Ohtani spurning SF Giants' offer is proof that this front office can't close

When the offseason started, the San Francisco Giants were very candid in saying that they were looking to change the narrative and sign a big name with the biggest name, Shohei Ohtani, high on their wish list. Unfortunately, the worst case scenario happened as not only did the despised Dodgers end up getting Ohtani, but they got Shohei on a heavily deferred contract that is going to let them continue to go wild this offseason.

The bad news doesn't stop there unfortunately for San Francisco. As it turns out, the Giants actually had the exact same offer on the table that the Dodgers agreed to from Ohtani's camp, Farhan Zaidi agreed to those terms, and Ohtani still ended up choosing LA.

Ohtani choosing the Dodgers over the SF Giants is history repeating itself

Look, there is a real possibility that when presented with equal financial opportunities, Shohei just decided that the Dodgers were the best fit for him. He seemed to enjoy living in southern California, was very familiar with the area, and the Dodgers have a really good team and should be able to satisfy Ohtani's desire to win. He is his own man and he had to make the best decision for him.

However, it is embarrassing that this front office yet again couldn't figure out how to close out yet another deal for a star. If what Zaidi said yesterday was true, the Giants weren't even able to get Ohtani's camp to pick up the phone late in the process to see if there was a way that San Francisco could improve their offer. There is only so much money that one man needs and Shohei was probably just ready to get a deal done, but the process matters and it is clear that the Giants are not a premier free agent destination right now.

The Giants were willing to pay Aaron Judge big, big money. Nope, back to the Yankees he went. They were willing to sign Carlos Correa to a mega deal. Okay, bullet dodged there as his medicals sound like they were very spooky. Now, they have add Shohei Ohtani to the list of players that saw a huge offer from San Francisco, looked at the state of the organization, and said "Nah, I'm good".

Not all the news is bleak, however, as San Francisco did land Jung Hoo Lee on a six year deal and he is a fine player. However, he also isn't exactly an impact bat given his lack of power and he is coming from a league in Korea that doesn't have the best track record of producing major league talent outside of Ha-Seong Kim. A fine signing, but not probably what Giants fans had in mind for this offseason.

If the Giants are able to overcome the Dodgers and Yankees to land the biggest prize on the starting pitching market in Yoshinobu Yamamoto, all of this changes. Right now, San Francisco is in the hunt for him and lord knows they have the cash to pay him. However, this front office's history of failing to get to the finish line should have fans not holding their breath for that to actually happen.

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