The Giants are in agreement on a contract with outfielder Joc Pederson, reports MLB Network’s Jon Morosi. Pederson will receive $6MM on a one-year deal, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network. Pederson is represented by Excel Sports Management.
Pederson, 30 in April, posted a 94 wRC+ in 481 plate appearances for the Cubs and Braves last year, joining Atlanta in one of Chicago’s many July trades. Pederson has picked up World Series rings in each of the last two seasons for the Dodgers and Braves. He was particularly effective in the NLDS against the Brewers last year, bashing a pair of home runs and inspiring Braves fans to sport pearl necklaces. Pederson will spend his 2022 season less than an hour away from where he played attended high school in Palo Alto, California.
A left-handed hitter, Pederson has long struggled against southpaws, and signed a one-year, $7MM deal with the Cubs in January 2021 in part because he sought to avoid a platoon situation. Oddly enough, since 2020 Pederson has a 99 wRC+ in 122 plate appearances against lefties, but just a 91 mark against righties. From 2015-19 as a Dodger, Pederson torched righties to the tune of a 132 wRC+, a mark which ranked 21st in the game during that time. Assuming Pederson can regain some of that success, he’d pair well with the right-handed-hitting Austin Slater.
Though Pederson has played a significant amount of center field in his career, at this stage he fits better in a corner spot. The Giants have LaMonte Wade Jr., Steven Duggar, Mike Yastrzemski, Darin Ruf, and Slater as outfield incumbents, but they’ve also got a regular DH job for the first time in their history.
Two members of the club’s 2021 outfield found new homes today, with Alex Dickerson signing a one-year deal with Atlanta and Kris Bryant signing a seven-year, $182MM deal with the division-rival Rockies. The Giants’ interest in retaining Bryant seemed minimal. Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has avoided large free agent contracts in his four-year tenure, with his recent two-year, $44MM contract for Carlos Rodon marking his largest expenditure. The Giants also let Kevin Gausman leave for greener pastures this winter, instead electing to spread the wealth among veteran free agents on shorter-term deals. Zaidi served as Dodgers GM prior to joining the Giants, so he became quite familiar with Pederson while both were employed by Los Angeles.
Pederson’s signing comes as part of a wave of free agent outfielder deals today, as the Phillies signed Kyle Schwarber, the Braves brought Eddie Rosario back, and the Rockies inked Bryant to a megadeal. Several quality bats remain free agents, including Nick Castellanos, Michael Conforto, Tommy Pham, and Jorge Soler.
Nice, Alex Dickerson’s replacement and hopefully better than him.
As always, we await developments.
This (Joc) makes me ill. Castellanos and Bryant are too expensive. Joc is no better than Dickerson. Giants had plenty of money too spend and needed to address a right handed slugger. Instead they themselves whiffed.. Suzuki was the prize. Now, what do they have ???4 or 5 left handed outfielders. Unbelievable
Giants got a player worth $6M, Wish the Dodgers grabbed him at that amount.
Ok, so who is replacing Posey and Bryant? Because this ain’t it.
Bryant wasn’t there all season, and Posey was replaced by Bart. Bart could be good, but definitely no Posey.
Bryant helped them succeed. They just won 107 games, they should be trying to stay at the top of the division. Bart may be good, but that’s a big IF. I hope this is just one of multiple moves to add impact hitters.
The Giants . LOL
28 games ahead of the pathetic Padres. LOL indeed.
The Padres. LOL
Bart/Cassali are the duo. Farhan stated that on a radio show a couple of days ago.
No, this signing just isn’t right. Dickerson could have been replaced by a ceiling fan (he swung at everything), but Joc doesn’t change anything but squeeze the Giants roster space. Plus Joc’s numbers really aren’t very good. I’m a Frahan/Harris guy but this makes ZERO sense, no matter what the cost.
I can see him as the DH. But he doesn’t do much to replace the production we’ve lost this off-season at all.
If you are signing someone to be a primary DH they should be a much better hitter than Joc.
