The San Francisco Giants organization has reportedly been trying to land a star player on their team through free agency for the last several years, but the efforts have proven unsuccessful. A tweet from Jon Heyman regarding Aaron Judge likely heading to the team turned out to be incorrect, re-signing with the New York Yankees shortly thereafter. Moreover, the Giants made an aggressive bid to land two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, only to lose out on him to the rival Los Angeles Dodgers. Upon all of this happening – along with Juan Soto being traded to the Yankees – Mike Krukow voiced the need for the Giants to land a star.
In the end, the team came to terms with outfielder Jung Hoo Lee on a six-year contract worth a reported $113 million. Lee spent the last seven years playing in the KBO League where he owned a .340/.407/.491 slashline throughout his career. Lee will now make the move to Major League Baseball as the Giants look to field a contending team with hopes of capturing another World Series championship.
The news excited fans of the team and will likely help draw additional attention towards the team in the leadup to Opening Day. While it remains unknown if the Giants will make any more moves this offseason, the team hopes to improve on its 79-win campaign under new manager Bob Melvin. On Tuesday morning, Mike Krukow joined Brian Murphy and Markus Boucher on KNBR to convey his thoughts surrounding the acquisition and Lee’s press conference.
“I thought it was great,” Krukow said. “It also means I don’t have to quit.”
Krukow threatened to quit his weekly spot on Murph & Markus if the Giants were unable to land a star free agent. Broadcast partner Duane Kuiper wondered if Lee’s deal would constitute a large enough move that would keep him on the air. Before Ohtani signed with the Dodgers, Mike Krukow discussed how he felt it was vital for the team to make a splash in the offseason. Since the team won three World Series championships in a five-year span, the team has qualified for the postseason twice and lost in the National League Division Series during both years.
“I wasn’t going to hold you to that by the way,” Murphy replied, who also shared last week that he is not quitting either way and has no choice but to join the program. Kuiper wanted to know how his colleague would respond to determine if he would need to appear on the morning show more often. Nonetheless, it seems as if Krukow is content with the free-agent signing, keeping him as part of the program’s lineup for the foreseeable future.
“He’s not a home-run hitter per se; he will hit some, but neither was Ichiro,” Krukow said. “Now is he going to be as good as Ichiro? Man, I hope so.”
