Recently-DFA'd players SF Giants could look to add to their injury-riddled roster

The 2026 season has arguably been the SF Giants' most devastating one in the San Francisco era, and not just because of the standings. They've lost a multitude of pieces to the injury bug - Casey Schmitt, Matt Chapman, Daniel Susac, Willy Adames, Jesus Rodriguez, Harrison Bader, Victor Bericoto - and that's just for position players. Hayden Birdsong, Randy Rodríguez, Trevor McDonald, Carson Whisenhunt, Adrian Houser, José Buttó, Matt Gage, Rowan Wick, and Keaton Winn are all on the injured list right now too, among others. This was never going to be a winning season for the Giants, but practically no team could survive all of this carnage.

Replacing a big group of those guys on the active roster, not to mention September callups being right around the corner, has put a major strain on the club's organizational depth. They made 10 roster moves on August 24th alone, and that was before Adames and Whisenhunt fell to the IL. Though this time of year is when the Giants should be giving plenty of long looks at their young guys - the ones who are healthy, anyway - bringing in a veteran or two from outside the organization just to soak up some playing time might be a necessity at this point.

How can the Giants supplement their beleaguered roster?

Luckily for the Giants, there are a few options out there that would cost nothing to bring in except essentially a months' salary. Here's a breakdown of four guys in particular the Giants could look to target, and that would help provide just a sliver of much-needed stability to a team that's never had less of it.

Eugenio Suárez

Easily the biggest name out there right now, Suárez signed on for a one-year reunion with the Reds that hasn't gone according to plan. He's been worth -0.4 WAR per FanGraphs, and his 93 OPS+ would be his lowest since 2021, coincidentally the last season he played in Cincinnati. He's still hit 19 homers on the year and had an eye-popping 49 between Arizona and Seattle last season, so it wouldn't hurt for the Giants or some other team to take a flyer on him. The Giants have no good starting options for the hot corner, with guys like Buddy Kennedy and Shay Whitcomb in line to take most of the AB's there right now. That's not a problem they foresaw happening with Matt Chapman and Casey Schmitt healthy a few months ago.

Michael Lorenzen

The California native has been around the league for parts of 12 seasons now, making 144 starts in his 421 appearances. He hasn't ever been what you'd call an above average arm, though - especially not this year, with his ghastly 7.08 ERA in 115.2 innings with the Rockies. The Rockies DFA'ed him just over a week ago, and he'd be owed the pro-rated portion of the $9 million one-year contract he signed last offseason. In an Adrian Houser-type role, where he makes a couple multi-inning relief appearances and possibly a spot start or two, Lorenzen could be one option to lengthen what's an incredibly thin staff at the moment.

Zack Littell

A familiar name to the Giants, Littell was actually a teammate of Buster Posey's in their magical 2021 season. He was far less effective after Posey's retirement, however, putting up a 5.08 ERA in 2022 in just 44.1 innings of work. He's bounced around the league since then, this year suiting up for both the Nationals and Diamondbacks. His 5.21 ERA won't have teams chomping at the bit to hand him a roster spot, but even with that shoddy production and a very low 13.5% K-rate, his 124.1 innings pitched this year are nothing to sneeze at. These days, sometimes the best ability is availability.

Austin Slater

Another familiar face, Slater spent his first seven seasons with the Giants before bouncing around the league and never settling into another home. He was always a lefty-killer in his time with the orange and black, which was admittedly a few years ago now, but the Giants continue to struggle mightily as a team against left-handed pitching. Slater's 33 years old now and his 69 wRC+ between three different teams this year shows expectations for him should be quite low. The Giants also have more pressing needs than outfield depth, too, even though Bader and Bericoto aren't healthy right now. Those two were supposed to be part of the equation against LHP, though, so Posey reuniting with an old teammate shouldn't be out of the question.

TJ Friedl

Another outfielder and another Red, Friedl was placed on waivers at the same time as Suárez. Also like Suárez, at one time Friedl was considered a building block for that franchise, but the results just haven't been there recently. A -0.9 WAR and 33 wRC+ would have been unthinkable even six months ago, when he had a strong 3.1 WAR season along with a 111 wRC+. Friedl would come with two more years of control beyond this one even though he's already 31, and his track record could make him a semi-attractive candidate for not just the Giants but other teams as well. He has experience in left as well as center field, but the downside is he hits left-handed, and as mentioned when discussing Slater an infielder is a bigger need for the team right now. However, sometimes you have to play the cards you're dealt, and if Friedl falls in the Giants' lap - why not go for it?

Editor's note: After publication of this article, it was reported that both Suarez and Friedl have cleared waivers and will remain with the Reds.

Even outside of this group, there are other warm bodies the Giants are undoubtedly mulling over adding in the days to come. Further injuries, which practically seem inevitable at this point, could change the calculus even more. Forget adding some players, even - the Giants may be best served adding to their overworked medical team.

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