There was also a pretty big push from then owner, circa 1991, of the Nashville Sounds, Larry Schmittou, to buy them and move them to Nashville. I was friends with the family back then and had a little inside scoop. After that deal fell through I'd heard that the Giants might also move to Toronto.
Recently here in Mid TN the rumors have been the Indians and /or the Rays might be headed this way.
The Giants-to-Toronto deal was mooted in the early-70s, but then Bob Lurie bought the team to prevent that from happening. 20 years later, after being frustrated time and again by his attempts to get a publicly-funded stadium, Lurie looked to sell the team. The initial winners were a group from Tampa Bay and it looked like a done deal to all observers, but the commissioner stepped in to veto the deal and give the investor group led by Peter Magowan time to get a successful package together. For the stadium, there were still numerous false starts through the 1990s until they agreed upon the current, privately financed stadium. That development turned out to be such a cash cow for the ownership group, but the Port of SF and the city in general also benefitted in a huge way. The resultant stadium was well worth the wait: vastly superior to many of the previously proposed designs and locations.
Yes, 1992 was a traumatic time for Giants fans. Just look at the face on this kid in the photo, it says it all.
PS: the kid in the photo is Giants' shortstop Brandon Crawford. Don't look so glum, lad! You'll grow up to win two rings and a nice collection of Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers!