Time for San Francisco Giants to pull plug on Bryce Harper deal

I don’t doubt that the San Francisco Giants made a valiant effort to get Bryce Harper, but it’s time to retract the olive branch.

Really, I just want new San Francisco Giants President of Baseball Ops, Farhan Zaidi, to tell Scott Boras to go pound sand, but that’s a pipe dream. I know some of you are going to disagree with me, tell me to hold out for it, but it’s time. There have been so many rumors and speculation, to the point of nausea and exhaustion. Seeing Bryce Harper’s name is really starting to give me the shakes.

Just to be clear, we all know what Harper brings to the table, I’m not saying what he brings doesn’t help this team out. What I’m saying is that there are others out there that would probably be more than willing to play for the Giants, without a hefty price tag or the drama and anticipation. I don’t blame Harper for creating the anticipation and anxiety either, I blame the media outlets running loose with rumors from their “credible sources”. However, it is the occupational hazard of being a baseball fan.

From what we understand, the Phillies are the front runners to land Harper; that seems to be widely accepted. We also know that Harper will not take a short-term deal, so any team that does want him is going to have to anchor on for a while. There’s really no other concrete information that has been published at this point. Personally, I think Harper is due his money in a long-term deal, but I don’t think the Giants are in the place to be doing that right now. It’s not within Farhan Zaidi’s modus operandi to sign expensive long-term deals anyways.

If the Giants fail to get Harper, it really isn’t the end of the world. However, there is a reason I say the Giants need to pull the plug now. While the Harper hold out is beneficial in that it’s preventing key free agents from being signed, once a deal does go through, teams will start pursuing.

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You don’t want the Giants to miss out on trying to get someone that can still help in the outfield. But who of the remaining outfield free agents not named Bryce Harper are still out there?

If we were still in the Bobby Evans Era, missing out on Bryce Harper would likely mean the signing of somebody like Adam Jones or Carlos Gonzalez. Both have seen a decline in their power numbers, but both are still pretty serviceable hitters.

They have good clutch stats, and their Oracle numbers are about average. They would likely take a short-term deal, and could even be used as trade bait later on in the season. We saw the same thing happen with Andrew McCutchen, who brought in a decent return.

Then there are the guys who fit Farhan Zaidi’s mold. Marwin Gonzalez is someone to keep an eye on in this case. Gonzalez is my front-runner choice, just because his clutch numbers are a little bit better, and his numbers at Oracle are solid (.357/.400/.714 in 14 ABs). In fact, Gonzalez has good numbers at most of the NL West parks, which bodes very well for a struggling offense. The most important factor to Zaidi is that they play multiple positions, a key in his formula for a successful ball club.

The point is, there are other options out there if Harper decides that he is better off elsewhere, and so be it if he does. There is nothing wrong with taking the money and the big deal, but if the Giants know they’re not in a good position for it, they need to let it go. It’s clear with the free-agent depth signings that they’re not going to wait around much longer, and nor should they. It’s time for the Giants to say “thanks for your consideration, but we really need to move on.”