San Francisco Giants

Joc Pederson may be changing sides in the National League West rivalry between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants.   

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported the free-agent outfielder who spent his first seven seasons in the major leagues with the Dodgers is in discussions with the Giants. Slusser noted Pederson cheered for the Giants while growing up in the Palo Alto area and knows president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and manager Gabe Kapler from their time together in Los Angeles.

San Francisco missed the playoffs at 29-31 during the shortened 2020 campaign and was a solid but unspectacular 12th in MLB with 81 home runs. It was 26th in the league in long balls during 2019, the last full-season sample size from which to draw.

Pederson could provide some much-needed power to San Francisco's outfield.

He hit 25 or more home runs four times in a five-year stretch from 2015-19, including when he launched 36 in 2019. He also has extensive postseason experience with 64 playoff appearances on his resume from his time with the Dodgers.

It is fair to worry about his career batting average of .230, especially after he slashed .190/.285/.397 during the 2020 season, but he did post a career-high average of .249 in 2019.

Pederson is also just 28 years old and figures to remain in his prime for the next couple of seasons, which should mean he challenges for 25 or more home runs again if he remains healthy. That is largely the type of power that was missing from San Francisco's lineup while it failed to reach the playoffs the last four years.

The Giants know what Pederson is capable of as a power hitter from their time battling him in the NL West and could look to bring him in prior to the 2021 season as they attempt to close the gap on the defending-champion Dodgers.

The San Francisco Giants are looking to upgrade their outfield with several possible options still on the free-agent market.

According to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Giants have interest in both Eddie Rosario and Jackie Bradley Jr. as lower-cost options compared to the recently signed George Springer.

Rosario, 29, was nontendered after six seasons with the Minnesota Twins, while Bradley, 30, is a free agent following eight years with the Boston Red Sox.

While both outfielders, the two veterans could offer different things to their new teams.

Rosario has been a reliable power hitter in recent seasons, totaling 13 home runs in 57 games during the shortened 2020 campaign after combining for 83 homers in the previous three seasons.

The left fielder has an .810 OPS over the past four years as a key part of one of the top offenses in baseball.

Bradley hasn't been as consistent of a hitter with just a .239 career batting average, but he picked things up last season while producing a .283/.364/450 slash line. More importantly, he is known as an elite defender in center field with 53 runs saved in his career, per FanGraphs. He saved five runs defensively in center last season alone.

Both players could be valuable for the Giants after they missed the playoffs last year, making it four straight seasons without a playoff berth.

The offense finished eighth in the majors in runs scored last year, but San Francisco will need more firepower to compete in the loaded NL West with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres.

The San Francisco Giants announced they have agreed to a one-year deal with pitcher Anthony DeSclafani.

According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the contract is expected to be in the range of $6 million. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle first reported the two sides were nearing a deal Wednesday.

The 30-year-old is coming off a miserable 2020 season in which he produced a 7.22 ERA in nine appearances for the Cincinnati Reds. He had 25 strikeouts with 16 walks in his 33.2 innings.

DeSclafani was much better in 2019 over a full season, finishing 9-9 with a 3.89 ERA and a career-high 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings.

The right-hander has a 4.29 career ERA and has been a reliable back-end starter, which could make him a sleeper in this class despite a disappointing last season.

R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports also noted the pitcher changed his slider last season with plenty of success, causing swings and misses on 36 percent of pitches while opponents hit just .190 against it.

If DeSclafani can get his fastball back on track, he could be set for a bounce-back season in 2021.

This could be a nice addition for a San Francisco team that has a lot of question marks about its pitching staff going into next season.

Johnny Cueto had just a 5.40 ERA last year, while Tyler Anderson and Trevor Cahill are both free agents. Logan Webb also hasn't proved he can handle a starting role in the majors. 

It leaves Kevin Gausman and a lot of unknowns for a 29-31 team seeking a return to the postseason after falling short in four straight seasons.

The San Francisco Giants are interested in free-agent outfielder Marcell Ozuna, according to MLB Network's Jon Morosi, but there's a major stipulation factoring into the club's pursuit.

Morosi noted the Giants' interest is "somewhat contingent" on whether or not the designated hitter remains in the National League for the 2021 season. 

Ozuna compiled a .338/.431/.636 slash line with league-leading figures in home runs (18) and RBI (56) in 60 games with the Atlanta Braves in 2020. 

The Giants have plenty of capable outfielders heading into 2021, led by Mike Yastrzemski in right field. Alex Dickerson and Mauricio Dubon lined up in left field and center field, respectably. Where San Francisco was thin last year, however, was at DH, when it used Wilmer Flores for 22 games.

