Six minutes after 2 p.m., on the Friday afternoon between Christmas and New Year’s, the Zoom window opened. Farhan Zaidi’s face appeared.
It was the first time the Giants president of baseball operations had addressed reporters since the winter meetings. In other words, since they had Carlos Correa, and then, all of a sudden, they didn’t.
While Zaidi was unable to share more specifics about what caused the blockbuster 13-year, $350 million deal to blow up — reportedly concerns about Correa’s right ankle, which he injured eight years ago and also raised a red flag for the New York Mets — he called the saga “frustrating” and “disappointing,” and seemed eager to provide the Giants perspective, as much as he could, that is.
First, it appears unlikely that the Giants will swoop in like the Mets did when their deal fell apart. While Correa remains in limbo — his new deal in New York has yet to be finalized — Zaidi said the Giants had gotten the sense that Correa and his agent, Scott Boras, were “focused on a deal elsewhere at this point.”
“It’s disappointing, but we’re turning the page,” he said. “We’ve had some conversations since then, but … I think the chances of a deal with us are pretty unlikely based on their position.”
Second, Zaidi was clearly frustrated, not just in the outcome, but how the Giants had been portrayed. He talked for six straight minutes, and laid out three points:
1) The ownership group and baseball operations department were “totally unified every step of the way,” Zaidi said. “I think it’s really important for us as an organization that our fans hear that from me.”
2) Despite reports of radio silence from the Giants after raising their initial concern with Correa’s physical, Zaidi said the Giants were in touch with Correa’s camp throughout the process. That includes in the aftermath of it falling apart, Zaidi confirmed, though he maintained that it was unlikely they would come to a new deal. Correa took his physical last Monday in San Francisco. Zaidi said that he had a call in to Boras as soon as he landed that evening at 5 p.m. “Any suggestion that this was an 11th hour thing is just not accurate,” Zaidi said.
3) Whatever spooked the Giants wasn’t on Correa’s widely available medical record, which is maintained by the league and available to any team interested in a player in free agency. The concerns arose when the Giants own medical staff were able to perform their own tests and scans. “We would never come to an agreement with a player and then bring up concerns pertaining to something in the electronic medical record,” Zaidi said, commending the group led by head trainer Dave Groeschner. “At that point, we’ve cleared that hurdle, and anything at that point is based on new information that has arisen through the process.”
Zaidi stewed on those points for 10 days — the Giants’ only communication since abruptly canceling Correa’s introductory news conference had been a 32-word statement last Wednesday attributed to Zaidi — but wasn’t distracted from filling the roster in other ways, agreeing to terms with Michael Conforto and signing reliever Taylor Rogers.
The reason for the Giants’ silence was the “sensitivity of the subject matter,” Zaidi said, alluding to Correa’s health. His deal in New York has not yet been made official, and the Giants are sensitive to potential tampering charges while Correa and Boras reportedly continue to negotiate with the Mets.
Zaidi also defended how the team handled discussions with Brandon Crawford, as no one in the organization had asked the franchise’s all-time leader in games played at shortstop about switching positions prior to Correa’s agreement. Zaidi said he “understood his disappointment, but added, “I don’t think we could have prioritized that communication any higher than we did.”
While the Giants won’t come away from this offseason with the superstar they hoped for, Zaidi believes he has upgraded the ball club from last year’s disappointing 81-81 group. The additions of Conforto (whose deal is expected to be finalized in the next week or so) and Mitch Haniger through free agency should improve their outfield defense and stabilize their lineup; the rotation will be challenged to replace Carlos Rodón, but Zaidi believes they are deeper, with seven capable starters; and Rogers, Zaidi said, “was our No. 1 relief target to start the offseason.” The Giants could add more bullpen arms, too, Zaidi said.
“One unfortunate aspect of the offseason is there’s been … a lot of attention paid to players that we wound up not signing,” Zaidi said, “rather than the players we have signed. We’re really excited about the group of players that we brought in. … All of the guys we’ve added are guys that we’ve targeted from the beginning of the offseason. It wasn’t changing plans or panicking and feeling like we had to go in a different direction.”
As far as competing with the Dodgers, who won 111 games last year, and the Padres, who added Xander Bogaerts, Zaidi said, “we don’t operate looking over our shoulder. Or, I guess, looking forward, or whatever the opposite is of looking over your shoulder.
“We just have to operate to build the best team that we can within whatever constraints that we have and whatever free agent pursuits are successful or not and keep moving in that direction. … This is a competitive division. It’s going to be competitive for a long time. We just have to do our thing.”
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