SF Giants make first wave of roster cuts but plenty more are on the horizon

The MLB offseason is officially here and it may only last about a month with the lockout set to occur in early December. That means a lot of teams are going to be very active and the SF Giants made their first wave of roster cuts on Thursday.

We have covered how the Giants need to make a lot of space on the 40-man roster this offseason since they have so many guys who are injured and will be coming off the 60-day IL. Five players were cleared from the 40-man roster: reliever Matt Gage, infielder Osleivis Basabe, reliever Jason Foley, outfielder Grant McCray, and reliever Braxton Roxby.

None of these moves came as major shocks. Foley may be the most surprising one of the bunch but he was not that great in 2026 coming off a shoulder injury and the fact that he went unclaimed and was outrighted to Triple-A Sacramento speaks volumes.

The only two players who were claimed off waivers were McCray who will go to the Seattle Mariners and Roxby who was claimed by the Washington Nationals. The other three were outrighted to Triple-A.

McCray was an obvious cut candidate. He got late-season opportunities in September in 2024, 2025, and 2026 but he never did enough at the plate to prove to the Giants that he belongs on the big league roster. His defense and speed were never in question but the bat was always an issue.

Roxby was a minor surprise since he only appeared in four games for San Francisco and had a 3.38 ERA, but he is 27 and his strikeout rate declined in the minors in 2026 so the Giants clearly felt comfortable moving on.

The Giants are not done after first wave of roster cuts

This is just the first wave, though. Probably another 10 to 15 guys will have to be DFA'd in order to ensure there's room for all the players coming off the 60-day IL and the Giants may make more room if they want to protect anyone from the Rule 5 Draft although there is no guarantee there will even be a Rule 5 Draft due to the lockout.

Expect other obvious cut candidates like Ryan Walker, Duncan Davitt, and Shay Whitcomb just to name a few. Basically, a decent chunk of the guys who were getting a lot of playing time by the end of the season will probably be on the cutting room floor.

The Giants would be wise to enact a decent amount of change on the roster this season no matter what, but circumstances dictate that a lot of guys will be placed on waivers so get used to it.

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