Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
The Giants are filling one glaring hole with the impending signing of Tommy La Stella, and they’re open to addressing another.
The Giants are weighing free-agent, lefty-hitting outfielders and are talking about bringing a local one home.
San Francisco has talked with Palo Alto’s Joc Pederson, the Chronicle reported Wednesday, adding another name to a potential outfield mix that the newspaper has reported includes Jackie Bradley Jr. and Eddie Rosario.
Pederson, a Dodger since 2014 and a World Series winner last season, has history with both Farhan Zaidi and Gabe Kapler, who overlapped with him in Los Angeles. The 28-year-old also has distant history with the Giants, growing up a fan at Palo Alto High School.
Pederson has qualities that the Giants value, notably power, with 36 home runs in 2019. He has excelled in most of his career with the Dodgers in part because they limited his at-bats against southpaws; of the lefty’s 130 career long balls, 121 have come against righties. Although he struggled in last season’s sprint, his lifelong dominance of righties (a career .238/.349/.501 slashline) makes him enticing to a Giants team that loves playing to matchups.
Yet, the fit is not perfect. Pederson did not play a game in center field last season and appeared there just twice in 2019. He is not as quick as he was as a rookie and has been mostly relegated to a corner spot, where the Giants are well-covered. If Pederson is brought in, Mike Yastrzemski likely would become the center fielder against righties and Pederson would man one wing with Alex Dickerson on the other. The Giants would much prefer Yastrzemski in right.
The Giants are hunting for another outfielder because they’re undermanned in center, where Mauricio Dubon proved he can play, but also has not proven he can hit righties (against whom he has posted a career .681 OPS). They have Darin Ruf and Austin Slater as righty-hitting solid offensive options on the corners.
Bradley, who won a Gold Glove in 2018 with the Red Sox, makes the most sense, even if his splits are not as pronounced as Pederson’s and his bat is more of a question.
But Pederson is an option and a local one, and as Alex Wood recently reinforced, Zaidi loves players from his past.