This past Wednesday, Brady posted the latest SB Nation Reacts poll question of which of their non-Dodgers NL West Division rivals are the bigger threat this season, and now we have that result.
What are the motivations for this poll response? It’s an important question. Do they see the Diamondbacks as a likely second place team or are they more likely to wind up third as they did last season? In that case, the Giants would be competing to avoid a repeat of fourth place. Or, did voters simply look at the field and vote based on which team they thought could be the biggest threat to the Giants clinching second place in the division?
If we focus on the notion of fan optimism, then we’re led to the conclusion that it’s a battle for second place and, presumably, a Wild Card berth. I’m not sure I can travel that far down the road of optimism, however, as the National League playoff field seems awfully competitive on paper. If you figure the Dodgers are the NL West champs (which is no sure thing, because baseball is usually not so predictable), the remaining five teams could be from an extensive group of teams: the Mets, Atlanta, Philadelphia, the Marlins Cubs, Brewers, Reds — heck, the Pirates are 5-3 of this writing. The Giants, Padres, and Diamondbacks don’t seem to be on the same level as most of those teams (Pirates & Marlins being the most obvious exceptions for the moment).
But after seeing San Diego up close, it makes sense that a lot of voters concluded (either just by watching the Giants play them or by their knowledge of the team’s off-field situation in terms of finances, but also prospect capital) that they simply aren’t the threat they once were and especially when compared to the Diamondbacks who… lost a game 17-2 this past week and were then shutout the next night. So, all three of these would-be runner up to the Dodgers have stumbled out of the gate.
Remarkably, ZiPS projects the Giants to land in second place, with the Padres third and Dbacks fourth. The Padres have also won the season series against the Giants in each of the last four seasons and five of the last six. Or, to put it another way, since 2020, the Giants have won the season series just once (2021). Arizona has won the season series in each of the last four seasons, too, though.
But 51-49 is very close, and that makes a lot of sense. Arizona features Corbin Carroll, Ketel Marte, Geraldo Perdomo, Zac Gallen, and Eduardo Rodriguez while San Diego has Fernando Tatis Jr., Jackson Merrill, Manny Machado, and Ramon Laureano to go with Randy Vasquez, Michael King, and Nick Pivetta. If you put those groups up against Devers, Adames, Chapman, Ramos, Lee, Webb, and Roupp/Mahle there’s a way to make them all roughly equivalent.
Unless the Giants absolutely crater here in April, the battle for second in the NL West should be an intense one for most of the summer.
The poll questions that weren’t team-specific had to do with viewing the games.
With MLB’s media rights deals set to end after the 2028 season, Commissioner Rob Manfred appears to be gearing up to offer all of the teams media rights as part of a large streaming package. What will that mean for viewers in the future? Probably nothing good. And while this poll isn’t a meaningful sampling of the sport’s viewership demographics, it does speak to a truth that there are too many platforms, subscriptions, and plain ol’ logins in this wacky world. MLB is careening towards this situation:
Making it easy to watch games makes it easier to watch games for other teams. Part of the fun of baseball is knowing who all the dudes are.
That question was asked as a follow up to this one. As you’ll recall, the Giants hosted the Yankees for the very first “Opening Night,” which became the sole MLB game to kickoff the season. It was also hosted on a global streaming service which means everybody saw the Giants pantsed and run up the flag poll so that people could pelt them with produce and make fun of their appearance. If you’re not a fan of either team or aren’t into blowouts, you had no recourse other than to maybe look for something else to watch on the service. Unsurprisingly, fans weren’t that into Opening Night:
That’s an overwhelming rejection of the league’s idea, which probably means it’ll stick around for next season.
If you’re interested in being a survey participant, you can sign up for SB Nation Reacts polls here.
Jayson Tatum
Donte DiVincenzo
Tari Eason
