It seems that my criticism of Tony Vitello’s strange press conference on Monday surprised some of the blind faithful, because I heard many fans of the black and orange say that I took it out for the team and their new captain.
And while I’m sorry they haven’t really read my column — or, frankly, anything I’ve written over the past few months — I’m very happy to hear from them.
At least I know they are awake. Forgive me for wondering if that was the case before this week.
Because the worst thing to come out of camp recently wasn’t the weirdest, gut-wrenching buyer’s remorse at Vitello on Monday. No, it was Buster Posey’s interview on KNBR last week, and I didn’t feel the slightest bit angry about it.
And now that I’m paying attention again, Giants fans, I’d like to pass on what he said:
“Look, I get it, from the fans’ point of view, they want us to go out and sign all the free agents. That sounds good in theory, but that’s not true.”
That, folks, was grade-A gaslighting.
It’s a fundamentally absurd framework – a catch-all tactic designed to make any reasonable claim to merit look ridiculous.
No one was out here suggesting that the San Francisco Giants sign every free agent. No one seriously expected a fantasy draft when the two Kyles (Tucker and Schwarber), Dylan Cease, Edwin Diaz, and Michael King all arrived at Oracle Park on one winter afternoon. Even the Dodgers, the cartoon villains of spending money, have a certain limit.
But what about signing any results this season?
I can be more specific: How is it close? There were nine legitimate nine-inning arms on the market, and the Giants hit zero. How about a top line starter to make the big three? Or how about a real depth in circulation rather than a prayer circle for health and the development of hope? What about a backup catcher who can’t hit?
I won’t begrudge the signing of Luis Arraez again – we’ll see how that plays out. (Though I fully expect a large number of you to hear about that in a few months with the subject line “You were right.”)
Instead, Posey and the front office turned to business as usual. After a year of spending the holidays—Matt Chapman, Willy Adames, trading the bulk of Rafael Devers’ contract—the Giants’ 2026 pickups were a buffet of mid-tier, minimal-market, let-take-a-low-stakes-free-gamble agents. By Tyler Mahle. This is Adrian’s place. Harrison Bader said. All players are not good in a vacuum.
But as a collection? It leaves you asking, “That’s it?”
This is the baseball equivalent of buying a few scratch-offs at the gas station and calling it an investment strategy.
No one encourages careless dumping. But what about spending money on the luxury tax line?
Because the San Francisco Giants are nothing. This is not a small market group that wants to make a name for itself in the area; they are a major league baseball team in arguably the wealthiest major market in America.
The books show that business is booming. According to CNBC, the franchise will bring in $533 million in revenue by 2024. That was the third-highest mark in Major League Baseball, behind only the Yankees and Dodgers, and every indication suggests that number will rise in the 2025 books.
The organization reportedly has debt levels that would make Dave Ramsey cry with joy – an average of 4 percent of value. (The Dodgers are at 10 percent; the Rangers and Padres are at 25.)
The team cleared $65 million in the year before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization — the third-best in baseball, per CNBC.
Add the fifth highest value in sports, and you have a juggernaut money-making career in good, clean books. It’s a good business. It’s a big investment.
So why can’t that investment be returned to the product on the market at the same rate?
Why does this team’s luxury tax payout sit 12th in the league, per Fangraphs?
Posey, the player, understood that winning takes much more than word of mouth. But Posey, the manager, seems content to manage the Dodgers’ massive talent debt that grows larger by the day.
The Giants are betting on the top of a bullpen that has already been stripped of talent. The Dodgers have at least four healthy bullpen arms that can shut down San Francisco right now. If you include the guys in IL, there are six. (And the bullpen was the Dodger’s weak point last year!)
The Giants’ 3-4-5 in the rotation is Mahle, Houser, and a youngster – maybe Landen Roupp. Dodgers counter with Shohei Ohtani, Emmet Sheehan, and Roki Sasaki. (To say nothing of Blake Snell, River Ryan, Gavin Stone, or Landon Knack.)
Posey seems to want to pass this off as wisdom. It is not wise; it is disabled.
The best case scenario is that this is a front office that is afraid of making a big money mistake, so they make the biggest mistake of all: betting on mediocrity.
The worst case scenario is that they are cheap.
At least when Farhan Zaidi is in charge, they rely on that false narrative of genius by always working at the bottom of the list. I don’t see that happening here.
If the goal is to hang around, win 81 games, and pray for a Wild Card spot, then congratulations – goal accomplished.
But don’t tell the league’s highest-paying fans that they’re out of business by expecting one of baseball’s richest teams to act like them. It’s fan money that funds the whole thing, after all.
A bad team can be fun. The rebuilding team offers hope. A mediocre team that refuses to spend the money they have is a bad relationship you can’t break up with.
I’m sorry to say it, but the Giants are currently one Logan Webb injury away from third or fourth.
A true fan would hold their team – especially this team – to a higher standard than that. Because they deserve better.
However, the one thing the Giants have seemed willing to take advantage of this offseason is the patience of those true fans.
And it seems they will succeed, all because there will still be plenty of books that will happily sign and defend anything black and orange – as weird, weird, or downright embarrassing.
