3 players SF Giants need to leave in 2025 ahead of the New Year

With the New Year nearly upon us, the SF Giants are still looking to improve the team. As they try to do so, there are three players the team needs to leave behind in 2025.

The Giants will obviously be looking to improve upon another season of mediocrity, and while their moves thus far in the offseason have been fairly minor, they need to move on from three players who were on the team in 2025.

3 SF Giants players team should leave in 2025

Wilmer Flores

While Flores is a fan favorite and did a lot of great things in a Giants uniform, there is just not an obvious place for him on the 2026 team.

Maybe if the Giants feel that top prospect Bryce Eldridge is not ready for the big leagues and they want him to spend a little more time in the minors then they could bring back Flores on a one-year deal as a sort of DH/first baseman option.

But given Flores’ decline in the second half last season the Giants would probably be better served with other options.

Flores was a great Giant, but 2025 is the last time we will see him as a player with the team. 

Jerar Encarnacion

2025 saw Encarnacion have some solid moments, but it seemed each time he was getting hot at the plate he got injured.

The raw power is clearly there, but much like Flores his place on the roster is unclear. He could be a DH option and backup outfielder early in the year if Eldridge is not ready, but he is really only valuable to the team for his bat as he does not bring a ton to the table defensively.

Maybe the Giants will give him one more shot in 2026, but they may be better served rolling with Eldridge or getting an upgrade in free agency.

Luis Matos

This one may be the most controversial, but the Giants would probably be best served by moving on from Luis Matos ahead of next season.

He has gotten hot for stretches in his young big league career and has looked like a potential lineup fixture, but he has not been consistent enough to warrant regular play.

He struggled in a bench role last season so maybe it would be best to trade him to a rebuilding team that would make him a starter in the outfield.

As the Giants turn a new page and enter a new year, it is probably best that they move on from these three players ahead of next season.