San Francisco, February 5, 2024 – The San Francisco Giants bolstered their outfield on Monday with a two-year, $20.5 million contract for veteran Harrison Bader, and the nine-year MLB player is already envisioning success in his new city.
A Perfect Fit in the Bay Area
Bader cited opportunity and a talented roster as key factors in his decision to join the Giants.
- Bader emphasized the importance of playing time and contributing to a winning team.
- He expressed excitement about joining a roster with players like Matt Chapman, Willy Adames, and Rafael Devers.
- Familiarity with the Giants’ new coaching staff, including Tony Vitello and Jayce Tingler, also played a role in his decision.
“There’s no doubt about it,” Bader said to Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman in an episode posted Monday. “All you can do in this game is just work to set yourself up for the best opportunity possible.I’ve always wanted to play as many games, have as many at-bats as possible, be on a winning team. The Giants could not be a more perfect fit for me. So, I’m just I’m just very excited.”
Reuniting with familiar Faces
Bader is especially eager to join a “talented” Giants roster,specifically mentioning third baseman matt Chapman,whom he knows from their time together in the Texas League and minor leagues. He also looks forward to playing alongside shortstop willy Adames, a familiar opponent from their days in the NL Central, and slugger Rafael Devers.
“I love playing with superstars. [The Giants] got a lot of really, really talented players,” Bader said. “… It’s a fresh front office, it’s obviously a fresh coaching staff. Have some SEC ties in Tony Vitello, some familiarity with, [Giants bench coach Jayce Tingler] when I was with the [Minnesota] Twins last year. So, it’s always good to be in a new place, but have familiar faces. so, opportunity, the personnel, the players, it just was a perfect fit, and I’m just really, really happy it worked out because it’s very rare in this game when things work out pretty perfectly.”
The Giants represent Bader’s seventh MLB team since his debut with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2017. He acknowledged that his experience with free agency this offseason helped him remain patient as he sought the right opportunity.
he expressed genuine enthusiasm for San Francisco, a city he’s always enjoyed visiting as an opposing player. “It’s a process,” Bader said of free agency. “I think you have to put your faith in your team behind the scenes … Everybody did a great job of kind of distracting me and keeping me on a really positive path throughout this entire process. As listen, teams have trades to go through, they have other signings, they have a certain amount of money that they need to allocate. So, as they’re building a roster, it’s really critically important for us as players to just remain calm, trust your depiction, trust your support system and hopefully know that with the work and the season you put up that things are ultimately going to work out.
“Keeping that faith, I think, allowed me to kind of just get through it. And I ended up in a great place, a great city, like I mentioned, a great coaching staff, a great locker room.”
Bader’s arrival is expected to significantly improve the Giants’ outfield depth as they prepare for the upcoming season.
