The Denver Post confirmed the 50-year-old Shaw spoke with Broncos officials in a bid to replace Nathaniel Hackett, whom Denver fired after just one disastrous season that ended with a last-place finish at 5-12.

Source confirms former Stanford coach David Shaw interviewed for #Broncos job today. Penners and Rice have strong Stanford ties. Also, Shaw worked for Jim Harbaugh at Stanford before taking over the program. #Denver7

— Troy Renck (@TroyRenck) January 12, 2023

Shaw, who ended his 12-year run at Stanford following a second straight 3-9 finish immediately after a season-ending loss to BYU, joins an impressive list of coaches connected to the Broncos job. Longtime Saints coach Sean Payton is considered the Denver’s top candidate, with former 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh also reportedly heavily in the mix. Harbaugh interviewed with the Broncos on Monday.

Both Shaw and former Detroit Lions coach Jim Caldwell, 67, interviewed with the Broncos on Wednesday.

While Shaw said he had no immediate plans to coach when he revealed he was stepping down at Stanford on Nov. 26, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Shaw is looking to return to the NFL. Before joining Stanford, Shaw was an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Eagles, Oakland Raiders and Baltimore Ravens from 1997-2005.

Shaw last coached in the NFL as the Ravens receivers coach in 2005, but his success at Stanford made him a target of NFL teams for years. Shaw’s teams went 96-54 (.640) in his 12 years there. He is the Pac-12’s only four-time coach of the year and Shaw’s 65 conference wins are tied for fifth most in conference history.

But after finishing in the Top 10 in four of his first five seasons and winning at least nine games in seven of his first eight seasons, the Cardinal went 14-28 in the past four years – the team’s first losing seasons since 2007.

Shaw was replaced at Stanford by former Cal quarterback and Sacramento State coach Troy Taylor.

There’s some speculation that perhaps the Broncos see Shaw as part of a package to lure Harbaugh from Michigan back to the NFL. Shaw was once Harbaugh’s offensive coordinator at Stanford. Could Shaw return to the NFL as Harbaugh’s offensive coordinator?

Shaw certainly has plenty of ties already to the Broncos ownership group. Part owner and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice runs the Hoover Institute at Stanford. CEO Greg Penner and his wife, Carrie Walton-Penner, are both graduates of Stanford.

Shaw, Harbaugh and Caldwell all interviewed this week, as did Broncos first-year defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, who was a 49ers assistant 10 years ago.

Four more candidates will speak to the Broncos hierarchy next week, according to the Denver Post. Payton, 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans, Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris and Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn are all scheduled to interview.

From physical abuse leading to her deafness as a small child, to living on her own at 16, to raising three daughters by herself after a troubled marriage dissolved, life has thrown a lot Dixon’s way.

“I’ve had a tremendously hard life,” Dixon said recently through an American Sign Language interpreter. “But I’m a survivor.”

More than merely surviving, Dixon, 56, is thriving in her new one-bedroom home at Sunflower Hill, an organization that helps adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities such as autism, Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, epilepsy and other chromosomal differences, gain skills to live independently at Irby Ranch in Pleasanton.

Through the East Bay Times’ annual Share the Spirit campaign, which seeks to raise money for the most vulnerable in our communities, Sunflower Hill at Irby Ranch is hoping to raise $7,500 to help intellectually or developmentally disabled adults like Dixon, and others outside Irby Ranch gain skills to live independently.

“She’s a very, very special lady who hasn’t had an easy life, and honestly, she’s very inspiring,” said Pamela Zielske, the advancement director for the nonprofit Sunflower Hill.

Dixon’s face clearly conveys what her muffled words and rudimentary signing sometimes can’t. Traces of the pain and struggles she has dealt with are often obscured by a smile so big it pushes her eyeglasses upward.

Asked about living in one of the 30 affordable rental units at Sunflower Hill’s 1.64-acre spread at Irby Ranch, she is ecstatic. “I love it! I love it!” she said through the interpreter. “There’s nothing that feels wrong here.”

Dixon’s 496-square foot place has a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen and a family room — space to just be herself.

Unlike other assisted public housing Dixon has lived in over the years, Irby Ranch offers her so much more. Besides the idyllic setting and a safe environment for her and her 12-year-old Chihuahua named Dumpling, it has given her a best friend. Jennifer Crandall, one of two other deaf residents, is Dixon’s constant sidekick.

This place has also given her a sense of self-worth. Residents, no matter their disability, can learn about things such as cooking, painting and even sign language. Dixon specializes in all three programs and works to share her expertise with others.

When Della and her dog aren’t walking around the complex and neighborhood looking to interact with residents, she can be found baking cookies or making one of her popular soups to share, or working on a professional-quality painting to donate or sell.

“Della is a leader and a role model for many of them,” said Pratimajit Kaur, their former residential programs manager, adding that Dixon has grown from an apprehensive participant to an enthusiastic advocate for others. “She’s gained confidence in herself and she really helps others with their confidence.”

