Phillies' Former Slugger Predicted To Join San Francisco Giants

A former MLB executive has projected the San Francisco Giants to sign the Philadelphia Phillies' former slugger this offseason.

The Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants are similar in many ways during the past few offseasons. They both have ownership groups willing to spend money, they both have had recent and historical success, and they both have been linked to just about every high-profile free agent on the market.

The difference between the two is that the Phillies have been able to land the elite players available, while the Giants have come up empty.

Just look at who's playing in Philadelphia.

Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos to name a few.

Meanwhile, San Francisco notably struck out on landing Aaron Judge, Carlos Correa and Shohei Ohtani among others.

They did just sign coveted Korean outfielder Jung-hoo Lee to a six-year, $113 million contract this offseason that signals their luck in free agency might be turning.

And one former MLB executive, Jim Bowden, is predicting that they land former Phillies' slugger Rhys Hoskins as well.

"After missing the 2023 season with a torn ACL, Hoskins’ best play this offseason is probably to sign a one-year pillow contract and then go back on the free-agent market next year ... I think he lands with the Cubs if they don’t get Bellinger, or with the Giants if they do," he wrote in an article for The Athletic.

Bowden thinks that the Chicago Cubs do in fact re-sign Cody Bellinger to a seven-year, $181 million contract, which makes the Giants hand out a one-year, $15 million "prove it" type of deal to Hoskins.

While it will be difficult for Philadelphia to see one of their former draft picks turned star slugger play for a different team, the move of Harper to first base full-time didn't make it logical for them to bring back Hoskins.

Whether he does end up in San Francisco or another team, he'll be playing professional baseball for another organization besides the Phillies' for the first time in his career.