15 SF Giants who will almost certainly not be back with the club next season

The SF Giants have gone through so many players in this dreadful 2026 season. Sunday mercifully brings the season to a close and the reality is many of the players fans have watched since the All-Star Break are likely not going to be back with the team next season.

This is partly due to a number of players being out of minor league options, but it’s also because San Francisco has so many players on the 60-day IL that there’s going to have to be a lot of 40-man roster maneuvering to ensure everyone fits.

Let’s dive into 15 Giants currently on the roster who are almost certainly going to be gone.

15 Giants likely to be roster casualties in the offseason

Harrison Bader

He may be under contract for next season, but the Giants are certainly trying to void the rest of his deal behind the scenes after he crashed his scooter into a fire truck when he was supposed to be rehabbing his foot injury.

Bader wasn’t good even when he was on the field this season and the emergence of Jonah Cox and Drew Gilbert is reason enough for the Giants to move on from him whether it’s voiding his contract, releasing him, or trading him and eating some money in the process.

Grant McCray

Outfielder Grant McCray seemingly has all the tools to be a solid big league player, but for whatever reason those tools have not translated to consistent big league success.

He hasn’t hit anywhere near well enough the last three seasons even though his speed and defense has always been impressive. Maybe another team can fix him but the Giants have too many other young outfielders they’d like to give a shot.

JT Brubaker

Brubaker is the only free agent the Giants have going into the offseason and while he was a decent innings-eater for San Francisco there is really no reason to bring him back. The Giants should explore other bullpen options even if the bullpen remodel may not be quite as extensive as many fans would like.

Andrew Knizner

The Giants have let veteran catcher Andrew Knizner play a lot since scooping him up after losing Daniel Susac to injury. He will likely be non-tendered to make room on the 40-man roster but it wouldn’t shock anyone if Knizner bounced from team to team and somehow found his way back to the Giants.

Shay Whitcomb

While Whitcomb has had some nice moments with the Giants, he hasn’t blown the team away enough to make a case to keep him around next season especially with so many infielders on the IL who will need a roster spot cleared when they come off the IL.

Osleivis Basabe

We will never forget that brief little run Basabe went on after first being called up when he was hitting home runs and looked like he might go on a Tyler Fitzgerald kind of run, but he’s come back down to earth hard and like so many others this season ultimately went down with an injury.

Brett Harris

Scooped up off waivers from Boston, Harris hasn’t really done anything memorable in a Giants uniform and has just been a warm body to play first base this last week of the season with both Rafael Devers and Bryce Eldridge injured.

Matt Gage

While Matt Gage’s story is really cool and an injury derailed the pretty solid season he was having, the Giants will probably decide to DFA him to make room on the 40-man but maybe he will go have success with another team.

Joel Kuhnel

A waiver claim from the Milwaukee Brewers, Kuhnel has shown off an impressive sinker-slider combo and under more normal circumstances the Giants would probably like to keep him, but with the looming roster crunch they may not have that luxury. 

Reiver Sanmartin

For a while Sanmartin was the only decent lefty option in San Francisco’s bullpen, but he got hurt and he will likely be another 40-man DFA candidate.

Joel Peguero

While Peguero looked like he could be a solid bullpen arm at the end of 2025, a nagging hamstring injury really dogged him throughout 2026 so the Giants will probably have to move on from him.

Tristan Beck

The Giants got Tristan Beck in the Mark Melancon trade with the Atlanta Braves and he’s been a good pitcher at times for San Francisco. Yet, with other young pitchers on the roster who profile similarly to him, there may just no longer be room for Beck.

Seth Lonsway

If you remember Seth Lonsway’s one appearance with the Giants in 2026, good on you because I don’t. He put up unremarkable numbers in the minors this season so he will probably be cut loose.

Duncan Davitt

This is a tough one because it’s hard to not have a soft spot for a sports writer, but the Giants are going to have tough decisions to make. Davitt pitched pretty well in his Giants debut but he may still be a roster casualty.

Ryan Walker

After so many chances, expect Ryan Walker to finally be DFA’d this offseason. He had so many opportunities to prove that 2024 wasn’t a fluke, but now he’ll probably go to the Brewers or some other team who will fix him up and turn him into an All-Star even though he was dreadful with the Giants this season.

There’s always a chance some of these guys clear waivers and end up signing a minor league contracts with the Giants, but odds are most of them will be gone, claimed by other teams and will only exist in the minds of the most hardcore Giants fans who delight in asking: “Remember that guy?”

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