Clash of opinions on free agents

SAN FRANCISCO - Evan Longoria didn’t realize he was contradicting everything his new boss, Farhan Zaidi, had just said.

Zaidi is the Giants President of Baseball Operations - he came from the Los Angeles Dodgers and replaced former Giants general manager Bobby Evans, who got fired in 2018. Longoria is the Giants’ expensive 33-year-old third baseman Zaidi inherited - Evans traded for him before last season. In 2018, Longoria missed 37 games and batted .244. He is under contract through 2022.

Longoria and Zaidi were sitting roughly 90 feet apart, separated by a few luxury suites on the fourth floor of Oracle Park during Giants media day last week. Each sat in his own suite and discussed the same trend: why so many big-name free agents remain unsigned just a week before spring training.

Big names such as Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Dallas Keuchel, Craig Kimbrel, Mike Moustakas, Marwin Gonzalez, Gio Gonzalez, Adam Jones, Clay Bucholz and Evan Gattis.

Zaidi said this of the trend: “You have a lot of really accomplished free agents who are still out there. Our job is less about what a player has done in the past and more about what we think they’re going to do going forward.

“I think that’s some of the slowdown you see in the market - players valuing themselves based on what they feel they’ve earned in their careers, and front offices maybe being a little more oriented towards, ‘What can we expect from this player in 2019 and going forward?’?”

Zaidi represents the new way of doing business in baseball. He doesn’t overpay players - he looks for value. He has a “Moneyball” background. He was the Oakland A’s assistant general manager under Billy Beane from 2011 to 2014, then became the Dodgers GM in 2015, and helped them shed salary to avoid luxury-tax fines.

Now, he’s with the Giants, who have done business the old way forever. Under Evans, and before him Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Brian Sabean, the Giants made a habit of signing older players to expensive contracts as a reward for past performance. Players such as Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija, Matt Cain, Aubrey Huff, Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand. Big names with little future.

“Fans are attracted to names they’ve heard of,” Zaidi said. “And that’s a lot of times based on what these players have done in the past. I think fans in the offseason like seeing the familiar names, but, when you get into the year, they care about coming out to see a good team, a team that’s going to win games.

“That has to be our focus and priority, even if there might be opportunities that are low-hanging fruit to bring in a familiar name. If we don’t feel like that’s somebody who will help us from a baseball standpoint, I would rather keep looking and find someone who fits that bill.”

When he said low-hanging fruit, Zaidi could have been describing Longoria. When the Giants traded for him on Dec. 20, 2017, many fans were ecstatic. Longoria is a three-time All-Star. But he hasn’t been one since 2010, and his best years are behind him.

In 2018, Longoria had his worst season as a big leaguer. The Giants finished with a record of?73-89, and missed the playoffs for the second year in a row despite having the second-highest payroll in the MLB.

Longoria is the type of player Zaidi and the rest of the league have avoided signing this offseason. Longoria doesn’t understand this trend.

Longoria first expressed his dissatisfaction with free agency recently on Instagram, when he wrote this: “It seems every day now someone is making up a new analytical tool to devalue players, especially free agents. As fans, why should ‘value’ for your team even be a consideration? It’s not your money. It’s money that players have worked their whole lives to get and be deserving of.”

At media day, Longoria continued his campaign. “In order to be competitive, you have to have the best players on the field. Players that are superstars or high-quality players or have been really good over the course of their careers, they’re going to cost money. The game has always proved that. The best players in the game are going to demand money.

“Players that are in their late 20s, early 30s who have gotten to free agency, we as players know they’re still playing at a very competitive level, but they’re not getting jobs. That’s troubling. You want those players on the field, and you know they’re capable of helping a team win, but they’re still sitting at home unsigned.”

Longoria sees baseball business in a completely different way from Zaidi. He sees it from the point of view of a veteran player like him. This much is clear, the way things are evolving, big-name free agents will have to lower their contract demands or hold out for a season or strike when the Collective Bargaining Agreement ends in 2021. If they want to play, they’ll have to play for less.

“The last thing I want is a work stoppage,” Longoria said. “It wouldn’t harm me as much as it’s going to harm a first- or second-year guy that doesn’t have a job. Before it comes to that point, we need to sit down and have serious discussions about the direction of arbitration, free agency - all of those issues.”

Longoria clearly wants to be paid for who he used to be. Maybe he first should have a discussion with Zaidi about the new direction of the Giants. Zaidi is right down the hall.