SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — A coach hollers “get there!” as Jung Hoo Lee sprints to his left, scoops up a ball off the warning track that has ricocheted hard off the wall, then turns and crisply fires it back to a waiting glove.
Sure, it's just a spring training drill at Giants camp, yet these are the types of plays and tricky bounces the Korean star will be counted upon handling in his new position for 2026.
Lee is embracing being the regular right fielder for San Francisco, shifting from his familiar home in center.
He is already working to find his rhythm and timing early on this spring in the new spot after the Giants signed Harrison Bader last month on a $20.5 million, two-year contract to play center field.
“There’s a lot of communication going on throughout these practices and also these drills that happen in the outfield,” Lee said at his locker before Friday’s practice, speaking through interpreter Justin Han. “As more time goes by, I would love to spend more time with Bader and communicate.”
Lee is still set to play center field for Korea in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.
New San Francisco manager Tony Vitello and the Giants are thrilled with how Lee is adapting, and always with his cheery spirit intact. He made time to sign a few autographs for fans behind the dugout following a long day on the diamond Thursday, then chuckled behind the batting cage at Scottsdale Stadium between hitting sessions Friday while chatting with broadcaster and former player Duane Kuiper.
“It's hard not to bond with Jungy, he's as easy to get along with as anybody. And yet he takes his craft very seriously," Vitello said of Lee and Bader becoming comfortable playing alongside each other.
“Someone asked if he was having a conversation yesterday and Justin was with him and Justin was like, ‘No, Jung Hoo’s locked in.' He's a diligent worker, so he's always focused and I think everything that you would put under the category of him getting to know Bader and taking on the right field challenge full head of steam and all that is just he wants to win. He's pretty adamant about winning.”
Lee already has spent a couple of days at the club's nearby minor league complex training in a right field that closely mimics the unique, expansive one at Oracle Park with its elevated brick facade.
He fully expects the transition to take some time, some trial and error — even with the focused preparation in Arizona.
“It’s similar in some ways but at the same time it’s not Oracle Park, so I’ll need to spend some time over there at home in San Francisco,” he said. “I’m putting a lot of time and a lot of effort on right field right now at the moment, so we’ll see how it goes.”
The 27-year-old Lee signed a $113 million, six-year contract with the Giants in December 2023. He then missed most of his rookie season after dislocating his left shoulder when he crashed into an outfield wall and required season-ending surgery.
Last season, he batted .266 with eight home runs and 55 RBIs with 10 stolen bases over 150 games — 144 of those being starts in center field.
Now, Lee is eager to contribute for the Giants wherever he's needed.
“As I mentioned, what's best for the team is my mentality at the moment as a professional baseball player,” he said, “it's the same right now.”
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San Francisco Giants field coordinator and catching coach Alex Burg, left, talks with Giants' Harrison Bader during workouts during spring training baseball Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
San Francisco Giants' Jung Hoo Lee, of South Korea, works out during spring training baseball Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump warned on Friday that limited strikes against Iran are possible even as the country’s top diplomat said Tehran expects to have a proposed deal ready in the next few days following nuclear talks with the United States.
In response to a reporter's question on whether the U.S. could take limited military action as the countries negotiate, Trump said, “I guess I can say I am considering that.” Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a TV interview that his country was planning to finalize a draft deal in “the next two to three days” to send it to Washington.
“I don’t think it takes long, perhaps, in a matter of a week or so, we can start real, serious negotiations on the text and come to a conclusion,” Araghchi said on MSNOW's “Morning Joe” show.
The tensions between the longtime adversaries have ramped up as the Trump administration pushes for concessions from Iran and has built up the largest U.S. military presence in the Middle East in decades, with more warships and aircraft on the way. Both countries have signaled that they are prepared for war if talks on Tehran’s nuclear program fizzle out.
“We are prepared for diplomacy, and we are prepared for negotiation as much as we are prepared for war,” Araghchi said Friday.
Ali Vaez, an Iran expert at the International Crisis Group, said Iran “would treat any kinetic action as an existential threat.”
Vaez said he doesn’t think Iran’s leaders are bluffing when they say they would retaliate, while they likely believe they could maintain their hold on power despite any U.S. airstrikes.
Trump said a day earlier that he believes 10 to 15 days is “enough time” for Iran to reach a deal following recent rounds of indirect negotiations, including this week in Geneva, that made little visible progress. But the talks have been deadlocked for years after Trump’s decision in 2018 to unilaterally withdraw the U.S. from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Since then, Iran has refused to discuss wider U.S. and Israeli demands that it scale back its missile program and sever ties to armed groups.
Araghchi also said Friday that his American counterparts have not asked for zero enrichment of uranium as part of the latest round of talks, which is not what U.S. officials have said publicly.
"What we are now talking about is how to make sure that Iran’s nuclear program, including enrichment, is peaceful and will remain peaceful forever," he said.
He added that in return, Iran will implement some confidence-building measures in exchange for relief on economic sanctions.
In response to Araghchi’s claim, a White House official said Trump has been clear that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons or the capacity to build them and that it cannot enrich uranium. The official wasn’t authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Tehran has long insisted that any negotiations should only focus on its nuclear program and that it hasn’t been enriching uranium since U.S. and Israeli strikes last June on Iranian nuclear sites. Trump said at the time that the strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear sites, but the exact damage is unknown as Tehran has barred international inspectors.
Iran has also insisted that its nuclear program is peaceful. The U.S. and others suspect it is aimed at eventually developing weapons.
Trump's comments have faced pushback from some lawmakers who say the president should get Congress' approval before any strike.
Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said Friday that he has filed a war powers resolution that would require that step. Though it has no chance of becoming law — in part because Trump himself would have to sign it — some bipartisan consensus has arisen recently among senators who forced votes on previous resolutions on military action in Venezuela.
None of those resolutions passed, but they were successful in showing how lawmakers are troubled by some of Trump’s aggressive foreign policy maneuvers.
“If some of my colleagues support war, then they should have the guts to vote for the war, and to be held accountable by their constituents, rather than hiding under their desks,” Kaine said in a statement.
Amiri reported from New York. Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price, Ben Finley and Stephen Groves in Washington and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump speaks during a breakfast with the National Governors Association in the State Dining Room of the White House, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaks during a bilateral meeting between Switzerland and Iran, in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026 (Cyril Zingaro/Keystone via AP)
