The Giants met the price of Shohei Ohtani

They didn’t get the biggest star for lack of trying.

• By
  
  Brady Thumper
  

• On that day December 12, 2023 at 9:03 pm

Shohei Ohtani has dominated the baseball airwaves since the start of the offseason. For weeks we wondered where he would sign and what the process would be like. Later, we were treated to (often false) reporting as things heated up. Mystery and speculation were the biggest stories in baseball.

When Ohtani chooses Los Angeles DodgersHis decision became the biggest story in baseball, breaking the hearts of San Francisco Giants fans in the process.

Reports of a newly-minted deal — the biggest in sports history — went public. Later on That It became the biggest story in baseball.

Soon, Ohtani will cease to be the biggest story in baseball (until the regular season, that is), as the rest of the free agents — and some trade candidates — find new homes. That process began in earnest for Giants fans on Tuesday, when the team signed Jung-Hoo Lee to a six-year, $113 million contract.

But we’ve got a break from offseason roster-building to return to the man who isn’t far from the biggest story in baseball: Ohtani.

Shortly after Lee’s news broke, Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi went on a conference call with beat reporters, speaking to the media for the first time since the winter meetings, saying every word he said was “sorry, I swear. Confidential, can’t talk.

Because Lee’s contract isn’t official yet (words that send shivers down every Giants fan’s spine), JD couldn’t comment on the biggest free agent signing he’s made since taking over the job. Although that didn’t stop him from indulging in a hilarious (and seemingly good-natured) joke directed at NY Post reporter Jon Heyman, the author of the infamous “Orson Judge is heading to the Giants” tweet.

11/10, No edits, Farhan.

While Zaidi couldn’t talk about Lee, he finally revealed details about the team’s pursuit of Ohtani. I was eagerly anticipating that we would learn what contract the Giants offered the two-way superstar, half out of curiosity and half to get some information about how hard they are trying to star free agents.

What we learned was basically this: The Giants were less likely to offer Ohtani a deal, and Ohtani proposed a deal to all of his competitors before deciding where he wanted to play.

According to Zaidi, when the Giants first met with Ohtani, they opened with a big offer.

But as the process continued, Ohtani hammered out the same deal he eventually signed with the Dodgers: 10 years, $700 million, with $680 million in deferred payments, with the goal of limiting the team’s payroll and competitive balance sheet so they could build around him.

The Giants, to their credit, were willing to meet Ohtani’s demands — the same demands that are now in his contract. But as predicted for months, the superstar had a clear preference.

If you’re wondering if front office members are attracted to fans by Twitter reports… well… yes.

If you want any other details from Ohtani’s pursuit, Zide revealed that only Zide, Bob Melvin, Buster Posey and Greg Johnson from that organization met with Shohei. Zaidi told reporters that it went well and that they had hope at times, but ultimately felt that Ohtani wanted to stay in LA.

News of San Francisco meeting Ohtani’s contract desires inspires hope or pessimism depending on where you sit. On the one hand, there is a feeling among fans that stars are not entitled to pay; The most convincing counter-evidence is that the Giants met their final contracts for Ohtani and Judge. The Giants, on the other hand, met those prices and still lost the services of those players. Signing Lee helps, but the Giants still have a long way to go to prove to fans that they can convince A-list stars to sign with them.

However, it’s good to know that the Giants didn’t miss out on the best player in the world because they weren’t willing to pay the price. Not that we’ll be too comforted when we first see Ohtani don the Dodger blue.

Read more