There are some free agent outfielders available on the market right now and one of them has a tie to the San Francisco Giants.
Mike Yastrzemski played last season for the Kansas City Royals, but Giants fans know that he spent time roaming the outfield at Oracle Park.
He’s out there as a free agent at this time. Could the Giants consider signing him and bringing him back?
At this time, according to an article from The Athletic, San Francisco is not listed as three potential landing areas for him. The teams mentioned include staying with Kansas City or going to either the Cincinnati Reds or Pittsburgh Pirates.
A return to a National League team might be another way for Yastrzemski to bring his previous experience against those ballclubs to a fellow NL club. Maybe the Giants figure in that picture, too.
When sizing up Yastrzemski’s career data at this time, The Athletic article pointed out some key things worth considering.
“A strong-side platoon outfielder who’s consistently hit right-handed pitching, Yastrzemski got a late start in the big leagues and is a first-time free agent at 35,” according to The Athletic.
“But his 126 wRC+ against righties was top 50 in the major leagues in 2025 — similar to Bobby Witt Jr., Julio Rodríguez and Byron Buxton — and he finished the season with an .839 OPS after a trade deadline deal to the Royals,” the article continues.
“The grandson of Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski, Mike spent six seasons in the minor leagues before making his big league debut at 28 in 2019,” according to The Athletic. “The Giants had acquired him in a minor spring training trade with the Orioles, and Yastrzemski was something of a sensation in San Francisco.
“He hit 21 home runs as a rookie and finished eighth in NL MVP voting in 2020,” the article indicates. “According to Baseball Reference, he’s been worth between a 2.0 and 2.7 WAR in each of his six seasons in the majors. He’s been a dependable bat, but with extreme splits. Yastrzemski had an .809 OPS against righties this season but only a .427 OPS against lefties.”
Yastrzemski has a career .238 batting average and a career OPS of .772. In a seven-year MLB career, Yastrzemski has 123 career home runs and 364 RBIs.
Those numbers might not jump off the page to a casual MLB fan. Yet that is some type of output for a guy who could be a solid reserve outfielder.
Of course, the Giants will have a first-year MLB manager in Tony Vitello. Vitello, along with Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey, want to position San Francisco to have a better season in 2026.
Maybe a veteran player like Yastrzemski could be worth picking up. The Athletic projects Yastrzemski is looking for a one-year deal worth $11 million. Let’s see what happens between him and the Giants, if anything does happen, in the next few weeks.
