San Francisco Giants are Stuck with Current Roster

Thinking about the future of the San Francisco Giants, it appears we are stuck with the current roster because of the guaranteed money owed.

Instead of looking towards a rebuild last year and into the offseason, the San Francisco Giants decided to just spend and hope.

At this point in the season, that strategy has yet to pan out. There is still plenty of time for this team to get healthy and go on a run. But you can’t help but start thinking about the future of this team.

Assuming the $12 team option on Madison Bumgarner is picked up (and that’s a pretty safe assumption), the Giants already have $166.38 million committed in 2019.

That number includes my best guess at the arbitration-eligible players.

Ten players alone (Jeff Samardzija, Buster Posey, Evan Longoria, Johnny Cueto, Brandon Crawford, Brandon Belt, Mark Melancon, Bumgarner, Tony Watson, and Austin Jackson) are guaranteed $141.38 million next year.

There won’t be much wiggle room for the Giants’ front office this offseason to upgrade the roster. I started this article trying to think about how the Giants could get Bryce Harper, but that seems impossible right now.

When I say we are stuck with the current roster, I don’t necessarily mean that’s a bad thing. If this team is healthy they have a chance to be really good, but that’s the problem when you have a roster full of expensive, aging players.

But I do say we’re stuck because it’s going to be difficult to move any of these contracts if the Giants ever decide to sell.

Nobody is going to take on the contracts of Samardzija, Longo, Belt, Melancon, and probably even Cueto until he proves himself healthy.

And of course, any players with value like MadBu, Posey, and Crawford the Giants are going to want to keep.

That’s why I say we are stuck with the current roster. It seems almost impossible to move any of the expensive, aging players we have. And if you trade MadBum, Crawford, or Posey then you have to be all-in on a complete rebuild.

Next: Buster Posey is the One Player Who Can Turn the Giants Around

So if you’re frustrated with this team now, get ready to be frustrated with them again next year, because this roster won’t change much.