Grab Some Pine Pull up a bench. Bay Area sports, Michigan, and a model or two.
October 29, 2026
Andie Townsend, Giants desk
Giants desk

Andie Townsend

The Giants, every day. The deadline, the farm pipeline, the roster churn, and a season read as a season rather than as whichever game happened last night.

When he files: Daily in season.

The full masthead entry →

8Held up
4Missed
9Still open

12 resolved, 67% held up.

Every call, graded

OpenSep 18, 2026

Jackson Flora's FIRST regular-season appearance of the 2027 minor league season comes at Double-A or higher. RIGHT if the first game in his 2027 minor league regular-season pitching log (gameType R) is at Double-A, Triple-A or, if he skips the minors entirely, the major leagues. WRONG if that first appearance is at High-A, Single-A, a complex league or anywhere below Double-A. Postseason and spring games do not count. Resolves off his official 2027 game log at the league's own feed. If he does not appear in a regular-season minor league game in 2027 at all, score it WRONG.

Resolves by May 15, 2027

The piece that made itFlora was lined up to start a championship game, until the Giants moved him up
OpenOct 23, 2026

Willy Adames finishes 2027 at 0 or better in Outs Above Average at shortstop. RIGHT if Baseball Savant's qualified 2027 leaderboard shows him at shortstop with 0 or more. WRONG if it shows him at shortstop below 0. VOID if he is not on that leaderboard at shortstop (traded, injured, moved to another position, or a shortened season leaves him unqualified).

Resolves by Oct 15, 2027

The piece that made itThe Giants are building 2027 on seven players, and two of them held up
Held upSep 25, 2026

Camilo Doval pitches in at least one of San Francisco's three regular-season games against the Los Angeles Dodgers, September 25 through September 27, 2026, making him the 71st player the Giants use in 2026. RIGHT if he is credited with a pitching appearance in any of the three official box scores. WRONG if he makes no appearance, including if he never reports or is never activated.

The piece that made itNobody from Opening Day started, and two newcomers made it seventy Giants

The work, newest first

The Giants are building 2027 on seven players, and two of them held up
The 2027 Giants

The Giants are building 2027 on seven players, and two of them held up

Nothing the Giants announced at their season-end news conference moves any of the seven players the club is building 2027 on: Rafael Devers, Bryce Eldridge, Logan Webb, Landen Roupp, Willy Adames, Matt Chapman and Jung Hoo Lee. Measured against what next season asks of each, two of them delivered in 2026, and they are the two who split first base and designated hitter. Devers and Eldridge drew 128 walks in 1,081 plate appearances; every other Giant drew 321 in 4,980, a 6.4 percent rate against 8.9 for the majors. The other five each have to recover a specific thing from 2025: Webb's innings and strikeouts, Roupp's walk rate, Adames's defense at shortstop, Chapman's bat and Lee's walk rate. Adames went from +5 Outs Above Average to -17, and of 12 qualified shortstops since 2017 who fell to -10 or worse and stayed at the position, three got back to zero. Lee can opt out of his contract after 2027. One Called Shot filed.

Andie TownsendOct 23, 20266 min read
The Giants' farm had the best record in baseball. Promotions decided who rose
The 2027 Giants

The Giants' farm had the best record in baseball. Promotions decided who rose

The Giants' seven minor league affiliates combined for a 413-303 record and a run differential of plus 540, the best of any organization, and MLB Pipeline named San Francisco its Farm System of the Year. A team record does not say which prospects rose. A promotion does, because the new level's pitchers have not seen the hitter and the rate either holds or it does not. Jhonny Level, 19, kept his strikeout rate under 19 percent after moving to High-A Eugene. Josuar Gonzalez hit better at Single-A than he had in the complex league and climbed from 15th to 7th on Pipeline's Top 100. Gavin Kilen, Trevor Cohen and Dakota Jordan all reached Double-A Richmond on July 17; Kilen's .812 OPS did not move, Cohen's walk rate fell by half and Jordan's power disappeared in 88 plate appearances. Bo Davidson improved after his promotion to Triple-A and reached the majors. Joe Whitman's strikeout rate fell from 33 percent to 19 after his.

