Like Carlos Rodon and Kevin Gausman before him, the San Francisco Giants allowed Carlos Correa to walk. The publicly stated reason was over a difference of opinion on his medical report. The publicly public fallout doesn’t have such a simple reason. Why did the Giants let the situation get so chaotic? The Giants maybe don’t owe anybody — the fans, the press, their own players — anything, but don’t we owe it to ourselves to wonder why they’re comfortable with that arrangement?

And just because it’s being dictated to us doesn’t mean we have to like it. The Giants’ behavior surrounding the situation is as irrational as walking away from a $350 million deal might be rational. Torching the team’s reputation in the industry, with their own fans, their own players is a risk, and it feels a lot like one with no calculation.

In this final Chroncast of 2022, Doug and I go through all the particulars and come to a vaguely logical conclusion about what happened. None of that changes the fact that the Giants backing out of a massive free agent deal is a supreme embarrassment. It might not wind up being a failure on the field, but the knock-on effects seem like they’ll be numerous and long-lasting.

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