© Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports
On Saturday, Giants beat writer Henry Schulman appeared with Marty Lurie to talk about the Giants outfield situation, as well as some of the fallout from the entire Bryce Harper “courting” process.
With so many new and young faces in the outfield, there has been a lot of optimism garnered for this upcoming season. The Giants failed to catch the big fish in Las Vegas, but Farhan Zaidi has managed to add depth to a struggling outfield. Schulman, however, isn’t quite as optimistic as the fanbase he covers for.
“I wouldn’t say things are coming together,” Schulman said of this spring’s outfield unit. “I wouldn’t say that at all. I would bet a nickel out of my fortune that opening day will have an outfielder who’s not on the roster right now. There are still moves to be made. I think part of it may hinge on what they actually see from guys like (Steven) Duggar. I would still bet that Chris Shaw will end up in the minors to try and get some more at-bats down there because they brought him up too soon. That was the big problem with most of the guys they brought up. They brought them out of need, not because they forced their way up.
“Farhan (Zaidi) did tell us that any further moves will probably not be depth moves,” Schulman said, “but to improve the front line of the club. He probably has had some things he’s held in his back pocket awaiting Bryce Harper’s decision, and maybe some of those things will come to fruition.”
The San Francisco Giants obviously failed to secure Bryce Harper this offseason, and while everyone knows that sports is a business when it comes down to it, Giants fans were left with a bad taste in their mouth from Harper’s agent Scott Boras, feeling that they, as well as the Dodgers, simply were used to drive up the price for Philadelphia. Henry Schulman thinks otherwise.
“My perspective is that the agent has a job to do,” Schulman said. “The agent’s job is to get as many teams involved, and as much money, and as many years as possible, to get the best price for his player and to give his player a choice. Now, that player may have wanted to go to the Phillies all along. It certainly seems that way, but he had not signed, and the Giants had an obligation with their needs to go into this and try and make their best effort.
“I disagree with all the criticisms of Scott Boras. Boras is a great agent. There’s a reason he has the great players. He didn’t do anything any human being wouldn’t want him to do on their behalf, and he did a great job, as he almost always does, for his player.”
To listen to this and the rest of this interview, click here: