by
Greek Giant
Don’t ask me why but this week various Giants publications and writers have written pieces predicting the 2023 Opening Day Roster. It makes zero sense to me because we have not even arrived at Spring Training yet.
The Infield
There are interesting questions for the Giants on the 25-man roster in particular, especially in the infield that sees an excess of right-handed hitting players like Wilmer Flores, J. D. Davis, Thairo Estrada, David Villar, Marco Luciano, and the possible addition of Casey Schmitt, the golden-gloved third baseman who, some experts say, may actually see playing time at shortstop this year in the Big Leagues.
This means with a player like Villar having options, the Giants may be forced to keep him in Sacramento to start the year, a thought that disappoints me, unless they make a trade and deal one Davis or Flores, which is the course of action I would take.
The Outfield
There are has been some talk of Thairo Estrada actually being moved to the outfield to keep his bat in the line up when switches and pinch-hitting moves are made in the middle and late in games. This is a move I disapprove of for the obvious reason that you just can’t make an infielder an outfielder all of a sudden. Raise your hand if you remember the Mauricio Dubon experiment.
With that said the Giants have an abundance of lefty-hitting outfielders in Wade Jr., Yaz, Conforto, Pederson and Gonzalez, all of whom except the latter, are on the 25-man roster. With the addition of Slater from the right side the Giants may need one more right-handed bat to roam left or right field once substitutions are made in the way that we know Giants Manager Gabe Kapler will make them (remember, this is the guy who pinch-hit for Brandon Belt or Joc Pederson in the early innings!).
The Current 40-Man Roster
Let’s take a look at roster possibilities based on the current 40-man roster, courtesy of MLB.com:
| Pitchers | B/T | Ht | Wt | DOB | |
 |
Scott Alexander 54 | L/L | 6′ 2″ | 195 | 07/10/1989 |
 |
Tristan Beck | R/R | 6′ 4″ | 165 | 06/24/1996 |
 |
John Brebbia 59 | L/R | 6′ 1″ | 200 | 05/30/1990 |
 |
Alex Cobb 38 | R/R | 6′ 3″ | 205 | 10/07/1987 |
 |
Jose Cruz | R/R | 6′ 1″ | 178 | 05/18/2000 |
 |
Anthony DeSclafani 26 | R/R | 6′ 2″ | 195 | 04/18/1990 |
 |
Camilo Doval 75 | R/R | 6′ 2″ | 185 | 07/04/1997 |
 |
Sean Hjelle 64 | R/R | 6′ 11″ | 228 | 05/07/1997 |
 |
Luke Jackson 77 | R/R | 6′ 2″ | 210 | 08/24/1991 |
 |
Jakob Junis 34 | R/R | 6′ 3″ | 220 | 09/16/1992 |
 |
Sam Long 73 | L/L | 6′ 1″ | 185 | 07/08/1995 |
 |
Sean Manaea 52 | R/L | 6′ 5″ | 245 | 02/01/1992 |
 |
Randy Rodriguez 90 | R/R | 6′ 0″ | 166 | 09/05/1999 |
 |
Tyler Rogers 71 | R/R | 6′ 3″ | 181 | 12/17/1990 |
 |
Taylor Rogers | L/L | 6′ 3″ | 190 | 12/17/1990 |
 |
Ross Stripling 48 | R/R | 6′ 1″ | 215 | 11/23/1989 |
 |
Thomas Szapucki 61 | R/L | 6′ 2″ | 210 | 06/12/1996 |
 |
Cole Waites 56 | R/R | 6′ 3″ | 180 | 06/10/1998 |
 |
Logan Webb 62 | R/R | 6′ 1″ | 220 | 11/18/1996 |
 |
Keaton Winn | R/R | 6′ 4″ | 238 | 02/20/1998 |
 |
Alex Wood 57 | R/L | 6′ 4″ | 215 | 01/12/1991 |
| Catchers | B/T | Ht | Wt | DOB | |
 |
Joey Bart 21 | R/R | 6′ 2″ | 238 | 12/15/1996 |
| Infielders | B/T | Ht | Wt | DOB | |
 |
Brandon Crawford 35 | L/R | 6′ 1″ | 223 | 01/21/1987 |
 |
J.D. Davis 7 | R/R | 6′ 3″ | 218 | 04/27/1993 |
 |
Isan Díaz 1 | L/R | 5′ 11″ | 201 | 05/27/1996 |
 |
Thairo Estrada 39 | R/R | 5′ 10″ | 185 | 02/22/1996 |
 |
Wilmer Flores 41 | R/R | 6′ 2″ | 213 | 08/06/1991 |
 |
Marco Luciano | R/R | 6′ 2″ | 178 | 09/10/2001 |
 |
David Villar 32 | R/R | 6′ 1″ | 215 | 01/27/1997 |
 |
Brett Wisely | L/R | 5′ 10″ | 180 | 05/08/1999 |
| Outfielders | B/T | Ht | Wt | DOB | |
 |
Michael Conforto 8 | L/R | 6′ 1″ | 215 | 03/01/1993 |
 |
Luis González 51 | L/L | 6′ 1″ | 185 | 09/10/1995 |
 |
Mitch Haniger 17 | R/R | 6′ 2″ | 214 | 12/23/1990 |
 |
Luis Matos | R/R | 5′ 11″ | 160 | 01/28/2002 |
 |
Joc Pederson 23 | L/L | 6′ 1″ | 220 | 04/21/1992 |
 |
Heliot Ramos 12 | R/R | 6′ 1″ | 188 | 09/07/1999 |
 |
Blake Sabol | L/R | 6′ 4″ | 225 | 01/07/1998 |
 |
Austin Slater 13 | R/R | 6′ 1″ | 204 | 12/13/1992 |
 |
LaMonte Wade Jr. 31 | L/L | 6′ 1″ | 205 | 01/01/1994 |
 |
Mike Yastrzemski 5 | L/L | 5′ 10″ | 178 | 08/23/1990 |
A Trade in the Works?
The Giants have some moves to make but by and large their 25-man roster is not going to be dramatically different from what we can all predict…
Unless they make a trade! Since the Giants appear to have a surplus of Major League-ready starting pitchers (see my post earlier last week) and a surplus of right-handed hitting infielders, it may be a good time to package two or three of those players for some hot prospects. It’s what I would do and heaven knows, Mr. Zaidi, if you (or your assistants) are reading this, please, for the love of Willie and Buster, let’s get a solid left fielder who can start more than one Opening Day!
Now, I’m not predicting the 25-man roster because a lot can happen between next week, the start of Spring Training, and Opening Day in the Big Apple. We could see injuries. We could see the Giants making a trade. We could see a prospect flourish and force his way on the team or we could see a prospect flounder. It all depends and I think the Giants might be 5 wins away from a postseason spot as currently constructed, depending on injury.
If one or more of the following players: Marco Luciano, Casey Schmitt, David Villar and Kyle Harrison thrive then it might be enough to put the Giants into October baseball, which frankly, is the most we can currently dream of considering the behemoths we call the Padres and the Bums. Throw in a potentially improved Diamondbacks squad and the National League West could be one of the strongest, leanest, meanest and baddest divisions in all of baseball.