What are the chances that a veteran reliever makes the SF Giants Opening Day bullpen?

On Wednesday, the SF Giants finalized a minor league deal with veteran reliever Lou Trivino. This includes a camp invite. What are the chances that he makes the Opening Day bullpen?

What are the chances that a veteran reliever makes the SF Giants Opening Day bullpen?

Despite not pitching for the past couple of seasons, Trivino has still been accruing major league service time while on the New York Yankees' injured list. He has reached over six years of service time and finished the year on the Yankees' roster.

This is an important detail because it means that his contract should have some automatic opt-out dates. The first comes five days before the start of the season followed by May 1 and then June 1. This could put some pressure to put Trivino on the roster depending on how he performs.

I suppose the more pressing question is, is there even a spot available for the veteran hurler? Assuming full health and the Giants begin the year with eight relievers, there could be a couple spots open.

The Giants have several spots locked in with the bullpen. You can pencil in five relievers Ryan Walker, Tyler Rogers, Camilo Doval, Sean Hjelle, and Erik Miller. While Doval did struggle last year, it would take a rough spring training for him to not make the club. Plus, the Giants will likely want to carry another left-handed reliever in the bullpen. Joey Lucchesi seemingly has the inside track for that.

Doval along with several other young relievers have minor league options remaining, including Hjelle, Spencer Bivens, Randy Rodríguez, and Tristan Beck. This is where the Giants have some flexibility to add to this unit.

If five spots are already penciled in and another should be earmarked for a southpaw pitcher, the Giants have one or two spots left in the bullpen.

When healthy, Lou Trivino was a pretty solid option. He spent five seasons with the Oakland A's before a midseason trade in 2022 sent him to the Yankees. The 33-year-old pitcher has 284.2 innings in the majors, 263 of which came with the A's. Much of that time was when Bob Melvin was the manager, so there is a sense of familiarity between the two.

Trivino has posted a 3.86 ERA, 3.90 FIP, 1.34 WHIP, 9.5 K/9, and a 2.30 SO/W rate in his career. For a brief period of time, he even served as Oakland's closer, recording 22 saves with the A's in 2021.

Though, the righty pitcher has missed the past two seasons as he recovered from Tommy John surgery. He did appear in a handful of rehab games in the minors near the end of the year.

Given this, Trivino would really need to throw well to work his way back into leverage spots but there is some upside as a reliable arm. He is nearly two years removed from major surgery. If he shows he has regained his pre-injury form and throws well in Arizona, the Giants would be pretty smart to give him a chance. Plus, having a fan in Melvin probably does not hurt his case either.