Cactus League notebook: Bochy’s thoughts on Pablo, why all the Giants-Mariners trades, Joc’s first impression in AZ
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Farhan Zaidi wasn’t the only person to have his phone spammed by Pablo Sandoval.
“Oh, I was getting them, too,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said Tuesday of the workout videos being sent by the three-time World Series champion, culminating in an invitation to spring training with the Giants. “You know what, I’m not shocked, I’ll be honest. I knew he had the drive, the passion to get back into it. So good for him. He looks good from the videos that I saw.”
Speaking from Cactus League media day, the former San Francisco skipper said the Giants would “get to have some fun with Pablo.” Upon hearing the news of his signing, Bochy said he sent him congratulations over text and hoped to connect in-person.
While Sandoval is adamant about making a long-shot bid at the Opening Day roster, Bochy said he could see a future in coaching if it doesn’t work out.
“He’s always loved the game,” Bochy said. “I could see when he’s done, he should stay in the game and coach or whatever he wants to do because the guy plays the game the way you love players to play, with joy, enthusiasm. He’s a lot of fun.”
Ex-Cy Young Ray a boon for young arms
Zaidi and his counterpart in Seattle, Jerry Dipoto, connected this winter for their 11th and arguably most consequential transaction since the they took their current posts when the Giants sent Mitch Haniger and Anthony DeSclafani to the Mariners for former Cy Young winner Robbie Ray.
In addition to the midseason boost Ray should provide when he returns from Tommy John surgery, Mariners manager Scott Servais said the Giants’ group of young pitchers will benefit from the presence of the 32-year-old, whom he called “one of my all-time favorite guys to manage,” despite getting only a season with him before his elbow blew out.
“Oh, Robbie Ray is fantastic,” Servais said. “He brought a level of professionalism to our young pitchers and really helped the Logan Gilberts and the George Kirbys. We are going to miss Robbie. We missed him last year when he wasn’t there when he was going through rehab all year. I think the world of him.
“He’s a real grown-up. He’s got a wife, three kids. He’s been through a lot in his career. He’s willing to give a lot of that back to young players, so he’s going to do very well in San Francisco.”
Explaining all those Mariners trades
The 11 transactions between the clubs are three more than Zaidi has made with any other team and more than twice that of most in the league. (Can you name the one team not in the NL West that Zaidi has not traded with? Spoiler: They’re now managed by Bochy.)
Asked to characterize the pair’s relationship, Servais chuckled, while Seattle general manager Justin Hollander provided some insight.
“I think that our organizations broadly, or Jerry and Farhan specifically, they are tinkerers and transactioners by nature,” Hollander said. “There’s just been a way of naturally lining up. I also think we’ve both been fairly aggressive on the margin moves on our roster – trading for DFA’d players, trading for players on waivers, Triple-A performers who may be able to provide depth or help. We’re both targeting the same types of players, it seems over the past few years.”
Among the most curious cases is catcher Tom Murphy, who has never been dealt between the teams but has now switched sides multiple times, most recently signing a a two-year free-agent deal to become the backup to Patrick Bailey.
Murphy’s previous team? The Mariners. And his team before that? You guessed it.
“That one stands out to me,” Hollander said. “As I recall, we went to Japan (in 2019). Tom Murphy was not on our team for the Japan series. Then we came home and acquired Tom Murphy, so he was on our home Opening Day roster, but he was not on our roster when we played the games in Tokyo. Which is like a really unique dynamic for somebody who turned into our starting catcher very quickly. …
“He was a player that we liked and did not get (originally). We tried to get him, but they got him. I did not expect him to be available like a week later.”
Joc in the desert
When the Diamondbacks made their pitch this offseason to Joc Pederson, who eventually agreed to a one-year, $9.5 million deal, one quality surprised manager Torey Lovullo.
“Very smart baseball player,” Lovullo said. “I was not aware of that until I started to have some conversations with him. He’s active and he knows what’s going on.”
Pederson came to the meeting prepared with numbers, according to Lovullo. He told the club’s brass that something in the neighborhood of 14 of the 18 projected starting pitchers in the division, “fit right into my wheelhouse.”
Without naming names, such as Pederson’s former teammates, the math checked out, the manager said.
“We did some research and we found out that he matched up really well with some projected starters,” Lovullo said. “I’m like, where are we? What month is it? What teams is he talking about? He’s clearly thinking about things on a totally different level. And he’s right.”