Just How Out of Touch is San Francisco Giants Ownership After Recent Comments on Spending?

The San Francisco Giants were lauded for their front office and free agency moves, but the ownership group’s latest comments landed sour.

Sep 17, 2022; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants president and chief executive officer Larry Baer during an on-field ceremony before the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Oracle Park. / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

In the offseason the San Francisco Giants energized the fan base with a series of moves that were, in truth, designed to make the baseball team better.

The Giants fired president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and replaced him with fan favorite and Giants legend Buster Posey. The catcher immediately went to work and signed shortstop Willy Adames to the largest contract in team history, including the long-term deal he signed as a player.

Then, Posey signed future Hall-of-Fame pitcher Justin Verlander to a one-year deal. He’s not the Verlander of old, but he looks re-energized this year after an injury-riddled 2024 led to quite possibly the worst season of his career.

Then, earlier this week, the Giants announced what many saw as an infusion of cash, as the franchise sold a 10% stake to a private equity firm. While the details of exactly how much money changed hands, Forbes values the Giants at $3.8 billion as a franchise. So its likely to be a tidy sum.

One would assume that the Giants would use that for player contracts, right? Well, the team’s CEO, Larry Baer, threw some cold water on that for the time being.

“This is not about a stockpile for the next Aaron Judge,” Baer said to outlets, including The New York Times. “This is about improvements to the ballpark, making big bets on San Francisco and the community around us, and having the firepower to take us into the next generation.”

One columnist, Dave Tobener of SFGate.com, called the implication that Baer saying the investment wouldn’t lead to a higher payroll “enraging.” There will certainly be a significant segment of the fan base that feels the same way. And, it certainly makes it sound like Baer doesn't have his pulse on a fan base exhausted by three years of mediocrity.

With all the work the Giants did this offseason to get everyone energized, Baer's comments really do sound out of touch.

Under Zaidi, the emphasis was on player development, analytics and platoon-driven personnel. It worked masterfully in 2021, as the Giants won 109 games. But they failed to win a playoff series.

Since then, the franchise has swung and missed on free agents, including Aaron Judge, a California native who went to Fresno State. At one point San Francisco had the highest bid for Judge, only to see his current team, the New York Yankees, up the bid and sign him.

Signing Adames represents a sea change for the Giants. They landed a standout free agent to a long-term deal. To hear Baer talk more about ballpark improvements, and not roster improvements, was a downer for many Giants fans.

None of this is to say that San Francisco won’t use some of that infusion of cash to sign free agents or keep their own stars. It’s not to say they won’t make moves at the deadline if they’re in contention. But, in a division that features baseball’s new “evil empire,” the Los Angeles Dodgers, cash is king. The franchise must acknowledge that.

Redirecting some of that infusion of cash to lure talented players to the franchise would be a wise move for Baer, Posey and the organization.   

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