*Photo from CBS Sports*
The San Francisco Giants have signed OF Hunter Pence to a major league contract, according to mlb.com’s Maria Guardado. Pence’s deal is for one year. He’ll earn $3 million in his deal.Pence is a fan favorite in San Francisco, and he'll be popular in the clubhouse too. Pence passed the physical needed to confirm the deal, so he is officially a member of the Giants.
Pence had a resurgent 2019 with the Texas Rangers after revamping his swing in the Dominican Winter League. Pence hit .297 with 18 homers and 59 RBI for the Rangers in 83 games played. Pence is a career .280 hitter with 242 homers and 936 RBI in 13 major league seasons. Pence acrued his statistics while playing for the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies, in addition to his tenures with the Giants and Rangers over his 13 years. Pence primarily served as a DH in Texas and earned an all star game appearance last season for the first time since 2014. A lower back strain and a right groin strain limited Pence to 83 games in 2019.
Pence was a part of the San Francisco Giants world series championship teams in 2012 and 2014, and memorably went on a tear in the 2014 postseason, going 22-66(.337) while driving in 8 runs and crossing the plate himself 12 times. Pence is known around the league for his positivity and energy in the clubhouse and on the field. Pence also brings veteran experience and leadership to a clubhouse that needs it right now, as the Giants seem to be in rebuild mode after letting LHP's Will Smith and Madison Bumgarner depart in free agency.
Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said he expects the team to add some complementary pieces to the roster before the position players report to Giants camp next week, with him wanting to give younger outfielders a chance to be able to make the major league roster out of camp. Zaidi said that "I think we're still evaluating potential additions there, but that's really the question and the challenge, leaving some opportunity for that group of players between Austin Slater, Jaylin Davis, Steven Duggar, so that may push us toward maybe not a 150-game everyday guy, but maybe somebody who can be part of a rotation where there's still some playing time up for grabs for some of those younger guys."
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