Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi owned up to scheduling and announcing Carlos Correa’s introductory press conference.
In his first interview with KNBR’s Brian Murphy and Paulie McCaffrey since Correa’s deal fell through, Zaidi detailed his perspective on what went down.
“Yes, that was a mistake,” Zaidi said of scheduling Correa’s press conference. “That was my fault. And ultimately, you don’t want to get ahead of yourself in these processes.”
Correa’s press conference was announced to local media and then canceled hours before it was supposed to start. The flip-flop fed into a frenzy of outrage among fans starving for a superstar.
“Our first issue was that it got out, right, which is inevitable nowadays,” Zaidi said. “Certainly, being a little more prudent with that stuff going forward. I mean, we as an organization had a lot of stuff planned, it was something we were really excited about, but obviously you want to be more prudent going forward.”
Correa had agreed to a 13-year, $350 million deal with the Giants, but issues arose during his physical examination process regarding his surgically repaired right ankle. When he signed a similar deal with the New York Mets, they flagged the same concern.
The two-time All-Star shortstop ended up back with the Minnesota Twins on a six-year, $200 million contract.
Zaidi said he understands Giants’ fans’ disappointments with how the saga played out, but also wishes to dispel some myths and is confident in how the organization pivoted.
It was reported that Correa, in a San Francisco hotel room, was ready for the press conference and dressed to the nines, only for it to be canceled at the 12th hour.
Zaidi has repeatedly disputed that claim, reiterating the Giants were in constant communication with Correa’s camp as soon as they expressed concern with his physical — hours after his examination.
“Some of the stuff about everybody being in their suits and being ready to head to the press conference, I mean, I was at home,” Zaidi said. “So I certainly wasn’t expecting to be walking to a press conference on Tuesday morning.”
The sensitivity of Correa’s situation prevented Zaidi or the Giants from addressing it from their perspective until the shortstop officially landed with another team. That was tough for the front office, Zaidi said.
“It was frustrating for us not to be able to explain our side of things,” Zaidi said. “To your point, there were things that were said about the timeline and the sequence of events that I thought really reflected poorly on us, that weren’t accurate and weren’t fair. And so by the time we felt we were in the clear to talk about it publicly, I think a lot of that first narrative stuck and it was hard for us to unwind.”
The reason the news about Correa’s agreed-upon deal got out before it was completely finalized also frustrated Zaidi.
“A bigger issue we ran into a handful of times this offseason is these deals, historically, are kept under wraps until you’re on the other side of a physical,” Zaidi said. “We did that with a number of our players and had no issue. When the deal comes out five seconds after you get off the phone with an agent, then it creates some kind of pressure and expectations. And that’s a different dynamic altogether.”
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