by
Greek Giant
Since Dr. Lefty is on assignment I will post a rare Sunday article. I want to begin by discussing Giants ownership and Greg Johnson in particular in light of a comment he made during the press conference this week that announced Bob Melvin as the new Giants Manager.
Greg Johnson and the “Break Even” Comment
Here’s a clip:
Greg Johnson on Giants spending into luxury tax
“If we have to go through that, we’ll go through that. But we also represent a group that hopefully our goal is to somewhat break even, which is somewhat a challenge in this business.” pic.twitter.com/G8ZLIEOUPE
— KNBR (@KNBR) October 25, 2023
It was, by far, one of the dumbest comments a baseball owner could ever make, particularly in that context, and I am not the only one who thinks so.
I could write a treatise on how wrong that comment is but let me start with this: Never, I mean NEVER, EVER believe a billionaire or a millionaire when he cries poor. Until I see the books for the Giants as an organization and a real estate company, I will never believe they are not making money hand over fist. Newsflash to Greg Johnson: Good teams make money. Good teams put butts in the seats and sell merchandise. Mediocre, boring teams do not attract fans. SO, if you want to make money, something I am sure the Giants already are doing very well at, try signing some stars and developing great players. Try stopping the reliever as starting pitcher for one inning thing. Try letting players play one position the whole game without getting pinch-hit for, a revolutionary idea!
Give me a break!
“Break even”
Are you kidding me?
I want to hire the Giants ownership say this: “We are committed to building a championship team. We are committed to spending what it takes to do it.”
But of course, that’s not way of this Giants ownership squad.
Last season the Giants were 11th in total payroll with a grand total of $187,932,500 for all of Major League Baseball. The Mets were first, by a lot. Money obviously does not guarantee championships but San Francisco is a big market team and the words “breaking even” should never enter the vocabulary of the owners, Especially considering their pedigree and history.
2023 World Series
Last night the Diamondbacks spanked the Rnagers, 9-1 in Game two of the World Series. It was a classic Arizona spanking at that: Great starting pitching from Merrill Kelly, a long ball, tons of singles and doubles, sacrifice bunts, stolen bases and two-out RBI singles. The Diamondbacks are for real.