San Francisco Giants Add 3 to Roster, but Leave Spots Open

The San Francisco Giants protected three pitchers from next month’s Rule 5 draft, but leave some spots on the 40-man roster open

On Tuesday, with the deadline to protect prospects from the Rule 5 draft by adding them to the 40-man roster approaching, the San Francisco Giants put three players on their roster. They added a trio of right-handed pitchers: Logan Webb, Sam Coonrod, and Melvin Adon.

Adon is the most notable name of the three, simply because of his sustained success in the recently-ended Arizona Fall League. Despite spending his minor league career almost exclusively as a starter, he was dominant out of the bullpen in Arizona. Pitching as a reliever seems to be his most likely path to the major leagues, and his blazing fastball and sharp slider could get him there quickly.

Webb and Coonrod are both recent Tommy John surgery victims, but both have returned healthy and pitched well.

Webb had the surgery in 2016 and returned to the mound in June of 2017, but he made his biggest jump in 2018 with the San Jose Giants. In 21 games (20 starts) with the Little Giants, Webb posted a 1.82 ERA and 1.216 WHIP with 74 strikeouts in 74 innings. He was promoted to AA Richmond in August and though he didn’t dominate like he did the lower level, he more than held his own. Webb was a fourth-round pick out of high school in 2014, and he just turned 22 years old last Sunday.

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Coonrod’s surgery was more recent, and he only returned to the mound at the end of July this season. He was a quick returner, coming back from the surgery in less than a year. There was some rust in his 10 appearances as a reliever, as he gave up three or more runs three times. But the strikeout numbers certainly grab attention as well, with 23 strikeouts in just 11.2 innings. He’s a little older at 26, but he could definitely help the big league bullpen provided he stays healthy.

Interestingly enough, though, the Giants opted to leave open spots on the 40-man roster rather than fill them with their own minor leaguers. In addition to all the spaces gained last month by outright moves and the beginning of free agency, they gained two more spots in the last two months. The Miami Marlins claimed Julian Fernandez off waivers on Monday, then Chase Johnson was outrighted off the 40-man roster on Tuesday. With the addition of the three pitchers on Tuesday, the Giants’ 40-man roster currently stands at 36.

That leaves plenty of room for new head of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi to start adding his kinds of players to the backend of the roster. His teams have been quite busy on the waiver wire in recent years, and with a lot of players being dumped from 40-man rosters around the league, Zaidi can start to put together his roster, at least somewhat. Unless they somehow fill all four spots in the next month or so, they’ll also be able to participate in the Rule 5 draft in December.

There’s still a long way to go in the offseason, but the Giants 40-man roster is already beginning to look fairly different, especially on the outer fringes. There will probably be many other changes as the winter comes in, as well.