Ex-Giants in the playoffs

After all the excitement of the two Game 163s yesterday, the playoffs start today. Like I did last year, I decided to go over what teams have ex-Giants on their roster. One note: playoff rosters are not set and not all of these guys will end up eligible to play in October. But if their team wins, they all get rings! And that’s what baseball is all about: jewelry.

Houston Astros

Can I interest you in Brandon Crawford’s brother-in-law Gerrit Cole being on the Astros? I hope so, because that’s all I got here.

Oakland A’s

As sad as it is that Santiago Casilla was cut earlier this year and won’t get a chance to be a playoff hero, the A’s do still have both Yusmeiro Petit and Cory Gearrin on the roster. Petit’s had a very nice year in Oakland, and man, it’d be fun to watch him excel in October again. Gearrin hasn’t pitched since September 18 due to a triceps issue, so it’s not likely that he’ll show up in the playoffs. But wouldn’t it be a feel good story for #ForeverGiant Cory Gearrin to win his first World Series ring? I say it would.

Also, their coaching staff features Bob Melvin, Matt Williams, and Marcus Jensen, who all played for the Giants, with varying degrees of success.

Cleveland Indians

They’ve got four! If I’m being honest, I didn’t expect to see four ex-Giants on any playoff team’s roster, even if some of those guys aren’t likely to actually be on the playoff roster. Dan Otero, for example, was left off the postseason roster last year, coming off a pretty good year, and this year he’s given up a ton of homers and could well be left off again. Staying in the bullpen, the Indians also employ #ForeverGiant Neil Ramirez, who pitched more than 10 innings of 8.71 ERA ball for the Giants in 2017, and who the team kept instead of David Hernandez coming out of Spring Training, which turned out to be quite the mistake.

Moving to the outfield, apparently Rajai Davis is back in Cleveland. If he ends up homering off Aroldis Chapman again in the playoffs, well hey, the people don’t want new material. They want you to play the hits. And the other ex-Giant outfielder on Cleveland’s roster is ... the Melkman! Melky Cabrera amassed 275 plate appearances this year on the shores of Lake Erie, and they weren’t good plate appearances, but they also weren’t terrible. They were fully mediocre plate appearances, which led to his fully mediocre fWAR of 0.5. Too bad he got suspended for PEDs in 2012 and didn’t sign an extension that year, because he would have fit right in on the 2018 Giants.

Boston Red Sox

Heath Hembree and Eduardo Nuñez! #ForeverGiant Heath Hembree’s had a nice career in Boston, with a 3.59 ERA for them since coming over in the Jake Peavy trade. Nuñez re-signed with Boston over the offseason after going to the Red Sox last year in the Eduardo Nuñez trade, and hopefully he’ll be able to get through this postseason without being injured, which he sadly couldn’t in 2016 or 2017. You have to think the 2016 NLDS and 2017 ALDS were both frustrating for Nuñez, so it’ll be a nice story for him if health finally isn’t an issue.

Tom Goodwin’s also their first base coach. When he was on the Giants and he had a bad game, I’d call him “Tom Suckwin.” Even in high school, I was displaying the same rapier wit that I do here.

New York Yankees

THEY HAVE #FOREVERGIANT ANDREW MCCUTCHEN LOVE YOU CUTCH EVEN THOUGH YOU’RE ON THE YANKEES STILL LOVE YOU.

Their third base coach is Phil Nevin, who was the Giants’ third base coach in 2017. Do you remember that? It’s okay if you don’t. I don’t see any reason you should remember the 2017 Giants.

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers are managed by Dave Roberts, who signed a three year contract after the 2006 season and spent two unmemorable years with the Giants.

Colorado Rockies

I hope Jonah Arenado sticks around in the minors for a while so I can keep referring to Nolan as “Jonah Arenado’s brother.” It’s very important for me to have this dumb joke that no one cares about.

Their manager, Bud Black, also played for the Giants for four years in the early ‘90s.

Milwaukee Brewers

No one. It’s almost like NL teams watch the Giants play and are like, “Uh, no, we don’t want any of...that.”

Like, I know that’s not actually the case, but, that’s sure what Bryan would do!

Chicago Cubs

Their hitting coach is Chili Davis, the last outfielder the Giants developed who made the All-Star team. It’s, uh, been a while.

Atlanta Braves

#ForeverGiant Charlie Culberson just had the best year of his major league career for Atlanta, with 12 homers and a .792 OPS in 322 PAs. Adam Duvall, traded from the Reds at the deadline, uh, did not have the best year of his major league career, with a .639 OPS on the year, and just a .344 OPS with the Braves. That’s worse than Ricky Ledee with the 2004 Giants. It’s honestly kinda impressive.

And speaking of hitters traded midseason who fell flat on their faces in their new home, the Braves hitting coach is Eric Young. Young, traded to the Giants in August 2003, had a .518 OPS for the Giants, which, hey, at least it’s better than Ricky Ledee.