Wins, losses and the standings will have nothing to do with whether the Giants buy or sell at the trade deadline. They will say making the playoffs is all that matters, but let us remember these are the same folks who want fans to believe the Giants did all they could to get Shohei Ohtani to come to San Francisco.
For the Giants to claim they offered Ohtani as much money as the Dodgers did is ludicrous for two reasons. There was never any doubt that Ohtani would go to the Dodgers. And who knows what the Giants offered if in fact they made an offer. All they had to do was say they did and cross their fingers that fans believed them.
As blind to the truth as those fans have been, they must see the Giants on their way to finishing without a winning record for the seventh time in the past eight seasons. And the front office can see all the empty seats at Oracle Park a year after the Giants had the lowest average attendance in the stadium’s 23-year history.
The Giants are giving away everything but the kitchen sink to lure fans this season. Having a doubleheader on Saturday with a single admission, staging a concert between the games and giving away cowboy hats makes sense with the Rockies in town, but did they did need two giveaways during a three-game series against the Dodgers in June?
One of baseball’s best rivalries, if you can still call it that, should be enough to draw fans without “Beat LA” Aloha Shirts and Giants caps with Mickey Mouse ears. Being in such a generous mood, they could have also charged $6 for a Budweiser with June being the sixth month after cutting the price from $14 to $9 in 2023.
Cheaper beer and giveaways will not keep fans coming back for more, especially with tickets to the giveaway games costing more. Fans became spoiled when the Giants won the World Series three times from 2010 to ’14, but there has to be a statue of limitations on a championship honeymoon lasting more than 10 years.
With that in mind, the Giants cannot bring themselves to be sellers at the trade deadline. Any hint of waving the white flag would be interpreted as the Giants rebuilding instead of reloading. The Giants believe they will not sell fans on buying tickets if the team is not willing to trade for talent to cling to contention.
The Giants have little to exchange for a player who will make any difference. Contending teams will have no interest in Mike Yastrzemski (.244) , Michael Conforto (.226), Thairo Estrada (.215) or Wilmer Flores (.206). And let us not forget they gave cash considerations to the Reds to take Austin Slater off their hands.
Trading prospects is not the answer because that would shortchange the Giants’ future, The farm system would be drained just to appease shortsighted fans who think a wild-card playoff berth is an accomplishment. The Giants operate as if they are on a one-year lease with no idea where they will be a year from now.
The Giants are 49-55 and have not been at .500 since May 31. Manager Bob Melvin has not fared as well in his first season as Gabe Kapler did in his last. The Giants were 56-48 at the same point in 2023 with a payroll of $187.9 million. They are spending $211 million this season and who knows how much for all the giveaways.