The Giants’ outfield defense ranked among the worst in the Majors in 2025, but the unit received a significant boost now that a Gold Glove-winning center fielder is in the fold.
Outfielder Harrison Bader signed a two-year contract, which was announced on Friday. Terms of the deal were not announced, but it's reportedly for $20.5 million.
Jung Hoo Lee has served as the Giants’ starting center fielder since signing a six-year, $113 million deal in December 2023, but he’s likely to shift to a corner spot to accommodate Bader, who has accumulated 76 outs above average since 2018, easily the most among all outfielders. With Kevin Kiermaier retired, Toronto’s Daulton Varsho (55 OAA) is the closest outfielder to Bader over that span.
Giants outfielders tied for last in the Majors with -18 OAA last year, which was mainly due to the defensive struggles of Lee (-5 OAA) and left fielder Heliot Ramos (-9 OAA). Bader’s arrival should help the group cover more ground and better support the club’s pitching staff in 2026.
“Without a doubt, defensively, I wanted to sharpen up my skills there,” Lee said via interpreter Brian Kang at the Giants’ FanFest Tour stop in San Ramon on Saturday. “A lot of my training in the offseason focused on my work on my defense and in the outfield. I’m really happy about the strides I made and excited about next season.”
This was Bader’s third consecutive offseason as a free agent, but this time, he was coming off arguably the best year of his career. The 31-year-old set career highs basically across the board offensively, including in plate appearances (501), home runs (17), OBP (.347), OPS (.796) and OPS+ (117). He also reached 4 wins above replacement for the second time in his career, per Baseball-Reference, joining 2021.
Bader began the season with the Twins after signing a one-year deal that included a mutual option for 2026 (which Bader subsequently declined). The Twins then sent him to the Phillies at the Trade Deadline, after which Bader took things to another level. In 50 games for Philadelphia, he hit .305/.361/.463 with five home runs and 16 RBIs for the NL East champions, while getting credit as a sparkplug for his high-energy style of play.
Unfortunately for both Bader and the Phillies, he didn’t get a full opportunity to extend that into October. After the club’s first-round bye, Bader exited Game 1 of the NL Division Series against the Dodgers with a hamstring injury and was limited to a bench role for the rest of the series, which Philly lost in four games.
Still, it was a fine season for Bader, who continued to provide strong outfield defense. While he played more corner outfield than usual in Minnesota, thanks to the presence of Byron Buxton, Bader shifted back exclusively to center in Philly. Overall, he recorded 7 OAA, per Statcast, tied for 18th among all outfielders.
Bader also ranked in the 85th percentile in sprint speed, so he could give the Giants a true basestealing threat, which they’ve lacked in recent years. San Francisco swiped only 68 bases in 2025, which ranked 29th in the Majors.
In addition to Bader, the Giants have added veteran starters Adrian Houser and Tyler Mahle, relievers Sam Hentges and Jason Foley and Rule 5 catcher Daniel Susac this offseason. They’ve also been eyeing potential upgrades at second base and have been linked to trade targets such as the Cardinals’ Brendan Donovan, the Cubs’ Nico Hoerner and the Nationals’ CJ Abrams.