San Francisco Giants: 5 Players in Serious Danger of Being Cut or Demoted
The San Francisco Giants certainly have stars. What they also have in seemingly equal abundance are open roster spots that need filling.
The boxes that need checking on the offensive side include a starting left fielder and almost the entire bench. On the pitching side, the Giants need to settle their fifth starter and the back end of their bullpen.
Checking these boxes will require some tough decisions on the part of manager Bruce Bochy and the club's front office. Some players aren't going to like these decisions.
Our goal here is to determine who those players might be. First, we'll look at how the Giants' 25-man roster is shaping up. Then, we'll look at which players from the 40-man roster or in camp as non-roster invitees wouldn't make the cut. After that, we'll look at what would be five particularly notable cuts.
Projected 25-Man Roster
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| Starting Lineup | Starting Rotation |
| CF Denard Span | LHP Madison Bumgarner |
| 2B Joe Panik | RHP Johnny Cueto |
| C Buster Posey | RHP Jeff Samardzija |
| RF Hunter Pence | LHP Matt Moore |
| 1B Brandon Belt | RHP Matt Cain |
| 3B Eduardo Nunez | Bullpen |
| SS Brandon Crawford | RHP Mark Melancon |
| LF Jarrett Parker | RHP Hunter Strickland |
| Bench | LHP Will Smith |
| C Nick Hundley | RHP Derek Law |
| INF Conor Gillaspie | RHP George Kontos |
| OF Gorkys Hernandez | RHP Cory Gearrin |
| INF Aaron Hill | LHP Steven Okert |
| INF Jae Gyun Hwang | LHP Ty Blach |
Full List of Projected Roster Cuts
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40-Man Roster
C Trevor Brown
INF Miguel Gomez
INF Kelby Tomlinson
INF/OF Orlando Calixte
OF Mac Williamson
RHP Clayton Blackburn
RHP Kyle Crick
RHP Ian Gardeck
RHP Joan Gregorio
RHP Chase Johnson
RHP Reyes Moronta
RHP Dan Slania
RHP Chris Stratton
RHP Albert Suarez (out of options)
LHP Josh Osich
Non-Roster Invitees
C Tim Federowicz (out of options)
C Aramis Garcia
C Josmil Pinto (out of options)
C Matt Winn
INF Christian Arroyo
INF Gordon Beckham
INF Kyle Blanks
INF C.J Hinojosa
INF Ryder Jones
INF Chris Marrero
INF Juniel Querecuto
INF Jimmy Rollins
OF Wynton Bernard
OF Steven Duggar
OF Michael Morse
OF Justin Ruggiano
OF Austin Slater
RHP Carlos Alvarado
RHP Tyler Beede
RHP Sam Coonrod
RHP Jose Dominguez
RHP Roberto Gomez
RHP David Hernandez
RHP Bryan Morris (out of options)
RHP Neil Ramirez (out of options)
LHP Matt Reynolds
LHP Michael Roth
LHK Kraig Sitton
Notable Projected Cut: Mac Williamson, OF
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Mac Williamson came to spring training hoping to beat out Jarrett Parker for the Giants' left field gig. With a .286 average and .946 OPS through seven games, he's hitting well enough to do so.
It still might not be enough.
One of Williamson's problems is that Parker is also hitting well with a 1.028 OPS in eight games. Another is that he has options left, while Parker is all out. If the Giants can only choose one, that's a good excuse to choose Parker.
Since Parker is a lefty and Williamson is a righty, there's the obvious question: Why don't the Giants just platoon them?
Maybe they will. But they'd prefer not to.
“In a perfect world, one guy would win the job,” general manager Bobby Evans said in January, per Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News. “You’re not necessarily looking for a platoon. Then out of our non-roster invitees, someone would emerge as a fifth outfielder who could be a bat off the bench.”
Since Williamson can only play left and right, there wouldn't be many ways for Bochy to get him at-bats if he were to be carried as a reserve. It's arguably better for the 26-year-old to get regular at-bats in the minors.
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Notable Projected Cut: Jimmy Rollins, INF
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Could this be it for Jimmy Rollins?