Ozuna would certainly provide a massive upgrade, but as one of the most sought-after free agents this offseason—as well as one of the best hitters on the market—the Giants are sure to have plenty of competition if they decide to pursue his services. 

The 30-year-old, who recently switched agents, has been linked to the New York Mets in recent weeks as new owner Steve Cohen announced his intent to spend big money to build a contender. Morosi also linked the Toronto Blue Jays to Ozuna but noted the club prefers outfielder George Springer.

Spotrac currently estimates Ozuna's market value at $20.1 million per season, listing J.D. Martinez, Carlos Santana and Eric Hosmer as players with comparable value

The San Francisco Giants have Jon Lester on their radar as they look to bolster their starting rotation, according to MLB.com's Jon Morosi. 

San Francisco was a finalist for Lester when the veteran left-hander was a free agent ahead of the 2015 MLB season.

The Chicago Cubs declined Lester's $25 million option for 2021, allowing him to hit the open market again.

Morosi posited the 36-year-old Georgia resident might have liked to join the Atlanta Braves. However, Atlanta announced Tuesday it signed Charlie Morton to a one-year, $15 million deal after having added Drew Smyly for one year and $11 million.

The Braves' rotation looks set, leaving little room for Lester.

The five-time All-Star struggled this past season, going 3-3 with a 5.14 FIP in 12 starts, per FanGraphs. 

His 6.2 strikeouts per nine innings were a career low, and his fastball averaged 89.87 mph, according to Brooks Baseball. That was his second-most frequently used pitch (27.28 percent), and opposing hitters slugged .619 against it.

Lester wasn't a dominant strikeout pitcher in his prime, and his diminishing velocity is shrinking his margin for error on the mound.

Drawing any conclusions based solely on 2020 is unfair because of the circumstances surrounding the year. Perhaps Lester's performance would've leveled off a bit more in a traditional 162-game campaign.

His days as a starter you insert at the top of your rotation are over, though. He probably wouldn't be any higher than No. 4 or 5 in San Francisco's staff.

Right-hander Kevin Gausman is staying with the San Francisco Giants and accepting the club's $18.9 million qualifying offer for one year, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan:

The 29-year-old made 12 starts for the Giants in 2020, tossing 59.2 innings with a 3.62 ERA and 1.106 WHIP with 79 strikeouts on 16 walks. 

The move gives San Francisco a fourth starter under contract alongside Johnny Cueto, Logan Webb and Tyler Anderson. 

Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter ranked Gausman the 10th-best free agent this offseason, noting his age and a thin market for top-line starters made him an attractive option for teams. He becomes the second high-profile free-agent starter to accept a qualifying offer on Wednesday following Marcus Stroman's decision to return to the New York Mets. 

According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and Fox Sports, Gausman received multiple multiyear contract offers from potential suitors before accepting his qualifying offer. 

In return, the Giants get a pitcher who can slot in anywhere from the No. 2 to No. 4 role in the rotation and help push along a rebuild that proved slightly ahead of schedule last season. 

San Francisco finished 29-31, good for third in a surprisingly competitive National League West behind the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. 

Former San Francisco Giants outfielder Mac Williamson has filed suit against the team stemming from a concussion he suffered when tripping over the Oracle Park bullpen mound in 2018.

Williamson was chasing down a foul ball when he fell and hit his head against the wall along the third-base line.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle's Henry Schulman, the 30-year-old is arguing the franchise "maintained a dangerous risk for players by having the mounds on the field and did not move them to a safer spot even after players got hurt."

Schulman shared a statement from the Giants:

"MLB and its clubs have a longstanding practice of addressing claims arising from player injuries through the collectively-bargained grievance procedure and the worker’s compensation system.

"Williamson’s claims are properly resolved through these processes, not through the courts."

The concussion came in San Francisco's 4-3 win over the Washington Nationals on April 24, 2018. He missed a little over a month before returning to the field.

Still, he contends in the suit he "hasn't been the same since suffering the injury."

"The concussion ended my career and left me with lifelong injuries that have also taken a significant toll on my personal life," he said. "I suffer nausea, trouble sleeping, mood swings, and other issues.

“I wake up every day hoping that today is a better day and that I will get closer to how I felt before the injury."

Per Schulman, Williamson claimed he had a conversation with former Giants owner Peter Magowan about the bullpen. Magowan, who died in 2019, said then-commissioner Bud Selig thought the mounds were unsafe when the Giants first opened Oracle Park in 2000, but the team kept them in anyway.