15 DH jobs just became a thing in the NL. There aren’t 15 amazing hitters out there waiting for jobs as primary DHs. I’m sure Joc will play some OF, but the Giants are always mixing and matching their lineup, so he should have plenty of opportunities to get in the lineup in both spots.
CheapAsss Zaidi . LOL
Why are you here? How you still a fan of a team that never wins. Poverty Franchise Padres.
He is bored now that the Pads are done before the season even started.
Not so much during the season, but is clutch during the playoffs
Ugh. Talent doesn’t change like that. No such thing as a player who has better ability in the playoffs. Players get hot, they get cold. When it happens they’ve no control over.
A players level of talent never changes you are correct, BUT they’re level of focus and concentration can change. If you don’t think those two things can effect a player’s performance, then you’ve clearly never played sports…
Some players struggle to maintain the consistently high level of concentration and focus that it takes to be successful throughout the repetitive nature of a long baseball season. Then, there are some players that just go through hot and cold spells, like you alluded to previously..
There are also some players, that when the lights are the brightest, and the pressure is on they tense up and they choke. On the other hand, there are some players that in those same situations, they aren’t bothered by the added stress whatsoever. Some players tend to play their best in the biggest moments for a myriad of reasons. They feel prepared and confident, some are just over confident in themselves, and some are able to turn that stress and anxiety into a strength and use it to hyper-focus in certain situations like an adrenaline rush…Different things for different people..
Like I said before, some players can’t handle the stress, they place an immense pressure on themselves, their body is tense, and it throws off their natural muscle memory which results in an unfavorable outcome…
You see it every year, some players tense up and choke in big moments and some players play freely and better the bigger the moment..
Any sport you play, everyone knows it the not just a physical competition, it is also a psychological game as well…
I believe the common phrase is “the game within the game.”
Level of focus can be affected at bat to at bat or pitch by pitch, but not by series. In a big spot, psychologically some players may get nervous, while others gain focus. But this is neither an effect that lasts throughout an entire series nor is it something that radically alters normal expectations.
You don’t think that a player that already has a poor reputation for his performance in the playoffs won’t be affected throughout a series if he starts the first two games 0-10 or 1-10, or that self doubt might not creep in after a loss where you get shelled for 6 runs in 2 innings of work?
Expectations are made based off of past experiences and past performances, for better or worse, but it always helps to use context..
That’s why alot of analytics use situational hitting statistics. Some players just perform better in clutch situations. Some pitchers will pitch lights out in the 7th and 8th innings, but they will mysteriously flop when they’re used to close games out. Some hitters are mediocre, but when they’re hitting with RISP all of a sudden they’re a .300+ hitter…
Some players just shine when the lights are the brightest and some inexplicably just perform uncharacteristically bad.
I’m just saying there’s certainly more to it than hot and cold streaks. Players abilities fluctuate depending on the situation and how they’re able to handle their environment as well..
Most of what you are saying is pure fiction. There is a small degree to where psychology comes in but atudied show it’s a very small effect. The old school assumptions you are putting forth are just wrong and can’t be backed up. Once you account for randomness in stats, all these myths fade away. You have to account for randomness!
It isn’t old school assumptions. It is situational awareness, and recognizing patterns based off of previous performances…
You do realize you are saying that there is no such thing as players that choke come playoff time, and players that raise their games in the playoffs??
Those are FACTS OF LIFE, whether it is baseball, a big exam, interviews, giving speeches, etc. Some people perform better and worse under pressure..HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY DENY THAT??
Using your logic of randomness, you could argue almost all situational stats are meaningless.
This is a whole other topic, but why do you think players talk trash to eachother, or try to intimidate one another. It is the game within the game, getting into your opponents head to distract them. Some players are immune to it, and some players cannot handle it. Thats a much simpler, juvenile example, but it is still a valid example nontheless..
