All Our Yesterdays: Giants-Blue Jays Series Preview

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JULY 03: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. #27 of the Toronto Blue Jays hugs Kazuma Okamoto #7 of the Toronto Blue Jays after beating the Seattle Mariners 2-0 at T-Mobile Park on July 03, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Olivia Vanni/Getty Images) | Getty Images I just can’t wait until the end of the season to do the final analysis of the San Francisco Giants/Farhan Zaidi opting not to sign Kevin Gausman to an extension after the 2021 season.

With the trade deadline less than a month away now and Robbie Ray almost certainly on the move, it’s begging to be written right now.The history of the Giants getting burned by long-term pitching contracts is pretty spectacular. I don’t know what moron opted to sign Barry Zito to that 7-year deal after the 2003 season, and if it was Larry Baer, it just goes to show what an untouchable and blessed man he is.

But after that, extensions for Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain didn’t provide value in the actual extension years. The Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto deals were similarly hailed as massive failures that doomed the franchise. So, that’s a pretty good sampling of failure, which ignores the context of all the success.

That’s pretty much what happened with Gausman. The Giants ignored the context of success or that the player wanted to remain in San Francisco or that he worked well with a burgeoning young pitcher already in the fold in Logan Webb. A couple of years later, Farhan Zaidi would be able to show his work and convince ownership that signing Webb to an extension in a similar AAV range as Gausman would be good for the team and they acquiesced…

but they’ve still bothered to let their disgruntlement echo through the halls of Oracle Park and into the curious ears of beat writers and pundits. It is known that the Giants don’t favor, value, or want pitchers signed to big, long-term deals. It’s why they were willing to let Madison Bumgarner walk after his deal.

When you’re the sole team in a country as the Blue Jays