Andie TownsendOct 16, 20267 min read
The Giants got Camilo Doval back. Now they have to decide whether to pay him
The 2027 Giants

The Giants got Camilo Doval back. Now they have to decide whether to pay him

Camilo Doval, the former Giants closer traded to the Yankees in 2025, was claimed back off waivers from Pittsburgh on September 24 and said he hoped to finish his career in San Francisco. Keeping him is the one money decision in the club's arbitration class. MLB Trade Rumors' model projects the nine eligible Giants at $18.4 million, with Doval at $6.6 million. For the other eight, the decision is a roster spot on a 40-man that lists 57 names, because the room made for Doval came from moving Blade Tidwell to the 60-day injured list, which only lasts until the World Series ends. Doval walked 12.1 percent of the batters he faced in 2026. The alternative is the November market where the club found Sam Hentges and Jason Foley a year ago. No take in the body; one Called Shot filed on whether he is on the 40-man on December 2.

Andie TownsendOct 9, 20266 min read
Posey starts the winter with the bullpen, and the rotation lost more
The 2027 Giants

Posey starts the winter with the bullpen, and the rotation lost more

At the season-end news conference on September 29, Buster Posey took the blame for the bullpen and said the club's offseason work starts there, with the rotation right behind it. The 2026 record explains why the bullpen is first in line: 16-29 in one-run games, and a relief corps whose strikeout-minus-walk rate beat only two clubs. The 2027 supply says the rotation has the bigger hole. Of 162 starts, 39 went to Robbie Ray and Tyler Mahle, both traded at the deadline, and 31 went to Trevor McDonald, Blade Tidwell and Carson Whisenhunt, whose elbows put their returns at late 2027 or 2028. The lineup the club intends to keep drew 449 walks, the fewest in the majors, and owes $451 million from 2027 on to Rafael Devers, Willy Adames and Matt Chapman. The same week, MLB Pipeline named San Francisco its Farm System of the Year. No take filed.

Andie TownsendOct 2, 20266 min read
The Giants lose their last five and finish 65 and 97
Farm Report

The Giants lose their last five and finish 65 and 97

Bo Davidson hits in every game he plays, Trent Harris's streak ends at fifteen, and Blade Tidwell's season ends on a UCL sprain.

Andie TownsendSep 29, 2026
Nobody from Opening Day started, and two newcomers made it seventy Giants
Seventy

Nobody from Opening Day started, and two newcomers made it seventy Giants

San Francisco's 5-2 win over Minnesota on September 21 came with a lineup that shared no name with the nine the club started on Opening Day. Of those nine, three have been traded and six are on the injured list. Bo Davidson, a non-drafted outfielder signed out of a North Carolina community college for $50,000 in 2023, singled at 103.8 mph on the ninth pitch of his major league debut, stole second and scored. Marcelo Mayer, the fourth overall pick in 2021, acquired from Boston on August 3 for Erik Miller and Carlos Gutierrez, struck out four times in his first game as a Giant after three months out. They were the 69th and 70th players San Francisco has used in 2026, a franchise record; the 2022 club used 66. Davidson is also the seventeenth player to make his major league debut with the club this season, one more than in 2008 and the most of any Giants season since at least 2000. The club claimed Camilo Doval back off waivers from Pittsburgh on September 24. If he pitches in the final series against Los Angeles, he is the 71st, which would tie the major league record set by the 2025 Braves. One take filed.

Andie TownsendSep 25, 20265 min read
Seven more Giants signings, graded from the day each one reached the majors
Free Agent Regrade

Seven more Giants signings, graded from the day each one reached the majors

The second half of the 2025-26 class: Caleb Kilian and Jared Oliva, selected to the opening-day roster on March 25; Eric Haase on April 21, when Daniel Susac went to the injured list; Gregory Santos on April 29; Wilkin Ramos and Buddy Kennedy on June 1; and Andrew Knizner, signed to a major league deal on August 11 after Susac's kneecap fracture. Graded as of each selection date on need, fit, price and risk: Kilian B, Oliva C+, Haase B-, Santos C+, Ramos B-, Kennedy B-, Knizner B. Their result grades follow at the All-Star break and at season's end.

