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle and Maria Guardado of MLB.com). He also confirmed that both bench coach Hensley Meulens and third base coach Ron Wotus will be interviewed as potential successors to Bochy. Prior managerial experience won’t be a necessity, though Zaidi also implied that it’d be important.
As for the rest of the coaching staff, no determinations will be made until a new skipper is in place. As such, the Giants’ coaches are free to interview elsewhere should other teams come calling. As is the case with during any managerial search, it seems safe to bet that there’ll be a fair bit of turnover in the Giants’ dugout. The search for a GM to work alongside Zaidi in heading up the baseball ops department will be conducted “concurrently” with the search for a new manager, Schulman tweets.
With regard to the on-field product, the Giants stand to lose not only Bumgarner and Smith, but also left-hander Tony Watson, third baseman Pablo Sandoval, catcher Stephen Vogt and lefty Fernando Abad. The organization has interest (presumably to varying extents) in retaining each of its free agents, tweets Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic, though Zaidi also anticipates that those players will want to explore the open market. There was no mention of qualifying offers, but Bumgarner stands out as a clear and obvious recipient (and rejector) of an eventual QO. Smith, too, could potentially merit consideration in that regard, given the dominant season he had as the team’s closer. Vogt has previously expressed interest in returning to the Giants, although he and the other impending free agents will surely want to see who is eventually tabbed as Bochy’s successor before making a commitment.
How aggressively Zaidi and his staff will pursue reunions with that group and potential matches with other free agents can’t be known at this point. Zaidi, Schulman tweets, voiced a willingness to deal from the farm system and to look at top-end starters, but he also stressed the importance of developing arms internally.
That’s an understandable point of emphasis not only because it’s a mantra for most clubs in the league but also because the Giants’ young arms didn’t perform well in 2019; each of Tyler Beede, Dereck Rodriguez, Shaun Anderson, Logan Webb, Conner Menez and Andrew Suarez struggled in auditions in the MLB rotation this year. Rodriguez and Suarez looked like potential long-term fits when they had unexpectedly strong seasons in 2018, making this year’s steps backward all the more discouraging.
That group, presumably, will have a chance at factoring into next year’s pitching staff, though it seems clear that some winter additions are in the offing. Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto are the only returning veterans, which should leave the Giants with ample room to supplement the rotation either via trade or free agency.
Augmenting the lineup will also be a point of focus, per Zaidi, who unsurprisingly indicated that adding power to the lineup will be a priority (Twitter link via Schulman). The Giants’ 167 home runs ranked 26th among 30 MLB clubs in 2019, and their .153 isolated power (slugging percentage minus batting average) was tied with the White Sox for third-worst in all of baseball. Alex Dickerson, acquired in a minor trade with the Padres in June, and Mike Yastrzemski, acquired from the Orioles in a minor Spring Training swap, were the team’s most productive hitters in 2019. Both are already 29 years old without any sort of sustained big league track record.
San Francisco carried a payroll north of $186MM in 2019 but only has $109MM in guaranteed money on the books for next season, which should further allow Zaidi to be creative to the extent he deems appropriate. The Giants’ only arbitration-eligible players are Kevin Pillar, Donovan Solano, Kyle Barraclough and Dickerson, so the payroll shouldn’t rise too much even when factoring in arbitration raises (particularly since that group contains some potential non-tender candidates).
While it seems like there’ll be money to play with, it’s also worth recalling that last week’s comments from Giants CEO Larry Baer didn’t exactly sound like a portent for aggressive offseason spending. In discussing the Giants’ 2010-14 run of dominance, Baer spoke of how the club relied on free agency as a complementary means of bolstering a roster that had largely consisted of homegrown pieces; the same, he noted, was true of Zaidi’s teams in Oakland and in Los Angeles. There’s little reason for the organization to tip its hand right now even if a strong run at Bumgarner or other free agents is on the docket, but there’s been no emphatic declaration to this point, either.
Beyond the innumerable personnel decisions the Giants will consider in the coming months, there’s been plenty of talk about changes to the dimensions of Oracle Park. While no final outcome was announced, Zaidi confirmed today that the organization has “made a lot of progress on designs that would have [the bullpens] move out to the outfield,” tweets Kerry Crowley of the San Jose Mercury News. Exact alterations aren’t yet determined, but Baer indicated last week that the club isn’t looking to turn Oracle Park into a hitter-friendly setting.
Pablo Sandoval Hopes To Retire A Giant
As a pending free agent coming off major surgery, Giants corner infielder Pablo Sandoval is heading into the offseason facing an especially uncertain future. If the 33-year-old gets his way, though, he’ll remain in San Francisco.
“Yeah, I want to be back,” Sandoval told John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. “I want to retire from this organization. I’d love to be back with my teammates. We had a lot of fun.”
This will be the second trip to the open market for Sandoval, who exited the Giants for the Red Sox’s huge offer in November 2014. Then fresh off his third World Series title as a Giant, the two-time All-Star landed a five-year, $95MM contract that ultimately couldn’t have worked out worse for the Red Sox. Not only did Sandoval’s production tank in Boston, but injuries kept him off the field on a regular basis. The Red Sox deemed Sandoval a sunk cost in July 2017, releasing him with just under $50MM left on his deal. He’ll finally be off their books going into next season.
