The San Francisco Giants failed to make it to fall baseball again this season.
After winning a franchise-record 107 games in 2021, the Giants slumped to third place in the NL West with 81 wins last year and fourth in the division with 79 wins this year. The Giants’ rapid decline from a 107-win team to an underdog that can barely keep its winning percentage above .500 was largely due to their inability to maintain their power.
The San Francisco Giants failed to make it to fall ball again this season.
After winning a league-high 107 games in 2021, the Giants slipped further to third in the NL West with 81 wins last year and fourth in the division with 79 wins this year. The Giants’ rapid decline from a 107-win team to an underdog that can barely keep its winning percentage above .500 was largely due to their inability to maintain their power.
Most teams looking to win in the major leagues go to the free agent market. This is because they believe that expensive players will help them win. They don’t deny that free agency is the most likely way to bolster their roster, even if the reality is different.
But San Francisco recently went on a free agency tear for the second straight year. Not for lack of money, but for a variety of unexpected reasons.
The Giants quickly negotiated with shortstop Carlos Correa, the top free agent after the 2021 season, and tentatively agreed to terms in mid-December. The deal was for 13 years and $350 million, but a week later, the Giants abruptly canceled his induction ceremony. Medical tests revealed that the ankle he injured in the minors would not heal. Correa agreed to a deal with the New York Mets shortly afterward, but it fell through for the same reason, and he eventually re-signed with his original team, the Minnesota Twins, for three years and $153 million.
San Francisco is also close to finalizing a deal with Aaron Judge, who hit an AL single-season record 62 home runs late last year before hitting free agency. The deal is for nine years and $360 million. After initial negotiations with his original team, the New York Yankees, Jersey flew to San Francisco and met with San Francisco executives, including CEO Larry Baer, President Farhan Zaidi, and Manager Gabe Kapler. They dined and toured the team’s home ballpark, Oracle Park. 스포츠토토
Jersey is just two hours from Oracle Park, and Linden grew up a Barry Bonds fan. A deal with San Francisco was a foregone conclusion, but a few days later, Judge announced he was staying with the Yankees. The Yankees, who had offered eight years and $320 million in the first round of negotiations, showed their “seriousness” by upping the offer to nine years and $36 million. “Same price, Yankees,” Jersey said, using San Francisco as leverage.
After two offseasons of betrayal after betrayal, the Giants were left with a weakened roster that saw key pieces like Kris Bryant, Kevin Gausman, Carlos Rodon, and Brandon Belt leave the team. Despite a flurry of low- to mid-level free agents this past winter – outfielders Mitch Haniger and Michael Conforto, lefty reliever Taylor Rogers, lefty starter Sean Manaea, and righty starter Ross Stripling – the five have a combined bWAR of just 1.2 this season.