Crime And Drug Problems In San Francisco May Have Cost The Giants Shohei Ohtani, Other Free Agents
San Francisco turning into a crime-infested open air drug den has had any number of negative consequences for the once-great city.
Major retailers like Nordstrom have left the downtown core, citing an increase in theft and an unsafe atmosphere. Prominent businessmen have moved out of the region entirely, and San Francisco saw one of the largest population losses during the pandemic as residents moved away from declining quality of life and high cost of living.
And it turns out that the city’s disastrous policies and political ideology has likely cost its baseball team a substantial amount of talent.
The Athletic reported Wednesday on former San Francisco Giants star Buster Posey’s efforts to woo superstar free agent Shohei Ohtani to the city. And while Ohtani directly didn’t say that the lawlessness and disgusting streets were the reason he went to the Dodgers, some individuals in his camp expressed concerns about the city.
According to Posey, it affected the team’s chances of signing him and “there was some reservation with the state of the city right now,” coming from those around the 29-year-old star. And it isn’t the first time that free agents have turned the Giants down thanks to San Francisco’s decline.
LOS ANGELES - Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels in the fourth inning at Dodger Stadium on July 07. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
San Francisco Hurting The Giants Competitively
According to The Athletic, Seiya Suzuki signed with the Chicago Cubs due, in part, to similar reservations about the state of San Francisco. The Bay Area is now seen as “damaged goods,” The Athletic claims.
Posey told them that an “unease” with the city “keeps popping up from players” and their families.
“Something I think is noteworthy, something that unfortunately keeps popping up from players and even the players’ wives is there’s a bit of an uneasiness with the city itself, as far as the state of the city, with crime, with drugs,” Posey said. “Whether that’s all completely fair or not, perception is reality. It’s a frustrating cycle, I think, and not just with baseball. Baseball is secondary to life and the important things in life. But as far as a free-agent pursuit goes, I have seen that it does affect things.”
Gee, wonder how that could have happened?
San Francisco has been under one party rule for decades, with 80-plus percent of residents voting for Joe Biden or even further left candidates when available. The city council has been an abject disaster, promoting defund the police narratives and obsessing over excluding Asian students from gifted classes. Instead of working to make one of the country’s signature cities the best it can be, they’ve ignored the mess that progressive DA’s and far left mayors have created.
And there’s no end in sight.
Refusing To Learn From Mistakes
If you’re a free agent searching for the best place for you and your family, why would you want to spend half your time in San Francisco? Wondering if your wife and children will be safe getting to and from the ballpark, or knowing that you’ll have to avoid huge swaths of the city you play in.
LA has many of the same problems, but they’re more isolated, allowing for players to avoid some of the consequences of Democrat policies. No such luck in San Francisco though.
And on top of the population collapse, exodus of money and people and lack of business investment, it’s costing the city’s baseball team players. Maybe that will finally be the wake up call voters and leadership need. But I doubt it.