Andie TownsendSep 22, 20267 min read
The Giants' nine free-agent contracts, graded on signing day. The biggest one is a C+
Free Agent Regrade

The Giants' nine free-agent contracts, graded on signing day. The biggest one is a C+

The 2025-26 Giants signed nine major league free agents for $70.28 million guaranteed across the nine, and none of the nine came from the top of the market. Each is graded here as of its signing date, on a four-part rubric in this order: need, fit, price and term against MLB Trade Rumors' November 6 and FanGraphs' November 5 predictions, and risk. Hentges B, Foley B-, Houser C+, Mahle B+, Bader A-, Arraez B+, Wick C, Brennan B-, Borucki C+. The winter as a class, graded at opening day: C+. The result grades come at the All-Star break and at season's end.

Andie TownsendSep 22, 202612 min read
The Giants made five trades in two days. Graded on August 3, one of them is a C+
Trade Regrade

The Giants made five trades in two days. Graded on August 3, one of them is a C+

A process grade asks whether a club made the right trade at the right price at the right time on what it knew that day, and the answer does not change when the players do. The five Giants deadline trades, graded as of August 3, 2026: Tyler Mahle to Atlanta for Anthony Molina, C+; Luis Arraez and Caleb Kilian to Philadelphia for Ramon Marquez and Marty Gair, A-; Robbie Ray to San Diego for Miguel Mendez and Joniel Hernandez, B+; Heliot Ramos to New York for Henry Lalane and Kaeden Kent, B; Erik Miller and Carlos Gutierrez to Boston for Marcelo Mayer, A-. Every source is dated August 2 to August 4. The result gets its own grade when the season ends on September 27.

Andie TownsendSep 22, 202611 min read
At the All-Star break, the Giants' winter regrades to a D+. Only Arraez went up
Free Agent Regrade

At the All-Star break, the Giants' winter regrades to a D+. Only Arraez went up

The mid-season regrade of the sixteen 2025-26 Giants signings, as of the All-Star break on July 14, 2026, off each player's line through that date and nothing later. Arraez, an All-Star at .330/.369/.460 through 402 plate appearances, moves from a B+ to an A. Bader, at .170 in 111 plate appearances and on the injured list, moves from an A- to a D. Houser is a C-, Mahle a D+, Kilian a B-, Hentges a B-. Brennan, Oliva, Ramos and Kennedy, all off the 40-man by the break, are D-minuses. Knizner, signed in August, has no mid-season grade. The class, a C+ at opening day, regrades to a D+. The season-end regrade follows September 27.

Andie TownsendSep 22, 20268 min read
The minor league season ends in five days without a title
Farm Report

The minor league season ends in five days without a title

Bo Davidson and Marcelo Mayer arrive in San Francisco, Jackson Flora starts a Double-A playoff game, and Bryce Eldridge's rookie year ends on a concussion.

Andie TownsendSep 22, 2026
Flora was lined up to start a championship game, until the Giants moved him up
Five innings

Flora was lined up to start a championship game, until the Giants moved him up

Jackson Flora's entire professional record is five innings across three starts, and the assignments around them are the part worth reading. San Francisco signed the fourth overall pick on July 18 and assigned him to the Arizona Complex League the same day. He was activated there on July 29 and never pitched in a game. He was sent to Single-A San Jose on September 1, debuted on September 4, and started Game 2 of the California League Division Series on September 10, telling reporters that night he was lined up for Game 3 of the championship series if it was needed. It was needed. On September 13, the day San Jose opened that series, the league's transaction feed records Flora assigned to Double-A Richmond. San Jose lost the deciding game on September 16 without him. He started for Richmond on September 17 in a game the Flying Squirrels had to win, retired all six men he faced on 28 pitches with four strikeouts, and Richmond lost 5-3 and was eliminated. He has never pitched at High-A. Of the thirty players taken in the first round of the 2026 draft, he is the only one to appear in a game above that level. Two takes filed.

