Ranking the top 3 center fielders the SF Giants could sign in free agency

1. Cody Bellinger

Who other than Cody Bellinger could be ranked No. 1 on this list? Bellinger is the most sought-after position player in 2023's free agent class after his comeback year with the Cubs. He might not be as great a center fielder on paper as someone like Kevin Kiermaier, but he has what Kiermaier and Harrison Bader don't: a great bat. In 130 games this year, Bellinger batted .307/.356/.525 (so tantalizingly close to an elite .300/.400/.500 spread), with 26 home runs and 97 RBI.

It's not that he's incapable at center, either. In his first game back in LA against the Dodgers, he robbed a home run off of Jason Heyward and responded gamely to the hometown boos. He saved five outs this year and has an arm strength in Baseball Savant's 86th percentile. While a little bit of skepticism around Bellinger's wild resurgence is fair and maybe even healthy, he managed to reinhabit something like his old MVP-winning form consistently enough in 2023 that while a slight regression to the mean might be possible, all signs point to Bellinger being an excellent cleanup bat and leader in the outfield.

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