SF Giants create roster space on 40-man roster by non-tendering former 1st-round pick

In addition to tendering a contract to all five of their arbitration-eligible players, the SF Giants announced a pair of minor moves as well. Both Kai-Wei Teng and Ethan Small were non-tendered according to a team announcement.

SF Giants create roster space on 40-man roster by non-tendering former 1st-round pick

The Giants designated Kai-Wei Teng for assignment earlier this week to make room for Carson Ragsdale and Carson Seymour on the 40-man roster. Both Ragsdale and Seymour were added to protect them from the Rule 5 draft in December.

However, the 40-man roster only had one opening on Tuesday morning, so the Giants created a second one by placing Teng on waivers.

The non-tender deadline is a unique day for not only arbitration-eligible players but pre-arbitration players as well. Teams can sidestep the waiver process by non-tendering pre-arbitration players like Teng or Small.

This move makes them a free agent rather than giving all teams in baseball an opportunity to make a claim. Teams often use this lever with the hopes of re-signing those players on minor league deals.

While Teng had already been removed from the 40-man roster after being placed on waivers, non-tendering him does take transactional precedent and makes him a free agent right away. On the other hand, Small was on the 40-man roster until being non-tendered, so this move does have an impact on the 40-man roster. It brings the roster total down to 39.

Teng was added to the 40-man roster last winter. He did debut with San Francisco in 2024 but struggled to a 9.82 ERA in four appearances. The results were not much better in Triple-A as he tallied an 8.60 ERA with 61 strikeouts against 44 walks in 75.1 frames for the Sacramento River Cats.

On the other hand, the Giants swung a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers to acquire Small. The lefty pitcher was a first-round pick by the club in 2019.

The Giants had a need for another southpaw reliever but Small missed the first half of the season with an oblique injury. He pitched near the end of the year for Sacramento where he allowed six earned runs on 10 strikeouts and two walks in nine innings.

Without a defined role and no minor league options remaining, the Giants made an understandable move by moving Small off of the 40-man roster. Both Teng and Small are now free to sign with any team, but it would be surprising if at least one of them did not return.