The Giants have had MLB offseason spending questions swirling for a few years now, only to be eventually outbid by other teams.
The largest deal the Giants made before Willy Adames’ last season was Buster Posey’s nine-year, $167 million contract back in 2013. Now, with Buster at the helm in his sophomore season as President of Baseball Operations, general manager Zack Minasian spoke with KNBR 680’s “Murph & Markus” show on Thursday about San Francisco’s approach in the 2025 offseason.
“I certainly want us to be an organization that closes deals…”, Minasian shared, “… And certainly feel like there are some intriguing avenues now that we’ll continue to explore and see where they go.”
His comments came hours after it was reported that the Giants are bringing in former Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington for an infield coaching position.
Former Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington is finalizing a deal with the San Francisco Giants to be their major league infield coach. Washington, an infield guru, could have the most impact of any free agent this winter with his expertise.
One big-name free agent Minasian was asked about specifically is Japanese star pitcher Tatsuya Imai
“Some possibilities are going to open up more and more as players start to sign, and yeah, hopefully we can add talent, that’s always the goal”, he continued.
Minasian further referenced San Francisco’s experience in snagging talent from the Korean Baseball League and Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, specifically Jung Hoo Lee.
“It’s obviously very well known our activity on other players that have come over from those countries, and we’re going to continue to be active with players that have a chance to make the team better.”
The Giants made history by hiring Tony Vitello as their new manager, and bringing back Bruce Bochy as a special advisor will surely give a veteran presence to the front office. Until then, Zack Minasian is “continuing to really look at all avenues for bringing in talent”.
New San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello is reportedly close to making his first major addition to the team’s coaching staff. Former Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington is reportedly joining the Giants as the team’s infield coach, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.
Washington, 73, managed the Angels for two seasons before the team parted ways with him at the end of the 2025 season. He was limited to just 74 games with the team last season due to heart surgery. Washington intended to return for the 2026 season prior to his dismissal.
While Washington’s tenure with the Angels didn’t go as planned — he had a .419 winning percentage over two seasons — he’s been a successful manager in the past. In eight seasons with the Texas Rangers, Washington posted a .521 winning percentage and led the team to two straight World Series appearances.
With a managerial job not in the cards for Washington this offseason, he’ll revert back to coaching infielders. It’s a role Washington has mastered over his career. The longtime coach is considered one of the best — if not the best — infield gurus around. He’s been credited with turning around a number of fielders, with one of his biggest wins being Marcus Semien, who drastically improved his defense when he and Washington worked together with the Athletics.
Washington was also the “Wash” referenced in the “Moneyball” scene with Scott Hatteberg. And while that’s a fictionalized version of what happened, Washington was the team’s infield coach when Hatteberg made the transition from catcher to first base.
Also, apparently the scene in question wasn’t that fictionalized, as Washington said it played out similarly in real life.
The move does provide some insight into how Vitello — who is making an unprecedented jump from college to the pros — wants the Giants to operate. He clearly values defense, and Washington already has some strong pieces to work with in San Francisco, including Matt Chapman and Willy Adames.
Adames and Chapman are among the players who don’t need a high level of attention from Washington, as they are already among the best defenders at their positions. Every other member of the Giants’ infield, however, is about to get a masterclass in defense from one of the game’s best defensive coaches.
New San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello is reportedly close to making his first major addition to the team’s coaching staff. Former Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington is reportedly joining the Giants as the team’s infield coach, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.
Washington, 73, managed the Angels for two seasons before the team parted ways with him at the end of the 2025 season. He was limited to just 74 games with the team last season due to heart surgery. Washington intended to return for the 2026 season prior to his dismissal.
While Washington’s tenure with the Angels didn’t go as planned — he had a .419 winning percentage over two seasons — he’s been a successful manager in the past. In eight seasons with the Texas Rangers, Washington posted a .521 winning percentage and led the team to two straight World Series appearances.
With a managerial job not in the cards for Washington this offseason, he’ll revert back to coaching infielders. It’s a role Washington has mastered over his career. The longtime coach is considered one of the best — if not the best — infield gurus around. He’s been credited with turning around a number of fielders, with one of his biggest wins being Marcus Semien, who drastically improved his defense when he and Washington worked together with the Athletics.