That's not a given just yet. There appear to be at least two spots on the Giants' bench up for grabs, and they could fill both of them with utility infield types. Rollins is one of several guys jockeying for position.
However, he has some realities working against him.
One is that he doesn't fit the bill as a utility infielder. He's played 19,534 innings in the field in his 17-year career. Of those, he played a position other than shortstop for one out. Not even one inning. Just one out.
Meanwhile, the 38-year-old isn't hitting. He's played in six games this spring so far and owns just a .143 batting average with a .476 OPS.
That's in keeping with his recent history. He had just a .643 OPS with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2015 and put up a .624 OPS in 41 games with the Chicago White Sox last year before being released. Rollins' bat once won him an MVP in 2007. Now it appears spent.
Rollins told Bob Nightengale of USA Today that he would try to catch on elsewhere if he doesn't make the Giants. But he also hinted this could be the last stop of his outstanding career.
"I don't have a Plan B," he said.
Notable Projected Cut: Michael Morse, INF/OF
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Michael Morse may also fall short of a last hurrah with the Giants.
As it is, he's basically in camp on a dare. Morse seemed to settle into retirement after being released by the Pittsburgh Pirates early last season, but a run-in with Evans at Hunter Pence's wedding changed his mind.
As Morse recounted to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle: "He said, 'Come to camp. If you do well, you'll have a chance to make the team. If you don't, then you know you're done. Before you go through the rest of your life with what-ifs, just see.'"
Since Williamson isn't an ideal fit for a platoon role, one can imagine Morse spelling Parker against left-handed pitchers. Or Brandon Belt against lefties, for that matter.
But only if he proved this spring that he can still hit. And therein lies the dilemma. Although a home run against Puerto Rico's World Baseball Classic team is missing from the record, the 34-year-old has just a .567 OPS in seven spring games.
Morse is going to need a number much bigger than that to convince the Giants he belongs. With his bat having gone cold since his first stint with the Giants in 2014, he may not have it in him.
Notable Projected Cut: Tyler Beede, RHP
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A year ago, Tyler Beede was a top Giants prospect who came with a "Yeah, but..." following a trying season in 2015.
After righting his ship with a 2.81 ERA for Double-A Richmond in 2016, now the 23-year-old is a top Giants prospect, period.
And one who's showing well, to boot. Although Beede hasn't had it easy in allowing six hits and three walks in six innings this spring, he hasn't allowed a run to score.
In any other camp, such a performance might put Beede in line for a rotation spot. But there's only one spot available in the Giants' rotation, and the top two contenders for it are a respected veteran with a big contract (Matt Cain) and a young lefty who's already tasted big league success (Ty Blach).
Thus, it looks like Beede will be a tough-luck cut when the time comes. But if nothing else, he can rest easy on his trip back to the minors knowing that he made an impression.
"He's one of those guys on a fast pace," Bochy told Baggarly last month. "He's getting a lot of attention, which he should. When you've got four pitches and the velocity he does, you'll pitch in the big leagues."
Notable Projected Cut: Kyle Crick, RHP
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It used to be Kyle Crick in Beede's shoes. He was the one who was supposed to be The Next Big Thing™ in the Giants' rotation.
This hasn't happened. Crick has gone from a consensus top-100 prospect to off the radar entirely. That tends to happen when a young pitcher can't stop walking the ballpark, as Crick has with a rate of 6.2 walks per nine innings in the minors.
But, Crick is doing fine now with three scoreless appearances this spring. And while it's not going to pan out right away, the Giants have a new plan for him. As Schulman reported, the club now sees him as a reliever.
Not a bad idea. Crick may not have control, but he has a big arm.
The book on him at Baseball America last year noted that he's tried to dial back his velocity to help his accuracy, but that he can ramp his fastball up to 96-97 mph when he wants. That's a fastball that's helped the 24-year-old whiff 10 batters per nine innings in his minor league career.
Because relievers can downplay locating the ball and just let it fly, moving to the bullpen may be just what Crick needs. The Giants could find out sooner rather than later.
Data courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and MLB.com.
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