Bad offseason just got worse for the Giants

Now, I’m thinking I don’t even want to use the tickets.

Overnight, the Giants’ deal with Correa fell apart because of questions surrounding his physical. Reports Wednesday said the team and Correa disagreed on a finding during the examination.

Correa’s agent, Scott Boras, one of the most cutthroat and shrewd figures in all of sports, turned around and quickly hammered out a 12-year, $315 million deal with the New York Mets.

And just like that, the Giants, once again, get a lump of coal in their Christmas stocking.

Many have said the Giants got played, in both the Aaron Judge and Correa sweepstakes. The fact of the matter is, the Giants played themselves. They didn’t make the “offer you can’t refuse” to Judge and they were willing to walk away from a massive deal over what they perceived to be damaged goods in Correa.

Here’s a good question: which team is held in better regard around Major League Baseball right now? A San Francisco Giants team that claims it’s a marquee organization, yet is always second best? Or, an Oakland A’s organization that at least doesn’t pretend it’s trying to win?

I’ve seen a lot of comments on social media saying the Giants dodged a huge mistake and that decade-plus deals are simply not worth it. And those people might be right. But like the game on the field has changed, the business of baseball has changed. Ten, 12-, 13-year deals are standard operating procedure now. Baseball contracts are increasingly all about length and dollars — and more of each. Those owners willing to shell out the money, cost be damned, are the ones raking in the big names. With the addition of Correa, Mets owner Steven Cohen closed out a free agency period that saw him add nearly a billion dollars — more than $800 million — to the 2023 payroll.

The Padres have been making deals left and right, the Dodgers might be better by subtraction, and here come the Giants, one of the most boring teams in baseball last season with no excitement on the horizon.

While the San Francisco Giants are a legacy MLB franchise, the simple fact of the matter is it is not a free-agent destination. And to be honest, it never really has been. Barry Bonds was signed 30 years ago. Since then, who has been the Giants’ biggest free agent acquisition? Who was it before Bonds?

Were the Giants supposed to offer Judge $450 million? Should they simply disregard the findings their medical team raised over Correa’s physical?

They are quickly turning into the Golden State Warriors BC — Before Curry. The Warriors were a free agent wasteland, where the only players willing to come were those “name” guys — the Corey Maggettes of the world — with a lot of baggage, or fringe NBA players.

This is a complete disaster for the Giants and their fans, who have desperately wanted to cling to a winner since the 2016 playoffs. The team has told fans for years that as soon as the dead money comes off the books, they would open the wallet. And yet here we are.

The Giants, however, see themselves as one of baseball’s elites and, for six years, they were. But those three World Series titles are getting smaller and smaller in the rearview window and not surprisingly, fans are starting to ask, “What have you done for me lately?”

Maybe those same issues the Giants found concerning are raised following the Mets checkup, but my guess is that New York owner Steve Cohen will rip right through any red flags.

Whether that is good business or bad business, it’s the business of baseball now and the Giants, so far, don’t seem willing to go about their business that way.

So the Giants will continue to shop the clearance aisle of the free-agency department store this season and they’ll mix and match players like they have since Farhan Zaidi came aboard. They’ll talk a big game about how they have all this money to throw at the likes of Shohei Ohtani next offseason.

But everyone knows, deep down, the Giants have no shot at the Angels phenom. He’s already turned them down once. Has anything changed in the last five seasons at Third and King?

Buckle up for another boring ride in 2023 — and beyond.

Hey, how is the farm system looking?

Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: 344-5200 ext. 117. To report scores or tips, email sports@smdailyjournal.com.