SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Buster Posey suggested this week that San Francisco’s issues with drugs and crime may have been a factor in why the San Francisco Giants’ pursuit of Shohei Ohtani failed. In an interview with The Athletic, the former Giants star catcher said he believed the franchise had done everything it could to lure the coveted two-way star to the City by the Bay.
Reports even indicate that the Giants offered Ohtani essentially the same $700 million with $680 million deferred deal he accepted from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
But Posey, who spent 12 years and won three World Series with the Giants, suggested that the city’s current reputation may have been part of the reason Ohtani chose the Dodgers over the Giants.
“I just wanted him to understand my level of love for the San Francisco Giants and the city of San Francisco and for him to understand how much I’ve come to appreciate the history here and wanting him to be a part of that history going forward,” Posey told The Athletic.
However, the former catcher, who is now part of the Giants ownership group, went on to say the city he loves may have been partially to blame for Ohtani, and other players, turning the Giants down.
“Something I think is noteworthy, something that unfortunately keeps popping up from players and even the players’ wives is there’s a bit of uneasiness with the city itself, as far as the state of the city, with crime and drugs,” Posey said. “Whether that’s all completely fair or not, perception is reality. It’s a frustrating cycle, I think, and not just with baseball. Baseball is secondary to life and the important things in life. But as far as a free-agent pursuit goes, I have seen that it does affect things.”
In the interview, Posey goes on to tell The Athletic that despite believing the Giants are in a “free-agent slump,” he has a “deep bond” with the Bay Area and that he believes the city and the team will turn things around eventually.
“I’m not going to pretend I know more than I do about what the turnaround is going to look like, but things sometimes can happen quicker than we think,” he said.