04-29-2022, 06:03 AM
Major professional sports are so compelling because they are the only endeavor in which we get to witness extreme competition within the bounds of a regulated competitive landscape with a lot of transparency. Nothing else comes close.
As fans of the teams competing, we want our team to win and push the envelope to do so. When a sport has a salary cap and a team is $100M below that cap, there is clearly a reason to be skeptical that team is "all in" on winning. Any time a team isn't "all in" on winning, the fans can and should be expected to be unsatisfied.
Moreover, we can be fans of a team and not be a rubber stamp for everything the team does. There is a fine line between rooting for and defending a team's actions, and overzealously criticizing it.
The worst thing a fan can do is be blindly loyal to the team to whom they have attached themselves. I see a lot of blind loyalty to the Giants in this thread that makes excuses for and buys into the Giants' propaganda about spending to win.
It simply is not credible to claim the Giants lost Suzuki to the Cubs for "non-financial reasons." The Giants would have landed him if they offered more money than the Cubs. Just like they landed Rodon because they offered the most money.
I can buy not giving Gausman 5 years, but why not give him more per year on fewer years. Hell, pay him $80M for two years, because it's all about paying for performance, and the Giants can easily afford that.
Fans are in fact rooting for the front office - including those who say they aren't in this thread - while thinking they are rooting for the players. The reasons used to refute my friend's assertion in fact prove it to be correct!
As fans of the teams competing, we want our team to win and push the envelope to do so. When a sport has a salary cap and a team is $100M below that cap, there is clearly a reason to be skeptical that team is "all in" on winning. Any time a team isn't "all in" on winning, the fans can and should be expected to be unsatisfied.
Moreover, we can be fans of a team and not be a rubber stamp for everything the team does. There is a fine line between rooting for and defending a team's actions, and overzealously criticizing it.
The worst thing a fan can do is be blindly loyal to the team to whom they have attached themselves. I see a lot of blind loyalty to the Giants in this thread that makes excuses for and buys into the Giants' propaganda about spending to win.
It simply is not credible to claim the Giants lost Suzuki to the Cubs for "non-financial reasons." The Giants would have landed him if they offered more money than the Cubs. Just like they landed Rodon because they offered the most money.
I can buy not giving Gausman 5 years, but why not give him more per year on fewer years. Hell, pay him $80M for two years, because it's all about paying for performance, and the Giants can easily afford that.
Fans are in fact rooting for the front office - including those who say they aren't in this thread - while thinking they are rooting for the players. The reasons used to refute my friend's assertion in fact prove it to be correct!