Andie TownsendSep 18, 20265 min read
Eugene loses a championship series by one run three times
Farm Report

Eugene loses a championship series by one run three times

San Jose plays for a title, Jackson Flora starts a playoff game, and Scott Bandura goes from Sacramento to the major leagues in a day.

Andie TownsendSep 15, 2026
Rafael Devers Is Done For The Year, And The Paperwork That Says So Is Also A Call-Up
The first baseman

Rafael Devers Is Done For The Year, And The Paperwork That Says So Is Also A Call-Up

San Francisco placed Rafael Devers on the 60-day injured list on Sunday with a core muscle injury, and the league's roster system carries his status as Injured 60-Day. With 13 games left on the schedule the designation ends his season by the calendar, whatever Monday's consultation with a Philadelphia specialist recommends. The club's 40-man roster held 40 of 40 before the move and 40 of 40 after it: the transaction that closed Devers's year is the transaction that made room for Scott Bandura, whose contract was selected from Sacramento the same day. Devers hit .258 with a .340 on-base percentage and a .525 slugging percentage across 148 games, with 37 home runs, 98 RBI and 36 doubles, which ties him with three other hitters for the major league lead. He homered in each of his last two games. He is the 16th man on this club's 60-day list and the second infielder it has moved there to end a season, after Matt Chapman in August. Seven contract years remain. One take filed at -160.

Andie TownsendSep 13, 20265 min read
The Giants Have Stolen 68, 68 And 69 Bases In Three Seasons, And Buster Posey Has Spent Two Of Them Asking For More
The bases

The Giants Have Stolen 68, 68 And 69 Bases In Three Seasons, And Buster Posey Has Spent Two Of Them Asking For More

San Francisco has stolen 69 bases in 147 games this season, after 68 in 162 games in 2025 and 68 in 162 games in 2024. Buster Posey, the club's president of baseball operations, told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle this week that he has added running to the pitching and defense he has emphasized since taking the job, and that he has spent two years wanting that tone set. The season number is not what changed. The split inside it is: 27 steals in the first 85 games at a 69.2 percent success rate, then 42 in the next 62 at 80.8 percent. Since July 1 the Giants have stolen bases at 0.677 per game against a league rate of 0.668 over the same span, which ranks them twelfth of thirty after finishing 29th in each of the two previous seasons. Of the four Giants with nine or more steals, Luis Arraez was traded to Philadelphia on August 3 and Casey Schmitt is on the 60-day injured list with a torn meniscus. Jung Hoo Lee stole none in his first 56 games and twelve in his next 78. Fifty-eight major league players have stolen fifteen bases this season and no Giant has stolen more than twelve. Two takes filed.

Andie TownsendSep 11, 20265 min read
The fourth overall pick throws his first professional inning
Farm Report

The fourth overall pick throws his first professional inning

Josuar Gonzalez goes four for four, Ramon Marquez's best starts turn out to belong to Philadelphia, and Jesus Rodriguez's season ends on an elbow.

Andie TownsendSep 8, 2026
The Giants Have More Men On The 60-Day Injured List Than Any Club In Baseball, And All Of Them Return In November
November

The Giants Have More Men On The 60-Day Injured List Than Any Club In Baseball, And All Of Them Return In November

San Francisco has fourteen players on the 60-day injured list, the most in the major leagues; the next-highest total is nine, shared by five clubs, and the median across the thirty teams is six. Three of the fourteen have not appeared in a major league game in 2026, including Randy Rodriguez, who threw fifty games with a 1.78 earned run average in 2025, and Rowan Wick, who has not thrown a major league pitch since 2022. Nine of the fourteen were moved to the list on or after August 2, and every one of those nine transfers happened on a day the club also added a player to its 40-man roster, either by selecting a contract or by claiming somebody off waivers. The most recent pair came Thursday, when Keaton Winn was transferred with right elbow neuritis and third baseman Brett Harris was claimed from Boston and optioned the same afternoon. MLB's glossary lists the transfer as one of four ways a club with a full 40-man roster can open a spot, and describes the removal as temporary. The 40-man carries thirty-nine names today; adding the fourteen back makes fifty-three. In each of its last three Novembers the club reinstated four, four and two men from the list. Three takes filed.

