The San Francisco Giants came into the offseason with a lot of hype. Their general manager, Farhan Zaidi promised a very active offseason. He even went on to say that no free agent is outside their financial capability. As of late, the Giants had been preaching patience to their fans. San Francisco had been very conservative in free agency under Zaidi. This was due in part to a number of pricey contracts on the books. Now that a lot of contracts were off the books, San Francisco would be able to spend big money this offseason. However, despite the lofty aspirations, San Francisco failed to sign any star players to play in the Bay Area. I think it’s safe to say that their offseason was a failure and one big buzzkill.
After winning 107 games in 2021, the Giants regressed to 81 wins last season and missed the postseason. As a team offensively, the Giants only hit .234 ranking them in the bottom half of the league. Only one player in the Giants lineup hit more than 20 home runs and that was Joc Peterson. The only two players with at least 70 RBI were Joc Pederson and Wilmer Flores. The Giants offense was in clear need of some “pop”.
Early in the offseason, the Giants pursued baseball’s top free agent in Yankees slugger Aaron Judge. Many people thought they had a chance to sign him since Judge grew up a Giants in the Bay Area. He also has family still residing in the area as well. San Francisco even went as far as to have Golden State Warriors megastar Steph Curry help recruit him. However, their hopes were dashed when Judge signed a long-term deal to stay with the Yankees. This came after Jon Heyman pulled a “Dewey Defeats Truman” by tweeting that Judge had signed with San Francisco. The Giants were just used by Judge’s camp to successfully get more money from New York. While nobody knew it at the time, this proved to be the beginning of a buzzkill of an offseason for the Giants.
Farhan Zaidi and the Giants front office next set their sights on Carlos Correa. San Francisco appeared to finally get their superstar in Correa. Initially, San Francisco and Carlos Correa agreed to a 13-year $350 Million deal. A press conference was even scheduled to welcome him to San Francisco. Giants fans patience appeared to finally be rewarded. However, when Correa was getting his physical, a doctor expressed concern about a leg injury he suffered in 2014.
When that issue happened, the Giants delayed the press conference and reportedly refused to renegotiate with Correa’s camp. Later Steve Cohen and the New York Mets swooped in, and they initially took Correa right out of San Francisco’s hands. However, the Giants got some vindication when the same leg issue popped up during the Mets physical. New York’s deal later fell apart as well, and Correa went back to the Minnesota Twins. Despite the vindication, San Francisco wasn’t exempt from the backlash and frustration from their fanbase.
Despite the Giants hyping up the idea of luring a megastar to San Francisco, it didn’t happen. Instead, the Giants were only able to sign Sean Manaea, Mitch Haniger, Taylor Rogers, Ross Stripling, Michael Conforto, and Luke Jackson. All these players have been either inconsistent, injury prone, or missed the entire previous season. Hardly the types of players that San Francisco was promising and none of them can salvage what has been a buzzkill of an offseason.
The front office promised that it would be a big offseason. The Giants and their fan base came into this offseason very optimistic and excited about the possibilities that awaited them. Instead, it has been nothing but emotionally brutal and embarrassing. After the Carlos Correa debacle, it’s safe to say that this offseason has been one giant buzzkill for San Francisco and its fans. Worst of all the San Francisco Giants failed spectacularly in rewarding their fans patience. I’m not sure if a team in Major League Baseball history has failed as badly as the Giants did this off-season. While Farhan Zaidi may have talked about having a big offseason, he and the Giants certainly didn’t deliver.
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