The San Francisco Giants signed Denard Span to a three-year, $31 million contract prior to the 2016 season to replace Nori Aoki.
At the time of the signing, he was a .287 career hitter with a .352 on-base percentage and 104 OPS+ in five seasons with the Minnesota Twins and three seasons with the Washington Nationals.
He was not far removed from hitting .302/.355/.416 while leading the NL with 184 hits and finishing 19th in NL MVP voting during the 2014 season.
A slight downturn in offensive production was to be expected with the move to spacious AT&T Park, and he remained a solid offensive player in his first two seasons in San Francisco:
- 2016: 637 PA, .