Zaidi, Baer hear Giants fans' frustrations over lack of stars

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The Giants are well aware that many fans might be frustrated that the organization has yet to acquire a superstar of their own. 

Frustration amongst the fanbase grew following the Aug. 2 MLB trade deadline after San Francisco came up short in the Juan Soto sweepstakes and opted not to make any sizable moves

Once again, Giants fans watched as another superstar landed with a division rival, this time with Soto being traded to the San Diego Padres. 

President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi joined NBC Sports Bay Area's Giants Insider Alex Pavlovic on the latest episode of "Giants Talk" where he addressed the frustration within the fanbase that the organization has yet to land the franchise's next superstar. 

"I do, I think we do," Zaidi said when asked if the front office understands the frustration. "And we want to be careful that we don't take that and have it influence a decision that hurts this franchise in the long run.

"Baseball is a sport where one through 26 on your roster really matters and when you start saying 'we just need a right-handed batter,' or 'we just need a closer and that's going to solve everything,' you can make mistakes and you've seen that throughout baseball history. Some of the biggest front office mistakes have happened when teams think one player is going to be the difference. When you're talking about somebody the caliber of Juan Soto, we can really move the needle. So I don't want to downplay that, but we're going to continue to be involved there and these guys are all going to impact your bottom line, that's really what we look at."

Giants president Larry Baer also is aware of the frustration and reaffirmed on KNBR 680's "Tolbert & Copes" on Friday that there is no financial constraint holding the Giants back from pursuing one of these stars, and that the organization will pursue one if a deal makes sense. Baer also believes that the Giants can develop their own homegrown superstars. 

"One of the narratives I want to be really clear about is there’s not a hold back financially," Baer said. "The trade deadline wasn’t really about financials, it was about prospects, who are you going to add that will make a difference and what will it cost you in prospects not in dollars."

"As I said at the beginning, we’re not opposed to spending money. Just show us the right deal and we’ll look at it. We’ve looked at deals throughout from Bryce Harper on. But another way to create stars is internally. Was Tim Lincecum a star? I think so. Do you want to come to watch Tim Lincecum? Well, he was drafted and developed. Same with Buster Posey. Same with Madison Bumgarner. Same with Brian Wilson."

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Baer certainly has a point in mentioning previous stars such as Lincecum, Posey and Bumgarner. The Giants have a history of developing premiere players and might have done so again with starting pitcher Logan Webb. Not to mention the possibility of developing a few more from the handful of exciting, young prospects in the minor leagues. 

On the flip side, the fans also are justified to feel frustrated. The organization has a recent history of always being the bridesmaid, but never the bride, when it comes to pursuing elite talent such as Giancarlo Stanton, Harper, Soto and even two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani, whom San Francisco heavily pursued when he was posted back in the 2017-2018 offseason. 

As Baer mentions, money isn't an issue. The Giants consistently have been among MLB's biggest spenders until recently and certainly will have the salary cap space to do so again this upcoming offseason. 

For now, the Giants will remain patient with the talent they have within the organization and will strike when the right opportunity comes around. 

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