A look at the options.
The San Francisco Giants have had a full 40-man roster ever since signing shortstop Willy Adames. Which means that when they agreed to terms with pitcher Justin Verlander, we knew they would need to clear a spot on the roster before finalizing the contract.
There was a fairly obvious candidate: reliever Austin Warren. But, before the Giants officially inked Verlander, they added another player to the roster by claiming catcher Sam Huff off of waivers. And, as you can probably guess, Warren was the player designated for assignment to create space.
Which means the roster is back to 40 players, and Verlander still hasn’t put pen to paper. A player still needs to be cleared from the 40-man roster, and Warren is no longer an option.
So who is? Here are the most likely options as I see it, starting with the most likely.
Sam Huff
Yes, the Giants will churn less in a post-Farhan Zaidi world. But that doesn’t mean the churn will disappear. DFA’ing Huff is the sort of move that good teams make all the time. By claiming Huff, the Giants now have his rights. Which means that if they designate him for assignment and he clears waivers, they can outright him to AAA Sacramento. It might be that the Giants claimed Huff with the intention of keeping him on the roster. But given that he’s a wholly unproven catcher with no options, and they still have Patrick Bailey and Tom Murphy, and they’re not going to carry three backstops, it seems most likely that they’re not planning on keeping Huff on the 40-man. That said, he could go the Joey Bart route, and stick around in case Bailey or Murphy has an injury (certainly not unlikely in the latter’s case) … but he can do that without clogging the 40-man, too.
Blake Sabol
There’s also a good chance that Huff is here to displace Sabol. After an intriguing first year with the Giants in 2023, when Sabol stayed on the active roster all season due to being a Rule 5 selection, the lefty struggled in 2024. But more importantly, he proved to not really have a position. Bob Melvin, who certainly is more invested in defense than his predecessor, made it fairly clear that he didn’t view Sabol as a catcher. But Sabol has yet to prove he has the bat for any other position that he could play. The Giants certainly aren’t going to bend over backwards to get rid of a left-handed hitting first baseman/left fielder who can play catcher in an emergency, but it sure feels like they’re pretty low on Sabol.
David Villar
Villar had, unfortunately, one of the most disappointing 2024s of anyone on the roster. He hasn’t been good in the Majors since 2022, and he hasn’t been particularly good in the Minors since then, either. And now he’s out of options, and about to turn 28. The Giants have a player under contract for a long time at Villar’s natural position (third base), and that player (Matt Chapman) is one of the most durable players in the sport. And they have options both more intriguing and more proven at Villar’s backup position, first base. In a word with unlimited roster spots, the Giants would love to carry Villar through Spring Training in case he has a breakout or someone gets injured. But as it is, it’s hard to see a path forward with him.
Jerar Encarnación/Wilmer Flores
It would definitely go against the Giants stated goals to open the year with Encarnación, Flores, and LaMonte Wade Jr. all on the roster, a trio of positionally-limited, defensively-limited, slow players. You would certainly think something has to give, and at least one of those players has to go. With the options at first base rapidly dwindling, Wade’s job feels safer and safer, which makes Encarnación and Flores’ jobs less and less safe.
Even though I don’t expect both of these players — and maybe not even one of them — to be on the team when the season starts, they’re low on this list because they both have a lot of intrigue, and I suspect the Giants would like to see them make it to Spring Training and assess things there.
A Trade
A trade is obviously not a player in the technical sense, but it could involve one. Perhaps the Giants don’t DFA anyone … perhaps they’re just cooking up something behind the scenes that will send a few players out.
How many days until Opening Day?
76 days now!