It is like I said, if you think player psychology doesn’t play a HUGE part in sports and it doesn’t effect players performances at different times, and especially during high stress situations, then I don’t know what to tell you……Idk, all I can do is suggest you read a sports psychology book, or interview and ask any professional or semi professional player of any competitive sport. I PROMISE YOU WILL CHANGE YOIR MIND!!
Some of the most talented athletes have shrunk in the brightest moments, and it wasn’t consistently random…lol
Go ask Rick Ankiel or Tyler Matzek, and maybe then you will gain enough insight to.understand. Until then, we will just have to agree to disagree…lol
I have to disagree. So much about athletic performance is about concentration and focus, split second decisions, is it really so hard to imagine that an increase in focus could have an impact on performance. I think that there are some players that just dial it up, probably unintentionally, when they are in pressure situations.
“…Go ask Rick Ankiel or Tyler Matzek…”
One can always find singular examples to bolster their argument. Barry Bonds had the reputation of choking in the PS until he totally raked in the 2002 WS. Clutch situations are like the playoffs, it’s small samples.
There was a statistical analysis that indicated being clutch is more perceived than actual. That analysis explored a lot of players that were thought of as clutch. But over their careers, their performance in clutch situations, were in line with their overall numbers in all situations.
A .300 hitter has a better chance at appearing clutch than a .200 hitter for obvious reasons.
The idea that players can decide when they get their hits is absurd. For example, one guy goes 2 for 4, with a 2B and a BB, but he does make an out with a guy on 2B and 2 outs. And because of the situations, when he does get his hits, no one scores. A second guy goes 1 for 5 with a single, but wins the game when a runner scores from 3B.
Is the second guy clutch, but the first one not? Did the second guy decide to save his one hit for when it mattered most? If he could get a hit when it mattered, why didn’t he get more hits?
I’ve heard the theory that some guys bear down more in clutch situations, but is the pitcher not? Is the batter more aware of how important that AB than the pitcher? The concept of being clutch appeals to fans, but it’s just a romantic fallacy.
luvochka — You obviously never saw Barry Bonds play. (And, no, I don’t want to hear about how steroids raised his focus or his bat speed. It did none of those things.)
Your wrong, everything you are saying is assumption. Yes players “choke” but that’s just a fancy way of saying they failed in a big spot (after the fact). It’s not indicative of talent or future results. And, no, all the cherry picked anecdotes from random quotes won’t convince me that all the studies done on this are wrong. Not to mention common sense and the absence of logical causation. Not to mention a FAILURE To ACCOUNT FOR RANDOMNESS in stats!
Looks like the Giants winning the WS this year to make it 3/3 for Joc
Has anyone won 3 WS in a row for 3 different teams?
I think Eric Hinske may have flirted with it?
Hinske played in the World Series in 2007-09 winning it with the Red Sox and Yankees while losing with the Rays in between.
Yes, Hinske was W-L-W 2007-‘09 and Don Baylor was L (Buckner)-W-L (Gibson/Hershiser) 1986-;’88.
Tito Landrum also came close and close to 3 times in 4 years.
82 Cards
83 Orioles
85 Cards were NL Champs (lost to Twins)
The Royals had the Umps playing for them during the 1985 World Series against the Cardinals and during the Championship Series against the Blue Jays.
That’s right, it was the Royals and that play at 1B that cost the Cards the series. If that failed call didn’t happen, Tito would’ve won 3 out of 4.
That does bring someone that did nearly pull this off with Lonnie Smith. He won in 1980 (Phillies), 1982 (Cards) and 1985 (Royals) for the 3 out 6 seasons. He later played for the Braves in the early 1990s, but I guess his teammate Terry Pendleton’s curse overpowered those teams (Pendleton played in 5 and lost all of them in 85, 87, 91, 92 and 96).
Of note, the Braves opted to not re-sign Pendleton after the 94 season to give Chipper Jones the 3B job. Braves went on to win the 95 World Series. Pendleton played for the Marlins for 95 until the 96 trade deadline when he was sent back to the Braves, where he was part of losing a World Series that final time. The Marlins went on to win the 1997 World Series.
Unless he’s traded.
