The San Francisco Giants' full-season attendance was down over 8% in 2022 compared to 2019. This has generated a lot of discussion on social media, and theories abound as to why the Giants have seen such a decrease. Are people less interested in the Giants because of Farhan Zaidi's roster construction? Even when the SF Giants won 107 games last year, they weren't selling out Oracle Park despite Covid-19 restrictions being lifted.
We can have all the theories we want, but they're missing a crucial component: the league-wide trend of attendance declines. That's right: across MLB, attendance was down about 6% from 2019 to 2022. We're looking at those two years because they were the last two full seasons without restrictions on attendance. In other words, the San Francisco Giants are not unique in having a significant dip in attendance over the last few years! The Philadelphia Phillies, who have a lot of big names, have built their team largely through free agency (as a lot of Giants fans want Zaidi to do), and they're in the NLCS. Yet they saw nearly twice as big of a decrease as the Giants from 2019 to 2022, and they drew fewer fans overall this season than the SF Giants, who won fewer games.
Turning the page, the timelines for Kyle Harrison and Marco Luciano are discussed. Harrison could impact the major league team early in 2023, perhaps as early as April (though more realistically May or June). Luciano should start the season in Double-A and could make it to Triple-A by the middle of the season if everything goes according to plan. That would make him a potential September callup candidate in a dream scenario.
Farhan Zaidi's possible free-agent wishlist is discussed. Yes, the stars at the top are certainly on that list, but Brandon Nimmo might be the perfect combination of talent, value, speed, defense, and offense that the San Francisco Giants are seeking. Nimmo plus one of the big bats, plus a top-of-the-rotation arm would be a really nice offseason for the Giants.
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The best daily San Francisco Giants podcast. Whether the Giants are winning championships or retooling for another title run, Locked On Giants host Ben Kaspick—a lifelong Giants fan and former contributor for RotoGraphs and Beyond the Box Score—breaks down every game, rumor, and transaction in a way that's data-driven and rational but also simple, passionate, and accessible to all.
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