Teams cannot carry players on their 60-day IL during the offseason, so that means the San Francisco Giants are about six weeks out from having a serious roster crunch. Or do they?
There are quite a lot of good players on that 60-day IL and so by sheer math the players on the 40-man who’ve taken their place are more fungible than not. They could always waive players and outright them to the minors or re-sign to an MiLB agreement — and that might be preferrable given the upcoming lockout, when players on the 40-man roster
wouldn’t be able to play games in the minors. There’s also the case that with a Rule 5 draft likely, the Giants might want to protect some of their prospects, even if a lockout would prevent them from continuing their development. Still, with 17 dudes on that 60-day IL, is 42.5% of the current 40-man roster really so changeable? Let’s take a look.
I’ll do this using some criteria, too: position, age, contract, and MiLB options remaining. I don’t think I want to use the Giants’ roster page breakdown for positions, though, as they list Bryce Eldridge as Designated Hitter when we know he’s an infielder. Casey Schmitt is one of the outfielders, too. Anyway, let’s get into it, seeing if we can reduce the number of players currently on the IL before looking at the current roster. There are 57 players for 40 spots, and that’s before considering the prospects who’ll need to be added.
We can quickly reduce some of the thinking by listing the obvious keepers: Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman, Casey Schmitt, Daniel Susac, Randy Rodriguez, Adrian Houser, and Rowan Wick (whom the Giants signed specifically to carry him while he rehabbed from surgery and prepared to return in 2027). That leaves 10 players on the 60-day IL to sort through before getting to the 40-man.
So, let’s start with the easiest problem to solve.
Harrison Bader
Position: OF (8)
2027 age: 33
2027 contract: $13 million
MiLB options: 0
Pros: None.
Cons: That’s a lot of money to simply cut, especially if the lockout ends with the players surrendering to a stupid salary cap. Jim Bowden’s owner-inspired figure is $245.3 million, which would make Bader’s 2027 contract 5.3% of a theoretical cap, which is meaningful. Still, there’s no value in rostering him. The Giants suspended him without pay for some extraordinarily unprofessional behavior and just from the vague descriptions of the accident that further injured him, it sounds like he’s lucky to still have two feet. It seems unlikely he’ll be close to the player the team will need him to be whenever the 2027 gets going — if he’s even able to go at all. Maybe they could claw back some of the salary for cap purposes in a grievance hearing (they’ll almost certainly get it all back in their pockets via an insurance claim), but the team shouldn’t be shy about cutting their losses even if that doesn’t come to pass.
Verdict: Release.
Hayden Birdsong
Position: SP (8)
2027 age: 24
2027 contract: MLB minimum
MiLB options: 2
Pros: There’s a hard-throwing red ass there who has shown flashes of being a good pitcher. He’s still young enough to figure things out, and maybe some consistency in the front office and coaching staff for once in his brief career can help him along. The two options make him very valuable, to the point that he might be tradeable in the 5-day window after the World Series before teams have to activate all of these 60-day IL guys.
Cons: Of course, a lockout won’t help him with that development, and he looked really bad before the injury. It’ll be a long layoff and it’s not as though his skillset can’t be found elsewhere in the sport. With his Tommy John surgery having happened in 2026, he’s not going to be available until near the end of 2027 anyway.
Verdict: Keep. Still, it’s not as though the Athletics or some other team wouldn’t claim him and just let him eat a roster spot all offseason, so there’s enough incentive to keep him, along with the talent upside. He’s one of the Giants’ interesting starting pitching prospects. If pitching development had gone better this season, I wonder just how secure his roster spot would’ve been.
José Buttó
Position: RP (24)
2027 age: 29
2027 contract: TBD – arbitration eligible
MiLB options: 0
Pros: He has the sort of sinker-slider combo the team likes and has a reverse platoon split for his career with righties hitting .249 off him and lefties .192. That’s thanks to an effective changeup (30+% whiff rate 2023-2025). He also has a curve and a sweeper. A real kitchen-sinker who can also provide a little length (15 career starts). He’d be a cheaper version of JT Brubaker. Having missed most of his platform year, he’s unlikely to win an arbitration case for very much more than what he made this season ($800k).
Cons: The blood clot that has effectively knocked him out this season is a fluke injury but it’s still an injury that makes it hard to know who the Giants might get next season. He also didn’t look great after they acquired him at last year’s trade deadline, posting a 4.39 FIP in 20 innings.
