SF Giants: Joey Bart, Heliot Ramos, and others could see time in majors

Will the SF Giants carry players like Joey Bart and Heliot Ramos on the MLB roster?

The SF Giants were expected to have a number of difficult roster decisions to make at the start of the season. With a collection of players vying for the final few roster spots, making final cuts was always going to be challenging.

But now, they face a completely different challenge when it comes to constructing their roster.

Instead of having the originally-scheduled 26-man roster, the Giants — and the rest of the MLB — will likely have around 30. And instead of seeing their top prospects develop in the minors, they might opt for a different strategy.

With the growing likelihood that the MiLB season will be canceled in its entirety, some of the most promising names in the Giants farm system may not be able to see any playing time in 2020. And with that, a year of their development essentially goes out the window.

However, manager Gabe Kapler recently indicated that the Giants will keep all of their options on the table.

"“We have to operate as if there are not going to be any other developmental opportunities this year. And for that reason I think we have to look at our prospects and say, even if we’re not sure they’re going to make an impact on our major league roster in 2020, if we think they might in ’21 or ’22, and we think that their development is critically important to the health of our minor league system and our organization, we have to find a way to at least consider them getting reps in a stay-hot style of camp.”"

Given the expectation that there will be no minor-league baseball in 2020, the thought is that teams will have around a 20-man taxi squad in addition to their active roster. And Kapler seemed to hint that the Giants could look to use those extra roster spots on some of their top prospects.

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That will, of course, include players like Joey Bart and Heliot Ramos who were already expected to see brief stints in the majors at some time this year. But the list might not stop there.

Even much more inexperienced prospects such as Hunter Bishop and Marco Luciano could be given spots on the taxi squad simply with the intention of giving them developmental reps.

It’s worth noting that neither Bishop or Luciano have even played above A-ball to this point, but that might not stop them from earning pseudo-spots on the major-league roster.

That doesn’t mean they’ll end up seeing actual playing time, but it will allow the Giants to continue developing them in lieu of a canceled minor-league season.

And as Kapler said, it makes sense to develop players who you expect to contribute in the future as opposed to veterans who likely won’t remain on the roster past this season.

Next. Will any SF Giants remain with the team throughout the decade?. dark

The Giants and the rest of the MLB will have difficult roster decisions to make this season — much different than any foreseen decisions.

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