Are you kidding? Watch JP play. He’s lost more than a step, gained 30 lbds., and can’t hit lefties.
@realsox
And smokes too much and drinks too much.
No F…ing way. I hate that guy. Damn it!
I didn’t like when the cubs signed him last year. He grew on me though. He’s a solid pick up
Great clubhouse guy too. Cubs and Braves loved his energy.
The only reason to hate Joc is blind hatred toward the Dodgers. By all accounts, he’s an excellent guy and great teammate.
JohnJasoJingleHeimerSchmidt might be my fave username. Your take here is also very good.
I don’t hate Joc, nor do I hate the Dodgers, though I am a Giants fan. But I do hate this signing. He hasn’t been good since 2019. Between the Cubs and Braves he had a -0.1 WAR. He strikes out in almost 25% of his ABs. His HR% is only marginally better than league average.
If he was right handed, and at least competent with the glove, I’d feel differently. But he’s one of the worst fielders in MLB. And he’s only been a part time player.
Just because he’s a good teammate/good clubhouse guy doesn’t make this a good signing.
@davemlaw
Get yourself some pearls to clutch, it will calm you down.
Joc going home…
As a Dodgers fan this guts me.. but at the same time get paid
How I felt when you guys signed Brian Wilson and Sergio Romo
Dude I totally get it. But it’s a business and we can’t ever blame anyone for getting paid. With that said you guys enjoy 2nd or maybe 3rd place lol. Either way I’m just glad we have baseball back
Oh absolutely never hated them it was more bizarre tbh
When do you guys ever learn? The Giants have been really good through their rebuild. Last year not only did the Giants knock the dodgers off the throne they also smashed the Padres
Uhmmm who went home first?
Ha! Who got hardware? Giants claim the division title, both went home!
Wade Boggs and Roger Clemens in pinstripes is “gutting”. Joc playing for the Giants will look strange at first but at least it wasn’t Kershaw
This “guts” you? It’s not like they signed Kershaw. Pederson had potential but has never been anything than a platoon player. As a Dodgers fan I have nothing against Pederson, but I don’t miss him, either.
Pederson was a fan favorite. I can think of quite a few great moments he had in blue, and his energy was always amazing.
I completely understand why he’s with the Giants now, but I still don’t like it. It’s not like if Kershaw or Justin Turner left to wear orange, but Joc is like Joe Kelly x 4.3 for me.
Did anyone find it humorous when Orel Hershiser and Matt Williams ended up as teammates in Cleveland?
Dodgers and Giants fans know the history there.
Now go beat up the Dodgers Joc 😉
Don’t hate this signing UNLESS it’s their only move for a bat
giants have been tied to conforto but not sure if this makes that redundant – I guess depends on a bunch of things
Smart move by the Giants, now they can get some minor prospects from the Braves when we trade for him before the playoffs.
The Braves wont be making the playoffs because the juggernaut New York Mets will win 116 games and leave the rest of the division helpless.
Lmao
and I thought my joke was bad
Well, maybe not 116, but I do think the NL East champs.
Article is about a player signing with the Giants but somehow you take a shot at the Mets. LOL. Mets in your head rent free.
I didnt see that one coming! Hope it’s over the estimate.
Good for Joc! Hope he’s getting a three year deal!
PLEASE, NO!
I’m prob the only Braves fan who will say this, but joc stuck… he wasn’t that good. We made out like he was all world, but other than a few short hot steaks, we was an automatic out
Clutch moments (Joctober), plus power vs rightys, & a good clubhouse energy.
Average defense & won’t hit .300 but not a bad pickup depending on the terms.
Signing a guy. because he’s perceived as clutch, is a fools errand.
I agree. Other than the NLDS he wasn’t good. If they had lost the NLDS no one would act like he was that great.
The same could be said about Rosario and Soler. They got hot at the right time and carried the offense to a championship. You can’t ask for more than that
Joc had his good moments even before the NLDS, but he also had a few cold streaks…
Either way, the Braves absolutely needed him at the time, and he was FAR BETTER than any of the other internal options!!!