Washington was also the “Wash” referenced in the “Moneyball” scene with Scott Hatteberg. And while that’s a fictionalized version of what happened, Washington was the team’s infield coach when Hatteberg made the transition from catcher to first base.
Also, apparently the scene in question wasn’t that fictionalized, as Washington said it played out similarly in real life.
The move does provide some insight into how Vitello — who is making an unprecedented jump from college to the pros — wants the Giants to operate. He clearly values defense, and Washington already has some strong pieces to work with in San Francisco, including Matt Chapman and Willy Adames.
Adames and Chapman are among the players who don’t need a high level of attention from Washington, as they are already among the best defenders at their positions. Every other member of the Giants’ infield, however, is about to get a masterclass in defense from one of the game’s best defensive coaches.
General manager Zack Minasian completed one of the biggest trades in Giants franchise history last season by acquiring Rafael Devers.
To do so, Minasian and the Giants sent a player package including Kyle Harrison and 2024 first-round draft pick James Tibbs. Not often do teams part ways with young pitchers they evaluate highly, nor do they typically trade their first-round pick from the year before.
So, are there any players that the front office deems untouchable? Minasian joined KNBR’s “Murph and Markus” to discuss his position.
“I think you try to enter all of these things being open-minded,” Minasian explained. “I’m not one to say there are untouchables in any scenario.”
Beyond their core of proven major league players, the Giants have a plethora of intriguing prospects that could be used as trading chips.
Minasian pointed to an example during his time with the Milwaukee Brewers, saying that the team considered giving up Ryan Braun to acquire Rich Harden.
“I think there are certain players that it’s very hard to imagine trading them, both in terms of fit and ability,” Minasian said. “So, you try to stay open-minded as to not limit your player pool of who you can potentially access.
“But obviously, there are certain players who are very difficult to move because of the fit, because of their ability, what you think they will be at the major league level.”
Bryce Eldridge, the Giants’ top prospect, comes to mind as a potential asset if San Francisco were to attempt to trade for a star player. However, considering the anticipation of Eldridge playing at the major league level, coupled with how highly the organization evaluates him, he would be one of those players that is hard to imagine the Giants parting ways with.
Nevertheless, there are no “untouchables” on the Giants.
“I’m not one that’s going to shut down any avenues,” Minasian said, reaffirming his open-mindedness. “But, the likelihood it obviously varies from player to player.”
In a follow-up question, Minasian was asked if the Giants would consider moving either Eldridge or Devers, considering that the two are both left-handed, power-hitting first basemen.
The Giants GM reaffirmed that they try to keep an open mind, but he also added that there’s a difference between being receptive and trades actually taking place.
“There are some players where – is it realistic?” Minasian posited. “And it’s tough to say this is a realistic thing to happen.”
It’s not realistic that the Giants would move a star they recently acquired or their most-anticipated prospect in recent history.
But that doesn’t mean the Giants aren’t listening.
MLB’s next collective bargaining agreement negotiations are still a year away from needing to be done, but it has been made very clear that the biggest topic of conversation will be the potential imposition of a salary cap.
Fueling the arguments in favor of such a system is the presence of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who recently won their second straight World Series with a payroll in the neighborhood of $400 million. You would imagine that few members of the Dodgers would want anything that could limit spending, but manager Dave Roberts had a surprising perspective on Wednesday.
Appearing on Prime’s “Good Sports,” Roberts was asked by host Kenan Thompson if baseball should have a salary cap. He didn’t say yes, but he also said he’d be fine with the change:
“You know what? I’m all right with that. I think the NBA has done a nice job of revenue sharing with the players and the owners. But if you’re going to kind of suppress spending at the top, I think that you got to raise the floor to make those bottom-feeders spend money, too.”
The suggestion of a salary floor in addition to a salary cap, as Roberts throws out, has been speculated as the compromise that could get players to consider the idea of a cap, which has been a nonstarter in MLB labor negotiations going back to the advent of free agency. If team owners dig in, it would make a labor stoppage a near certainty.