Verdict: Keep. It would be logical to retain a veteran reliever who might take the place of another veteran who would cost more (thinking specifically about Brubaker). Still, I think this is the trickiest case to decide.
Matt Gage
Position: RP (24)
2027 age: 34
2027 contract: MLB minimum
MiLB options: 0
Pros: He has been really good against lefties for his career (.200 avg against)
Cons: Sub-average fastball velocity relative to other options, recovering from surgery. No optionality.
Verdict: Release. Maybe they try to sign him to a minor league deal once the lockout situation clears.
Trevor McDonald
Position: SP (8)
2027 age: 26
2027 contract: MLB minimum
MiLB options: 1
Pros: Has been able to handle major league hitters long enough to make an impression. He has certainly pitched his way into being considered a reliever at worst. His slider (38.7% whiff rate in 2026, 36.4% last year) is good.
Cons: Not a starter and would be a shame if the Giants held onto him thinking he might be a #5 or long reliever. He also is in the same realm of Logan Webb and Landen Roupp — sinker slider pitchers who don’t get a lot of strikeouts, but do get a lot of groundballs and limit walks and home runs. There was a thought at some point this season that part of the reason why the pitching was getting hammered had everything to do with the team’s approach — less “not spending money in the bullpen” and more “what if all 13 guys were like Logan Webb?” McDonald being the less good version of Logan Webb or Landen Roupp should make him more expendable heading into the offseason.
Verdict: Try to pass through waivers. Look, he was able to make enough of an impression at the end of last season to get a longer look this season. His injury opened up an opportunity for another player to do the same thing and I think if someone comes along who was better at the end of this season than McDonald was all year (4.26 FIP on a 7.3 K/9), the Giants shouldn’t be too precious.
Joel Peguero
Position: RP (24)
2027 age: 30
2027 contract: MLB minimum
MiLB options: 3
Pros: 100 mph — consistently! Wow!
Cons: Not many strikeouts for all that velo and the player is often injured. He’ll be entering his 30s, too.
Verdict: Release. I’m sure there’s a strong case to be made that he’s the lottery ticket to hold onto here, so maybe I’ll revisit him at the end of this exercise.
Jesus Rodriguez
Position: Uh…
2027 age: 25
2027 contract: MLB minimum
MiLB options: 2
Pros: The team likes his versatility and he’s shown in a small sample (58 MLB PA) some utility with the bat (104 wRC+). He profiles as a high-contact, low-strikeout guy. Maybe another Christian Koss type.
Cons: Hard to think of one. It’s just a matter of how many Christian Koss types the team wants to roster.
Verdict: Keep.
Carson Whisenhunt
Position: SP (8)
2027 age: 26
2027 contract: MLB minimum
MiLB options: 2
Pros: That changeup certainly does get swing and miss. Left-handed pitchers are usually able to find work at the MLB level for far longer than their right-handed counterparts. He’s miscast as a starter (5.90 ERA / 5.99 FIP in 58 MLB IP) but could be really good as a reliever.
Cons: If the team doesn’t view him as a reliever or he doesn’t buy in, then he’s just a hittable guy who sometimes gets swings and misses. I think the Giants are committed to finding out one way or the other and I can’t say they’d be wrong about that.
Verdict: Keep.
Keaton Winn
Position: RP (24)
2027 age: 29
2027 contract: MLB minimum
MiLB options: 1
Pros: So much promise as the next great late inning bullpen arm. A fantastic fastball-splitter combo. Looks like a top reliever like ones you’ll see across the league…
Cons: … if healthy, which he rarely is. I’m not sure another year of Tony Vitello managing his workload will help him out. The Giants have tried kid-gloving and tough-loving him and no matter what, he doesn’t pitch much due to injury.
Verdict: Keep. Though he might be a candidate to be traded in the 5-day window before 60-day ILs must be emptied. Would the Rays want to acquire him and chew the rest of the flesh off his arm?
So, I’ve managed to get to 53 players for 40 spots. When I started this exercise, I anticipated it being a bit easier to simply delete 60-day IL guys, but it’s not! And, my main one might not even be cut because of the money involved. In any case, it’s very easy to see the problem the Giants face. But if we keep going through the 40-man, there are some other opportunities for roster reduction.
The Untouchables…?
