SAN DIEGO — The Giants hoped that Harrison Bader would fix their outfield defense for a couple of seasons and add some right-handed power to the bottom of their lineup. Instead, they have stopped paying him with two months left in the 2026 MLB season, leaving his future in orange and black in doubt and potentially setting up a battle with the MLB Players Association.
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The organization announced Friday afternoon that it is “suspending payment” to Bader pending an investigation into a scooter accident over the weekend. It was a rare step, but one that felt necessary given the uncertainty about Bader’s future and the way in which he got himself hurt.
“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 statement. “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.”
The decision will cost Bader roughly $1.5 million the rest of this season, but potentially much more in 2027. Bader is owed $10 million in the second season of a two-year deal he signed in January, but there are long-term concerns about the left foot, per league sources.
Bader and the MLBPA could fight the move, but he also is likely to have a tough time proving his side of the case. He was injured when he crashed his scooter in the Marina around 2 a.m. on Saturday night, and some within the organization expect that more information will come out, including the possibility of video.
This is not the first scooter-related incident for Bader, who was suspended while at the University of Florida because he was involved in an accident. During that collision, which occurred in 2014, Bader reportedly struck a curb and then ran into a Ford pickup truck.
Bader went on to become a third-round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals, and after several other stops, he signed in free agency with the Giants this past offseason. The goal for the front office was to improve the outfield defense by putting Bader’s glove in center and moving Jung Hoo Lee to right, and at the time of the agreement, Posey spoke about the front office’s feeling that Bader could be a contributor at the plate, too.
At the time of the plantar fasciitis injury, Bader was hitting just .170 with a .198 on-base percentage. The move of Lee to right has been a success, but the Giants have had to rely on others in center field. Bader has played just 30 games because of a hamstring strain and the plantar fasciitis, the latter of which landed him on the IL on May 30.
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The Giants never expected Bader to miss this much time, but he had so many setbacks during the rehab process that they made an appointment to send him to Indianapolis to see a foot specialist. The scooter accident happened in the hours before Bader was set to go, but he did end up making the trip.
In a release on Tuesday, the organization stated that the scooter injury “changed the nature of his evaluation” and “complicated” the visit. Bader returned to San Francisco to get an MRI and see team orthopedist Dr. Ken Akizuki.
The Giants have not given results of that new MRI and likely will not. Because this was an off-the-field injury, it would now be up to Bader to provide information about the nature of this new injury and how it happened.
Bader has not spoken to reporters since getting hurt, although he did visit the ballpark twice after returning from Indianapolis, visiting with people in the clubhouse during a couple of games. He was said to be contrite.
The Giants have a somewhat lengthy history with this type of thing, including with Jeff Kent and Madison Bumgarner. But Bader’s situation is complicated by the fact that he reportedly was seen at bars before the accident, and he also already was hurt at the time of the scooter accident. Even without those circumstances, he might have been disciplined.
MLB’s collective bargaining agreement bans so-called “high-risk activities,” and players need the written consent of their organization to participate in sports like skiing, skydiving, or even exhibitions for other sports like basketball.
Scooters seemingly would fall in a gray area, but after several days of looking into the legal aspects of what’s next, the Giants felt they knew enough to stop payment to the veteran center fielder.
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This story originally appeared on NBCSportsBayArea.com.