SF Giants: With Yasiel Puig headed to the Braves, what’s the outfield plan?
The Yasiel Puig-to-the-Giants rumors never had legs. What should Giants fans expect in the outfield?
SAN FRANCISCO — Yasiel Puig appears to be heading to the Atlanta Braves, though the deal isn’t expected to become official until he passes a physical.
Multiple reports have indicated the former Dodgers slugger has found a new home in the National League East, bringing an end to rumors Puig would ultimately spend the 2020 season in the San Francisco Giants outfield.
From the time one of Madison Bumgarner’s least favorite players hit free agency last fall, the Giants and Puig were connected as many in the industry felt the right-handed slugger was a natural fit for a team that needed more power in its lineup.
The Giants never saw it that way.
Despite Puig’s preexisting relationship with Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, the former Dodgers’ general manager, it never appeared the two sides seriously engaged in discussions that would have brought the outfielder to the shores of McCovey Cove.
After Puig’s WAR dipped to 1.3 in 2019, when he split time with the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians, the Cuba native was viewed as the type of free agent who would be best served by signing a one-year deal in an attempt to reestablish his value.
During the offseason, the Giants were intrigued by outfielders willing to sign one-year contracts, but only those who fit a part-time role. Zaidi and the front office wanted a platoon partner for Alex Dickerson in left field, so they opted for a reunion with Hunter Pence in lieu of pursuing Puig, who was reportedly seeking an opportunity to play every day.
With Pence and Dickerson slated to share reps in left, the Giants still had (and have) question marks in center field and right field, but the club wanted to open up competition and allow many of the organization’s less experienced outfielders battle for playing time.
The addition of Puig would have blocked opportunities for younger outfielders such as Jaylin Davis, Austin Slater, Mauricio Dubón and Steven Duggar and prevented the chance for Mike Yastrzmeski to play on a more frequent basis.
With eight days until the Giants open the 2020 season in Los Angeles, it’s still unclear who will earn the lion’s share of starts in center and right field, but that’s not an issue for a team that’s in a rebuilding phase. By filling lineup spots that could be used for players such as Davis or Dubón to prove themselves, the Giants would only be delaying the process of determining who’s capable of contributing to a winning core and who’s more of a Triple-A depth piece.
Many Giants fans will be disappointed to see Puig go elsewhere while many others will be thrilled a former Dodgers nemesis won’t don the orange and black this year, but the match was never meant to be.
The current outfield plan may lack clarity, but in the eyes of Giants executives and first-year manager Gabe Kapler, that’s OK.
If the 2020 season was strictly about wins and losses, the organization would have missed an opportunity by letting Puig escape. From the moment Kapler was hired, however, the Giants’ message has focused on making his first year all about player development and discovering what inexperienced outfielders can accomplish with an opportunity.
Signing Puig would have made those goals far more difficult, and that’s why the Giants didn’t follow through.