After the anti-Pride Day protest, I wrote about the four Giants who drove it and how the United States Justice Department’s active investigation into the Giants as a result of the fallout might make Landen Roupp, Ryan Walker, Sam Hentges, and JT Brubaker effectively invincible when it comes to normal handling. In other wors, the Giants couldn’t cut any of these guys for performance because it would be treated as discrimination for their expression of their deeply held ::wanking motion::
Let’s look at all four.
Landen Roupp
Verdict: Keep. They are desperate for starting pitching going into next season and he hasn’t been bad. Sure, he’s thrown 0.2 innings more than Jacob deGrom and been just 60% as valuable (2.5 fWAR vs. deGrom’s 4.2) but he’s just barely qualified for the ERA title at 155 IP (46th out of 47 qualified, but a professional high mark for him) and has generated more value with that fWAR (31 out of 48) than the likes of George Kirby, Michael Wacha, Foster Griffin, Michael King, Framber Valdez, Shota Imanaga, and Robbie Ray.
JT Brubaker
Brubaker has been effective in a no-leverage role and has helped alienate a segment of the fanbase from the team, but after earning $1.82 million this season, it’s illogical to retain such a fungible player (seriously, 0.1 fWAR in 60.1 IP — a 4.27 FIP) for even 1% of the fan-demanded salary cap. His veteran presence and experience is easily replicated by Jose Butto or other veteran relievers who will be looking for work in the offseason.
Verdict: Release. Even with the There is obviously the potential for some sort of grievance of governmental interference, but it’s going to require a degree of fiction writing to create the bad faith argument to compel a ridiculous enforcement action that my dumb brain can’t conjure at the moment. He and the team have fulfilled their contract and they should be able to walk away from him as a free agent.
Sam Hentges
This is much trickier than the Brubaker situation in that he’s arbitration eligible for 2027 and Zack Minasian has already gone on the record talking about the team’s belief that it takes at least two years after a player’s surgery before they begin to show improvement. Hentges is one of these guys, and he pitched well enough (3.43 FIP in 33 IP) that it’s highly unlikely they’d move on from him — by the way, that FIP is really high despite allowing zero home runs. FIP is a measure of the three true outcomes: walks, home runs, strikeouts. He walks a lot (6.3 per 9) but strikeouts out a lot (9.6 per 9), and doesn’t allow homers (0.7 per 9 for his career). If command is the last thing to lock in after surgery, then he ought to be even better next season. He will cost more in his final year of arbitration, but after all the crowing about how the team didn’t spend on the bullpen this past offseason, it seems as though they now have cover to spend money to retain him.
Verdict: ::sigh:: Keep the team’s resident bible thumper. Lord knows they want one.
Ryan Walker
It’s hard to make an argument to keep him. He’s been bad on the field and bad off the field. He’s first time arbitration eligible and a year or two ago I might’ve thought he was a $3-$4 million guy first time out. He’ll be 31 at the start of next season and I would think that rather than tender him a contract and have to pay him more than the MLB minimum they would non-tender him, but the Justice Department’s open investigation might have an effect. He has 31 career saves in 235.1 MLB innings. He has, technically, had one bad season (2026: -0.5 fWAR). His agent might be able to make the case to investigators that the Giants are depriving him of his livelihood, even if non-tendering arbitration eligible players is standard industry practice.
Verdict: Release. Maybe the Giants will surprise me and agree.
Okay. 50 dudes for 40 slots. It’s crunch time. Let’s take a look at…
Everybody else
Most of these players are not on the 10-day or 15-day IL, but some are. We’ll start with the obvious keepers: Logan Webb, Bryce Eldridge, Willy Adames, Jung Hoo Lee, Drew Gilbert, Jonah Cox (star eyes emoji), Drew Gilbert, Victor Bericoto, Blade Tidwell, Marcelo Mayer, Matt Wilkinson, Anthony Molina, and Cesar Perdomo.
A quick recap as we head into the second act:
Current 60-day IL players kept: 12
Current 40-man players kept: 15
Players cut (running tally): 6
Players to be judged: 24
40-man spots available: 13
Zach Morgan
Called up but yet to make an appearance, he’s really only on the roster because of a lack of catching depth. Morgan’s role has been the emergency depth piece at every level of the organization. He has a career MiLB OPS of .685 (5 seasons, 1053 PA) so it’s not like the roster spot can’t be upgraded.
