San Francisco Giants Center Field Trade Options: Jackie Bradley, Jr.

The rumor mill is starting to heat up, and the San Francisco Giants are supposedly interested in Boston Red Sox center fielder Jackie Bradley, Jr.

Some offseason rumors are more palatable than others. Last week, the San Francisco Giants were supposedly looking into trading for Chicago Cubs’ outfielder Jason Heyward, with the price being Jeff Samardzija and/or Mark Melancon. That wasn’t so pretty to read, but on Sunday, another rumor came out. According to the Giants are interested in Boston Red Sox outfielder Jackie Bradley, Jr., among “many” other outfield possibilities.

The first thing to dissect is the fact that the Giants are considering a myriad of options in the outfield, which should be somewhat comforting. They know they have work to do to fix that problem, and they aren’t just waiting around for something to come up. That’s a pretty good start.

Now, as for this particular rumor, trading for Bradley would immediately make the center field defense a non-issue and make the team younger and more athletic at the same time. He turns 28 a few days after Opening Day in 2018, and just completed his fifth major league season.

Defense has been Bradley’s calling card throughout his entire big league career. Over the last four seasons, he’s saved 38 runs defensively as a center field, including nine in 2017. His UZR/150 in 2017 was 4.9, right about in line with the total from the past two seasons. He also has a strong arm, racking up 36 outfield assists since 2014 started and six in 2017.

More from Golden Gate Sports

Offensively, Bradley put together strong years in 2015 and 2016. In 2015, he hit .249/.335/.498 with 17 doubles, four triples, 10 home runs, and a 123 wRC+ in 74 games after starting the year in Triple-A. The next year, he hit .267/.349/.486 with 30 doubles, seven triples, 26 home runs, and a 119 wRC+, earning his first career All-Star selection.

2017 wasn’t so successful. His numbers fell to .245/.323/.402 with a 90 wRC+, but still hit 17 home runs. He walked 8.9 percent of the time, his lowest total in four years, and he made soft contact 17.5 percent of the time, his highest career total, while his 33.3 percent hard-contact rate was a three-percent drop from the previous year. He also chased pitches outside the strike zone 30 percent of the time, a career-worst.

Even as his offensive numbers dipped in 2017, other areas of his game were more than solid. His defense stayed on par, and his baserunning was outstanding. He didn’t steal a lot of bases, only eight, but was great on the basepaths. According to Fangraph’s baserunning statistics (which measures successful and failed steals, as well as taking extra bases or getting thrown out on the basepaths), Bradley was 11th in terms of baserunning with a 5.1 score.

Contract-wise, Bradley won’t break the bank for the Giants as he still has three years of arbitration eligibility before he hits the market. MLB Trade Rumors, who are usually quite accurate in their arbitration projections, have Bradley earning $5.9 million through the process this offseason.

Of course, that price tag and the control beyond this upcoming season will make him rather pricy in the trade market. In addition, it’s not even certain that the Red Sox are willing to move him at this point. Morosi added later that the “full extent of his availability won’t be determined until [the Red Sox] know if they’re adding a power-hitting outfielder”.

That does open the door for a three-team trade if the Giants do want to get Bradley into their fold. The Red Sox are known to be interested in Miami Marlins’ slugger Giancarlo Stanton, and trade talks between the two teams are said to be “heating up“. Maybe the Giants could jump in there and make things a little easier for them. The Red Sox are also reportedly eyeing free agent J.D. Martinez, according to Jon Heyman, and he would certainly fit the bill of “power-hitting outfielder”.

Next: In-Depth Look at Coaching Staff Additions

Those are all things out of the Giants’ control now, but they are working. Getting Bradley would be a great first step this offseason.

Home/San Francisco Giants