Sandoval didn’t look like a realistic bounce-back candidate when the Red Sox cut ties with him. However, he has served as a useful role player in his second act as a Giant. The Kung Fu Panda has batted .259/.311/.466 (105 wRC+) with 23 home runs in 548 plate appearances dating back to the start of the 2018 season.
Despite his recent return to relevance in San Francisco, Sandoval’s journeying back to free agency at an inopportune time. He only took one at-bat from Aug. 10 forward because of a right elbow injury – one that forced him to undergo Tommy John surgery and a more minor arthroscopic procedure Sept. 5. To make matters worse, Sandoval revealed afterward that the doctors found more damage in his elbow than they’d anticipated. He’s now facing “lots of rehab,” as Shea writes. Nevertheless, whether with the Giants or another team, Sandoval aims to keep his career going in 2020.
NL Notes: Bumgarner, WGN, Cubs, Phillies
Madison Bumgarner has made his last pitch of the 2019 season – and perhaps his career as a San Francisco Giant. The free-agent-to-be would have been in line to start Sunday’s season finale, but manager Bruce Bochy says they’ll watch the game together from the bench, per Kerry Crowley of the Mercury News. Sunday will be the last game of Bochy’s prodigious career as well, and it will be appropriate to take in the game alongside Bumgarner, with whom he won three world championships. If Bumgarner does move on this offseason, he will finish his career in San Francisco with a 119-92 record and 3.13 ERA/3.32 FIP across 1,846 innings – 8th on the Giants all-time bWAR leaderboard. Still just 30-years-old, Bumgarner wraps up 2019 with a 3.90 ERA/3.91 FIP while eclipsing 200 innings for the seventh time in his career. As the penultimate day of the 2019 season gets under way, let’s check in on a couple other teams from the senior circuit…
- The Cubs say goodbye to WGN this week, the beloved television network known as the home of Cubs content for the last 72 years. The long-awaited Marquee Sports Network launches next year, but the revenue streams won’t provide real kickback for a couple of years, per Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. The long-promised “wheelbarrow full of money” won’t be arriving at Theo Epstein’s baseball operations department from day one, but neither does Epstein see the new television deal affecting baseball decisions. Said Epstein, “We want to win the World Series. But it’s not because of the TV network. That’s the goal. It’s unrelated. There’s a wall between baseball decisions and anything related to the TV network.”
- Trust is a process, and first-year Phillies pitching coach Chris Young understands that process takes a little longer with suboptimal results, per The Athletic’s Matt Gelb and Meghan Montemurro (subscription required). Young’s job was made all the more difficult when players bristled at the dismissal of his predecessor Rick Kranitz. Young’s analytics-driven philosophy was in lockstep with manager Gabe Kapler, but Philly pitchers are taking longer to buy-in, in part from its perception as an inflexible top-down approach. It was a frustrating season on the whole for Philadelphia’s pitching staff as the team regressed to 2017 levels after taking a big step forward in 2018.
Managerial Rumors: Angels, Callaway, Bochy
The Padres have already moved on from skipper Andy Green, whereas Ned Yost has announced that this’ll be his final year managing the Royals. There’s been some recent chatter surrounding the fate of Pirates manager Clint Hurdle, as well, which stemmed largely from none other than Hurdle himself. It’s the time of year that’s typically filled with managerial/coaching/front office turnover, and there won’t be any shortage of rumblings on that front over the next several days. Here’s some of the latest from that arena…
- Although Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic recently suggested that the Angels would “consider” moving on from Brad Ausmus after just one season in order to pursue Joe Maddon (should he become available, as many expect), Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times writes in her latest Angels mailbag column that Ausmus is will be back in 2020. Torres adds that she’s received no indication that any members of the coaching staff are in particular danger of being replaced, either. Ausmus is signed through the 2021 season under a three-year contract he agreed upon just last offseason.
- The Mets‘ second-half Wild Card push fell short but was enough to at least raise speculation about Mickey Callaway surviving the offseason and returning for a third year. Nevertheless, SNY’s Andy Martino writes that multiple people connected to the team will still be surprised if Callaway is retained after the season. New York won’t make any final announcement on the matter until after the season has wrapped up, however, and team decision-makers are expected to discuss the manager’s future into early next week. Callaway himself campaigned a bit for his job prior to last night’s loss, per Mike Puma of the New York Post, telling the Mets beat: “I think a manager’s job is to get guys going in a direction and I think these guys never wavered from that, so I am definitely proud about that. … I understand the rigors of the job and I try to deal with it the best I can and try to stay even-keeled for the organization’s sake and for our players’ sake.”
- There’s been speculation that Bruce Bochy could pursue other managerial jobs once he steps away from the Giants — some from his own players, even — and the future Hall of Famer discussed that speculation with John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle this week. While Bochy doesn’t have any immediate plans to seek out other opportunities, he conceded that there’s no telling what the future holds. “Later on, when you get away from the game, who knows how you’ll react?” Bochy asked rhetorically. “I’m good with my call. I’d be lying if I didn’t say it’s been tough here at the end of the season realizing it’s ending. No, I’m fine with it. I can’t tell you what’s going to happen in the future because I don’t know.”