Sunflower Hill is planning to open two more communities for adults with special needs. Construction on a 38-unit complex in Lafayette is scheduled for 2023, with a projected 2025 opening. There’s also a proposed 22-unit site in Dublin.

The need is great.

Dixon admitted living in previous apartments in the Tri-Valley area was often an isolating experience. At those homes, she said tenants would sometimes “stop and stare or look at me weird” or otherwise make her feel unwelcome.

“It was hard for me because I didn’t know how to communicate with people very well,” said Dixon, who like many deaf people uses just basic sign language and relies mostly on lip reading. “I feel this place is the best for me. It makes me feel self-confident in who I am.”

In many ways, Dixon represents all that’s possible for Sunflower Hill residents.

“She’s truly a genuine person, who always greets you with a smile. I can’t think of a more positive resident at Irby Ranch,” said Jen Lenard-Benson, Sunflower Hill’s executive director. “She’s just so grateful to be living independently.”

The sense of community at Irby Ranch, fostered by movie nights and game nights, and the rave reviews from residents and their immediate families have made Sunflower Hill a popular destination for others with disabilities seeking a more fulfilling life. Zielske said there’s currently a waiting list of well over 200 people hoping to live at Sunflower Hill. Residents pay a below-market rental fee based on their income qualifications.

Dixon, who grew up in Dublin, was one of the first residents when Irby Ranch opened in November 2020 and became the Tri-Valley’s first independent, residential community for those with disabilities.

“I just love this place … it’s the best place,” Dixon said with a trace of tears in her eyes. “I feel accepted as who I am here. And it’s amazing.

“I feel like I belong here.”

Share the Spirit

The Share the Spirit holiday campaign, sponsored by the Bay Area News Group, provides relief, hope and opportunities for East Bay residents by helping raise money for nonprofit programs in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

How to help

Donations will help Sunflower Hill provide programming and activities at Irby Ranch to help intellectually or developmentally disabled adults develop skills to support independent living. The programs will also be offered to individuals outside of Irby Ranch. Goal: $7,500

How to give

Go to www.sharethespiriteastbay.org/donate or print and mail in the coupon.

The stunning news came just hours after the Giants abruptly called off a scheduled press conference to introduce the superstar shortstop as the new face of their franchise once the team reportedly noticed an issue with Correa’s physical.

Breaking: Carlos Correa and the Mets have a deal. $315M, 12 years.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 21, 2022

Jon Heyman of the Post reported Correa’s deal with the Mets on Twitter, saying the Giants and Correa’s representatives had a disagreement on the medical report. The difference of opinions ultimately paved the way for Correa’s agent, Scott Boras, to quickly make a deal with deep-pocketed Mets owner Steve Cohen.

“We needed one more thing, and this was it,” Cohen told Heyman about his ultra-talented and expensive club whose payroll for next season was just over $282 million even before Correa’s reported deal. The Mets have such a loaded roster that Correa will move to third base in New York because the Mets already have four-time All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor.

Last week the Giants agreed to a 13-year, $350 million deal with Correa that would have made the 28-year-old the second highest-paid free agent in MLB history and given San Francisco their biggest star since Barry Bonds.

Losing Correa is a crushing blow for the Giants, who two weeks ago appeared to have a real shot of signing Yankees slugger Aaron Judge to a massive deal until he decided to stay in New York.

Last week the Giants agreed to a 13-year, $350 million deal with Correa that would have made the 28-year-old the second highest-paid free agent in MLB history and given San Francisco their biggest star since Barry Bonds.

Correa, who signed a three-year, $105.3 million deal to leave Houston for Minnesota last offseason, opted out of the contract and became a free agent after just one season. Correa had a standout season for the Twins in 2022, hitting .291 with 22 home runs and 64 RBIs over 136 games and was one of four elite free-agent shortstops on the open market.

Trea Turner wound up going to the Phillies, Xander Bogaerts to the Padres and Dansby Swanson to the Cubs.

About the only good news for Giants fans coming out of this drastic turn of events is that fan favorite Brandon Crawford, the greatest shortstop in San Francisco history, should return to the same spot he’s manned the past 12 years.

Tuesday was supposed to be the celebration of the Giants finally securing their much-needed star. That all changed three hours before a late-morning press conference when the team delivered a cryptic, seven-word news alert to the media: “Today’s Giants press conference has been postponed.”

The Giants were already facing a drastic talent deficit when compared to their division rivals the Dodgers and Padres, with Correa now out of the picture the remaining options in free agency won’t fill their need for top-end talent.

The best free agents still unsigned include outfielder Michael Conforto, first baseman/outfielder Will Myers, utilityman Jurickson Profar and designated hitter Trey Mancini. All of whom have some real appeal. None of whom will move the needle in the direction San Francisco needs it to go.

