MLB is a big sandbox for billionaires to play in. There's lots of multi-millionaires, some ordinary millionaires, and a host of other folks, too, but in the end it's just a big plaything for some ultra-rich guys.
Then there's us. The fans. We just watch. There's nothing we can do except, well, NOT watch. That's it. These guys are going to do their dances and we are the lucky or unlucky recipients of the fallout.
The Giants played billionaire-millionaire tug-of-war and got beat. I'm not sure who is at fault or who is to blame so I won't worry about it. The fans are probably calling for Zaidi's head because that's what fans do. I'm not sure we'll ever really know how the Correa mess went down but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It seems like the "agreement" that Correa and the Boras Co. signed with the Giants was just part of the dance and contained enough wiggle room so they could change partners at any time. Fine. If that's how things get done in the billionaire's sandbox then they can have it.
I was excited about the possibility of Carlos Correa playing for the Giants but in general I'm not a fan of decade-length nine-figure contracts. So I'm bummed they couldn't improve the team but happy they dodged what I think is a pretty big bullet.
I don't have a problem with owners spending money or players making money. Hell the players are underpaid relative to the amount of wealth in the game! But I'm not going to take it too seriously. If Steve Cohen wants to throw more sand than the other guys in the box then more power to him. It might work. It might not. They still have to play the games.
I like baseball. I like the Giants. There's not much more to it for me than that so I'm not going to lose sleep over any of this stuff. It's time to get back to roster-building and getting excited about Spring Training. By the way I think the Haniger, Manaea, and Stripling signings were all solid moves that will help the club.
Christmas is nigh and I want to wish everyone the best for the holiday season. Thanks again to all the regular readers and contributors!
--M.C.
5 comments:
In my opinion - I did not want the "admitted Houston cheater" on our team anyway. Then he "cheats" again along with his his sleazy agent!
Correa would have been hard to warm up to, unless of course he would have been very productive from the start.
What frustrates me is that the Giants seem relatively uninterested in Japanese players. I know their system of bidding for the rights to negotiate with players is weird, but other teams manage to do it. San Francisco, San Jose and Sacramento are three of the top five cities in the country for Japanese people by percentage, yet the last Japanese player was Tsuyoshi Shinjo, in 2002. This year, they needed pitchers, Senga was available and went elsewhere (again, fuck you Mets) at a fraction of the price of Verlander or Rodon. They said they were "in on Ohtani" but, what does that mean? Put in a low bid just so you can say you were "in on Ohtani?" Why ignore a built-in fan base including much of a country of 130 million people? Correa was supposed to have gotten the Giants into the Ohtani sweepstakes, according to Kawakami and other pundits, but I guess that just means that they would be a credible team to give him a taste of the post-season, which they are now not.
My buddy and I were talking about that very same thing just yesterday. I've always wondered why the Giants didn't aggressively pursue NPB players. The Giants were the first team in MLB history to sign a Japanese ballplayer!
Another mystery of the sandbox, I suppose.
It's hard to know what these private entities are really like on the inside, unless you work there, and even then, it's hard to say how much is compartmentalized. I worked for school districts so I understand bureaucracies, but I've really no clue how an MLB club actually works. And I'll bet there are 30 different versions, too.
MLBTR has a summary of the events.
Supposedly the Giants were the first movers, that is, they put the deal on hold:
Jeff Passan of ESPN also indicates the right leg was the issue as part of a wider-ranging piece on the bizarre situation. According to Passan, San Francisco asked Correa’s camp for time to evaluate the issue after identifying their concerns in the physical on Monday night. The team postponed the press conference they’d scheduled Tuesday morning, one clearly designed to formally introduce Correa as a Giant after he signed his contract. That afternoon, the sides reengaged over the phone and the Giants informed Boras they weren’t prepared to keep their 13-year, $350MM offer on the table, Passan writes. San Francisco may have been willing to renegotiate a lower deal, according to Passan, but the decision not to abide by the originally agreed upon terms freed Correa’s camp to explore other opportunities.
So, maybe the story is more "nuanced" than we think. Maybe the Giants got cold feet or buyer's remorse. Or maybe they were just more particular about what they were getting for their $350M!
Something like this. Their orthopedic surgeon went to Charles Johnson (or via the management group), there is something in his ankle MRI that suggests this thing could pop really bad in the next 3 or 4 years, I give it a 75 percent chance based on my experience and the data. It might be a good idea to get a second opinion from another orthopedic surgeon. But it might take at least a day to set it up. Okay, thanks, we will have to put this on hold until we get a second opinion from another well known orthopedist. Giants to Boras, we have to put the deal on hold, it might take a day or two for us to make a decision. Boras, I will give you 8 hours, if not I am negotiating elsewhere. Giants: we cannot get done what we need to get done in 8 hours. Boras, that is your problem, I have a client I have to take care of. Giants: then do what you have to do.
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