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Harrison Bader Explains Decision to Sign with Giants
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Harrison Bader won’t be a Phil in 2026. He signed a two-year deal in San Francisco worth $20.5 million with incentives to get it to $21.5 million.
He was on Jon Heyman’s podcast talking about the decision:
“First and foremost, the opportunity – all you can do in this game is work to set yourself up for the best opportunity possible. I’ve always wanted to play as many games, have as many at-bats as possible, be on a winning team. The Giants could not be a more perfect fit for me.”
He mentioned opportunity a couple of times. He wanted to be an everyday player, and it’s hard to blame him or anybody for wanting that. The Phillies are bullish on Justin Crawford in center and they have Adolis Garcia in right and Brandon Marsh in left, so there was no guarantee that Bader’s name would have been penciled in on a daily basis. He had a $10 million mutual option that he declined a few months ago, and while the money per year in San Francisco ends up being the same, he gets another year in the deal at age 31.
This does not seem like a contract the Phillies were unable to match. Surely $20.5 million for two years of Bader would have been reasonable, but we don’t know much about their stance on Bader. Consider, for instance, that he was playing well above his career averages during his time in Philadelphia and it was always possible he would come back to Earth this year or next, so maybe that played a factor. Who knows? The only thing that’s certain is that the team is going into another year with an outfield that seems like it could be a lot better, at least on paper. Maybe Crawford ends up being the next Andruw Jones and Garcia finds his 2023 form again, but holding our breath, we are not.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com