There is perhaps no baseball visual more awkward, yet still universally accepted, than the one you see in teams’ introductory press conferences.
You know the one. A grown man, usually nine figures richer, stands at a podium, wearing a suit and tie.
Then, a team executive hands him a jersey.
Jacket off.
The tie? That stays on.
The player then pulls the polyester button-down over the dress shirt, buttons it up, and creates a unique sartorial nightmare. It’s a god-forsaken look. It’s patently ridiculous.
But as we dive headfirst into the San Francisco Giants’ offseason, it is the only thing that matters.
I have heard all the rumors. I have parsed the innuendo coming from baseball’s winter meetings.
But until I see a collar tucked under the neck of a crisp, cream-colored Giants jersey, nothing has happened.
And we were promised things would happen.
I want to be patient. I know the offseason signings just started. I know we are months away from pitchers and catchers reporting. I know you don’t need to be first, you just have to be right.
But the rumor mill is becoming triggering, isn’t it?
For what feels like an eternity, Giants fans have been fed a steady offseason diet of the most nutritious nothing-burger in sports media: The Report of Activity.
The Giants are “active.” The Giants are “monitoring the market.” The Giants are “in a good position.”
It sounds nice. But in Major League Baseball, “active” is often just a polite euphemism for “leverage.”
And the Giants have become more synonymous with leverage than the AI companies surrounding the ballpark.
Agents use San Francisco to drive up the price, only to have their client sign elsewhere, or, worse, Los Angeles.
We were promised this era would be different. We were told that with Buster Posey at the helm, the Orange and Black would play second fiddle to no one.
Leverage? The Giants were supposed to take a crowbar to the National League.
Posey has delivered in spots. Hiring Tony Vitello was a jolt of energy — I can’t get enough of this guy. Trading for Rafael Devers was a legitimate, we-are-serious move. And Posey did seal the deal on Willy Adames, but is that only because the bigger fish didn’t need a shortstop?
But the paranoia in the Bay Area is still well-earned. Until the Giants can beat out the big boys for a marquee free agent — purely with a checkbook and a pitch — the reputation will stick.
And while the Giants are reportedly “active” in this nascent offseason, the top teams in the league are actually cutting checks.
The Mets landed Devin Williams. The Dodgers snagged Edwin Diaz. Kyle Schwarber is heading back to Philly. The teams that plan on playing deep into October aren’t waiting to see where the market settles.
They are the market.
Meanwhile, San Francisco has glaring holes. Posey needs to find a second baseman, an outfielder who offers more than just a glove, and pitching. So much pitching.
The fan’s fear, I hear, is that the Giants are falling back into the cycle of prudence. The fear is that they are waiting for the “value play” while the premium talent flies off the board.
That fear is warranted because prudence is for losers.
Spare me the lecture on the Competitive Balance Tax. I don’t want to hear about “efficiency.” The Giants are a massive-market team with a license to print money in one of the wealthiest regions on the planet. There is no impediment to spending over the tax threshold — it’s barely punitive — other than a lack of desire to do so.
So, do the Giants have the desire? Or do they just want you to think they do?
The Dodgers aren’t worried about the tax. The Mets certainly aren’t, either. Those teams are worried about winning. If they have to light some cash on fire in the process, so be it.
And, damnit, isn’t lighting cash on fire what the Bay Area does best?
The Giants’ fan base has been far more patient than they should have been. They have sat through the “retools” and the “break-even” seasons. They have been told that the team is “trying,” as if mere effort is a currency fans can spend.
I prefer wins.
To garner those wins, the Giants are going to have to cut into their owner’s take-home pay this winter. There’s no two ways about it.
If the Giants want to be taken seriously — if they want to stop being the stalking horse for Scott Boras — they need to stop starting conversations and start closing deals.
They have the money. They have the needs.
Do they have the man in charge who can change the paradigm? Do they have the kind of owners interested in wins over profits?
Don’t tell me — show me.
Because the appetite in the Bay for a winner is ravenous. Think about how eagerly fans have slurped up .500 baseball. Now imagine the windfall if the Giants invested enough to put a 90-win outfit on the field.
It’s time to start keeping up with the Joneses. It’s time to take the rivalry with the Dodgers seriously.
It’s time to win some games — but first, you have to win some bidding wars.
Jersey over a tie. Until then, it’s all just noise.