In the strangest of ways, it’s made him a uniquely perfect fit in Oakland.

The 100-loss, low-budget A’s and their decrepit home park aren’t really a preferred destination site for MLB free agents. But A’s general manager David Forst didn’t need to do much convincing to sign the 33-year-old New York Mets free agent to a one-year, $7 million contract Friday.

May, it turns out, has had a strange fascination with the A’s since he was a kid growing up in Seattle with a father who idolized Oakland’s 1970s world championship teams. Having both his family as well as his wife’s on the West Coast and many of their friends here in the Bay Area also helped guide his decision.

But the green and gold was the biggest allure.

“There’s always been this affinity for the Oakland A’s organization, from the Moneyball movie to my dad being an A’s fan since he was 18,” May said during a video interview with reporters Monday.

The A’s, in turn, showed their appreciated for the 33-year-old May by making him their highest-paid player for 2023. This despite May playfully compromising his market value in his typical self-deprecating fashion – he posted a choreographed, 30-second video packed with rapid-fire clips of MLB hitters launching blasts off him during his nine-year career.

Some times you just gotta clown yourself.

Time flies when you’re having fun… pic.twitter.com/UGDnpyBxPo

— Trevor May (Not Parody) (@IamTrevorMay) December 8, 2022

“Sometimes you just gotta clown yourself. Time flies when you’re having fun…” May wrote on his Twitter post.

His sense of humor was also on display Tuesday while revealing 12-15 other teams had interest in him in free agency as he looked to rebound from his worst statistical season since 2016. He defined “interest” as his name being mentioned at least once in conversations.

“I’ll give you a little context. My agent also has Jacob deGrom. So, as you can imagine, they were like, “Jake! Jake! Jake! Jake! Jake! Trevor? No.’ That’s kind of where (interest) came from a lot,” May deadpanned.

Actually, heading into last season May had been one of baseball’s better relievers from 2018-21 while carrying a 3.33 ERA over 175.2 innings with 236 strikeouts (an eye-popping 32.6% strikeout rate) while with the Twins and Mets. And, although May’s 2022 season was disappointing overall – he had a 5.04 ERA in 26 innings while missing three months with a stress reaction in his right humerus — he finished the season better than ever.

The 6-foot-5 May paired a dominating, upper 90s rising fastball with an altered changeup grip that created a swing-and-miss pitch to go along with a newly developed hard slider. It resulted in May walking just six and registering 25 strikeouts over his final 16.2 innings last season. It also resulted in May having a lot of fun again in the game.

After going from the Twins to the Mets during his first venture into free agency in 2020, May decided he wanted to try to enjoy himself even more wherever he wound up.

“I was pretty specific about what I was looking for this year,” May said. “I honestly surprised myself with how specific and how strongly I wanted to be in the area. I’m very happy that I was able to stick to my guns a little bit and really go for a place that I felt I was going to be valued and that was gonna be a lot of fun playing.”

Thus, the A’s quickly became a focus. Despite the inherent challenge of competing in Oakland, May always noticed how much fun the A’s seemed to be having. He had already been sold on Oakland after talking with Mets teammates Chris Bassitt and Mark Canha, both of whom told him they loved every aspect of playing with the A’s. They especially enjoyed the easiness with which humor was always welcomed, which further piqued May’s interest.

“If you can’t approach it, at least sometimes, from a point of levity, you’ll just go crazy,” May said.

He helps balance out the stress of playing in the majors by spending hours at a time at least three days per week streaming, which he says is a much-needed creative outlet. May enjoys interacting with friends and random players, many of whom don’t realize his identity even though his Twitch channel has a whopping 190,000 followers.

The gaming, coupled with his love of old-school Bay Area hip-hop artists such as Keak De Sneak, E-40, The Team, The Federation and Too Short, as well as his affiliation with an indoor football league make May just quirky enough to be a familiar character to A’s fans.

His peculiar profile is analogous to those of Stephen Vogt, Liam Hendriks, Sean Doolittle, Brandon McCarthy, Bassitt and Brett Anderson, all of whom became A’s fan favorites for their unpretentiousness, snarky humor and for simply embracing their inner weirdness.

May’s only been with the team for four days, but he’s already deep into the A’s spirit.

“I think there’s a lot of space to be yourself and just be crazy,” May said. “I’m growing my first beard of my life right now because I’m now an Oakland A and I want to have a beard. … And I want to go out and just really lean into the character of just playing baseball.”

He’s also up for all the challenges the young A’s face while trying to compete as the overwhelming underdogs in the stacked AL West.

“I’ve been on two hundred-win teams and one hundred-loss team in my career I know what it’s like to be in all those situations and how quickly things can change. And what a group of hungry young guys all trying to make a name for themselves in the league can do,” May said. “And that’s really exciting. That’s something I want to be a part of.”

