San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
SPRINGTIME SURPRISE
From one desert to another, from one sport to another, the professional landscape will pivot at some point after the seconds tick off on Super Bowl LVIII and attention turns from a domed football stadium in Las Vegas to the sunshine, fresh air and grass fields in Arizona.
Unless the 49ers win Sunday, of course, and there’s a victory parade through the streets of San Francisco.
That would slightly delay the full transition to spring training, where pitchers will throw, catchers will squat and coaches will evaluate in preparation of a season for which neither the San Francisco Giants nor Oakland Athletics appear fully ready.
This has been an incomplete offseason on both sides of the bay. The Giants still have three major needs, and the A’s remain nothing if not needy in that woe-is-me kind of way that resonates from a team looking for help in all the wrong places while neglecting its fan base.
With this not-so-encouraging backdrop, spring training gets underway this week, which is glorious nevertheless. The first workout for Giants pitchers and catchers is Thursday in Scottsdale, the day after A’s pitchers and catchers assemble in Mesa. Full squad workouts begin next week, and the exhibition openers for both teams are Feb. 24.
Since the teams last took the field in 2023 — with the Giants losing to the Dodgers to finish at 79-83 and the A’s taking their 112th loss in Anaheim — Major League Baseball has had its share of change.
Especially in Los Angeles, where the Dodgers invested $1.2 billion mostly on Japanese superstars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto but also pitchers Tyler Glasnow and James Paxton and outfielder Teoscar Hernandez. They’re also bringing back Clayton Kershaw, who hopes to be available to pitch in July.
Winning the offseason doesn’t guarantee success, as was reiterated last year by the Padres and Mets, who spent enormously and were colossal failures. Consequently, both stepped back from a year ago, the Mets dumping Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer at the 2023 trade deadline and the Padres trading Juan Soto to the Yankees and losing Blake Snell (still unsigned) and Josh Hader (signed by the Astros) to free agency this winter.
Many free agents are still on the market, the top four of whom are Scott Boras clients — Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman. Player movement has been nonetheless significant, especially among pitchers.
Corbin Burnes is an Oriole, Sonny Gray a Cardinal, Marcus Stroman a Yankee, Shota Imanaga a Cub, Lucas Giolito a Red Sox, Eduardo Rodriguez a Diamondback, Michael Wacha a Royal, Aroldis Chapman a Pirate, Rhys Hoskins a Brewer, Justin Turner a Blue Jay and Joey Gallo a National.
The Giants entered the offseason with high expectations and signed Jung Hoo Lee, Jordan Hicks and Tom Murphy and traded for Robbie Ray (who won’t be available in the first half ), but missed out on bigger names like Ohtani and Yamamoto. They still could use a starting pitcher with Ray and Alex Cobb on the mend, a right-handed power bat (Chapman or Jorge Soler would work) and shortstop depth (insurance for Marco Luciano).
The A’s acquired former Giants pitchers Alex Wood, Ross Stripling and Trevor
Gott to provide veteran presence on a young staff, along with a host of affordable newcomers who’ll vie for playing time: Abraham Toro, Miguel Andujar, Michael Kelly, Osvaldo Bido and Mitch Spence, the No. 1 overall pick in the Rule 5 draft.
On the surface, the Giants and A’s don’t appear equipped to finish higher in the standings than last season, though the Giants could sneak ahead of the Padres into third place in the NL West behind the loaded Dodgers and reigning pennant-winning Diamondbacks.
The A’s should finish last again in the AL West but could be good enough to avoid losing another 100 games for a third straight year. Off the field, they’ve done stunningly little with their relocation quest and Las Vegas ballpark plans, failing to deliver renderings, a funding strategy or a decision on where they’ll play after the Coliseum lease expires after this season.
Through it all, both front offices have been secondguessed by their fan bases, whether it’s because Farhan
Zaidi hasn’t done enough to beef up the Giants’ roster or because John Fisher is … well, John Fisher, the man who wants to pull the A’s out of Oakland but doesn’t seem to grasp what it takes.
Regardless, there’s still interest in both teams. The Giants staged a series of minifanfests in Sacramento, San Jose and Napa and plan an Oracle Park open house on March 9, where fans can roam the field and check out that day’s Cactus League exhibition on the scoreboard screen.
The A’s decided against holding a FanFest (again). It seems less important to promote the team and sell tickets and more about ducking the criticism. Which is why they’ve turned off replies on their social media channels and posted nothing on X/ Twitter since Jan. 19. In that span, the Giants have nearly 100 posts.
Looking at it from the side of the A’s, whose social media employees were seeing a mix of consistently angry responses bordering on harassment, it was probably only a matter of time before they’d be shut off.
Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle
Then again, fans weren’t expected to sit back and take Fisher’s treatment lightly and may have felt they needed to express themselves somewhere.
Which is why they’ve organized their own event: Fans Fest, which is scheduled for Feb. 24 in Jack London Square, organized by the wellknown fan groups Last Dive Bar and Oakland 68s. Organizers are bringing in former A’s players Coco Crisp, Trevor May, Billy North, Mike Norris, Grant Balfour and Ben Grieve, along with ex-Giant J.T. Snow, a coach on the independent Oakland Ballers.
There’s always room for improvement before Opening Day. The Giants could sign a key player or three. The A’s could extend an olive branch to Oakland and try for a lease extension. Or they could announce Fisher is selling.
Life isn’t always how you want it, however. Soon it’ll be time to move on. Pitchers and catchers are reporting.