Throughout a whirlwind of rumors regarding the Giants this past offseason, there was one that remained almost certain: Angel Pagan would not be rejoining the team in 2017.
But now, in a season where the struggling Giants very well could lose 100 games, a report has emerged saying that the team may be missing Pagan, although not in the way most would expect.
Per Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, there’s speculation that some members of the team think Pagan not being around could be having an adverse affect on team unity because a majority of his teammates bonded over disliking him.
“The current team is much less animated than the championship clubs were, many with the Giants say,” Rosenthal wrote. “Some of that, undoubtedly, is a product of losing. Some with the Giants muse that the team even misses Angel Pagan, who created an odd sort of unity because most of the players disliked him.”
The fact that the Giants miss a teammate that most disliked is a sign of the times. They’ve lost five straight and 12 of their last 13 games. They’re 27-51, dead last in the NL West and 24.5 games back of the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers. If they keep up their current pace, they’ll have their first 100-loss season in 30 years.
Pagan, who sparked free agent interest after playing well for Puerto Rico in the 2017 World Baseballl Classic, was rumored to be in talks with the Blue Jays and Braves for 2017. However, he denied offers in both the major leagues and minor leagues, ultimately deciding to spend the season with his family. He hasn’t formally retired, noting that he could change his mind and come back to baseball for 2018.