May’s deal includes a $1 million signing bonus and the opportunity for the right-hander to earn an additional $500,000 in bonuses, ESPN reported.

The 33-year-old May spent the past four seasons with the New York Mets and figures to earn a role in the back end of Oakland’s young and inexperienced bullpen. Before adding May, the A’s didn’t have one prospective reliever with as many as two years of Major League experience.

The A’s made room on the roster for May by designating outfielder Cody Thomas for assignment.

Despite coming off his worst statistical season since 2016, May has been one of baseball’s best strikeout relievers for years. The long-time setup man – he has 11 saves since 2018 — could challenge Dany Jimenez and Domingo Acevedo, who served as closers last season for an A’s team that lost 102 games.

The eight-year veteran May logged a 5.04 ERA in 25 innings while missing three months with a triceps injury last season. However, May was still a high-velocity reliever (fastball average of 96.2 mph) and had a 27% strikeout rate and just an 8.1% walk rate.

From 2018-21, the one-time Minnesota Twin carried a 3.33 ERA while throwing 175.2 innings. His 32.6% strikeout rate during that time was 13th among 204 qualified relievers, according to MLB Trade Rumors.

May becomes the third major league free agent to join the A’s since the Winter Meetings two weeks ago. Oakland has also signed veteran utility men Aledmys Diaz from Houston and Jace Peterson from Milwaukee.

Those three additions give the A’s a projected payroll of $51 million, which is still last among baseball’s 30 teams. The current payroll projection is more than $3 million more than last year’s major-league low Opening Day payroll of almost $48 million.

The family revealed the death through the Houston Rockets, for whom Silas’ son, Stephen, is a second-generation NBA head coach after serving as a Warriors assistant. The Boston Globe first reported Silas’ death, and no official cause was immediately announced.

“Our heartfelt thoughts are with Stephen and his family during this difficult time,” the Rockets said in a statement.

Silas, a 12-year NBA head coach, which included being LeBron James’ first coach in the league.

Silas began his career as a head coach with a three-year stint leading the then-San Diego Clippers starting in 1980. After spending more than a decade as an assistant, he returned to being a head coach and spent time with the Charlotte Hornets, the New Orleans Hornets, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Charlotte Bobcats.

He took four of those teams to the playoffs, winning exactly 400 games — 387 in the regular season, 13 more in the postseason.

“Paul made a huge contribution to the game of basketball and will be sorely missed!” Hall of Fame guard and Los Angeles Lakers great Magic Johnson wrote on Twitter.

Long before Silas’ successful NBA career, which included two All-Star appearances and five appearances on the All-Defensive team, he was a standard of excellence in West Oakland.

Silas’ death comes less than five months after the death of NBA legend Bill Russell, another former McClymonds star.

Picking up where Russell left off six years earlier at McClymonds, the 6-foot-7 Silas never lost a high school game, leading the Warriors to a 68-0 record and three years of being California’s No. 1 ranked team from 1958-60.

Silas and McClymonds started a run that saw the Warriors enjoy winning streaks of 68 and 42 games on their way to a 110-1 record. Mack went on to an unprecedented six-year run that featured a 126-4 record with six consecutive Tournament of Champions titles (there were no state playoffs), five No. 1 rankings in the state and four undefeated seasons. The incredible run earned McClymonds the nickname of “The school of champions,” which they displayed proudly for years.

Silas’ star-studded McClymonds teammates included 6-foot-10 Jim Hadnot (drafted by the Boston Celtics, played with ABA’s Oakland Oaks), Joe Ellis (8-year NBA career with the San Francisco/Golden State Warriors), Wendell Hayes (NFL fullback with Chiefs and Broncos) and Aaron Pointer (3-year MLB career with Houston, 16-year NFL head linesman and brother of the Grammy Award-winning Pointer Sisters).

In his senior season, Silas was named California State Player of the Year while averaging 30.2 points and nearly 25 rebounds per game. One of the nation’s top recruits, Silas went to Creighton University, where he was an All-American while setting the NCAA record for most rebounds in three seasons. His 631 rebounds as a senior in 1963-64 remains the most by any college player since 1960.

Silas’ career average of 21.6 rebounds per game are the third-most in NCAA history and he’s just one of five players – including Russell and Julius Erving — to average more than 20 points and 20 rebounds per game in his collegiate career.

He was voted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.

Stephen Silas got into the NBA world when his father was coaching in Charlotte, starting as an advance scout and eventually serving as an assistant on his father’s staff with the Hornets in 2000. It took Stephen Silas two decades to get a chance to be a head coach, including five years spent as a Warriors assistant (2006-10). Houston hired Silas as head coach in 2020.

“My dad, obviously, he was my No. 1 mentor, someone who I could lean on, ask questions and he asked questions of me,” Stephen Silas said in a 2021 documentary produced by the Rockets about his coaching journey. “He really valued my opinion, which was kind of weird to me, me being so young and not having much experience.”

