The Giants failed in their attempt to sign Shohei Ohtani, but Buster Posey believes the team's top brass did everything they could to land the two-pronged MLB superstar.
The former San Francisco star catcher, who is now part of the team's ownership group, told The Athletic's Andrew Baggarly in an exclusive interview that the Giants are currently in a “free agent rut” after trading Ohtani to the Los Angeles Dodgers lost. But he is convinced the franchise can turn things around.
Posey, along with new Giants manager Bob Melvin, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and owner Greg Johnson, met with Ohtani at Oracle Park on December 2 before the Japanese talent made his decision to enter free agency. Ohtani had a chance to be special for the city of San Francisco, and Posey shared his message to the star with Baggarly, but even though the Giants agreed to a similar deal, Ohtani ultimately chose to stay in Southern California for an unusual ten years, 700 -Million dollar contract with the Dodgers.
“I just wanted him to understand how much I love the San Francisco Giants and the city of San Francisco, and that he understands how much I've come to appreciate the history here and that I want him to be a part of it in the future History is.” Posey told Baggarly: “It was a unique opportunity. I just feel like his move to the Giants could have been a game-changer, obviously for the baseball team, but it also would have given the city the boost that we've all been waiting for.”
Posey told Baggarly he didn't think the Giants could have done more with their Ohtani pitch, and Zaidi told reporters Tuesday that the team believed the decision was due to geography. According to Posey, the reputation of the city of San Francisco may have played a role.
“I think something remarkable, something that is unfortunately brought up again and again by players and even players' wives, is that there is a certain unease in the city itself about the state of the city, the crime and the drugs,” Posey explained Baggarly. “Whether this is all completely fair or not, the perception is reality. It's a frustrating cycle, I think, and not just in baseball. Baseball is secondary to life and the important things in life. But as far as being a free agent, I've seen it impact things.
The three-time World Series champion went on to tell Baggarly that he loves the Bay Area and that he and his family, who recently returned after a year in Georgia, have a “deep connection” to the area. Just when he thinks the Giants will eventually get the superstar they've been looking for, Posey sees better days ahead for the city.
“I won’t pretend to know more about what the turnaround will look like, but sometimes things can happen faster than we think,” Posey told Baggarly. “COVID is a perfect example in that it has affected a lot of things. And I think it can also happen in the opposite direction in a positive way.”
This was the second time Posey was in the room when the Giants made their free agency pitch to Ohtani, as San Francisco acquired his services following the 2017 MLB season before he signed with the Los Angeles Angels. When Posey heard that Ohtani had chosen the Dodgers this time, he told Baggarly that the news was “tough” and that he felt “really depressed.”
Posey knows that homegrown talent can win championships, as the Giants proved during his tenure in 2010, 2012 and 2014. That doesn't diminish Ohtani's decision, even if San Francisco gave everything in the pursuit.
And what better way could Posey sum up that pain than with a perfect baseball analogy?
“I've been thinking about it since the news broke,” Posey said when Baggarly asked if the Giants could have done more. “I really don’t think so. It's different, but similar to playing: I always wanted to feel like when you're finished, whether you win or lose, that you're doing your best. I really feel like we did.”
“I also gave this analogy to someone: Over the course of my career, I would have rather had three broken-bats in a game than three lineouts against someone. For people to say, 'Well, you did everything you could. You hit him.' Ball on the nose.' It's like that, yes, but ultimately you want results. Unfortunately we didn’t get the result and that’s why we’ll keep pushing.”
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