SF Giants purchase theater while remaining quiet on the free agent market

The SF Giants have been quiet on the free agent front this offseason, but they have apparently been active in other pursuits. It was announced that the Giants have purchased the historic Curran Theatre in San Francisco which is sure to frustrate fans.

While it may be unfair, to many fans this sends a message that the team is interested in real estate pursuits more than the product on the field. The fact that this news comes just days after the Giants signed starting pitcher Adrian Houser to a modest two-year contract will just feed into the narrative that the Giants' ownership group is not committed to fielding a winning team.

SF Giants purchase theater while big free agents remain

Giants CEO Larry Baer did not say how much the team paid to acquire the theater, but it is genuinely good that the Giants are helping to support an institution of the city when lots of theaters shut down or see far less patronage.

However, the optics of the move are not great at all for an ownership group that many fans hold responsible for the team's lack of activity in free agency which some MLB insiders have been puzzled by.

Greg Johnson, the chairman of the Giants, has made headlines this offseason when talking about how the team will be cautious when exploring giving a big contract to a starting pitcher which, in practice, has meant that the Giants likely will not be involved with any of the premier pitchers on the market.

Ultimately, fans are frustrated because they look down south and see the Los Angeles Dodgers coming off two straight World Series titles while spending money faster than they can print it.

Meanwhile, the Giants seem to be trying to make minor additions at the margins and trying to win on a budget. The Giants do have a lot of money wrapped up in players like Matt Chapman, Willy Adames, Rafael Devers, and Jung Hoo Lee, but there are still plenty of holes on the roster.

The Dodgers seemingly do not care about the luxury tax or any of those considerations. There are penalties to exceeding the luxury tax threshold year after year but after so many years of mediocrity, fans just want to see the Giants do everything possible to finally get back to the playoffs and be a winning team.

It isn't necessarily a bad thing that the Giants bought this historic theater, but the timing and optics of it are not great given the mood of the fanbase right now.