Stephen Silas persevered for a long time before getting his big chance. He saw his father wait a long time for the job he wanted as well. Paul Silas was fired by the San Diego Clippers in 1983 and wouldn’t have a head coaching opportunity again until 1999 — coming when Dave Cowens, for whom Paul Silas was an assistant, stepped down in Charlotte after a 4-11 start to the shortened 1998-99 season.

Eventually, Silas would take over in Cleveland. He got there in 2003, the same year the Cavaliers drafted James.

“I coached LeBron for two years, his first two years, and LeBron was unbelievable,” Paul Silas said. “At 18 years old, he knew about Bill Russell, he knew about a lot of players who came through that most players his age don’t even know. And he understood the game. I made LeBron a point/forward because I didn’t have one when he first started. He didn’t say a word to me. He just took over the game and we did well.”

In time, James would become a champion. It took Paul Silas a few years to get to that level as a player as well.

He was a five-time All-Defensive team selection who averaged 9.4 points and 9.9 rebounds in 16 seasons with the St. Louis and Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix, Boston, Denver and Seattle. Silas won two titles with the Celtics — the first coming in his 10th season as a player — and claimed a third with the SuperSonics. He averaged 12.8 points and 13.8 rebounds in the 1976 Finals for Boston against the Suns.

“Paul Silas was a giant in basketball circles,” former NBA player Rex Chapman wrote Sunday on Twitter. “A great man. Was fortunate to spend a couple of seasons with Paul when he was an (assistant) coach with the Suns. I don’t know anyone with a bad word to say about him — ever. A sad day.”

Associated Press contributed to this report.

Diaz, who played every infield position for the world champion Astros last season, had a slash line of .255/.313/.424 with 32 home runs and 107 runs scored in his four years in Houston.

Diaz’s deal, which is pending a physical, was first announced by the New York Post.

Diaz is a lifetime .266 hitter over his seven-year career with the Cardinals (2016-17), Blue Jays (2018) and Astros. The Cuban-born Diaz’s best season came in his rookie year with the Cardinals, where he hit .300 with 17 home runs and 65 RBIs while making the National League All-Star team.

His signing comes a day after the A’s signed former Milwaukee Brewer Jace Peterson to a two-year deal. Like Diaz, the 32-year-old Peterson figures to get time all around the infield for the A’s.

“Anytime we’re talking about bringing free agents in, the important thing to us is versatility,” A’s general manager David Forst said Wednesday. “I think we’re putting a premium on guys who can move around the diamond, give (manager) Mark (Kotsay) some flexibility. We have so many question marks in the position player group that I think we just need to stay flexible and have options.”

The two signings not only give the A’s a couple of solid, veteran players they sorely lacked a year ago, but Diaz and Peterson will allow Oakland to gradually phase in top prospects Zack Gelof (third baseman) and Tyler Soderstrom (first baseman/catcher) at some point in 2023.

Among those joining Diaz and Peterson in the infield mix will be veteran Tony Kemp (2B) and youngsters Jonah Bride (3B/2B), Jordan Diaz (2B), Vimael Machin (3B), Dermis Garcia (1B) and Kevin Smith (3B).

Forst, who said the team would be busy adding to the big league squad after losing 102 games last year, has now signed two free agents and traded for a relief pitcher (Chad Smith from Colorado) since the winter meetings began Sunday.

A’s add slugger in Rule 5 draft

The A’s may have found a gem in the Rule 5 draft when they selected left-handed hitting first baseman Ryan Noda from the Dodgers’ Triple-A team with the second overall pick.

The 6-foot-3, 230-pound Noda hit .259/.396/.474 with 25 home runs, 90 RBIs and 20 steals while appearing in 135 games with Oklahoma City last season. Although he did strike out 162 times, the slick-fielding 26-year-old was a pre-draft favorite of one Baseball America analyst who thought he was better than 10 current starting first basemen in the majors.

“I look at his ability to get on base. I look at the power. I don’t think the contact is that much of a deterrent overall. And the fact that he’s actually a good defensive first baseman, and can provide some value there,” said Baseball America’s Geoff Pontes. “I look at some of these guys who are playing first base on a daily basis, and you can’t tell me that Noda doesn’t have more upside than (Boston’s) Bobby Dalbec has at this point.”

Noda, a 15th-round pick in 2017 by Toronto, was sent to the Dodgers in the 2021 trade sending Ross Stripling to the Blue Jays. As per Rule 5 stipulations, Noda must remain on the A’s roster all season or be offered back to the Dodgers for half of the $100,000 Oakland paid for him Wednesday.

The A’s also added 21-year-old right-handed pitcher Joelvis Del Rosario from the Pittsburgh Pirates’ organization with the first overall pick in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft.

Del Rosario, a 2018 international free-agent signing from the Dominican Republic, went 7-4 with a 3.68 ERA and 1.29 WHIP as a starter for Single-A Bradenton last season.

