San Francisco Giants: A Look at the Current Bench

The San Francisco Giants are just about done in the offseason, unless they make a smaller depth move. As it stands, their bench could be a strength.

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With a big contract headed out to Mark Melancon and pay raises coming for more than one player, the Giants have a payroll pushing $200 million. That means they’re done handing out big contracts, but could still be in the market to improve their depth.

The bench, as it looks now, features a variety of options. They have both righties and lefties, versatile players, and a mix of power and speed. Let’s take a look at the most likely options to crack the bench on opening day.

*Note: This is assuming the Giants go with a five-man bench, which, let’s face it, they probably won’t. Hello eight-man bullpen!

Barring an injury or unforeseen move over the winter, the backup catcher spot is pretty much set. Trevor Brown should open the season on the 25-man roster for the second straight year. As a rookie in 2016, Brown played in 75 games, including 40 starts behind the dish. He hit .237/.283/.364 with seven doubles and five home runs. More noticeable was his defensive prowess.

Behind the plate, Brown continued to show he is a solid receiver for his pitchers, which is part of the reason he earned a lot of respect from veterans late in 2015. He wasn’t great throwing out base stealers, but there was tangible improvement in his catching abilities from season’s start to season’s end. He was visibly more comfortable in the squat and his pitch framing became more of an asset. He even took on some of Buster Posey‘s swagger, doing the famous “strike three walk away” that Posey has become known for on occasion.

Brown is a big step down from Posey, but that’s not really saying much. Any catcher that has to work behind Posey on the depth chart would be a big step down, simply because Posey is so good at what he does. As far as Brown is concerned, he’s an adequate secondary catcher. Just in case, the most likely option to take the job is veteran Tim Federowicz, who was signed last week.

The infield has a bit of competition, but the two choices for the opening day roster should be pretty obvious. Conor Gillaspie became a valuable piece off the bench and was a big, big factor down the stretch and in the postseason for the Giants in 2016. He can play first base and third base. Kelby Tomlinson has never locked down an everyday role playing behind such valuable players, but has become a key contributor in his limited role. He only played in 52 games, but had five go-ahead hits, and he can play all over the infield (plus left field a little tiny bit).