© Geoff Burke | 2018 Sep 26
Is there a light at the end of the tunnel that has been the Giants’ dormant offseason?
San Francisco is back in the mix for still unsigned former MVP Bryce Harper, according to a report by Randy Miller of NJ Advanced Media. Additionally, Farhan Zaidi, Larry Baer, and Bruce Bochy all met with the superstar this week, according to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area.
Per source, Giants met with Bryce Harper this week. It’s believed meeting included Larry Baer, Farhan Zaidi and Bruce Bochy.
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) February 6, 2019
Here’s Miller’s full report:
Another club is vying for Harper, NJ Advance Media has learned. The San Francisco Giants are now in the mix and are expected to meet with the former MVP this week. Jim Bowden of ESPN reported earlier this week that “there are indeed ‘mystery team(s)’ in on Bryce Harper that the public is not aware of” along with the known pursuers: the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox, San Diego Padres and maybe Washington Nationals. Coming off consecutive losing seasons, the Giants badly could use Harper, as their current outfield situation includes five unproven no names: Mac Williamson, Austin Slater, Chris Shaw, Mike Gerber and Drew Ferguson. Thus far, the Giants’ only significant offseason moves have been re-signing lefty starter Derek Holland and signing lefty starter Drew Pomeranz.
Harper to the Giants didn’t seem to be a realistic possibility this offseason, with new VP of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi implying on multiple occasions that breaking the bank for a big name player probably wasn’t the best course of action when it came to turning around a club with questionable depth at both the major and minor league levels.
But free agency has stalled to an absurd degree, and Zaidi said a few weeks ago that the Giants may circle back on high profile players as the market continues to shrink.
The total worth of Harper’s next contract will largely be determined by its length, but the six-time All-Star is expected to ink a deal worth at least $31 million per year, according to Spotrac. Harper posted a slash line of .249/.393/.496 with 34 home runs in 2018, and has a .900 career OPS with 184 homers.