The A’s did not have any of their players selected by other organizations during either phase of Wednesday’s draft.

Judge became the latest superstar who got away from the Giants when he agreed late Tuesday night to a record-setting, 9-year, $360 million to remain a New York Yankee.

Like Bryce Harper, Giancarlo Stanton and Shohei Ohtani before him, Judge offered the allure of not only further legitimacy but even more World Series titles for San Francisco. And, like Harper, Stanton and Ohtani, Judge playing for the Giants just turned out to be a big tease.

Now Judge’s rejection gets heaped onto the pile of pain still lingering for the Giants and their fans over not being able to lure other game-changers here. Giants baseball: Still torture after all these years.

It was exactly five years ago Thursday when the Giants couldn’t convince the two-way superstar Ohtani to pick them. He’d come from Japan with a particular goal of playing for a successful team on the West Coast. And yet he chose the Angels.

It was also exactly five years ago Thursday that the Giants got another dose of bad news. They had agreed to a trade for Giancarlo Stanton, who was just coming off an NL MVP season for Miami. But Stanton refused to waive his no-trade clause to come to the Giants. He instead agreed to a trade to the Yankees.

Three years ago, Harper’s free-agent tour was reportedly down to the Giants and the Phillies. The Giants offered Harper a 12-year, $310 million contract, but the Phillies offered 13 years, $310 million and a better chance to win.

We could go back more than 15 years ago when free-agent stars Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Lee were wined and dined by the Giants’ front office before signing elsewhere. But why belabor old pain when there are fresh wounds to examine?

Make no mistake, Judge’s decision to bypass the Giants stings more than the others. And not just because we won’t get to see hundreds of grown men and women wearing long, black gowns and powdered wigs while replicating “Judge’s Chamber” in a corner at Oracle Park.

This time the fit seemed undeniable. Way before free agency even began this winter, Judge just seemed destined to become a San Francisco Giant. He adored the Giants while growing up in the tiny, dusty town of Linden, which sits 15 miles outside of Stockton and is home to just over 2,000 people. There, where the churches (6) outnumber the markets (2), restaurants (2) and traffic lights (0), Judge made a declaration to his high school sweetheart years ago that he’d one day marry her and he’d also play for the San Francisco Giants.

The happy news for all is last December Judge followed through on his promise to marry Samantha Bracksieck. The Giants, though, weren’t able to convince the 30-year-old Judge to follow his childhood dream of playing in the same ballpark where his idol, Rich Aurilia, once roamed.

It didn’t matter that the Giants reportedly offered Judge a similar deal to the one he accepted from the Yankees. It also didn’t matter that the Padres apparently were ready to offer him a 10-year, $400 million deal.

Free agency is a zero-sum game. Or, borrowing a crude line from modern-day philosopher Ricky Bobby, “If you ain’t first, you’re last.”

Now Judge is headed back to New York, where he’s reportedly set to become the first Yankees captain since Derek Jeter as he continues what should become a Hall of Fame career.

And Wednesday’s news leaves us with one compelling question: Why does this keep happening to the Giants?

First off, it didn’t help that the Giants had losing records from 2017-2020. In fact, it may have been the biggest factor in San Francisco striking out in free agency.

“The most important thing is people want to go somewhere where the team’s going to be competitive and going to win,” Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi told reporters in San Diego. “That’s by far and away the biggest concern that free agents have at almost any level.

“A lot of times there are questions about the payroll and what that’s going to look like. But players know there are a lot of ways for a team to achieve success, and it can’t just be through free agency. You get asked about your farm system. You get asked about your player development staff, your coaching staff, what you do to make guys better, the reputation of your front office — all these things factor in. Free agents want to win.”

The Giants’ 107-win season in 2021 should have assuaged concerns about the franchise’s direction. Then came last year’s scramble just to finish at .500. This begs the question: Is winning cyclical for the Giants?

Regardless, there are other factors in play in San Francisco that might give free agents some concerns.

Former Giants general Brian Sabean, who was dealt his share of free-agent rejections in his day, once said, “To entice a free agent to come to San Francisco, we’re almost in an overpay situation. … You’ve got the state of California taxes. (San Francisco) is a long way from where some of these guys live in the offseason. It’s not a hitters’ ballpark, so you can scratch that side of the fence.”

Zaidi said when he’s met with free agents he’s consistently had to address his ballpark’s reputation as a real challenge for hitters.

“I don’t think we’ve talked to a free agent, position player where the ballpark didn’t come up at some point,” Zaidi said. “We try to be prepared and you know, lay out what the impact looks like. And if there’s a concern, the concern is usually greater than the reality. So that’s just a good thing for us to be prepared to be able to present.”

So prospective Giants are shown statistical analysis, including ballpark overlays, showing how Oracle’s reputation as a hitter-unfriendly place is probably unfounded.

