New Los Angeles Dodgers star Yoshinobu Yamamoto isn't one of the MLB players with a negative view of San Francisco.
Following Yamamoto's introductory Dodgers press conference on Wednesday, his agent Joel Wolfe – who also represents Brandon Crawford – spoke to reporters after the Giants pursued the coveted Japanese pitcher [h/t The Los Angeles Times’ Dylan Hernandez].
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Yoshinobu Yamamoto's agent Joel Wolfe: “He thought San Francisco really reminded him of Osaka and thought it was a beautiful city. …If the Dodgers hadn't pursued him, San Francisco probably could have been his destination.”
— Dylan Hernández (@dylanohernandez) December 28, 2023
Yamamoto's feelings toward San Francisco come after former Giants catcher Buster Posey suggested the city's reputation would hurt the team as they try to sign free agents.
While Yamamoto liked San Francisco, he eventually signed a 12-year, $325 million contract with the Dodgers, the largest deal for a pitcher in MLB history.
Posey's comments came after the Giants missed out on Shohei Ohtani, who also signed with the Dodgers despite San Francisco offering a nearly identical 10-year, $700 million contract that included mostly deferred money.
“I think something remarkable, something that is unfortunately brought up again and again by players and even the players' wives, is that there is a certain unease in the city itself in terms of the state of the city, crime and drugs,” Posey told Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic on Dec. 12. “Whether this is all completely fair or not, the perception is reality. I think it's a frustrating cycle, and not just in baseball. Baseball is secondary to life and the important things in life. But as far as pursuing a free agent, I’ve seen it impact things.”
Since Posey's comments, several prominent figures, including new Giants manager Bob Melvin, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr and MLB agent Scott Boras, have debunked the notion that San Francisco is an undesirable destination.
“Players have always wanted to come to San Francisco,” Melvin told Tim Kawakami of The Athletic. “It’s a great, great city. I think big cities have the same problems. And at the end of the day, we want people who want to be here. So we can't really influence how people think about (the city).
“The more people come here and we have success, the more people will want to be here. That’s how I see it.”
Kerr, who has called the Bay Area home for the last 10 seasons as the Warriors' coach, acknowledged that his players' significant others have expressed the opposite viewpoint to what Posey described.
“It’s an interesting dynamic,” Kerr said on 95.7 The Game’s “Willard and Dibs” show Dec. 15. “What I've found is we haven't gotten anyone to express this yet, but I've heard from players when they arrive with their wives, significant others are surprised at what a great place it is. I've heard this many times, like, “Oh, this city is really great, this is a great place to live.” Things we know, right?
“Those of us who live here understand that this is a wonderful place to live. But the reputation and some of the political consequences of everything that we're experiencing in America today, so San Francisco… You turn on 'Fox News', it's the center of Armageddon. And we certainly have our problems like any other city, but this is an incredible place to play and an incredible place to live, and our players and their significant others express that constantly.
“It's hard, it's hard for the city that we have to deal with his reputation, but to me it's more political nonsense than reality.”
Boras, who just helped 25-year-old Korean outfielder Jung Hoo Lee sign a six-year, $113 million contract with the Giants in early December, thought the criticism San Francisco is receiving is “unfair.”
“The players are talking about whether the owner is willing to spend money to win,” Boras told John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle after Lee's introductory press conference. “Will they pay me what I’m worth?” What do they have in the minor leagues that makes them a consistent winner? They focus on baseball. There are problems like homelessness near the baseball stadium in San Diego, in downtown LA
“Identifying this only with San Francisco is really unfair. We have problems in every major city. Chicago, New York, wherever. The players' main focus is on the structure of the organization as well as winning and competing. The Giants' biggest problem is the fact that the Dodgers are getting better. Players want to know if they come here, can they compete with the Dodgers? And now Arizona. That’s the really big question that San Francisco needs to answer.”
The Giants lost to the Dodgers on Yamamato, but it's clear from Wolfe's comments that the pitcher's decision had nothing to do with any possible fear of coming to San Francisco.
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