As they prepared for the MLB draft and continued to check in on their big league players and prospects, Giants officials checked days off the calendar and came to grips with the reality of what the 2020 season might look like.
While it once seemed that 82 games was a likely compromise, the owners have in recent days focused on a schedule that includes just 60 games, with the players countering at 70.
You can do the math there. This likely settles somewhere around 65 to 66 games, which would make for a hell of a sprint to the finish line if a deal gets done.
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Inside the offices at Oracle Park, they can do the math, too. They know a short season gives them a much better shot at being competitive.
On Wednesday's "Chalk Talk at Home," Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said he was on a recent call with staffers, and they talked about how the season would be significantly shortened.
"Somebody made the point that, 'Hey, we were 19-6 in July. We were the best team in baseball in July,' " Zaidi said, smiling. "That's like half the season now."
Whether it's 60 or 70 games, or somewhere in between, this will be a season unlike any other, and that's good news for the rebuilding Giants. Even last year, while going 77-85, they did have that magical run in July. If you take out the beginning and end of last year, for instance, and just look at June 1 through Aug. 17, the Giants went 41-27 over 68 games.
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Those are arbitrary endpoints, of course, but a similar hot streak to start the 2020 season would put the Giants right in the race.
"All it takes is a hot stretch," Zaidi said. "It sounds like we may have expanded playoffs, too."
All of that allows the Giants to be more competitive in 2020, although there's a long way to go even in negotiations between the league and the players' union.
Zaidi said he was encouraged to hear the sides met face-to-face this week, noting that it appears things are close enough to the finish line that the owners and players can close ranks and get a deal done. One day after Zaidi's comments, MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark said in a statement it was "unequivocally false to suggest" the sides had reached any agreement in face-to-face talks.
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Assuming a deal gets done, Zaidi said the Giants anticipate needing 10 days to two weeks to get everyone into place for a second spring training, which would last about three weeks. The hope from executives and players around the game is that all those wheels are put into motion by the end of this week.
"We were really excited about the news that it seems like the sides are getting closer to a deal," Zaidi said Wednesday. "Even though it's been a long spring and summer for the country -- not to take away from the very serious things that are going on -- I still felt a jolt of real excitement when I heard that progress was being made, and I think that people that work in baseball and fans everywhere have that same feeling."
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