Verdict: Pass through waivers. That organization depth seems meaningful enough to keep him in the organization, but not so vital that they need the roster spot. That they see Jesus Rodriguez in a similar role (multi-positional, including backup catcher) but have already given him more playing time despite being from outside the organization originally and 2 years younger underscores the fragility of his situation.
Andrew Knizner
He has been a solid backup catcher the past two seasons now, so you could imagine a scenario where he survives the roster crunch to be the actual backup catcher on the 40-man roster (with Drew Cavanaugh as the third catcher). But at the same time…
Verdict: Release. The Giants currently list five catchers on their 40-man roster and this article makes a modest proposal to reduce that to three: Daniel Susac, Drew Cavanaugh, and Jesus Rodriguez (which is a cheat in that he’s multi-positional). The veteran backup catcher situation is one that can be addressed at any point in the offseason or Spring Training or in-season.
Christian Koss
I’m not sure what else he would have to do to make a stronger case for staying on the roster. He’s blossomed after finally getting some playing time and is slashing .346/.393/.519 here in September.
Verdict: Keep. I’m listing him at this point in the article because there are other players down the list that’ll be compared to him.
Turner Hill
An IF/OF limited to the corners who’s finally making his big league debut at the age of 27 is the kind of thing Septembers in a lost season are made of, and a corner guy who doesn’t hit for power is especially fungible in the grand scheme of things. It’s a credit to the Giants’ minor league season and dip down to get a high average high on base guy at all, though.
Verdict: Pass through waivers.
Grant McCray
He hasn’t been able to make it happen. His MLB line as it stands is .175/.237/.332 in 240 PA (96 G). He’s hitting .155 this season with a 30% strikeout rate. He’ll turn 26 in December, so, it’s not over yet, and with 2 options available, he could plausibly have value to some MLB team out there, but he’s been outplayed by Drew Gilbert; and, with Victor Bericoto and Jonah Cox grabbing attention plus Casey Schmitt moonlighting as an outfielder, it doesn’t make sense for the Giants to continue to roster him. There are more important players to hold onto.
Verdict: Pass through waivers. He is more than likely claimed, but I can’t see a team trading for him, either.
Osleivis Basabe
Do the Giants want to keep Basabe over Christian Koss, Jesus Rodriguez, and the other infielders getting a moment in this final month? And what utility does he have once Casey Schmitt returns? While he had some big moments when nobody was watching, .202/.262/.353 in 131 PA (.209/.268/.335 in 225 MLB PA) doesn’t seem like something you fight for when it comes to a roster crunch.
Verdict: Release.
Scott Bandura
You can take some of the Turner Hill stuff and apply it here, but Bandura found a power stroke in the minors this season (.480ish slug across AA and AAA) and he’s two years younger. Bandura also has the speed, but a better pedigree (drafted by Giants versus undrafted). If you’re choosing between the two and between another left-handed hitting outfielder like McCray (who is already bullied out of CF by Jonah Cox and Drew Gilbert), Bandura probably comes out ahead still. Higher batting average, on base, then the speed and defense.
Verdict: Keep.
Shay Whitcomb
His potential upside is Christian Koss with more power, but he’s had trouble carrying his minor league success (.810 OPS) to the majors. If you’re talking about holding a 40-man spot for a guy who spent some time in the Korean League this season, then you’re talking about a team that’s desperate for talent, which isn’t the case for the Giants — even the 2026 team. They needed some warm bodies and looked around for those who don’t projected to be total embarrassments. Nary a d’Arnaud in the bunch.
Verdict: Release.
Brett Harris
The Other Shay Whitcomb?
Verdict: Release.
Nate Furman
I do tend to believe that front offices are much more inclined to dump guys they didn’t acquire and so Furman coming over in the Alex Cobb trade of 2024 would certainly make him a target; however, he’s been a high average guy in the minors and effectively been the kind of player the team wants going forward so I don’t think that applies in this situation. Also, he doesn’t turn 25 until next July. Even if he has a bad September, I don’t think they’re looking to push him off the roster this offseason.
Verdict: Keep.
Our final act: all those pitchers. Here’s where the count stands:
Current 60-day IL players kept: 12
Current 40-man players kept: 18
Players cut (running tally): 13
Players to be judged: 11
40-man spots available: 10
Tristan Beck
Oft-injured and not really effective (4.47 FIP in two seasons and 70.2 IP since a blood clot derailed his 2024 season). He turned 30 back in June and has spent most of this season unable to pitch in the majors due to injury and ineffectiveness (1.4 WHIP and 4.99 ERA in Triple-A).
