SF Giants should soon have a couple of openings on the 40-man roster

Can you smell the fresh-cut grass? Spring training is in the air, and baseball season opens up as soon as the Super Bowl concludes. This has roster ramifications for the SF Giants, as well as the rest of baseball.

SF Giants should soon have a couple of openings on the 40-man roster

Once spring training begins, teams will be able to use the 60-day injured list again. The official clock for this starts when the season opens up, but it is still a lever that can be used soon enough. 

Why is this important? When a player is transferred to the 60-day injured list, it creates a spot on the 40-man roster. Many teams have no openings on the 40-man roster around this time of year, so they wait until the 60-day injured list can be used to finalize signings.

The Giants may not be waiting to use this lever to finalize a signing. However, they should need those spots depending on how some of their non-roster invitees perform.

Currently, the Giants will begin the year with at least two players on the 60-day injured list. Randy Rodríguez is expected the miss the entire season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and Jason Foley is scheduled to miss the first half of the year following shoulder surgery last summer.

The Giants were not necessarily expecting anything from Rodríguez this year, but the absence will be felt. On the other hand, Foley served previously as the Detroit Tigers' closer in 2023 and 2024. In 2024, he converted 28 saves in 32 chances.

Foley is a groundball-heavy pitcher, and found success in a leverage role despite not having strikeout stuff. That type of profile can be successful in the later innings, but teams also like to have variety. Right now, the Giants' bullpen is light on strikeout pitchers and experienced leverage relievers.

That is one of the reasons why there is a good opening for just about any non-roster pitcher to audition for a spot in this year's bullpen. If a non-roster pitcher makes the club out of camp, the Giants would need to add them to the 40-man roster.

They can do this by transferring Rodríguez and Foley to the 60-day injured list when the need for their spots opens up. It is a lever that gives teams a little more roster flexibility.