Last December, the Giants announced they were moving their bullpens and placing them behind the wall in center field:

Following his concussion, Williamson made 38 more appearances for the Giants before he opted to leave in June 2019 after the team had placed him on waivers for a second time. He promptly signed with the Seattle Mariners but played in just 25 games over the remainder of the 2019 season before joining the Samsung Lions in South Korea's KBO League.

Williamson's last MLB game was Seattle's 6-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on July 14, 2019. He signed a minor league deal with the Washington Nationals this past January but couldn't make the Opening Day roster.

Reese Osterberg, a nine-year-old San Francisco Giants fan, was gifted 25,000 baseball cards after her collection was lost in the Creek wildfire burning in Fresno and Madera counties in California. 

Amy Osterberg, Reese's mom, told Shayna Rubin of the Bay Area News Group her daughter had built a collection of around 200 cards over the past three years, including three showcasing Giants catcher Buster Posey that had become her prized possessions.

"She loves learning about the players," Amy said. "She loves talking about the players."

Reese wrote a letter to Posey after losing her collection, which went viral and caught the attention of Kevin Ashford, a longtime card collector from San Jose.

Ashford originally planned to sell the mountain of cards, but the story changed his mind, per Garvin Thomas of NBC Bay Area.

"I got to thinking about what I had in the garage," Ashford said. "I thought, you know, what if instead of selling them on eBay, I'm going to donate them. I'm gonna donate them all and put a smile on a little girl's face."

Reese is planning to keep some of the cards to restart her collection, but she's hoping to share others with members of the community who've also lost personal items because of the wildfire, her mother told Rubin.

"It would be fun for them to do after everything that's happened," Amy said. "I know for Reese, she's super excited about sharing all of them."

She added the cards have provided a sense of normalcy as the family lives at Reese's grandparents house in wake of losing their home.

On the eve of the final day of the 2020 Major League Baseball regular season, former San Francisco Giants outfielder Hunter Pence has announced he will retire. 

In a video posted on Twitter, Pence said he "cherished every day, every teammate, every victory and every defeat" during his 14-year career. 

After spending last year with the Texas Rangers, San Francisco brought Pence back by signing him to a one-year deal during the offseason. He hit .096/.161/.250 in 17 games before being released on Aug. 24. 

Pence, 37, began his MLB career with the Houston Astros after being selected in the second round of the 2004 draft. The Texas native was called up to the big leagues in April 2007 and finished third in American League Rookie of the Year voting after posting a .322/.360/.539 slash line. 

After spending 155 games with the Philadelphia Phillies between 2011 and 2012, Pence found his greatest success in San Francisco after the Giants acquired him in a trade. He had two top-20 NL MVP finishes (2013, 2014) and helped the Giants win two World Series titles in 2012 and 2014. 

Pence played for four teams—Astros, Phillies, Giants, Rangers—during his 14-year career. He was named to the All-Star team four times and racked up 1,791 hits, 244 home runs and 942 RBI. 

The San Francisco Giants designated pitcher Jeff Samardzija for assignment and placed the veteran on unconditional release waivers on Saturday.

The move comes one day after Samardzija gave up three runs in three innings of work during Game 2 of Friday's doubleheader against the San Diego Padres, a 6-5 extra-innings loss. The Giants (29-29) hold a one-game lead in the National League Wild Card race after dropping the nightcap of the doubleheader.

Prior to Friday's start, Samardzija had been on the injured list since Aug. 9 because of right shoulder impingement.

Samardzija, 35, signed a five-year, $90 million deal with the team ahead of the 2016 season, finishing that campaign with a 12-11 record, 3.81 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 167 strikeouts in 203.1 innings.

However, he struggled in 2017, going 9-15 with a 4.42 ERA and 1.14 WHIP, and took another step in the wrong direction in 2018. While injuries limited him, he finished just 1-5 with a 6.25 ERA, 1.63 WHIP and 30 strikeouts in 10 starts (44.2 innings). 

Samardzija was supposed to provide another solid arm to the rotation behind Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto, who was also brought in during the winter of 2015. That starting trio was expected to be among the best in the National League and helped lead the Giants to the postseason in 2016.

However, the Giants rotation never quite lived up to its potential, as Bumgarner, Cueto and Samardzija each were bothered by injuries through. Ultimately, Bumgarner wound up moving on to the Arizona Diamondbacks last offseason.

To his credit, Samardzija bounced back some last year with a 3.52 ERA, but he has been limited to just four starts in 2020, posting a 9.72 ERA in limited action. And with his contract set to expire at the end of the season, the Giants opted to move on as they attempt to reach the postseason for the first time since 2016.