Verdict: Release.
Joel Kuhnel
He was a warm body hired to help the team get to the end of the season. His 2.84 ERA in 6.1 innings is nice and he picked up the save in last night’s win over the Cardinals.
Verdict: Release.
Dylan Smith
Next year, he’ll be a 27-year old making the major league minimum who throws 95+ and has a 10.5 K/9. He’ll also have 1 option remaining. This isn’t hard.
Verdict: Keep!
Trent Harris
Dave Flemming and Javier Lopez rained superlatives down on him in last night’s game as well and he has been outstanding since his callup, a 2.33 ERA in 19.1 IP and — a 1.60 FIP — has been one of those in-season finds we expect the Giants to have every season. I’m sure unearthing treasures like this along the way was the plan going into the season, too. I would say he and Dylan Smith qualify.
Verdict: Keep!
Braxton Roxby
Miguel Mendez
Yunior Marte
I’m going to bunch these acquisitions together. These are players acquired by the new front office with options available and the right age to think that they still have upside (on top of not playing in the majors much).
Verdict: Keep.
Seth Lonsway
Duncan Davitt
Verdict: Keep. They’re not cutting these guys.
Carson Seymour
Reiver Sanmartin
Philip Abner
Reiver Sanmartin
Both have been solid, but I suspect the Giants will either cut 1 and keep the other or cut both of these lefty relievers. Problem is, I can’t figure out which one it should be, nor could I hazard a guess. Abner averages 90 mph with his fastball, but he’s 24 with multiple options. Sanmartin is more of a Matt Gage type. I have to imagine actual performance would matter a little, but at the same time, a roster crunch is a roster crunch.
If the Giants were to move on from both, that would leave a left-handed contingent of Matt Wilkinson, Carson Whisenhunt, Cesar Perdomo, Seth Lonsway, and Sam Hentges. With Whisenhunt likely out for all of 2027, it probably doesn’t make sense to shrink the number of lefty relievers on the roster.
So, having reasoned that all out, I think they stick with Abner, who is younger, has more options, and adds a different look out of the bullpen. Plus, they can feel good knowing that Sanmartin pitched well enough to find a job elsewhere.
Verdict: Keep Abner, cut Sanmartin.
That leaves 2 spots for these final two players. If I had my druthers, the team would cut them both, but…
Carson Seymour
He has done well for himself in transitioning to a reliever, and even though I think he’s a gas can with his penchant for giving up home runs — 14 in 62.2 MLB innings — I suspect the Giants might see a development success in the making a la Trent Harris.
Verdict: Keep (though, should be pass through waivers).
Jason Foley
Somehow, he still has an option remaining? He’s also arbitration eligible for the first time this offseason. Who knows how the system will change in a new CBA, but supposing it stays roughly the same, Foley oughtn’t be projected to get much more than the $2 million the Giants paid him this season. While an arb panel would take into consideration his prior track record (3.18 ERA in 189.1 IP from 2022-2024, +2.7 fWAR), he has been rather pedestrian (+0.1 fWAR, 4.15 ERA) in his platform season, two years removed from surgery.
Although — and this is a big, important note — he has a 3.63 ERA (3.21 FIP) since August 1st. In 16 appearances, he’s struck out 11 (though, walked 8) and allowed 0 home runs in 17.1 IP. I have to imagine those 28 saves he recorded in 2024 loom large for the Giants. Rather than drop Randy Rodriguez into the closer role to start the year, maybe Foley being an option to begin 2027 makes more sense?
Verdict: Keep.
So, there it is. I’ve whittled down 57 players for 40 spots to 40 players for 40 spots. To me, Keaton Winn, Carson Seymour, and Jason Foley look like possible cuts (either via trade during the 5-day window after the World Series or simply DFAing) which would free up 3 spots for prospects who’re Rule 5 eligible, and there’s probably a fourth to be gained from cleaning up some of the infield logjam. The power of DFAing for the purpose of sneaking through waivers shouldn’t be discounted. This might be the one offseason where it’s easier to do that because of all the other teams needing to make 40-man decisions related to both the lockout and Rule 5.
But, if you’ve made it this far, what do you think?
