[Giants]

Glad the Giants kept some of their powder dry. Would love to see Ohtani here.

Same here. He would be a great add to what has been an excellent free agent off season by the Giants.  According to FanGraphs, the Giants have signed five of the Top 50 free agents as measured by 2022 WAR, including Correa (#3), Manaea (#23), Haniger (#27), Joc Pederson (#30), and Stripling (#46). The rest of the NL West combined has signed just two of the Top 50, including Dodgers signing Kershaw (#9) and the Padres signing Bogaerts (#6).

BTW, once Correa formally signs, the Giants will have a higher 2023 payroll than the Dodgers by about $5 million. Just sayin'. Including Correa, the Giants have 13 players signed for 2023. The rest of the 40 man roster are under team control, either through arbitration or they're pre-arbitration.

LA found themselves boxed into a corner due to the Bauer arbitration hearing.  They can’t make any big moves until it is settled because if they lose, they will have to pay Bauer thus putting them up against the CBT limit.  Since they must remain below that limit to avoid paying a premium tax for going over multiple consecutive years, they are stuck.  

Also, the Ohtani bidding next year weighs heavy in their decision-making process as well.  Avoiding the luxury tax this year allows them to reset next year.  Then they can pay Ohtani a bundle without concerning themselves about a multiple year tax penalty. 

Meanwhile, the Giants were set up to pay big bucks this off-season (while keeping just below the CBT limit) and can repeat the process next year because of their frugality last season.  

You can spend money but eventually there is a point at which you have to take a hard look at your balance sheet.  The only exception to that rule is Steve Cohen and the Mets.  It will be interesting to see how that plays out in the long run….

Or, you just blow it off a la Cohen. Or, Lacob.

Even Lacob has limits.  Otherwise, Payton II would still be a Warrior.  Cohen?  I’m not so sure (yet).

[Giants]

Glad the Giants kept some of their powder dry. Would love to see Ohtani here.

Same here. He would be a great add to what has been an excellent free agent off season by the Giants.  According to FanGraphs, the Giants have signed five of the Top 50 free agents as measured by 2022 WAR, including Correa (#3), Manaea (#23), Haniger (#27), Joc Pederson (#30), and Stripling (#46). The rest of the NL West combined has signed just two of the Top 50, including Dodgers signing Kershaw (#9) and the Padres signing Bogaerts (#6).

BTW, once Correa formally signs, the Giants will have a higher 2023 payroll than the Dodgers by about $5 million. Just sayin'. Including Correa, the Giants have 13 players signed for 2023. The rest of the 40 man roster are under team control, either through arbitration or they're pre-arbitration.

LA found themselves boxed into a corner due to the Bauer arbitration hearing.  They can’t make any big moves until it is settled because if they lose, they will have to pay Bauer thus putting them up against the CBT limit.  Since they must remain below that limit to avoid paying a premium tax for going over multiple consecutive years, they are stuck.  

Also, the Ohtani bidding next year weighs heavy in their decision-making process as well.  Avoiding the luxury tax this year allows them to reset next year.  Then they can pay Ohtani a bundle without concerning themselves about a multiple year tax penalty. 

Meanwhile, the Giants were set up to pay big bucks this off-season (while keeping just below the CBT limit) and can repeat the process next year because of their frugality last season.  

You can spend money but eventually there is a point at which you have to take a hard look at your balance sheet.  The only exception to that rule is Steve Cohen and the Mets.  It will be interesting to see how that plays out in the long run….

Or, you just blow it off a la Cohen. Or, Lacob.

Even Lacob has limits.  Otherwise, Payton II would still be a Warrior.  Cohen?  I’m not so sure (yet).