Baer calls for measured approach when comparing Giants to Dodgers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Comparison is the thief of joy, as they say. That adage rings true for the Giants right about now.
San Francisco, as it prepares for the 2025 MLB season, along with 28 other teams, will look to compete with the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, even if the talent gap between the two iconic franchises is wider than it has been in years.
Even with the Dodgers continuing to add an array of high-end talent this offseason, months after winning a championship, Giants CEO Larry Baer doesn’t believe comparing San Francisco to its Southern California counterpart is productive.
“Look, they’ve made a lot of good Betts — no pun intended with Mookie — and they’ve done good work,” Baer told 95.7 The Game’s Bonta Hill and Joe Shasky on Monday morning. “We can’t focus on them, and I know it sounds like a pretty tripe thing to say, but we’ve got to focus on ourselves. We have 30 clubs, the years we did win championships, nobody thought we’d be there in ’10, ’12 and 14. The years we made the playoffs, nobody thought [we would].
“I think you’ve got to look at this in a measured way, and being a .500 team last year, our focus this year is progressing dramatically. Can we turn 80 wins into 90 wins? We think we can. 92 wins, 95, whatever, and see where the chips fall where they may. We don’t play the Dodgers 162 times, we play them now 12 times. If our progression goes the way we’re pushing it to go, then we’re fine competing with the Dodgers and we should be OK.”
The Giants, fresh off an underwhelming 80-82 season in 2024, made a significant splash early on in the offseason by signing shortstop Willy Adames to a franchise-record contract before adding three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander to the rotation earlier this month.
However, San Francisco did lose star left-handed pitcher Blake Snell to the Dodgers this offseason, the first of many big moves Los Angeles made this winter.
And while it might be hard for the Giants, and their fans, not to compare the two teams’ rosters heading into the new season, Baer believes San Francisco is building something that could compete with Los Angeles for years to come.
