Here we go again. The conclusion of 2022 brings with it the commencement of 2023, and with it comes the usual mix of hopes, dreams and expectations for what this new year will bring. We all love to say how “this year is going to be my year” when the calendar flips to January, but defining what exactly constitutes are “your year” is going to vary person to person.
The same can be said about the many sports teams here in the Bay Area in the year of 2023. Each team has its own set of hopes, dreams and expectations in the new year, and how close they come to accomplishing their hopes, dreams and expectations will play a singular role in determining if 2023 really was “their year.”
So what will a successful season look like for each Bay Area team this year? No team has one singular path to success, and the truth is, different teams are going to have different bars to clear to call 2023 a successful year.
For starters, we can probably assume “winning a championship” as a reason to call a year successful. 2022 certainly felt like the Warriors’ year, and that title they won last June absolutely has something to do with that. For the sake of this exercise, I will not be including the winning of a championship as to what would make 2023 successful, because that is more or less every team’s bar for a successful season.
Aside from winning a championship, here is how our Bay Area teams can call 2023 a success on New Year’s Eve this coming December.
Golden State Warriors – Make the Two Timeline Plan Work
The current homestand has given the Warriors signs that the Baby Dubs core of Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and James Wiseman can help the Warriors win basketball games on any given night, but they still remain far off from becoming rotational stalwarts. Kuminga appears to be the closest to reaching that level, but a month from now Moses Moody could be on a hot streak making us all believe he is the next rotational stalwart.
The Warriors used to say they want to follow the San Antonio Spurs’ model for success. It is an admirable plan to follow. It helped the Spurs to 18 straight seasons of 50+ wins (it probably would be 20 if not for the strike shortened 1998-99 season, when the Spurs won their first NBA Title) and 22 straight playoff appearances. The best way for the Warriors to follow that model is to have a plan after the Warriors championship trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green breaks up.
Part of the Warriors future already looks secure with the presence of Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole and Kevon Looney. If the Warriors can get Wiseman, Kuminga and Moody up to speed this year and becoming major contributors in the rotation on a nightly basis, it would not only secure the Warriors ability to be successful in the future after Steph and friends retire, but would allow the Big Three to finish their careers with a young, dynamic supporting cast capable of helping them add to their already impressive ring collection.
San Francisco 49ers – Pick a Quarterback And Be Done With It
From 2000-2002, Jeff Garcia started 16 games each season for the San Francisco 49ers. No surprise, the 49ers made the playoffs that year. Since then, the only quarterback to start all games in a season in more than one consecutive season was Colin Kaepernick in 2013 and 2014. Quarterback stability has not been the 49ers forte these last 20 or so years. But we all know that.
Coming into 2023, the 49ers have a chance to lock themselves in a level of stability at the quarterback position not seen since the days of Steve Young. Whatever Brock Purdy does or does not do for the 49ers in the playoffs, give him and Trey Lance a chance to win the quarterback job full-time this summer during training camp. Name the winner of that competition, the starting quarterback going into Week 1, and be done with it. For the last several years, aside from maybe 2018, the 49ers have always come into the season with some level of doubt or consternation over who should be the quarterback.
Whether it is Lance or Purdy, the 49ers should hope to finish this year knowing that whoever is the starter, is going to be doing so for the next 10 years.
San Francisco Giants – Present a Better Future
Asking the team to sell seems like a lot, so for the Giants, try to end the year with Giants fans feeling better than they do right now about the future of the team. Trust in ownership and the front office is at a nadir right now. We won’t know how bad the relationship between fan and team is until it is time to show up to Oracle Park, but right now the future attendance numbers cannot be looking all that promising.
The Giants need to use 2023 to prove to fans that better days are indeed ahead, even though the Dodgers and Padres seem light years ahead of them at this moment. One way to start would be locking up Logan Webb to a long-term deal. Doing so would shed the notion that the team is afraid to give out such deals, but would also signal that the Giants most premier player for the future is still bought into the future of this organization despite taking some veiled shots at them on Twitter.
The Giants could also do well to get some of these prospects we keep hearing about up to the big-league level as well. Whether its Kyle Harrison, Marco Luciano, Casey Schmidt or someone else, have someone show that there is life down on the farm for the Giants.
Oakland A’s – Get A Stadium Deal In Oakland Done
Finish this sentence: In five years, the Athletics will be playing in _________. I know A’s fans, you are tired of this being the only storyline that people seem to give a hoot about regarding your favorite baseball team. It’s a lousy beat and you all deserve better. But until the above question can be unanimously answered with one location, the future and present of the team will always be in flux.
The latest news with the Oakland A’s stadium pursuit is that there is no news. Back in November, the City of Oakland announced that it would start spending money on transportation improvements that were meant to be part of the new stadium development around Howard Terminal. Though that should not be seen as an indicator that the ballpark is coming along too as well. Meanwhile, the A’s still have an eye fixed on Las Vegas.
With an owner who does not care at all for the on-field product and the biggest voice of the team, Dave Kaval, seemingly being the biggest champion of the Las Vegas A’s, things seem bleak for the A’s right now, but a future in Oakland is not impossible. Securing a stadium in Oakland would secure a successful future in Oakland. This is the perfect year to make that happen.
San Jose Sharks – Become Relevant Again
The Sharks have players fans love. Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl and Erik Karlsson are still on the team. Timo Meier provides the Sharks with a talented player to build around. But for the most part, the Sharks have become forgotten over the last three and a half season since losing to the St. Louis Blues in the Western Conference Finals in 2019. The Sharks struggled to find relevancy before this current slide, mainly because they have always had to play in the shadow of the Warriors. The fact that their one run to the Stanley Cup Final came while the Warriors were having their 73 and nothing season always seemed like a cruel twist of fate.
The Sharks have been stuck in a rebuild for the last few years now, and currently is showing little signs of letting up. More energy, youth and speed still needs to be injected into the organization, which could come via a few solid drafts.
The Sharks fanbase is a loyal one, and they will always show up for Los Tiburones. But the casual fan still eludes the Sharks. Hopefully this year the Sharks can surprise in the second half of the season, and generate a little buzz heading into the 2023-24 season.
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