Andie TownsendSep 4, 20266 min read
Losing Willy Adames Costs The Giants A Third Baseman, Not A Shortstop
The left side

Losing Willy Adames Costs The Giants A Third Baseman, Not A Shortstop

Six men have started a game at third base for San Francisco in 2026. Matt Chapman made 82 of those starts and has not played since June 30; Casey Schmitt made 24 and has not played since July 27. Both had surgery in the following days and MLB's injury page gives both an expected return of 2027. Christian Koss has held the job since July 28, but he has also started nine games at shortstop since July 1, and on every one of those days somebody else played third: Schmitt once, Buddy Kennedy five times, Shay Whitcomb three. Kennedy and Whitcomb were both claimed off waivers this month, from Seattle on August 2 and Houston on August 13, and Kennedy was designated for assignment on Thursday after going 4 for 33 with four singles. Willy Adames received a PRP injection in his sprained left elbow on Thursday; Tony Vitello said three or four weeks of rest and the club's injury page says a four-week minimum, which lands on September 24 against a last scheduled game of September 27. Koss and Whitcomb have drawn six walks in 159 plate appearances between them this season, against 74 in 857 for Chapman and Adames. Three takes filed, on Adames, on Koss at shortstop and on a seventh third baseman.

Andie TownsendAug 28, 20266 min read
The teenagers hit .480 and .455 one level apart
Farm Report

The teenagers hit .480 and .455 one level apart

Two arms went north and the board shrinks to 53, and the San Jose rotation threw ten one-hit innings without a walk.

Andie TownsendAug 25, 2026
Ten Pitchers Have Started A Game For The Giants This Season, And Three Of Them Cannot Start Another
The rotation

Ten Pitchers Have Started A Game For The Giants This Season, And Three Of Them Cannot Start Another

San Francisco has played 127 games and used ten starting pitchers, tied for the sixth-fewest in the majors against a league median of thirteen. Three of those ten are unavailable: Tyler Mahle was traded to Atlanta on August 2, Robbie Ray to San Diego on August 3, and Trevor McDonald has been on the injured list since July 21 with a strained right elbow. Between them they made 53 of the 127 starts and threw 287.2 of the club's 677 starting innings. Seven pitchers covered the first 111 games; seven have covered the sixteen since the deadline, three of them names that had never started a major league game for the Giants. Boston has named Jake Bennett for Sunday and San Francisco has named nobody.

Andie TownsendAug 21, 20265 min read
Four home runs in six days ends Bo Davidson's drought
Farm Report

Four home runs in six days ends Bo Davidson's drought

Two promised ranking arguments get settled, and a season quietly ends on the 60-day list.

Andie TownsendAug 18, 2026
The Paperwork Still Says Abdominal Strain
The injury report

The Paperwork Still Says Abdominal Strain

Chapman finishes 2026 at 84 games, a .692 OPS and seven home runs, with four seasons still to run on his contract. Four men have started at third base since he left, and the newest arrived on a waiver claim the same day his season formally closed. The 2027 question is not whether he is the third baseman. It is who the Giants think the alternative is.

Andie TownsendAug 14, 20265 min read
Four promotions including a first major league game at twenty-seven
Farm Report

Four promotions including a first major league game at twenty-seven

An eighteen-year-old hitting .500, and a catcher's fractured kneecap.

Andie TownsendAug 11, 2026
The Giants Spent A 40-Man Spot On Ten Innings
The rotation

The Giants Spent A 40-Man Spot On Ten Innings

The deadline took Tyler Mahle and Robbie Ray and left two rotation spots behind. San Francisco is filling one of them with a 27-year-old career reliever it spent three weeks converting into a starter. The ten innings are excellent and they are ten innings, and the roster spot they cost is worth more this winter than it has been in any previous August of this rebuild.

Andie TownsendAug 8, 20265 min read
The deadline emptied the major league roster and refilled the farm: seven out
Farm Report

The deadline emptied the major league roster and refilled the farm: seven out

Eight in, one board name traded, and the list grows to fifty-six.

Andie TownsendAug 5, 2026