Sometimes I like to imagine a sunny day in the Greek underworld (I am reasonably sure they did not have the sun there; it doesn’t matter). Persephone eats pomegranates. Cerberus looks cool and three-headed and whatnot. Sisyphus, rolling his boulder up the hill, thinks to himself, “This time, I’ve got it. This time, it’ll be different. This time, I’m getting this stupid thing over the hump.”
Why did he even keep doing it? What was the point? What was he ever going to accomplish? He knew how it had to end — even if you have not heard the full context of the story, you too know how it had to end — and yet there he was, plugging away at that hill. Did he give up hope? Why continue? How did he convince himself it would be different this time? How did he find it in himself to keep going despite the certainty of failure?
Anyway, the Giants are totally gonna sign some big name free agent hitters this year.
The rumors have been swirling for months that Farhan and crew would look to open up the pocketbook this offseason. Tons of money came off the books, and the team has several veterans who have either just transitioned off the roster or are in the process of transitioning off the roster, so they’ll need a big, splashy free agent in otder to maintain fan interest. It just makes sense, people.
On the other hand, the Giants don’t do that.
You can argue all day about why it hasn’t happened in so long. I am sure that I have argued about that, and then immediately regretted it because it was a stupid decision, but hey, we all have our boulders to push. Regardless of why guys don’t sign here, or what they’re thinking, or what the franchise is doing wrong or not doing wrong, the big ticket guys don’t choose San Francisco.
Yes, you’ll get your occasional Aaron Rowand, your soupcon of Dave Roberts, your my-dad’s-the-manager Moises Alou contract, your one year deal for Michael Morse or Joc Pederson, but Bryce Harper? Pshaw. Pshaw, I say, pshaw! Manny Machado? Why even try? Giancarlo Stanton, who was not technically a free agent but did have control over his trade destination so he counts for this exercise? Nah, not happening.
So really, when I say that this time it’ll be different, should you believe that? Don’t we all have enough experience with the Giants coming in second for big free agents to know how this is going to play out? Isn’t it already a fait accompli that Aaron Judge will just use the Giants to get the Yankees to up their offer, and that Trea Turner will politely listen to Farhan’s pitch before turning right around and signing with the Phillies?
And yet, maybe it isn’t this time. Because this time…I don’t want it to happen.
I mean, no, I didn’t want it to happen before either, but I’m older and more mature now. I really think I’m a lot better at not wanting things than I was even a few years ago, and I’m proud to have the opportunity to display my skills here.
I have also cleverly already begun rationalizing the Giants missing out on Judge and Turner, a thing which has not happened yet. Remember last offseason, when the Rangers went on a spending spree and were still a bad team at the end of it? Remember the Padres’ multiple Offseason Champs banners that they hang from the rafters at Petco? Sure, an open-air stadium doesn’t have rafters, but I don’t see how that matters.
The point is, it’s not the worst thing to miss out on the big free agents. I mean, the Giants are fully capable of signing good pitchers, and how’s that gone for them? Johnny Cueto? One good season that ended in a playoff appearance, and then he was hurt the rest of the time. Carlos Rodon? Fantastic last year, for a mediocre team. What’s even the point?
Is this working? Do you want Judge and Turner less? No, me neither.
It would be cool for the Giants to sign them, and I want cool things for my favorite sports team. It would be exciting, and I want the Giants, a decidedly non-exciting team in 2022, to be exciting again in 2023. Above all, it would be fun, and what’s the point of watching sports if you’re not having fun? I know the Giants are way more likely to end up with Michael Conforto and Brandon Drury than Judge and Turner (you can substitute Dansby Swanson or Xander Bogaerts or Carlos Correa for Turner, if you’d like), but I don’t want to think about reality. I want to think about the possibilities.
And the possibility of Judge hitting dingers at Oracle Park is tremendous. I love dingers and would be delighted for the Giants to have a dinger masher suiting up for them. It would be a great situation for me personally, which is really the important thing.
I know it probably won’t happen. I know I’m selling myself a fantasy. But hey, maybe this time it’ll finally work. Maybe this time I’ll be able to push the boulder over the hill. Sure, it’ll just go down the next hill and also if I’m Sisyphus in this metaphor I’m actually chained to the boulder, so it will drag me down with it. But who cares? I’m stil imagining how good it would feel, even for a second, to get to the top of that hill.
Well aware everyone is excited about the idea of Aaron Judge in RF for the Giants but once that doesn't happen I still expect the Gallo/Profar split-jerseys (representing the RF platoon partners) to fly off of the racks. And watching Cody Bellinger run everything down in CF will be an absolute treat as well.