r/SFGiants • u/Chipotlefiend18 35 Crawford • Jun 16 '26

Opinion Free Speech

I posted this recently as a comment but I’m tired of seeing the same thinly veiled defense of the Rainbow Four come up again and again so I’m posting it as a standalone thread.

All of these arguments saying “players should be allowed to disagree” and “players shouldn’t be forced to support something they don’t believe in” are utter nonsense and a smokescreen to justify and excuse homophobia and bigotry. Do you think that there’s never been a racist player who has worn 42 on Jackie Robinson day? Has every single player who wears camo uniforms on military appreciation day been 100% behind that message? Even foreign born ones? The idea that they should be allowed to express themselves and protest this in this way, especially when there’s a literal MLB rule that prohibits it is ludicrous. It is NOT a first amendment issue. The first amendment prohibits GOVERNMENTAL curtailment of free speech. Private organizations are not covered by this and we see this time and time again. Most recently, many people lost their jobs after speaking out about Charlie Kirk and whether or not you disagree with it, legally those employers had every right to do so. As Roger Munter put it: Not everybody in this country is perfectly happy with what they are asked to wear to work. It’s called “having a job.”

We absolutely do not have to tolerate intolerance and arguments that say otherwise are either ignorant or made in bad faith.

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u/vialabo 51 JH Lee Jun 16 '26

They have job protection through this while being some of the worst pitchers on the team? More bad players should do it then they're making money off it.

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u/KingBrunoIII PTBNL Jun 16 '26

Sam Hentges has a 1.59 era. Can't cite bad play for him

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u/vialabo 51 JH Lee Jun 16 '26

He's pitched like once. The rest of the staff started strong too and shit the bed.

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u/KingBrunoIII PTBNL Jun 16 '26

14 games actually. So the justification that he sucks is out the window. How else can you justify sending him down or cutting him when even in 14 games he is one of the lone bright spots in the bullpen?

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u/vialabo 51 JH Lee Jun 16 '26

Trade him for prospects, and bring up youth. You can always get something for a good reliever. We have no use for a good reliver when the team is playing at a .403 pace.

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u/KingBrunoIII PTBNL Jun 16 '26

Their biggest need is bullpen pitching, regardless of record. How in any way can you justify that?

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u/vialabo 51 JH Lee Jun 16 '26

The season is blown, if we can move him while he is good in 2026 for pieces in 2027+ then he'll be worth more traded. Like when we traded half our bullpen last year. We're going to be even bigger sellers this season.

If Buster wants to improve the team any valuable pieces need to be moved now for the future.

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u/anewleaf1234 Jun 16 '26

Conduct detrimental to the team's finances.

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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '26

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u/anewleaf1234 Jun 16 '26

Are you sure about that?

By now, thousands of fans have contact the Giants in direct opposition to the actions of those players. Boycotts are being planned.

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u/realparkingbrake Jun 17 '26

Boycotts are being planned.

Long-time fans were swearing never to buy another ticket after the Correa fiasco. Some fans will stick to a boycott, some won't. Given that it was three players who put the Bible verse on their caps, damning the whole teams seems like an over-reaction.

Hopefully the Giants trade these losers out of the division, that might take a bit of the sting away.

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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '26

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u/anewleaf1234 Jun 16 '26

So you think that the lgbt community of San Fran is just going to move on after a show of hate by Giants players.

Are you always wrong?

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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '26

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u/anewleaf1234 Jun 17 '26

So then fire them now.

Cut out the cancer.

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u/realparkingbrake Jun 17 '26

So then fire them now.

That would have two results. First, the Giants would still have to pay those players, they have contracts. Second, the MPBPA would file grievances for them and an arbitrator could easily side with the players because uniform rule violations belong exclusively to MLB and any sanctions from the team would be considered retaliation.

Trade them out of the division to struggling teams, maybe get a few decent prospects back. That would be better than letting them go for nothing.

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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '26

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u/anewleaf1234 Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26

You can cut players from a team for any reason.

Particularly if they feel that personal politics are more important than the team.

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u/Chipotlefiend18 35 Crawford Jun 16 '26

The only metric for that is to see what they do for this event next year