Bryce Harper's love for San Francisco is no secret. The free-agent outfielder's social-media history is littered with posts paying tribute to the City by the Bay.
So, why does the 26-year-old like San Francisco so much? The atmosphere at AT&T Park has a lot to do with it, according to Scott Boras, Harper's agent.
“I think he likes the absolute feel of the ballpark and the fans,” Boras told the San Francisco Chronicle last week at the MLB General Managers meetings in Carlsbad. “It’s a great fan base. You know you’re at a ballgame, and he loves the enthusiasm and their success.”
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The super-agent told the Chronicle that San Francisco is one of "a lot of cities" where Harper would be a "perfect fit." We wouldn't expect Boras to say anything different, but it's not clear the Giants feel the same way.
Sources familiar with the Giants' thinking told NBC Sports Bay Area's Alex Pavlovic that their interest in Harper was overblown, and that the free agent would have turn down other, more lucrative opportunities to come to San Francisco. New Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi wasn't one to give out big contracts during his tenure as Dodgers general manager, either.
Oddsmaker Bovada gave the Giants the fourth-best odds to sign Harper, but that was before Zaidi's hiring. Whether or not those odds improve will have a lot to do with Zaidi.
[PAVLOVIC: Why AT&T Park could affect how Farhan Zaidi constructs Giants' roster]
San Francisco Giants
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