SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- When MLB released the updated schedule on Wednesday afternoon, the Los Angeles Dodgers found themselves looking at a pretty smooth runway to end their season. They have six straight home games against the Colorado Rockies, but the Giants can at least go into the season knowing they'll have an old friend on their side that final week.
Kris Bryant, the biggest trade acquisition of the Farhan Zaidi Era at Oracle Park, agreed to terms with the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday. He will reportedly get $182 million over seven years and receive a full no-trade clause.
The size of that contract is mildly surprising and Bryant's ultimate choice of destination is kind of a shock. But it's not at all a surprise that he won't be returning to San Francisco.
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SIGN UP HERE Zaidi himself tried to make that as clear as possible back in October, a few days after the end of the season. You don't have to read too hard between these lines.
"For us, the move at the deadline was really about pushing chips in with this team, which we thought was a really special team and had a chance to do some special things and did," he said back then. "But we recognize that he's a superstar talent and it's going to be a really competitive market for his services. I'm sure we'll have conversations there, but he's going to have a long line of suitors, so we'll just have to see how that develops."
The Giants watched as Bryant and agent Scott Boras ignored the pre-lockout rush. When free agency resumed, the Rockies -- who traded a better big-money third baseman in Nolan Arenado and failed to lock up shortstop Trevor Story -- decided to rebuild their organization around Bryant. Sure, why not.
It was a curious decision, but the same cannot be said for Bryant himself. He preferred to stay on the West Coast, near his Las Vegas home, and he may put up comical offensive numbers at Coors Field, perhaps ending his career with a Hall of Fame resume. He already has a World Series ring, and after Bryant got screwed over by the Chicago Cubs as a rookie and saw service time manipulation delay his free agency, nobody can blame him for taking the largest check.
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This is a very, very large one. It's the Happy Gilmore check. It's the type the Giants were never going to give Bryant.
The Giants liked Bryant as a player (although he didn't really star at the plate in two months and struggled defensively) and especially as a person, but they may never give a 30-year-old free agent $182 million. They may never get close.
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Zaidi chased another Las Vegas talent, Bryce Harper, three years ago because he was young enough and talented enough to carry that value deep into his thirties. Harper was a special case, and the perception with rivals is that these Giants will only shell out that kind of contract, or even the Bryant one, for the most unique of cases. An example would be what the Dodgers did when they traded for Mookie Betts and then locked him up.
Zaidi and Scott Harris have focused on building a different way, and on Wednesday, as the market exploded, they spent an hour sitting behind the main field at Scottsdale Stadium and watching some of their recent work. Alex Cobb (two years, $20 million) threw two simulated innings and Alex Wood (two years, $25 million) pitched one.
The veterans faced Mike Yastrzemski, who was acquired practically for free and has outpaced Bryant in fWAR the past two seasons. They also faced Darin Ruf, who made $1.25 million last season and was so effective at the plate that some Giants decision-makers preferred him to Bryant down the stretch. Carlos Rodón (two years, $44 million) watched from the dugout rail.
Put those three starting pitchers together with Anthony DeSclafani ($36 million), Brandon Crawford ($32 million extension) and Brandon Belt ($18.4 million qualifying offer) and you have a fascinating comparison. Those six contracts total about $175 million, and when you throw in the reported $6 million deal Joc Pederson will sign, you hit the Bryant number just about on the bullseye.
This is how the Giants have been built, and they haven't tried to hide it.