It is funny how people forget the Braves were basically fielding an AAA outfield before Joc, Duvall, and Soler…The Braves best, most consistent outfielder before Joc was Guillermo Heredia…
People also forget Rosario wasn’t even playing for awhile after the Braves traded for him. He was still hurt..
Even just the addition of Joc played a major role in the Braves turn around, whether it was his direct impact on the field or not. AA acquiring Joc sent a Shockwave through the Braves clubhouse that infused this team with confidence to turn their season around and get things back on track. That was even furthered by the deadline that brought in the other guys, and then the Braves could tinued riding that wave of momentum all the way to the World Series!!
As a lifetime Dodgers fan, and I mean this with all sincerity, with all the love in the world for Joc:
Yuck.
Huh, I was thinking the exact same thing right after I read, “As a lifetime Dodgers fan,”
Born in April 1992. 30 in April, not 31.
1 year 6 million
I got some Joc Pederson t-shirts if any Giants fans want them. They’re blue and have Dodgers on them, but I’m sure you’ll like them anyway.
You’re mean.
Say it ain’t so, The Giants? Ouch!!!
Yes! Great move!
A terrible move, unless there’s a trade coming that makes sense of this mess.
You have to hope so…
2WS rings back to back with 2 different teams. I think he’ll make it 3.
PLEASE NO
I just wonder why the Braves didn’t want him back ?
Rosario is the better lefty outfielder. Had to choose one of Soler, Rosario, & Pederson.
I like Soler but ATL needed a lefty bat for balance & Rosario is the best defender of the bunch.
If ATL didn’t have Ozuna still they could probably bring back Soler as well but that’s not happening.
Couple young guys in Harris & Waters that are on the cusp also.
I wonder if these transactions pushes Soler to finalizing a deal with the Marlins, or is that going to be held up by the Marlins pursuit of Bryan Reynolds, Cedric Mullins or Ramon Laureano?
There better be more. They spent 6 million they have a lot more money to spend. Maybe Story.
For the life of me why sign Pederson? I know he’s a good guy, but he’s a left-handed bat that can only play in the corners. What are Farhan & Harris thinking?
At the moment, it looks like they are thinking Wade and Pederson platooning the corners with Ruf and Slater.
Don’t rule out Freddie Freeman. As you said the Giants have the money and no one is talking about them. That would be a nice sneaky move to pay the Dodgers back for Scherzer last summer
Baer was talking post lockout about being “primed” and “aggressive”.
If we are talking sneaky deals, I’d suggest Correa over Freeman. Right handedness. Younger. More Harper like in terms of going big. 2B La Stella coming off a bad Achilles and Crawford is a team first guy. Dealt with the devil already with the Rodon signing. Maybe…….possibly…..
Story won’t happen. Reports suggest he’s adamantly opposed to moving off SS.
HELLLSSSSS YEAHHHHH LOVE IT HES COMING HOME!
GONNA LOVE HIS ENERGY!!
LETS WIN 3 JOC!
Boo.
30 years old in April, not 31. Just sayin’.
Ok then. Always watched him bat with fear and trepidation, so this will be different. Bring the energy. Leave the pearls.
He’s always hit well there. Petco too.
Joc please leave the silly necklaces in Atlanta. Welcome to SFG
Nah, the pearls are actually kind of awesome. Even if it’s just in their own, ef-u-if-u-don’t-like-it way. 🙂
Looks like the Giants are winning this World Series lmao
edit: of course someone already said it
Could Joc strap on some catching gear?
Trivia Q: Who was the most recent lefty catcher in MLB?
Benny Distefano. He was a first baseman and outfielder who caught three games for the Pirates in 1989. Why lefties catch so rarely is another trivia question, to which there is no single or clear answer.
Someone wake the Dodgers and let them know the lockout is over.
…heh heh, they said Joc caused them to “sport pearl necklaces” heh heh… [Sorry sudden flashback to Beavis & Bu<<head marathons in college.] My bad.
