The Giants are heading into an offseason roster squeeze that could get messy fast.
With 40-man spots at a premium, the club is trying to juggle a group of pitchers coming back from Tommy John surgery, and the timing makes it even trickier. Six players on the 40-man roster have had the procedure in the past 14 months, including Randy Rodríguez, who has already started a rehab assignment in the Arizona Fall League.
Rowan Wick is part of that same broader puzzle. The Giants brought him in last spring while he was still recovering from major elbow surgery, with 2027 in mind.
But the club declined his team option for next season, even though he remains under team control. Later this month, the Giants will have to decide whether to keep him at the non-tender deadline.
Wick is one of six arbitration-eligible players the team kept after the initial roster purge.
The harder calls come with Hayden Birdsong, Trevor McDonald, Carson Whisenhunt, and Blade Tidwell. All four had Tommy John surgery within the past eight months, and the recovery window runs from 12 to 18 months.
Birdsong appears to have the best shot of getting an extended look next season among that group. Under a normal timeline, he would be in position to start a rehab assignment in the first half of 2027.
But 2027 may not follow a normal calendar. With a lockout looming, no one knows when next season will start. If the opening is delayed, Birdsong would have more time to finish his recovery and could be ready whenever play begins.
McDonald, Whisenhunt, and Tidwell face longer odds of getting back on the mound next season, especially Tidwell, who had his surgery at the end of this year. McDonald and Whisenhunt should begin throwing off the mound before the end of next year, though that could mean either bullpens or a rehab assignment depending on how the recovery goes.
Even with all that uncertainty, the Giants will try to keep all four on the 40-man roster this winter. They can’t use the 60-day injured list to solve the problem, which is what forced the club’s initial roster purge in the first place. More than a dozen players had to be activated.
So the Giants are left trying to protect pitchers who may not help them anytime soon, while also trying to preserve roster flexibility in a market where 40-man spots disappear quickly. It’s a difficult balancing act, and one the front office will have to manage carefully.
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The wrinkle is that Kuhnel is no longer on the 40-man roster, and after going unclaimed on waivers he became a free agent. Even so, the Giants could still circle back on a minor league deal if they want more depth in the relief corps, leaving his future in the organization very much unresolved for now. [Read more 🡒]