Justin

Bour

Bour turns 35 in May and hasn’t appeared in the majors since 2019. He spent last year in the Mexican League after stints in the Korea Baseball Organization and in Japan. He’s best known for his time with the Marlins, including a fifth-place finish in the NL Rookie of the Year balloting in 2015. He also appeared in the majors with the Phillies and the Angels. Bour will hang things up with a .253/.337/.457 batting line and 92 career home runs over 559 games.

The move was announced by the team at the end of December. Bour, now 33, split last season between the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate and the LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization. He hasn’t appeared in the majors since 2019 as a member of the Angels.

Bour, who was just released by the Giants, will receive $350,000 to play out the remainder of the season. The 33-year-old spent last season in Japan and had a .772 OPS with six home runs over 33 games with the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate this season.

Bour had inked a minor league deal with the Giants after spending 2020 in Japan. He posted a .772 OPS with six home runs over 33 games at Triple-A Sacramento.

Instead, Bour will report to minor league camp on April 1. He’ll serve as organizational depth at first base, but it’ll likely take an injury to Brandon Belt to have a shot at regular playing time in the big leagues. He can be left alone outside of the deepest of NL-only leagues.

Bour announced the news himself on Instagram and it’s been confirmed by KNBR. It’s not clear whether he’s been invited to major league camp. The first baseman batted .253/.337/.457 over parts of six seasons from 2014-19 before spending last year in Japan. He’ll give the Giants some first base depth with Brandon Belt (heel, illness) uncertain for Opening Day.

Bour signed on with the Hanshin Tigers in Japan last November, for a deal reportedly worth around $2.55 million, but he posted a relatively underwhelming .243/.338/.422 batting line with 88 strikeouts in 99 games before getting cut from the roster on October 22. The 32-year-old could aim to return to MLB-affiliated ball in 2021, though he will almost surely have to accept a non-guaranteed minor league contract.

It was reported a month ago that Bour and Hanshin were talking. The 31-year-old Bour was a productive bat for the Marlins from 2015-17, but his production fell off in 2018 and he didn’t get much of a chance to shake off a bad start with the Angels last season. Overall, he hit .253/.337/.457 with 92 homers in 1,714 major league at-bats.

Bour is arbitration-eligible for one more year, but the Angels removed him from their 40-man roster and he’s decided to seek a job elsewhere. The first baseman is reportedly receiving interest from Japan.

Bour is arbitration-eligible for a final time with the Angels and Austin is arbitration-eligible for the first time with the Brewers, but they are both likely non-tender candidates. Going overseas might be their best opportunity both from a monetary and playing time perspective.