What has been a stagnant and largely frustrating offseason for the San Francisco Giants got better on Monday with news that the Giants agreed to a two-year deal with free agent center fielder Harrison Bader.
And while Bader is not the splash moves that other names the Giants were linked to this offseason (like Kyle Tucker, Cody Bellinger and Pete Alonso), his presence makes the team instantly better.
As we look ahead to spring training and Opening Day, what might the lineup look like? What might the defense look like? Here, we preview that and see how much impact Bader figures to make.
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While Bader can play anywhere in the outfield, the Giants would be best suited to play him in center field, moving Jung Hoo Lee to right field.
In discussing the signing of Bader, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area acknowledged that the Giants moving Lee to right field was “a decision they have discussed internally but had hoped to kick down the road a bit longer.” That said, Pavlovic also detailed how much better the Giants will be in center field with Bader and how much Lee’s defense will improve.
“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,” Pavlovic wrote.
“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,” he continued. “At FanFest over the weekend, Lee told reporters one of his goals in 2026 was to sharpen his defensive skills.”
And while Lee’s defense in center field was poor in 2025, Heliot Ramos was worse in left field. In November 2025, Maria Guardado of MLB.com specified that “Heliot Ramos’ struggles in left field (-9 OAA) were particularly pronounced, but the Giants also got subpar defense out of Jung Hoo Lee (-5 OAA) in center field.”
Ramos is still on track to be San Francisco’s left fielder in 2026. But with Bader in center and a defensively improved Lee in right, there’s room to use Luis Matos, Drew Gilbert or Grant McCray in late-inning situations. Perhaps Lee could even be moved over to left, with one of the other outfielders taking over the more spacious (at least during home games) right field.
Naturally, if the Giants have a better defense, the pitching staff will inherently improve, as well. For a rotation that has some questions after the top-two starters and a bullpen that is anything but solidified, that’s vital.
Bader will also lengthen the San Francisco Lineup
Bader enjoyed the best offensive season of his career in 2025, slashing .277/.347/.449 with a career-high 17 home runs. Before 2025, Bader had a career slash line of .242/.306/.392 with a 162-game average of 15 home runs. Given that Bader will turn 32 in June and is moving to the famously pitcher-friendly Oracle Park, the pre-2025 numbers are likely closer to what the Giants are expecting from Bader in 2026.
Fortunately, that’s OK.
Fangraphs currently projects San Francisco’s lineup as:
- Heliot Ramos
- Rafael Devers
- Willy Adames
- Matt Chapman
- Jung Hoo Lee
- Harrison Bader
- Bryce Eldridge
- Casey Schmitt
- Patrick Bailey
That’s as deep a lineup as the Giants have had since the World Series-winning teams from 2010-2014. And in some respects, it might even be deeper. There’s also a lot of flexibility in that group, especially if Eldridge continues to develop.
Even if we assume that Bader will actually experience some regression from his aforementioned 2017-2024 numbers, that’s still a decent guy to have hitting sixth — or in the bottom-third — of a lineup.
Make no mistake, the Los Angeles Dodgers are still heavily favored in the National League West. But truthfully, there was nothing that the Giants could have possibly changed that. San Francisco’s goal for 2026 should be to improve on 2022-2025. Improving on those seasons means playing meaningful baseball through September and ideally into October.
The Bader signing helps them with that goal.
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