MLB remains the only major North American sports league to not have a salary cap. In 2025, CBT payrolls range from the Dodgers and New York Mets ($338 million) to the Chicago White Sox ($92 million) and Miami Marlins ($85 million).
When counting only players who were on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster at the end of 2025, their payroll came in at $347 million, per Cot’s Contracts. However, when adding in the factors that go into a CBT payroll, such as player benefits and salaries for players no longer on the roster, that number goes all the way up to $415 million, the largest in MLB history. The Dodgers will also pay about $167 million in luxury tax, meaning that, from a CBT standpoint, they just won a title that cost $582 million.
The team already has $320 million on the books for 2026 and is likely to add more, given holes in its outfield and bullpen.
However, it’s hardly a given that a salary cap would spell destruction for L.A.’s current run, as it also possesses one of the most advanced player development pipelines in MLB and a farm system considered to be one of the best in baseball.
Roberts is well aware that if the Dodgers suddenly need to lean on young, less-expensive talent, they have the resources to do so. A salary cap would remove only one way the Dodgers are outpacing the competition.
The Clippers sent Paul home from their road trip late Tuesday night, seemingly out of nowhere, and announced that they were parting ways with the veteran guard. Paul, a future Hall of Famer and undoubtedly one of the best point guards to ever play in the league, had already announced that he was going to retire after this season. The 40-year-old, now in his 21st season in the NBA, signed a one-year, $3.6 million deal to reunite with the Clippers this past offseason.
Paul, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, was apparently feuding with the team and head coach Tyronn Lue. Paul’s leadership style apparently “clashed” with the team, and he hadn’t spoken with Lue for “several weeks.” Paul reportedly requested a meeting with Lue to discuss the perception that he was a negative presence on the team, but Lue refused.
“I don’t like it,” Lue said of the Paul situation before the game. “It just didn’t work out like we thought it would. I don’t like it for CP, but it’s just not a good fit. He understood that. The organization, they made the choice. We’ll go forward, we’ve gotta see what we can do.”
Paul has averaged 2.9 points and 3.3 assists per game this season while coming off the bench. He had 8 points and 3 assists in 15 minutes in Monday’s loss to the Miami Heat in South Florida.
“I don’t think it’ll necessarily help our team. I don’t think the reason why we’re 5-16 is because of CP’s play,” Lue said of Paul before the game. “I just think that it wasn’t a good fit for what he was looking for. It is what it is.
“Do I want to see CP go out like this? No. I have a lot of respect for him, he’s been a friend of mine over the years. You never want to see a great go out like this, but I’m pretty sure he will find something. He’s a great player.”
Remarkably, the Clippers erupted to a blowout win in their first game without Paul. The team rolled to a 115-92 victory, which snapped a five-game losing skid and brought them to 6-16 — though that’s still one of the worst records in the Western Conference.
James Harden led the way with 27 points and nine assists, and Kawhi Leonard added 21 points and six rebounds. Nickeil Alexander-Walker led the Hawks with 21 points, and Dyson Daniels added 15. The Hawks (13-10) have now lost back-to-back games.
The Clippers will continue their road trip next on Friday night in Memphis.
A mile high, a new day is dawning over Coors Field. Or at the very least, an old day is fading to black.
To the ball fans of Denver, that is welcome news.
For a long while now, the Colorado Rockies have been an utter catastrophe, the epitome of sporting woe. Since 2020, no MLB franchise has lost more games. Colorado is the only club with a winning percentage south of .400 over that span. The Rockies have not reached the postseason since 2018 and have captured just one postseason victory since current owner Dick Monfort became the team’s control person in 2011.
Yet somehow, rock-bottom only just arrived.
The 2025 Rockies were a disaster, an eyesore, an undermanned, poorly constructed excuse of a big-league team. After starting the season 9-50, Colorado managed to climb its way out of the record books, if only by a hair. The Rockies finished the campaign 43-119, two losses shy of the all-time mark. The pitching staff led baseball in runs allowed (1,021), and the lineup finished 29th in runs scored (583). That minus-424 run differential was the single worst mark of the modern era.
All that losing had one silver lining: Change, something the entire organization had long seemed allergic to, is finally happening.
