The Giants announced they will suspend payments to Harrison Bader after the outfielder reinjured his left foot over the weekend in a scooter accident. Neither Bader nor the MLB Players Association has yet commented.
“Over the weekend, Harrison Bader was involved in an accident that has delayed Harrison’s prior treatment timeline for plantar fasciitis and, unfortunately, his return to the field,” president of baseball operations Buster Posey said in a press release. “We are still investigating the circumstances of the accident, but will be suspending payment to Harrison until he is able to resume performing services for the club.”
Manager Tony Vitello said this week that Bader is out for the season. He has been on the injured list since the end of May with plantar fasciitis. The team announced that he’d suffered new injuries in a scooter crash in the early morning hours on Sunday. The San Francisco Police Department didn’t specifically name Bader but told Shayna Rubin of The San Francisco Chronicle that an individual was transported to the hospital after being involved in a vehicle collision while on a scooter.
According to a report from SFist, the scooter crashed into the back of an SFFD fire engine, which then rolled over Bader’s foot. Maria Guardado of MLB.com and Justice delos Santos of The San Jose Mercury News were among those to point out that Bader was previously injured in what was believed to be an alcohol-related scooter accident while in his sophomore season at the University of Florida in 2014. The Gators suspended him for 19 games.
Bader is in the first season of a two-year, $20.5MM free agent contract. Although he’s making $10.5MM this year, more than half of that came in the form of a $6MM signing bonus. He’s only playing on a $4.5MM salary, roughly $1.42MM of which is owed through season’s end. It’s unclear whether the Giants will attempt to recoup a prorated portion of the signing bonus as well.
Neither Bader’s camp nor the MLBPA have responded to this point. It’s possible they’ll look to contest or grieve the team’s decision. Bader was already injured, as mentioned, and teams cannot suspend payment for injuries that aren’t related to a breach of the contract — which typically contains language prohibiting players from participating in other physical activities that involve substantial risk of injury.
Vitello told reporters yesterday that Bader returning this season “would have been a long shot to begin with” (link via Evan Webeck of The California Post). He certainly wasn’t going to get back on the field in the near future. The scooter accident came shortly before he was slated to visit a specialist after being shut back down from baseball activities with continued soreness from the plantar issue.
It’s possible that the scooter crash, even if reckless, doesn’t actually result in missed games that he wouldn’t have otherwise missed for a legitimate injury. Of course, that also presupposes that he’ll be ready for the beginning of the 2027 season. That’s not entirely clear, as the Giants haven’t provided many specifics on the new injury.
Bader has a $10MM salary for the 2027 campaign. He hit .170/.198/.358 in 30 games this season, which also included a three-week absence in April for a left hamstring strain. The Giants are using a Grant McCray and Drew Gilbert platoon in center field. That should be a target for the front office again this offseason. The free agent class is headlined by Daulton Varsho and Trent Grisham.
