On Thursday May 29, 2025, The Athletic released their picks for a San Francisco Giants all-quarter-century team. The list, penned by Grant Brisbee, included mostly players from the Giants’ dynasty in the early 2010s like Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford, in addition to a few MLB legends like Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent.
Only one position player on the Giants’ active roster made the legendary squad: right fielder Mike Yastrzemski.
Yastrzemski has quietly built a legacy that can’t be ignored in the “City by the Bay” spanning seven seasons, which makes him the longest tenured Giant.
Still, seeing Yastrzemski named the best right fielder in San Francisco this century thus far will surprise some fans, especially since Yaz was chosen over fan-favorite right fielder Hunter Pence.
But Brisbee noted the numbers are clear: Yastrzemski has racked up 15.4 WAR during his San Francisco tenure while Pence only amassed a 9.9 WAR, and Yastrzemski also leads Pence in basically every traditional statistical category as well including home runs, doubles, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
Giants starter Logan Webb was Yaz’s only current teammate to also make Brisbee’s squad, but that should come as no surprise given that Webb has been the Giants’ ace since 2021 and a perennial Cy Young Award candidate since 2022.
Yastrzemski is Quietly Having a Resurgent Season
Mike Yastrzemski’s best seasons were his first three. He took San Francisco by storm in 2019 when he broke into the big leagues and hit 20 home runs in just 107 games.
He followed that up with an elite, if brief, showing in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, slugging 10 home runs in just 54 games and finishing 8th in National League MVP voting. In 2021, his first full season in San Francisco, he slugged a career-high 25 home runs.
But since then, Yaz’s numbers have taken a hit at the plate. He hasn’t managed 20 or more home runs, and his batting average has dipped.
Early in the year, talks swirled that 34-year old Yaz could soon leave the Giants. He even told the San Francisco Chronicle in Spring Training that he is treating this season in San Francisco like his last.
“This team means a lot to me, the city means a lot to me, the fans mean a lot to me,” Yastrzemski said. “I’m going to go out and give it my best effort like it’s my last chance to play for them.”
But this season, Yastrzemski has gotten off to a better start. His batting average (.251) and on-base percentage (.355) thus far would both be personal bests for a full season.
That would be hard for Giants brass to ignore this offseason, especially considering what he has meant to the franchise.
Mike Yastrzemski’s Clutch Factor
While Yastrzemski won’t be remembered for a big personality like many Giants stars on the dynastic 2010s teams, he has delivered several iconic moments.
That includes five walk-off home runs, with three of those walk-off bombs being splash hits into McCovey Cove behind the Giants’ right field wall. Yaz is the walk-off splash hit king; Bonds and Crawford are the only other players to have done it, with one each. One of Yaz’s came earlier this year, against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday April 9, 2025.
Mike Yastrzemski wins it for the @SFGiants!
Another thing to note: all five walk-off bombs have come at the Giants’ home stadium, Oracle Park, a notoriously difficult park to hit home runs in.
With his consistent production and a history of iconic moments in front of the home fans, Yaz has earned the unexpected honor of being named amongst the best Giants players of the 2000s.
His next opportunity for a signature moment comes this weekend when the Giants take on the Miami Marlins for a three game series at loanDepot Park, beginning Friday May 30, 2025.
Current SF Giants Player Makes Surprise Appearance on Legendary List