With Kevin Gasuamn, Alex Wood and Anthony DeSclafani all slated to hit the free agency this offseason, Farhan Zaidi knows that rebuilding the Giants starting rotation is massively important.
Christmas came early for Scott Boras. The MLB GM meetings are underway in Carlsbad, and it might as well be a national holiday for the agent to baseball's biggest stars, with a spotlight shined bright on him and him only.
Boras held court on Wednesday, speaking on his long list of big-name free agents. One of those players includes Kris Bryant, whom the Giants acquired at the trade deadline last season. Pulling out a special card of dad jokes for his client, Boras had quite the comparison for Bryant.
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OK, let's break down Boras comparing Bryant to ... Sean Connery.
"He has positional versatility which makes him untouchable."
Untouchable, no. Positional versatility, yes.
Bryant played third base and all three outfield positions for the Giants during the regular season. In the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Bryant moved to first base for the first time as a Giant for Game 3 of the seriers. He also spent time in left, center and right field.
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His versatility no doubt was a positive for the Giants, but president of baseball operation Farhan Zaidi has admitted that it could hurt San Francisco's chances of bringing back Bryant on the open market.
"There's a lot of teams that would love to have him and part of what made him such a great fit for us is his versatility, which only broadened his market," Zaidi recently said on KNBR. "It's not like he's only gonna be a target for teams looking for a third baseman or a first baseman or a corner outfielder."
"He has Bond-like abilities to create a great middle of the lineup."
A bad September slump hurt Bryant's overall numbers with the Giants, but his first month in San Francisco showed what he can bring to a lineup. Bryant, who will be 30 in January, hit .281 with six home runs and six doubles in August. He had an .884 OPS for the month over 24 games.
In 51 regular-season games with the Giants, Bryant hit .262 with seven home runs and a .788 OPS. Between the Giants and Chicago Cubs, the All-Star hit .265 with 25 homers and an .835 OPS. He'll help any team's lineup and has success against right-handers and lefties.
"He’s always red-hot in the hunt for October."
Nailed it, dad.
The Giants added Bryant at the trade deadline for one reason: The postseason.
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Following an ice-cold September, Bryant heated up when it mattered most. He made his mark right away, too. Bryant went a perfect 3-for-3 with a solo shot in a Game 1 NLDS win against the Dodgers. The former Cub became the first player with at least three hits and a homer in his Giants playoff debut since Hall of Famer Mel Ott in 1933.
In the five-game series, Bryant hit .471 (8-for-17) as one of the few bats the Giants could trust.
"He’s an extraordinary gentleman and in a league of his own."
I don't know about a league of his own, but, I mean, I've never really heard anything bad about him as a person.
Sure, Scott.
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