Yesterday morning, the baseball planet didn’t really need coffee to wake up. In fact, the caffeine fix to wake people up was replaced by a Tweet from Jon Heyman in the middle of the night announcing that Carlos Correa, who had a deal with the San Francisco Giants, has finally signed a 12 pact. years with the New York Mets.
For just about every ball fan out there, it came as a shock. That said, let’s say that for Giants fans, it was more of an earthquake than a small shock. And I’m not just saying that because earthquakes are common in California.
Because when you look at the Giants’ offseason so far, it looks like a real fiasco. After all, the team had every intention of signing at least a top free agent to get back in the thick of the race with the Dodgers and Padres.
A face was missing from the dealership following the departure of Buster Posey, and we wanted to find his successor this winter.
It started with Aaron Judge (or Arson Judge), who was the team’s #1 priority. Giants fans will have believed it for a few minutes following a Tweet from Heyman to this effect, but the informant later recanted and Judge agreed with the Yankees the next day.
Then, the club’s attention turned to Correa. The shortstop agreed with the team on the terms of a 13-year, $350 million contract, so we thought the matter was settled.
However, the Giants had reservations at the time of the medical examination, and Scott Boras was tired of seeing the player’s case stagnate. That’s why the Mets picked him up.
The other priority for the Giants this winter, Carlos Rodon, went to join Judge with the Yankees. San Francisco must certainly start having New York in the back, especially since Giancarlo Stanton had refused to be traded to the Giants before being traded to the Yankees a few years ago.
Clearly, then, we can start talking about disaster. Much like Joey Gallo, the Giants have been racking up strikeouts since the start of the offseason.
However, what is even more serious is that at present it will be very difficult for the Giants to find their franchise face before the start of the next season. All the big names in the freelance market have signed up and it’s not the good Ross Stripling who’s going to be selling tickets on his own.
And even though we added Mitch Haniger, the lineup isn’t exactly the most threatening. Carlos Correa wouldn’t have changed everything, but let’s say it would have already been a little more imposing.
At the moment, there are no real stars in San Francisco. We wanted to add one during the current off-season, but apart from the six days when Carlos Correa was a formal member of the organization (and where he was preparing to be presented to the media in San Francisco), the Giants failed to do so.
There is still the trade market option, but again the options are limited and they will be costly in terms of hopes. Bryan Reynolds, who was a Giants prospect in his early days in professional baseball, could be an option, but will the Giants be willing to pay the price (in prospects) demanded by the Pirates?
And clearly, Fernando Tatis Jr. will not be traded within the division (if he is traded at all, which is unlikely), so we can forget about this possibility.
Clearly, the 2023 season does not look glorious in San Francisco. Unless the situation changes, we will lack star power to compete with the Dodgers and Padres.
Better luck next winter in the race for the services of Shohei Ohtani and other big free agents, San Francisco.