‘We’ve probably lost sight of innovation’
First out the door was longtime manager Bud Black, fired in May amid the team’s catastrophic start. Then, at the season’s merciful end, came the departure of two organizational fixtures: general manager Bill Schmidt and assistant general manager Zack Rosenthal. Schmidt joined the Rockies in 1999 and had been GM since 2021. Rosenthal was hired in 2006 and rose to AGM in 2014. Publicly, neither was fired, as Rosenthal resigned and the Rockies framed Schmidt’s leaving as a parting of ways, but their exits were a direct result of the team’s horrendous season.
In November, after a lengthy, disjointed search, the Rockies hired former “Moneyball” darling Paul DePodesta to be the club’s new president of baseball operations. DePodesta, 52, rose to fame as a key figure in the early days of baseball’s statistical revolution, but he spent the past decade as the chief strategy officer for the NFL’s Cleveland Browns. To work beneath DePodesta as the general manager, Colorado brought in Josh Byrnes, a front-office vet with GM stints in San Diego and Arizona. Byrnes, 55, had been the Dodgers’ senior vice president of baseball operations since 2014, with a focus on the MLB Draft. Finally, the team announced that Warren Schaeffer, who finished the season as the interim manager, would be back in 2026.
DePodesta’s hire was surprising, especially given that the Rockies were reportedly deep into talks with Cleveland’s Matt Forman and Arizona’s Amiel Sawdaye, two well-regarded executives with real influence in their respective organizations. But the man who inspired Jonah Hill’s character in “Moneyball” is, at the very least, an outside voice, something that couldn’t be said about Colorado’s previous two top baseball ops execs.
The task ahead of DePodesta, Byrnes and whoever else heeds the call is downright monumental. This is an organization in disarray, depressingly behind the times. Walker Monfort, the owner’s older son and the team’s executive vice president, has been refreshingly open about that in the weeks since DePodesta’s hiring.
“I think one thing that I would attribute to the past, you know, half-decade that we’ve been through,” Walker, 39, told DNVR Rockies this week, “we’ve probably lost sight of innovation and lost sight of just continuing to evolve our process.”
“We stopped evolving our process.” – Walker Monfort on what’s went wrong the past few seasons 🗣️
While it’s encouraging that Monfort, who holds significant sway in the franchise and was a key part of the executive search, understands the situation, it’s a massive problem that things went so sideways in the first place.
How did it get this bad?
A dozen former Rockies players, employees, coaches and other industry voices described a baseball operations department sealed off from the modern game. While most praised Monfort for his loyalty and described him as an affable character, they claimed that loyalty also precluded the Rockies from adopting new ideas, calcifying the entire operation from within. Over the past half-decade, as the rest of the league modernized at warp-speed, Colorado’s ambivalence toward innovation left it mired in the dark ages and unable to deal with the unique challenges of playing at high altitude. That fans continued to pack Coors Field, despite the on-field ineptitude, reduced any incentive for the team to rethink its approach.
“The entire operating model was do what we tell you to do, be loyal,” one former employee told Yahoo Sports. “And we don’t even care if you’re competent. We just want to keep things exactly as they are.”
Indeed, before this winter’s drastic overhaul, Colorado’s front office featured a stunning amount of continuity. Among the nine people who held director-level positions or above in Colorado’s baseball operations department entering 2025 (including the since departed duo of Schmidt and Rosenthal), the average tenure was a whopping 26 years.
Danny Montgomery (VP/AGM of scouting), Rolando Fernandez (VP of international scouting), Paul Egins (senior director of MLB operations) and Marc Gustafson (senior director of scouting) have all been employed by the Rockies for more than 30 years. Both Chris Forbes (senior director of player development) and Brian Jones (director of R&D) have eclipsed the 20-year mark. In fact, the only person director-level or higher with fewer than 20 years of Rox Time is Sterling Monfort, the director of pro scouting and the owner’s youngest son.
“Everybody seems to be a lifer. It is kind of insane,” a former Rockies minor leaguer explained. “A lot of coaches were former players. Some people I played with, you know, they’re great guys, but I never thought, ‘Wow, this guy should definitely be a professional baseball coach.’ And all of a sudden, they’re the hitting coach somewhere the next year.”