Nick Castellanos dammit!!!
I don’t care for the idea of the Giants signing Castellanos, but between him and Joc, I’d take Castellanos at the drop of a hat.
Joc has his moments. Worth a one year deal for that. But I live next to Palo Alto, where’s he’s from, so I’m biased.
so the same day Suzuki, Bryant and Schwarber sign THIS is what we get. THIS is being “pretty aggressive in the FA market? The last thing we need is another average left handed hitting OF
This is a really good deal if he reverts back to his 30 homeruns. Surprised Chaim Bloom wasn’t all over this
That’s one hell of an “if”.
I saw Joc on a nationally televised game, strike out looking like an ass and then go in the dugout and slams his bat on everything he could. What
a great roll model for the kids watching on TV. He’s a poor sport and first class looser. No class at all !!
This will be my 60th season rooting for the SF Giants and I can’t believe they signed this head case. That’s the Giants for you, they go cheap instead of paying to get a franchise type player that can be the face of the franchise. We signed the ass of the franchise.
Grandpa, tell me about the war.
Does Farhan Zaidi not think the Giants will be competitive this year? Not really fond of this year’s free agents? Looking to flip all of these short term contracts for prospects? I’d love to hear their conversations…
I’m not saying I don’t trust what Mr. Zaidi is doing, I do, but I know the fans were expecting a big name All Star caliber player. The team has tons of $$$$ to spend, ballpark paid off etc..
@ Central Valley;
Didn’t you write this a year ago at this time?
Just because the Giants have money doesn’t mean they have to waste it on the likes of Bryant for 7/184 (just for example)…they’re like the Dodgers now, they prefer higher per-year short term deals so they don’t pull another Bobby Evans and get stuck with unmovable pricey vets for half a decade
Not that I love this sighting, just saying…
Bryant isn’t that great. Passing on him isn’t gonna break the team
Do you guys remember that time that Dave Kingman blew a gsme in Cincy, getting picked off after hitting a 2 out double?
What a disappointment.
When Walt Alston retired I was bummed, but the Dodgers returned to glory.
Glad all-or-nothing Joc signed with the Giants. He will rack up a ton of strikeouts for them.
Garlic Fries w/ Pearls Jam. You go Joc!
I love Young Joc but he will be traded at the deadline once the Giants are out of contention. They were a one hit wonder last season.
It really was their year in ’21. That team had so much magic, young guys contributing, old guys having vintage seasons and STRIKE THREE TO WILMER FLORES. THE DODGERS WIN.
The Giants are getting a little LH however I do think Darin Ruf is going to pick up a lot of AB’s as a 1B/DH/LF, DH changes a lot of things.
Signing Joc doesn’t stop them from continuing to pursue Correa or Castellanos if they even are. The thing with the Giants is Zaidi is just like Brian Sabean, they do business very close to the vest so you just don’t know. That said it’s not their style with the exception of the Bryce Harper chase but it’s not clear if that was ownership or Zaidi.
Given what the SFG staff has done with their veteran bats, helping them get to new levels of performance, Joc is interesting at only 30. If he’s now holding his own against lefties, he just needs to get back to his righty mashing ways. You would have thought for $6M he could have found more AB’s elsewhere, so either he’s into coming home or was looking to work with the SF staff.
Joctober again?????
What a picture hahaha
The Giants just won the World Series.
Giants STILL need a healthy 2nd baseman, and they should have BIG money ready to spend. Any ideas????
This is going to be a great season… again. The Giants will be in high contention. Last year was awesome with the rivalry going all the way. It’s understandable to be confused by Dr. Zaidi’s moves, but Farhan showed great results last year and I hope it continues in 2022.
Joc is not the crown jewel, but he is someone to root for. It would have been awesome to see him playing with the Yankees, but in the end, he’s a California dude.
Who found Chris Taylor and Max Muncy? I think it was Dr. Farhan. Have the dodgers found any diamonds in the rough since Farhan’s departure? I don’t think so. Trust the master.