Giants swing and miss on big hits

By Aiden Pavon ’25

At face value, the 2022-2023 offseason for the San Francisco Giants can be described in three words: heartbreaking, disappointing, and underwhelming.

Following a subpar .500 season, the club promised a big offseason of spending and shaping the future of the franchise. This, of course, would never come to fruition with the Giants swinging and missing out on two of baseball’s brightest stars.

Prior to the offseason starting, the Giants knew they had pits in the roster that they had to fill. One of these holes is the void that Giants all-time great catcher, Buster Posey, left when he retired. They were missing their headline player.

Going into the winter, the front office knew that this missing piece needed to be filled. They had their sights set on the 2022 AL MVP and home run champ, Aaron Judge. Judge was due for a huge contract after betting on himself and declining a $213.5 million 7-year extension from the New York Yankees in April. He then set the AL record for home runs in a season and won the MVP award, making him the biggest free agent on the market. He re-signed with the Yankees for $360 million.

Then there was the promise of signing Carlos Correa. But, shortly before the press conference, the club postponed the meeting. This was due to an ankle issue that the platinum glover had on his physical, causing the front office to back out of the deal and effectively making Correa a free agent again.

The loss forced the club to pivot to other options in outfielders, Mitch Haniger and Michael Conforto, along with pitchers Ross Stripling, Sean Manaea and Taylor Rogers — twin brother of Giants reliever, Tyler.

The off-season didn’t end up exactly as the Orange and Black had envisioned, but it still turned out solid in the shaping of this franchise’s future.

In an interview with Riordan alumnus, Steven Rissotto ’20, long-time bench coach of the San Francisco Giants, Ron Wotus stated, “Well, you know spring is eternal — everybody is looking forward to get to spring training. One thing I’ve learned in all my years is we were never picked to be the best team in all the years we went to the World Series. It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. So right now, I think we’ve improved in certain areas. We’ve changed the mix a little bit.”

He added, “I think we’re going to have some fresh faces and some fresh attitudes in the clubhouse. It’s going to boil down to us now getting the most out of the players and getting it done.”