For the Giants, Carlos Correa’s latest setback is a reminder of what might have been - and why the front office was right to walk away from that 13-year, $350 million commitment.
Correa won’t play again this season after attempting to work his way back from ankle surgery he had in May. The surgery was labeled season-ending when it happened, but Correa kept pushing to return. In the end, his body just wouldn’t cooperate, even with the Houston Astros potentially making a deep postseason run.
His year closes with a .279/.369/.418 line, plus three home runs and 16 runs batted in over 32 games. When he was on the field, he was productive enough. The problem is the bigger picture, and that picture keeps pointing to the same place: the injury risk around Correa was real.
Since 2023, the season that would have marked his first in San Francisco had the Giants completed that massive deal, Correa has posted a .267/.341/.427 line with 48 home runs and 187 runs batted in in 397 games. Solid production, sure. But not the kind that justifies $350 million.
Still, the Giants can’t exactly toast themselves for dodging Correa when they’ve got another expensive problem on the books.
Ahead of the 2025 season, San Francisco handed Willy Adames a seven-year, $182 million contract - the largest deal in franchise history. So far, it hasn’t come close to matching that price tag.
Adames did at least give the Giants some pop in 2025, launching 30 home runs despite a rough first half. But 2026 has been a different story. He hit .230/.289/.424 with 21 homers and 51 runs batted in across 121 games before being shut down for the season.
The money keeps coming either way: the Giants owe him more than $31 million per year through 2031. And with a no-trade clause in the mix, moving on won’t be simple. There’s also real uncertainty about how long he can stay at shortstop, and his offensive game doesn’t look built for a graceful decline.
That doesn’t make the Correa miss look any better. It just means the Giants avoided one expensive mistake and made another one soon after.
Maybe Adames turns it around. Until then, San Francisco doesn’t have much reason to celebrate.
In Other News...
Giants Fans Are Sending A Message Oracle Park Cant Ignore
Oracle Park has not gone quiet, but the numbers have started to send a clearer message. After drawing just over 36,100 fans per game in 2025, the Giants have slipped to just over 35,400 in 2026, and the trend line has only become more noticeable as the season has worn on. Early in the year, the ballpark was still filling with more than 37,000 per game, but by August that figure had dipped to just under 32,000 before a small September rebound.
For a club that has long leaned on its home atmosphere, the slowdown in turnout matters. The Giants have begun offering credits to season-ticket holders in an effort to keep those seats occupied, a sign that the front office is paying close attention to the optics and the business side of the fan experience. Whether the late-season uptick proves to be a brief pause or the start of something sturdier is the question hanging over Oracle Park now. [Read more 🡒]
San Jose Giants Stay Alive Behind A Historic Turnaround On The Mound
The San Jose Giants kept their season going with a rare playoff flourish on the mound, piecing together a no-hitter against the Lake Elsinore Storm in Game 2 of the California League playoffs. Argenis Cayama handled the first five innings before Ian Korn and Eric Nachtsheim finished it off, and the Giants backed that work with a 9-1 win that even survived a run scored on a steal of home.
What made it more impressive was how San Jose built the cushion, using two-out rallies in the fourth and fifth innings to seize control. The result pushes the series to a decisive Game 3, with the Giants suddenly carrying real momentum after a night that featured both a historic pitching performance and enough timely offense to make it matter. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Avoided Total History But One Question Still Hangs Over 2027
The Giants 63rd win of the 2026 season did at least draw one clean line through a bleak year: they will not finish with the worst record in franchise history. Given all the injuries and roster churn they have absorbed, that matters more than it might in another season, especially with the team showing some late improvement after spending so much of the year stuck in survival mode.
Even so, the milestone only gets them so far. Comparisons to the franchises other rough stretches are unavoidable, but the bigger issue now is what kind of shape this club will be in by 2027, when the organization will be expected to turn a difficult season into something more than a cautionary tale. There is cautious optimism in the building, yet the question hanging over the next step is whether that optimism can survive until the roster actually looks like a contender again. [Read more 🡒]