Giants must avoid costly roster mistake as Daniel Susac nears return

The SF Giants got some good news recently as catcher Daniel Susac seems like he is nearly ready to rejoin the big league team after his rehab assignment with the Sacramento River Cats. The Giants will have to make space for him on the roster though and the absolute last thing they should do is designate catcher Eric Haase for assignment.

Haase just had a great two-homer game against the Los Angeles Dodgers and even though keeping him on the roster would technically give the Giants three catchers, anyone who has seen Jesus Rodriguez play catcher the last week or so since he was called up can tell he’s not exactly a natural at the position as his blocking abilities and throws down to second base on stolen base attempts leave a lot to be desired.

Giants need to keep Haase as counterbalance to rookie catchers

The Giants already nearly moved on from Hasse once this year. They released him at the end of spring training after he was beat out for the backup catcher spot by Susac, but the Giants ended up signing him to a minor-league deal which has proven to be a great move.

Haase is a veteran backstop with a lot of experience and he’s also got some pop in his bat as he hit 22 home runs for the Detroit Tigers back in 2021.

By keeping Haase on the roster, that would at least give the Giants one veteran catcher so they have a bit of an insurance option if Susac and Rodriguez don’t pan out as expected.

Trading away Patrick Bailey was a pretty huge vote of confidence in those rookies but if that decision backfires then Haase could be the guy the Giants end up leaning upon heavily this season so exposing him to waivers would be a bad move.

The question then becomes who gets demoted to make room for Susac when he returns? Infielder Christian Koss seems like an obvious answer. It’s unfortunate because Koss is a solid player and on a different team he may have more of a role but the Giants have too many infielders as it is even without him in the picture so he will most likely be sent down to Triple-A to make some room.

Rodriguez is a utility guy who can be moved around as he can play second base and in the outfield so the Giants will still have some roster flexibility even if Koss is down in Triple-A.

It’s been rough watching Rodriguez struggle at catcher the last few games especially since his bat has cooled off after a hot start, but once Susac is back in the fold things should be better. Keeping Haase around is a necessity though as he’s already proven to be a solid player and could prove to be a very valuable depth piece. 

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