Off the Record: Giant problems

By Efrain Valdez, Sports Editor

Since the move to San Francisco in the spring of 1958, the Giants, as an organization, have experienced good and bad times.

For the last 25 years, the Giants have been able to remain one of the model professional franchises in the Bay Area.

However, this offseason has been a nightmare.

The franchise has not experienced such a bad series of offseason events since the team was nearly moved to St. Petersburg, Florida in 1992.

Giants fans seem to be surprisingly unbothered by all the moves that didn’t happen in free agency, the front office shuffle and their CEO Larry Baer’s public domestic violence incident last Friday.

It’s startling to believe that fans aren’t more paranoid about the trajectory in which this franchise is heading.

The organization has been almost perfect for decades and the fans have always expected that high standard. Now it could all be thrown away.

As an A’s fan, I constantly criticize the cheap ownership and the mediocre business practices that have plagued my favorite team for most of my life.

Yet, I still find a way to balance my criticisms with being a passionate and supportive fan at games.

I bring this up to encourage the Giants’ fan base to stop giving the franchise the benefit of the doubt, even if that means critiquing an ownership group and front office who brought your city championships.

Let’s keep it real though, the roster has seven awful contracts (pitchers Johnny Cueto and Mark Melancon are the worst).

Giant fans should be happy at their team’s attempt to go after every big free agent on the market every year.

However, to fall short in every pursuit of a superstar makes it seem like the front office is just window shopping.

It is like going to Santana Row and bringing a stack of one-hundred-dollar bills to stunt and then leaving empty-handed.

Ever since the 2014 World Series, the Giants have missed out on Zach Grienke, who went to Arizona, were outbid by the Yankees to get Giancarlo Stanton. Landing Jeff Samardzija on that monster $90 million contract was the cherry on top of the turd.

So, how will this end?

Well, the recent video of the physical confrontation between Baer and his wife Pam was a self-inflicted wound that the Giants as a franchise did not need.

This event could potentially hurt the team’s ticket sales because of the displeasure shown by women who support the team on social media over the weekend.

It’s time for the fans to stop looking for excuses because this franchise could be one of the very best in baseball.

The fans must hold this front office accountable during these hard times to ensure that their team doesn’t miss the opportunity of getting into the upper-echelon of MLB.