Some dreams just weren't meant to be.
The San Francisco Giants swung for the fences when they tried to sign outfielder Aaron Judge and shortstop Carlos Correa in free agency. But, for one reason or another, they just couldn't land on the two highly-touted free agent additions.
Giants manager Gabe Kapler, who helped guide San Francisco to an even 81-81 record in 2022, still kept an optimistic outlook on how the team stacked up to its National League opponents as Spring Training rolled along.
“It’s probably the best team, from a roster perspective, that we’ve started a season with,” manager Gabe Kapler said, via the Athletic Senior MLB Writer Ken Rosenthal.
The team spent nearly $200 million on seven different free agents, wrote Rosenthal, including outfielders Joc Pederson, Mitch Haniger and Michael Conforto. Starting pitchers Ross Stripling and Sean Manaea both joined the ranks to compliment a pitching core that earned a 3.85 ERA, good enough for 13th place in the league and 0.2 lower than the Miami Marlins and Toronto Blue Jays.
The Giants won 107 games in 2021, making it all the way to the NLDS before falling to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.
Yankees outfielder Giancarlo Stanton talked about how he felt when Judge returned to the Yankees, saying he wasn't surprised when Judge made his return for his eighth year with the historic franchise, according to ESPN reporter Marly Rivera.
“It wasn’t a surprise, you know how much he loves this place, you know how much New York loves him so I think it’s a match made in Heaven,” Giancarlo Stanton said, via Rivera.
Carlos Correa took the time to reflect on the crazy offseason he had in February.
“The second one was more shocking,” Correa said of the Mets agreement failing to become official, via ESPN. “When it fell through, it was like, ‘Oh, s**t.’”
The Giants will take on the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday at 3:05 p.m. EST in Goodyear Ballpark.
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