Roki Sasaki isn’t coming to the Giants.
Of course he isn’t.
And, frankly, shame on anyone who suggested that he would.
Like every competent team in baseball, the Giants were in on the hot-shot Japanese free-agent pitcher, who, like Shohei Ohtani before him, is limited to signing a minor-league deal with a Major League team.
That massively discounted rate allowed every team to sign him.
And I suppose the Giants had an opportunity to sign him, too. Then again, so did the White Sox and Tampa Bay Rays.
But if money is not a factor and every team is in the mix, who in their right mind would think that the Giants would land this elite-level prospect with an 80-grade splitter and a 102-mile-per-hour fastball?
The Giants cannot land free agents without overpaying the market. What did San Francisco have to sell to Sasaki without the possibility of an overpay?
What do the Giants have to sell to anyone besides Buster Posey’s vision?
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I don’t hold any of this against Posey. He’s been on the job for 15 weeks. That’s not enough time to fundamentally change the entire organization.
But that’s the burden he took upon himself when he pushed out Farhan Zaidi and took over as the director of baseball operations.
And has anything truly changed since I wrote that these were the “Same ol’ Giants” in late October?
Have you felt a vibe shift, as the kids would say?
Sasaki’s inevitable rebuff is a much-needed reminder that the Giants’ problems cannot be solved by signing one big-money shortstop (this time, with him passing the physical) or a pitcher older than Tim Lincecum.
No, this is a mess a decade-plus in the making, if not longer.
And worse yet, it might take just as long to correct.
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Don’t be gaslighted or propagandized into thinking anything different: The Giants can no longer be considered one of baseball’s top organizations.
That’s if they ever could be considered part of that ilk.
Financially, they’re exceptional. It’s a hell of a business they have going along the water.
And when it comes to history and tradition, the Giants are downright steeped.
But Major League Baseball is a league of haves and have-nots. The Giants, for instance, bring in 50 percent more revenue than the Marlins, and the Yankees more than 100 percent more than the Reds.
Yes, there are tiers in the big leagues, and while the Giants might be flush with cash, they are not playing at the top among the New York teams, the Dodgers, Braves, Phillies, or even the Padres.
They’re the best of the rest — hanging out with Arizona, Seattle, and the Rangers.
The “second-choice” markets, if you will.
That’s not to say that those teams cannot be successful. It’s only that you shouldn’t expect consistent excellence from those squads.
No, that’s reserved for the teams with great farm systems, star players at the big-league level, innovative infrastructures, and an unfettered willingness to go over the luxury tax line with payroll. How many of those things can the Giants boast right now? Can they even claim one?
I’ve heard all the excuses—the external factors explaining why the Giants have fallen to this level; why they couldn’t build upon their early 2010s successes.
California taxes aren’t an issue for the Dodgers or Padres — don’t let anyone tell you they’re an issue for the Giants.
The city itself is an easy, go-to excuse. And it’s a valid one if you’re working a real job, too. But last time I checked, the Bay Area and San Francisco are teeming with millionaires (and billionaires). Are they all suckers, or does the market cater well to them? (Little would we know about all of that.)
The weather? I’m reading that it can be changed. The Giants should consider investing in that technology with all the money they’re saving by not being a luxury tax team.
Forgive me, but perhaps the Giants’ woes are due to the fact that they don’t have the kind of operation that stacks up with the best. And in this faux salary-cap sport, why go play for a team that’s content with second place? (Or third?)
So, how does Posey solve the problem?
A little bit at a time. No one player is going to shift the Giants’ fate — not even Bryce Eldridge — but more of his ilk, whether built or bought, can put the Giants in a position where signing a player like Sasaki is a luxury, not a necessity.
It’ll be then — and only then — that the Giants will be attractive to such players.