In fact, there are analytic studies showing Oracle Park is much friendlier to hitters than its previous iterations (Pacific Bell Park, SBC Park and AT&T Park). It helped that the Giants shrunk the ballpark dimensions in 2020 — making the fence in center field eight feet closer, the fence in left-center was moved in five feet and Triples Alley was reduced some six feet.

Hitters actually seemed to thrive at Oracle after the park’s alterations last year.

Forbes’ study showed Oracle was the fifth-best park overall for hitters. (Of course, the infamous San Francisco winds had a little to do with that – the study found that popups fell in for hits at Oracle at more than three times the MLB rate.)

It didn’t really affect the home runs, which are still hard to come by in San Francisco — it had baseball’s third-worst homer park factor last year, according to Forbes. Still, new Giants free agent Mitch Haniger’s data showed that his home runs hit while with Seattle wouldn’t have been depressed much at all at Oracle.

New #SFGiants outfielder Mitch Haniger's career home run spray chart overlaid at Oracle Park: pic.twitter.com/JrpUqsw7FJ

— Ben Kaspick (@BenKaspick) December 7, 2022

By perusing Judge’s home run chart it’s hard to conclude Oracle would present a challenge for the 6-foot-7, 285-pounder. It looks like six of Judge’s short-porch home runs at Yankee Stadium wouldn’t have gone out at Oracle. Conversely, six of his doubles at New York’s more expansive left-field territory would have been home runs at Oracle.

In case you were wondering, Oracle Park wouldn't have been a home run deterrent for home run king, Aaron Judge. The chart proves that! #SFGiants pic.twitter.com/CJx0ZKv1nf

— Jon Becker (@JonBecker28) December 7, 2022

Perhaps it’s ironic that the only two ballparks Judge has never played in are home to the Padres and Giants, the two teams that came closest to convincing him to leave his Yankees legacy behind.

It won’t be much consolation for the Giants nor their fans, but Judge will still be playing in the Giants’ season opener on March 30. The problem is he’ll be in his familiar spot – wearing No. 99 in pinstripes at Yankee Stadium.

Forst heads to San Diego Sunday with the hope of actually signing some free agents.Plus, the A’s have the best shot of any team of leaving the meetings with one of the top prizes available.

But temper those expectations. These are still John Fisher’s A’s, whose 26-man roster at the end of last season earned a total of $15 million and who currently have an active payroll of … $0! (We’ll explain in a bit).

Any A’s offers made to free agents will be for reduced-priced or undervalued players. There are no Trea Turners or Carlos Correas on a shopping list for a franchise that’s never spent as much as $40 million on a free-agent deal of any length.

And that top prize we’re alluding to? It will be the one awarded at MLB’s first draft lottery on Tuesday night. The A’s share the best odds (16.5%) of securing the No. 1 overall pick with the Nationals and Pirates, baseball’s two other worst teams last year. Depending on their lottery luck, the A’s could draft as low as No. 8.

But a top draft pick next summer won’t provide immediate help for an A’s team fresh off its second 100-loss season in its 54 years in Oakland. Forst is anxious to make improvements while facing his first big test as the A’s new head of baseball operations after Billy Beane stepped aside.

“We obviously know that we need to do better on the field in Oakland,” Forst told reporters recently. “We are having lots of conversations … to try and get better. Whether that’s through trades or free agency, we’ll see.”

As Forst gears up to make some moves this winter, here’s a look at what may be in play for the A’s when baseball’s executives gather from Sunday through Wednesday:

Trades: Murphy as good as gone?

Murphy, a Gold Glove winner and Silver Slugger Award finalist who has emerged as one of the game’s top catchers, still has three more years of team control. But he will likely be traded before the season, perhaps as soon as next week. He’s the A’s lone major trade chip remaining after they dealt stars Matt Olson and Matt Chapman last offseason. It’s all part of their familiar cycle of dealing young stars when their value is highest in exchange for prospects who may become their next wave of stars.

The Guardians are reportedly the most aggressive of Murphy’s many suitors, who include the Cardinals, Twins, Rays, Padres, Red Sox, Braves, Cubs and White Sox, according to various reports. The A’s already have his replacement in 25-year-old Shea Langeliers, acquired from Atlanta in the Olson deal. Langeliers showed glimpses of stardom, hitting six homers in 40 games and impressing with his defensive acumen behind the plate.

Outfielder/first baseman Seth Brown has also drawn trade interest after leading the A’s with 25 homers and 73 RBIs. “Seth’s a popular guy, for sure,” Forst told the MLB Network. But Forst sounds content to hang onto the 30-year-old Brown, who hit 15 homers with a .507 slugging percentage and .855 OPS in the second half. “He made such a leap in the second half … his offense took to the next level and I look forward to him doing that in Oakland next year,” he said.

