How Harrison Bader signing impacts Giants’ Jung Hoo Lee

The San Francisco Giants made a sneaky good signing on Monday. The Giants agreed to terms on a two-year deal with center fielder Harrison Bader, who has played for a handful of teams since his major league debut with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Bader began his career with the Red Birds from 2017 to 2022. Then, he played for the New York Yankees for two seasons, followed by one-year stints with the Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, and lastly, the Philadelphia Phillies for the second-half of last season.

The deal is for just over $20 million. Bader is going to play center field for the Giants.

“The Giants plan to utilize Harrison Bader primarily in center field, source says. Jung Hoo Lee, the Giants’ primary CF last year, has yet to play a regular-season MLB game in a corner spot. However, Lee was the Kiwoom Heroes’ everyday RF in 2020.”

With Heliot Ramos in left field, the Giants likely shift Jung Hoo Lee to right field. Lee has played 184 games in center field and two as the DH. Lee is too good an outfielder to be the DH, so right field is there for him to take. Drew Gilbert is an option to play the corner outfield spots as well.

Bader is not going to start every game in center. Lee will shift back when Gilbert earns more playing time. Because Gilbert is left-handed, he will thrive more offensively. However, Bader is going to thrive playing defense in that ballpark. The Gold Glover (2021) is one of the fastest players in the league and will be able to make a lot of plays in a deep right-center field.

The Giants have been essentially a .500 team for the last three years. Playing in a tough division, they need all the help they can get.

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