Baseball’s general managers meetings kick off Tuesday in Las Vegas in what could be one of the league’s final organized events before a potential lockout.
That would begin on Dec. 1, if and when the current collective bargaining agreement expires and both the league’s owners and MLB Players Association haven’t reached an agreement on a new one. That appears imminent with no agreement in sight.
Advertisement
The 2027 season’s status is uncertain, but business must go on until it can’t anymore.
Shortly after the Milwaukee Brewers won their first World Series late last month, the San Francisco Giants cleared a significant logjam on their 40-man roster and saw an unexpected coaching staff departure.
The Giants lost hitting coach Hunter Mense to the Kansas City Royals, where he’ll serve as an assistant hitting coach, according to reports. Mense played under San Francisco manager Tony Vitello at the University of Missouri 20-plus years ago and joined Vitello’s staff last season.
Despite offensive firepower in the lineup, the Giants’ offense got off to a rough start in 2026 that essentially buried the team’s chances to contend. The group recovered – starting with Rafael Devers‘ outstanding run from May on that made him a Silver Slugger finalist – but ultimately didn’t produce at a rate matching its talent.
Advertisement
Their .245 average ranked 10th in the league and their .400 slugging percentage ranked ninth. However it didn’t translate to enough runs and they walked the fewest times of any NL team (449).
The Giants could hire their third hitting coach in three years or promote from within. Assistant hitting coach Oscar Bernard has been with the organization since 2025.
There was plenty of movement on the roster to go along with the coaching staff shift.
The Giants used an MLB record-tying 71 players this past season, though 17 have left the roster since Oct. 29.
The day after the World Series ended, outfielder Grant McCray was claimed off waivers by the Seattle Mariners; the Washington Nationals claimed right-hander Braxton Roxby. Pitchers Matt Gage and Jason Foley cleared waivers and were outrighted to Triple-A Sacramento along with infielder Osleivis Basabe and, the next day, catcher Andrew Knizner.
Advertisement
The Giants traded infielder Nate Furman to the Nationals for left-hander Tony Neubeck.
Days later, pitchers Jose Butto and Duncan Davitt, along with position players Brett Harris, Shay Whitcomb and Zach Morgan, were claimed off waivers by various teams. Pitcher JT Brubaker became a free agent.
Butto, picked up by the Texas Rangers, is perhaps the biggest surprise as he was once seen as a back-end bullpen mainstay, but missed a majority of the season after surgery to remove a blood clot. The Cincinnati Reds claimed Davitt, Philadelphia Phillies took Harris and Whitcomb and Baltimore claimed Morgan.
Tristan Beck, with the organization since he was traded from Atlanta in 2019, was released and signed a contract with the KBO’s LG Twins, the team announced. The Giants outrighted pitchers Joel Kuhnel and Seth Lonsway off the roster to Triple-A Sacramento, and left-hander Reiver Sanmartin was designated for assignment.
Advertisement
On Friday, the Giants traded Sanmartin to the Washington Nationals for 23-year-old right-hander Robert Cranz. Cranz has strikeout upside, fanning 128 over 95⅔ minor-league innings since he was drafted out of Oklahoma State in 2024, but hit a snag once promoted to Triple-A when he allowed 17 runs over 11⅔ innings.
A majority of those who filtered through the roster were there as a result of the many injuries toward the latter half of the year to key players. Devers, Matt Chapman and Casey Schmitt were among the position players to undergo season-ending surgery while the pitching staff took significant hits throughout.
Young pitchers Hayden Birdsong, Carson Whisenhunt, Blade Tidwell and Trevor McDonald underwent Tommy John surgery during the season, cutting into the pitching depth and development in 2026.
Subscribe
There’s more to San Francisco with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.
This article originally published at For Giants, GM meetings offer chance to do business before possible lockout.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
