A note from the managing editor

Hello. I know your time is valuable. You rely on us not to break news — we never break news — but to provide some insight and context when Giants news happens. I did not fulfill that responsibility, and I am truly sorry.

Yesterday, you may have seen that the Giants claimed outfielder Mike Gerber off of waivers from the Tigers. On the one hand, it was clearly a move to add depth in an area of need, but on the other hand, what if the Giants signed the next Max Muncy? And that’s where I totally fell down. You deserved an entire post telling you that yes, indeed, Farhan Zaidi has found the next Max Muncy.

Who’s Max Muncy? He’s the Dodgers’ 2018 home run leader with 35. They signed him to a minor league deal after he was released by the A’s at the beginning of 2017. He spent all of 2017 in Triple-A, hitting .309 / .414 / .491 with 12 home runs in 109 games for the Oklahoma City Dodgers before debuting with LA in 2018. He looks like late night talk show host James Corden:

The Dodgers haven’t subsisted on high-priced free agents, they’ve also pilfered the likes of Chris Tayler and Enrique Hernández, who’ve supplemented draft successes like Cody Bellinger and Cory Seager, and made a roster out of every possible player available. It hasn’t been fair to watch, dammit, but now the Giants have a chance to do the same with Farhan Zaidi bringing his talents to San Francisco.

And that’s exactly what he just did with this simple waiver claim. I mean, that’s what I should’ve said yesterday. That should’ve been the angle of the site’s Twitter account — it should’ve been our Breaking News banner. It was not, and I’m sorry. The comparison is apt.

Both Muncy and Gerber are left-handed hitters. Both were drafted at age 21. Both made it to Triple-A at 24. Muncy hit 36 home runs and had an OBP in the .380s in his first three pro seasons, Gerber hit 38 home runs and had an OBP in the .360s. I just showed you Muncy’s line in Oklahoma City the year before his debut (when he was 26); Gerber hit .304 / .373 / .496 with 14 home runs across 101 games (92 of which were in Double-A) at age-24.

Both players washed out of their previous organizations at age 25 and fell into the waiting arms of Farhan Zaidi. Mike Gerber looks like... sexy Ken Rosenthal?

Not a late night talk show host, but he’s a television personality, and on average, more people watch him per TV appearance (~6.5 million) than watch Corden on a nightly basis (~1.5 million).

I should’ve brought this to your attention yesterday. You’ve lost 24 hours of thinking about the Giants having the next Max Muncy. Think about it: 35 home runs. No Giant has hit 30+ home runs since Barry Bonds hit 45 in 2004. I’m sorry. I will do better.