SF Giants will need to navigate through a glut on the 40-man roster this offseason

Those roster spots on the 40-man roster are so valuable in the offseason. The SF Giants will have to navigate through a roster glut, as several pitchers are recovering from Tommy Johnny surgery.

Six players on the 40-man roster have undergone Tommy John surgery in the past 14 months. Randy Rodríguez is on the path to recovery, as he has begun a rehab assignment in the Arizona Fall League (AFL).

The Giants added Rowan Wick last spring while he continued to recover from major elbow surgery. The signing with done with an eye toward 2027.

However, the Giants declined Wick’s team option for next season. He remains under team control. Later this month, the Giants will need to determine if they will keep him at the non-tender deadline. Wick is one of six arbitration-eligible players who were retained beyond the initial roster purge.

SF Giants will try to commit roster spots to pitchers who may not contribute in 2027

The real complexity is how the Giants approach the roster spots for the other four players. Hayden Birdsong, Trevor McDonald, Carson Whisenhunt, and Blade Tidwell all underwent Tommy John surgery within the past eight months. The recovery timeline ranges from 12 to 18 months.

If all goes according to plan, Birdsong has the best chance of getting an extended look next season among those four pitchers. In a normal season and an often normal recovery timeline, he would begin a rehab assignment in the first half of 2027.

However, the 2027 season might not be a normal one due to the looming lockout. No one knows when next season will begin. If the start date is pushed back, it would give Birdsong more time to recover, and potentially be ready whenever next year begins.

On the other hand, McDonald, Whisenhunt, and Tidwell have worse odds of making it back to the mound next season. This is especially true for Tidwell, who underwent Tommy John surgery at the end of this year.

McDonald and Whisenhunt should begin throwing again off the mound before the end of next year. Whether that is participating in bullpens or going through a rehab assignment depends on the recovery process.

Regardless of their recovery process, the Giants will try to keep all four pitchers on the 40-man roster this offseason. The 60-day injured list cannot be used, which is what led to the club’s initial roster purge. They had more than a dozen players on the 40-man roster that they needed to activate.

The Giants will need to navigate through this complexity. In essence, they will try to keep all of those pitchers on the 40-man roster, three of whom may not contribute in 2027. That is a tough task to navigate, especially when 40-man roster spots are often in short supply around this time of year.

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