© Andy Marlin | 2018 Aug 20
The Giants’ 2018 postseason window has closed. That’s what broadcaster Duane Kuiper said when he joined Murph and Mac for the first time this week, on the heels of the club being swept by the last place Cincinnati Reds last weekend, and narrowly avoiding their fifth straight loss on Monday night, thanks to a comical Mets error.
It would appear that the Giants’ efforts to add to their aging core this offseason did not bear fruit. So what does that mean heading into 2019? According to Kuiper, it means the Orange and Black will just have to give it another shot.
“Do you think that this organization is going to blow this up? They’re not,” Kuiper said. “You keep trying, that’s what you do. If everybody agrees that what you said is true, you try something else. You can’t just sit back.
“If you’re going to have somewhere between 35 to 40 thousand in that ballpark every home game, you just keep trying, because those people deserve that. Do they deserve a better than .500 team? Yeah, absolutely. You can’t just say ‘Let’s trade (Madison) Bumgarner, and we’ll get something for (Brandon) Crawford, and a lot of teams want (Brandon) Belt,’ I mean it’s just not that easy, but you have to keep trying.”
Former NL MVP Andrew McCutchen was one of the reinforcements brought over last offseason. He could be on the move soon, with Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic reporting that McCutchen has been placed on revocable waivers, with a “very good chance he is wearing another uniform by the end of the week.” In his first season with the Giants, McCutchen is having a down year by his standards, posting a .768 OPS, two points away from his career low.
Still, Kuiper would like to see him stay.
“You mentioned one guy, McCutchen. I hope they bring him back, because I think he is been a really, really solid major league player, that Bruce Bochy doesn’t have to worry about that position every game. He’s played in more games than anybody else and I would like to see him come back.”
Listen to the full interview below.