Forst realizes he’ll need to surround Brown with more quality hitters to fix an Oakland offense that was worst in the majors last year in on-base percentage (.281), batting average (.216) and OPS (.626) and second to last in runs scored (3.5 per game). Getting a major league-ready hitter in return for a potential Murphy deal sure sounds like a sound idea.

Free agency: Why the A’s might have to spend money

First, let’s clear up why the A’s current payroll sits at $0. The simple answer isn’t that they’re cheap – even though they are the only team without at least one player armed with a multi-year deal. The A’s are in the incredibly rare position of having none of the players on their 40-man roster with a signed contract yet for the 2023 season.

Only their four arbitration-eligible players – second baseman/outfielder Tony Kemp (projected salary of $3.9 million), outfielder Ramon Laureano (projected $3.6M), Murphy (projected $3.5M) and pitcher Paul Blackburn ($1.9M) — will earn much more than the major league minimum of $720,000. The rest of their 33 players will have their contracts renewed at somewhere around the minimum before Opening Day, adding up to a projected payroll of $30.4 million, easily the game’s lowest.

Forst says he’s ready to dip into the free-agent market and hinted the A’s payroll will climb this season. What’s left unspoken is the A’s may not have a choice but to start spending money.

After being gradually phased out of receiving revenue-sharing payments in 2019, the A’s are now back to being recipients of financial support from MLB, which sympathizes with the team’s financial hurdles as it pursues a new ballpark. The A’s can expect to get more than enough “baseball welfare” funds to cover their current projected 2023 payroll, and likely much more.

Another $30 million gift is on its way to the A’s — and every other team — from MLB selling the last shares of its streaming video company to Disney earlier this week in a $900 million deal. That sale prompted the players union to warn it would be watching to see whether teams would re-invest that money into their payrolls.

The A’s spending habits have been questioned before by the players union. Four years ago, the players union filed a still-unresolved grievance against the A’s and three other teams (Rays, Pirates and Marlins), complaining those teams didn’t properly allocate revenue-sharing funds toward their payrolls.

It should be a moot point this time with the A’s intending to pursue free agents.

Among the potential fits for Oakland include former All-Star slugger Joey Gallo, who had a dreadful 2022 season and is seeking a short-term, bounce-back opportunity. Gallo, 29, had an unsightly slash line of .159/.291/.368 in 421 at-bats last year with the Yankees and Dodgers. It might be worth it for the A’s to see if Gallo can recapture his home run stroke that produced back-to-back 40-home run seasons in 2017-18.

Meanwhile, Brandon Drury could be another potential fit for the A’s at what could be a reasonable cost. The 30-year-old can play first, second and third base as well as some outfield. He batted .263/.320/.492 with 28 home runs and 87 RBIs for the Reds and Padres.

It would be easy to envision him hitting in the middle of the A’s order while bouncing around to different positions.

Rollins, Golden State’s second-round pick from Toledo, missed the entire second half of the Santa Cruz Warriors’ 124-102 loss in Oklahoma City after appearing to tweak his left foot late in the first half.

Golden State Warriors rookie, Ryan Rollins, who is currently on assignment with the Santa Cruz Warriors, did not play in the second half of their game this morning following what looked like a possible ankle tweak on this play below just before the end of the first half. pic.twitter.com/jLMD5qaAuD

— GSWCBA (@gswcba) November 9, 2022

Santa Cruz made no immediate announcement regarding Rollins’ status, but it’s quite possible he sat out for precautionary measures. Rollins, after all, missed the Summer League after Golden State discovered he had a fractured foot during a post-draft examination. On the bright side, his previous injury was to his right foot.

Baldwin, the 28th overall pick in June’s draft, hit three 3-pointers on his way to a team-high 15 points to go with five rebounds and two steals. The 6-foot-9 rookie from Wisconsin-Milwaukee also had four of Santa Cruz’s whopping 26 turnovers in the loss.

Rollins, like his Sea Dubs teammates, had an uneven first half as he scored nine points on 3-for-11 shooting (1-for-6 on 3-pointers) with a team-worst -22 plus-minus as OKC Blue rolled to a 70-45 halftime edge. Rollins’ play improved in the final minutes of the half, he had a nice dribble drive and dish for one of his three assists and scored five points in the final minute, including a 3-pointer from the wing.

After drilling the 3-pointer, though, Rollins stepped on an opponent’s foot while pressuring the inbounds pass. Replays on NBC Sports Bay Area’s broadcast showed the 6-foot-3 guard appearing to roll his left foot. Rollins, though, didn’t seem to be favoring the foot while heading back down on defense.

With Golden State off until hosting Cleveland on Friday, both Rollins and Baldwin were assigned to Santa Cruz on Tuesday in order to get some playing time. Rollins has appeared in four games with Golden State, averaging 1.8 points while playing 3.3 minutes per game. Baldwin has played just five minutes over two games and has yet to score his first NBA basket.

Santa Cruz (1-2) will play in Oklahoma City again Thursday at 5 p.m. PST.