Certainly, a number of the Rockies’ loyalists are intelligent, employable baseball people with worthwhile perspectives and valuable experience. But the absence of outside voices, fresh ideas or modern insights effectively fossilized the entire baseball operations department from the top down. That insular environment created what other teams consider to be a very warped view of contemporary baseball, something that rears its head quite often in trade negotiations.
“Every trade deadline is mind-boggling to the point it’s expected we won’t get a reasonable or usable response,” a member of another club’s front office told Yahoo Sports. “We understand that if there’s a targetable player on Colorado, we’re probably not going to acquire him because [the team’s] logic is singular.”
‘There’s not really an incentive to win’
The team’s resistance to evolution has been particularly harmful as it pertains to pitching development — or lack thereof. Multiple former Rockies hurlers admitted they actively sought help from sources outside the organization after realizing that their club’s pitching coaches and staff were unable to help them improve. That arms such as Jeff Hoffman, Jon Gray and Tyler Matzek experienced success upon leaving the Rockies only furthered the belief among pitchers inside the org that something was seriously wrong.
“They did nothing but waste five years of that guy’s life,” one former Rockie said of Hoffman’s time in Colorado.
Others described an atmosphere outright opposed to modern technologies that have become commonplace around professional baseball. Two separate sources recounted a story from the beginning of the 2024 season, when the team prohibited players at multiple levels from throwing bullpens in front of trackman units, mobile devices that capture and display pitch data in real time.
“I remember somebody more or less tricked an intern into giving us a TruMedia password,” a former Rockies minor-league player recounted, referencing the data analytics platform used by a majority of MLB clubs. “And it was just, like, one TruMedia password spread across a pretty good chunk of the org’s players so that they could see game data.”
One prominent agent told Yahoo Sports that due to the Rockies’ poor reputation for development, their agency has had higher draft signing-bonus demands for pitchers garnering interest from the team. A pitcher from another organization described a former Rockie as being on “cloud nine” upon learning about his new team’s technological capabilities.
Colorado does employ a handful of progressive pitching types — names mentioned include coordinator of performance science Emilio Martinez and former big leaguer Scott Oberg, who serves as the team’s director of pitching — but forward-thinkers of that ilk have been few and far between, and they’ve rarely received the institutional buy-in to implement new ideas.
With Paul DePodesta (top middle) now in charge, there’s reason for optimism that a renovation of Colorado’s front office is coming.
Amy Monks/Yahoo Sports
’A beer garden with a ball field’
Colorado’s organizational stasis was further reinforced by the team’s sustained success on the business side. Why change the process when you’re making money?
Coors Field is a gem of a ballpark, and the Rockies pack it more often than you’d expect for a divisional doormat. The team has finished in the top half of the league in attendance per game every season since 2008 and did so again in 2025, despite the abysmal on-field performance. One former player jokingly described the yard as “a beer garden with a ball field.”
A different departed employee, in a round-about way, framed the dynamic as a compliment. “They’ve diversified the business in a way that I think is actually shrewd,” he said. “There’s not really an incentive to win. Then the baseball part just becomes this old guys’ fantasy team, basically.”
Another former Rockie was much more critical, telling Yahoo Sports during the 2025 season: “As long as the bottom line is good, [Monfort] doesn’t give a s***.”
But that same player was extremely complimentary of Monfort as a person and the general friendliness that pervaded all parts of the operation.
“Dick Monfort is an incredible person to be around,” the former player said. “Everybody was great, and they all treated me well. They were all super nice, caring people, but it’s because they’re so comfortable at their job — because they know performance does not matter.”
With the hiring of DePodesta, that dynamic has already begun to change.
All signs point toward a renovation of Colorado’s front office, with player development first up. During his introductory news conference, DePodesta made a special mention of rethinking how the Rockies approach pitching. Byrnes, who ran point on the Dodgers’ draft for years, will surely modernize the team’s amateur scouting department. Figuring out how to turn the high-altitude mysteries of Coors Field into a home-field advantage will also be absolutely crucial.
But at this point, it remains to be seen how many of the multi-decade, high-level employees stick around for the DePodesta Era. That hinges on whether Dick Monfort gives the green light for a total teardown. Assuming he does, the tough part will begin in earnest, as DePodesta and Byrnes will have to identify qualified candidates and sell them on a new vision for Colorado baseball — and then, eventually, craft a competitive roster.
But while the mountain is tall and the path to the summit arduous, the Rockies have already taken the most important step: Trying something new.
Tennessee lost a recruit in its 2026 football signing class.
Five-star athlete Salesi Moa flipped his commitment from Tennessee to Utah on Wednesday.
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound prospect is from Fremont High School in Ogden, Utah. His father, Ben Moa, played tight end for the Utes.
247Sports ranks Moa as the No. 3 athlete in the class and No. 1 player in Utah.
Tennessee offered Moa a scholarship on Nov. 6, 2024. He officially visited Tennessee on June 20 before committing to the Vols on July 31.
Utah offered Moa a scholarship on March 21, 2023. He officially visited Utah on May 30.
BYU was the first school to offer Moa a scholarship on March 21, 2023. Other schools to offer him scholarships include Arizona, Washington State, Hawaii, Nevada, Washington, Oregon State, Oregon, Arizona State, San Diego State, Texas A&M, Michigan State, UNLV, Michigan, Weber State, Oklahoma, Boise State, Oklahoma State and Colorado.
Head coach Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks are taking a different approach to the 2026 recruiting class than they have in years past.
While the 2025 class has excelled, with the likes of Brandon Finney Jr., Dakorien Moore and Jordon Davison carving out significant roles, it also included a large number of players with the number of signings in the high 20’s.
That’s not the case for the 2026 class. Instead, Lanning and his staff have taken the “quality over quantity approach,” with him saying as much during Wednesday’s press conference.
“This class wasn’t about signing as many guys as we possibly could; it was more about signing guys we thought could really make an impact,” Lanning said.
“This class wasn’t about signing as many guys as we possibly could; it was more about signing guys we thought could really make an impact.” – Dan Lanning
And according to 247 Sports, the method has been extremely effective. The Ducks are currently No. 2 in the class of 2026 recruiting rankings, falling just behind their fellow Big Ten member USC Trojans.
It should also be noted that USC signed 35 players in this class, going with the quantity approach, rather than quality.
Three five-stars have powered that ranking, as EDGE Anthony “Tank” Jones, offensive tackle Immanuel Eheanacho and safety Jett Washington have signed with the Ducks. Oregon also expects 5-star WR Jalen Lott and 5-star Kendre Harrison to sign in the coming hours, as well.
One more blue-chipper would put them over the Trojans. Five-star wide receiver Chris Henry Jr. had been committed to Ohio State but is a flip candidate, potentially due to the recent news of Buckeyes wide receivers coach Brian Hartline taking the USF head coaching job. Henry has not officially signed with Ohio State and said that he’s still weighing his options, according to a post on X.
While we won’t know just how effective this recruiting cycle has been until the players hit the field and contribute, Lanning and his staff have to feel very good about how their approach is progressing during this 2026 recruiting cycle.
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The Houston Rockets have had players donning a total of 52 different jersey numbers (and have one not part of any numerical series for Houston assistant coach and general manager Carroll Dawson) since their founding at the start of the 1967-68 season, worn by just under 500 players in the course of Rockets history.
To honor all of the the players who wore those numbers over the decades, Rockets Wire is covering the entire history of jersey numbers and the players who wore them since the founding of the team all those years ago right up to the present day.
With seven of those jerseys now retired to honor some of the greatest Rockets of all time to wear those jerseys, there is a lot of history to cover.
And for today’s article, we will continue with the seventh of 18 players who wore the No. 2, forward alum Anthony Miller. After ending his college career at Michigan State, Miller was picked up with the 39th overall selection of the 1994 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors.
The Benton Harbor, Michigan native played the first two seasons of his pro career with the Los Angeles Lakers after being dealt before the start of his rookie season. He also played for the Atlanta Hawks before he signed with Houston for the first time in 1999.
His stay with the team would span most of a season, coming to an end when he signed with the Hawks again in 2000, only to return again for a single game next year. During his time suiting up for the Rockets, Miller wore only jersey Nos. 2 and 9and put up 3.1 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.
All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.
