SAN FRANCISCO — As it became clear early in the offseason that the Giants were pushing hard to upgrade at second base, there was an obvious question for the front office. Wasn’t there a far bigger hole in right field?
Giants officials would respond to that question by insisting that the goal in 2026 was to focus on improving their outfield defense, and on Monday they took a big step toward getting better in that department.
Veteran Harrison Bader agreed to a two-year, $20.5 million contract that is pending a physical, a source confirmed to NBC Sports Bay Area. The deal first was reported by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.
Bader, 31, is not a middle-of-the-order bat and never has been an All-Star, but he is a good defender in center, and the Giants should benefit from the way that impacts the rest of their outfielders.
The biggest gains will come if the Giants swallow hard and move Jung Hoo Lee to right, a decision they have discussed internally but had hoped to kick down the road a bit longer. That would benefit the team but also Lee, who ranked in the 91st percentile last year in arm strength but was worth negative-five Outs Above Average in center field, the result of inconsistent jumps and some moments of hesitation when he was near corner outfielders in the gaps.
With a strong arm and background as a center fielder, Lee should be at least a league-average right fielder if that’s where he ends up, and given that he will be a lot more comfortable overall in his second full season, there’s a chance he rates as plus out there. At FanFest over the weekend, Lee told reporters one of his goals in 2026 was to sharpen his defensive skills.
“A lot of training in the offseason focused on my work on my defense in the outfield,” he said. “(I’m) really happy about the strides I made and excited about next season.”
When the Giants gave Lee a six-year contract two years ago, the goal was not to move him to a corner at some point. But after a disappointing 2025, they need to find the best path to making him a more consistent contributor, and moving him to a corner and giving him a more consistent spot in the lineup could go a long way.
Bader, a Gold Glove Award winner in 2021 with the St. Louis Cardinals, was worth four OAA in center field last year and is at plus-77 in the outfield over his career, which has included time in both corners. He played all three outfield spots last year for the Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies, but his outfield defense is his best skill, and the Giants would be smart to use it in center.
Bader hit 17 home runs last year with a .796 OPS, but in general he has been closer to a league-average hitter. He has a wRC+ of 96 in the big leagues and it was below league-average from 2022-24. While Bader’s stolen base numbers have dropped over the years, he still ranked in the 85th percentile in sprint speed last season and it’s possible that becomes a bigger part of his game under a new coaching staff that wants to be aggressive.
The outfield won’t be one of the more dangerous offensive ones in the league, but that’s not really necessary with a roster that has Rafael Devers, Willy Adames and Matt Chapman on the dirt, with Bryce Eldridge ready to break through. If Heliot Ramos and Lee can be more consistent offensively that would be huge for Tony Vitello’s group, but both ranked among the league’s worst last season on defense, and both have said their offseason goal was to make major strides.
The Giants ranked last in the NL in outfield Outs Above Average last season, and it has been a problem for years, but with Bader and some modest strides from the incumbents, the group should at least be closer to average. Considering all three starters are former center fielders, there’s really no excuse to not be better than average, too, and if either Lee or Ramos continues to falter, the Bader move allows Drew Gilbert to enter the year as a late-game option.
It also means the Giants soon might reach the end of the line with Luis Matos, who has thus far survived an offseason of roster churn. Matos and Jerar Encarnacion are both out of options, and if Gilbert is on the team, the Giants likely will have to part with one of the two right-handed hitters.
The Bader deal just about matches Adrian Houser’s in what has been a mostly quiet offseason for the Giants. The final grade might depend on what they’re able to do at second base, where they have pushed for Brendan Donovan, Nico Hoerner, CJ Abrams and others. They have yet to part with prospects while filling roster holes so they remain well-positioned to make a deal for a second baseman, although the front office has been frustrated all winter with other executives’ willingness to deal.
Buster Posey and Zack Minasian have two more weeks before the start of camp, which is plenty of time to continue to push for a second base trade or find help for a bullpen that is by far the biggest weakness on the roster.
Regardless of what they do, this will not go down as a splashy offseason, but the Giants feel that they have at least filled most of the holes that existed when they hired Vitello in October.
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