There's a saying in sports that goes like this: If you're projected to be bad, at least be fun. The Giants seem to be big fans of that idea.
San Francisco already brought back Pablo Sandoval for the 2020 season, and NBC Sports Bay Area's Alex Pavlovic has learned that the Giants and Hunter Pence are discussing a reunion. The band is coming back together, so why not add one of the biggest rivals in franchise history?
Now we're having fun.
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MLB Insider Robert Murray reported Friday that the Giants have interest in signing free-agent outfielder Yasiel Puig.
Sure, Giants fans might have mixed emotions on this news but it makes a ton of sense. The Giants badly need right-handed power hitters and Puig would give them a big boost offensively, one that fans have been clamoring to get for years.
Puig, 29, hit 24 homers, drove in 84 runs and had a .785 OPS between the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians last season. He also had a 1.2 fWAR, and FanGraphs has him worth at least one win above replacement in every season of his seven-year career.
San Francisco Giants
Puig has hit at least 20 homers in three straight seasons and has averaged 19 long balls in his major league career. The Giants ranked 26th in all of baseball last season with only 167 homers as a team. They also ranked 28th in slugging percentage (.392) and runs scored (678).
Oh, and he can hit at Oracle Park. Puig hit .417 with two homers in three games playing in San Francisco last season. That wasn't an outlier, either. In 45 road games against the Giants, Puig is hitting .299 with five homers, 17 RBI and an .838 OPS.
Puig became an instant Giants nemesis with the Los Angeles Dodgers immediately after debuting with San Francisco's rivals in 2013. He found himself in multiple scuffles with Bumgarner, and sparked a brawl in 2018 after fighting former Giants catcher Nick Hundley.
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Both of those players are gone with MadBum on the Arizona Diamondbacks and Hundley working for MLB. In recent years, a lot of fun has left the ballpark in San Francisco, too. Let's bring some back.
Remember kids, if you're projected to be bad, at least be fun. When you add entertainment, wins certainly could follow.