Coming off the best season of his career, the two-time World Series champion will remain with the Giants, where he led the team in home runs last year with 23 bombs. He also finished the season with a career-high batting average, hitting .274. While that is merely a solid number, not an elite one, Pederson had never hit above .249 in his career before last year.
There is room for optimism that he will be able to maintain or even improve upon that number as the MLB will enforce restrictions on defensive shifts, something that has plagued the pull-heavy left fielder for the bulk of his career.
It remains to be seen if Pederson has made any real adjustments or if his 2022 season was just a flash in the pan. Considering that he has now played for four different teams, it may be the latter.
Re-signing Joc Pederson is only the beginning for the Giants
Bringing back Pederson was only the beginning of a potentially long offseason for the San Francisco Giants. The team has been linked to every big-name free agent on the market, most notably Aaron Judge.
While Judge is the sexiest name on the free agent market, San Francisco will also need to address the loss of Carlos Rodon, who declined a qualifying offer from the club. While they are not ruling out a reunion with their star pitcher, they will also need to find a replacement if the team hopes to improve upon a disappointing 2022 campaign.
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