Did Shohei Ohtani Spurn San Francisco Giants' $700M Offer Because City Is a Dumpster Fire?

As we reported Saturday, baseball sensation Shohei Ohtani signed a $700 million mega-deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The guaranteed contract is the richest ever signed in any U.S. professional sport.

But the two-way player received an almost identical offer from another Major League team: the San Francisco Giants, yet he turned it down. The eight-time winners of the World Series pulled out all the stops to try to get Ohtani, virtually begging him to come, but to no avail.

The question is, why?

Buster Posey, the onetime franchise Giants catcher and current member of its ownership group, admitted that the city's disastrous decline likely played a factor in Ohtani's thinking.

“Something I think is noteworthy, something that unfortunately keeps popping up from players and even the players’ wives is there’s a bit of an uneasiness with the city itself, as far as the state of the city, with crime, with drugs,” Posey said.

“Whether that’s all completely fair or not, perception is reality. It’s a frustrating cycle, I think, and not just with baseball. Baseball is secondary to life and the important things in life. But as far as a free-agent pursuit goes, I have seen that it does affect things.”

Buster Posey had 27 passed balls in his entire MLB career. pic.twitter.com/WyIxJVCx05
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) December 13, 2023

Posey talked at length about his love for the City by the Bay and the Giants, but he admits the city's problems kneecap his efforts to attract top talent. The team also swung and missed on other big names like Aaron Judge, Carlos Correa, and Bryce Harper. "Unfortunately, we’re in a bit of a free-agent slump,” Posey said. “But I believe it can turn around.”

Ohtani never said directly that homelessness, poop problem, drugs, or crime were behind his decision, but his camp paid attention to those issues:

Posey made it clear that Ohtani never said or did anything to express concerns about San Francisco. But within his camp, “there was some reservation with the state of the city right now.” Two offseasons ago, similar reservations were a factor that steered former Hiroshima Carp star outfielder Seiya Suzuki away from the Giants to sign with the Chicago Cubs.

The Giants did everything they could to woo Ohtani, including pleading with him in person, attempting to sell him on the proud history of the city and the team, and meeting almost every demand:

“Every financial target or request that was made from their camp was met and was met pretty quickly,” [president of baseball operations Farhan] Zaidi said. “But this is what free agency is: It comes down to a choice for the player. And when you’re talking about a generational player, he’s going to have great choices and probably check just about every box he’s looking for.”

It's truly pathetic how progressive policies have turned into a dangerous, dirty city where drugged-out zombies roam the streets. Yes, teams lose out on free agents all the time, it's part of the game, but when athletes don't even want to play for a city because conditions are so bad, you know you've hit rock bottom.

Daniel Lurie, an heir to the Levi-Strauss fortune and candidate for SF mayor, had thoughts:

I was listening to @knbrmurph on @KNBR this morning talking about the Giants losing out on Shohei Ohtani to the Dodgers. They mentioned that Buster Posey, now part of @SFGiants ownership, had this to say about it: “Something that unfortunately keeps popping up from players and… pic.twitter.com/kW4vow9mjT
— Daniel Lurie 羅瑞德 (@DanielLurie) December 13, 2023

Here's part of his tweet:

Players like Buster Posey have brought so much joy to San Franciscans, but now our city’s problems are affecting our ability to attract new generational stars. Our city should be a draw for players, not a reason to avoid our sports teams. Current city leadership has let down the people who live and work in San Francisco every day. It’s time to call in the replacements and end the perception that lawlessness is an acceptable part of life in San Francisco. Then we will start our comeback.

I applaud his optimism about a comeback, but that's not going to happen until voters wise up and kick the progressive politicians who ruined San Fran out of office. Or they could ask Chairman Xi to take up permanent residence:

San Francisco Cleaned Up For Xi Visit. Now, Things Are Back to Normal.

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