Have the San Francisco Giants lost their way? Or was Brandon Crawford not adequately reading the situation? Those are questions that arose while reading The Athletic's piece today in which Andrew Baggarly talks to both Giants legendary shortstop Brandon Crawford and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi.

Crawford told Baggarly that he expressed to Zaidi a desire to return to the Giants, and that he had no playing time expectations and wanted to be a reserve player—even a versatile one—who also mentored young players like Marco Luciano, Casey Schmitt, and Tyler Fitzgerald. However, over the last two seasons, Crawford has been abysmal at the plate and declining in the field. He'll be 37 years old this season.

There's a blatant lack of honest communication from Zaidi to some Giants players, now including Crawford twice (last year Crawford wasn't told about the plan to move him off short to accommodate Carlos Correa until after news of the signing got out). When all is said and done, however, the writing was on the wall that Crawford's time with the SF Giants was over, and it's just sad and unfortunate that Crawford didn't see things the same way.

In other news, a bulked up Luis Matos hit two home runs today, and Giants pitcher Tristan Beck has elected to have surgery to address his upper arm aneurysm on Monday at Stanford.

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The best daily San Francisco Giants podcast. Whether the Giants are winning championships or retooling for another title run, Locked On Giants host Ben Kaspick—a lifelong Giants fan and former contributor for RotoGraphs and Beyond the Box Score—breaks down every game, rumor, and transaction in a way that's data-driven and rational but also simple, passionate, and accessible to all.

Follow Ben Kaspick on X, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the San Francisco Giants and talking with fans.

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First Keaton Winn and now Tristan Beck. The San Francisco Giants' remarkably inexperienced projected starting rotation outside of Logan Webb has taken two hits recently, with Winn dealing with an elbow injury (that has progressed well) and now Tristan Beck being diagnosed with a scary upper arm aneurysm. We at Locked On wish a speedy and full recovery for Beck, who stands to miss significant time with this complicated health matter.

The SF Giants love their young pitching that goes beyond Tristan Beck and Keaton Winn. There's Mason Black. Carson Whisenhunt. Landen Roupp. Reggie Crawford. And others. However, it would be foolish to go into the season with such a reliance on unproven pitching.

The Giant should sign Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery. It makes too much sense, and there is too much riding on this season. The SF Giants cannot afford to miss the playoffs for the seventh time in eight years.

Find and follow Locked On Giants on your favorite podcast platforms:

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🎧 Overcast https://bit.ly/3wqZsbg

🎧 Megaphone https://bit.ly/3wGGcXD

The best daily San Francisco Giants podcast. Whether the Giants are winning championships or retooling for another title run, Locked On Giants host Ben Kaspick—a lifelong Giants fan and former contributor for RotoGraphs and Beyond the Box Score—breaks down every game, rumor, and transaction in a way that's data-driven and rational but also simple, passionate, and accessible to all.

Follow Ben Kaspick on X, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the San Francisco Giants and talking with fans.

On X: https://x.com/BenKaspick

#SFGiants #FirstListen

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Remember when San Francisco Giants outfielder Kevin Pillar received a 10th-place MVP vote in his lone season with the Giants? It was an inexplicable vote, but yet somehow it also made sense given the grit and passion Pillar exhibited for SF Giants fans on a daily basis. Pillar is just one of several San Francisco Giants "cult heroes" who are discussed on today's Locked On Giants podcast.

Stephen Vogt gets a vote as well, even though he was also only in the orange and black for one season. Remember Alex Dickerson, anyone? How about the legend of Donnie Barrels? Indeed, in Ben Kaspick's five years of hosting Locked On Giants there have been numerous cult heroes on the team whose popularity outweighed their production on the field. Either that or their production was only short and sweet.

Locked On Padres host Javier Reyes also participates in the exercise, listing off several memorable San Diego Padres players who fall into the same category in his nearly five years of hosting his show.

Find and follow Locked On Giants on your favorite podcast platforms:

🎧 Apple Podcasts http://apple.co/3ycRK3U

🎧 Spotify http://spoti.fi/3Bak0pN

🎧 Google Play https://bit.ly/3D356mr

🎧 Overcast https://bit.ly/3wqZsbg

🎧 Megaphone https://bit.ly/3wGGcXD

The best daily San Francisco Giants podcast. Whether the Giants are winning championships or retooling for another title run, Locked On Giants host Ben Kaspick—a lifelong Giants fan and former contributor for RotoGraphs and Beyond the Box Score—breaks down every game, rumor, and transaction in a way that's data-driven and rational but also simple, passionate, and accessible to all.

Follow Ben Kaspick on X, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the San Francisco Giants and talking with fans.

On X: https://x.com/BenKaspick

#SFGiants #FirstListen

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