The San Francisco Giants have been linked to several star free agents over the years, but they have failed to land almost any of them.
Despite the recent signing of Jung Hoo Lee, they have changed and missed a lot in recent years. This came to a head after the signing of Shohei Ohtani, which obviously included essentially everything the Giants agreed to.
Although they apparently gave him exactly what he needed to get a signature, Ohtani rejected them. Other free agents have done so as well. For what? MLB insider Ken Rosenthal thinks he has an idea.
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He said on Foul Territory:
“The Giants’ problem… They have a geography problem, or I guess, a city problem, I would say. Players, for whatever reason, have a negative perception of San Francisco right now. Not all players , of course Jung Hoo. Lee didn’t have one, but they run into that… That perception exists, fair or unfair.”
Ohtani chose to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers over 10 years and $700 million, most of which was postponed. The terms of the deal are obviously exactly what the Giants were willing to sign him to, but he chose not to sign with them.
San Francisco Giants rejected by top free agents
The year before this one, Aaron judges was highly sought after by San Francisco. Although he offered a contract similar to the one he ended up signing, he also rejected the city.
Carlos Correa had reached a deal before dissolving due to injury concerns, but other free agents also opted not to head to San Francisco. It had been a while since they ran into a superstar and managed to catch him, even though they would have tried their best.
Rumor has it that they’re interested in tons of players, and with the money they have, that’s no surprise.
The surprise is that, overall, they failed to recruit anyone despite good offers. Maybe Rosenthal and former wide receiver Buster Posey are right: Players don’t like going to San Francisco. It’s not really fair to the team, but it seems to be the reality.
