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San Francisco Giants already have three obvious roster cuts before June arrives

The Giants aren't in a good spot, and moving off these three players could finally give them some optimism.
ByWynston Wilcox|
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The Giants aren't in a good spot at all and maybe moving off these three players can finally give them some optimism in 2026.
The Giants aren't in a good spot at all and maybe moving off these three players can finally give them some optimism in 2026. | Icon Sportswire/GettyImages

Key Points

Bullet point summary by AI

  • The struggling San Francisco Giants must trigger a mid-season fire sale. Shedding underperforming players could finally spark some much-needed optimism.
  • The team should deal Matt Chapman, Harrison Bader, and Tyler Mahle. All three are severely underperforming and dragging down the roster with poor stats.
  • Offloading these veterans opens the door for younger talent like Trevor McDonald and Bryce Eldridge. This shift could ultimately save Tony Vitello's job.

The San Francisco Giants are in a horrible spot. They have a first-year manager with no MLB experience in Tony Vitello, who started his tenure off on the wrong side of the fan base. (Here's what we think he needs to do to save his job.) They have a team full of hefty contracts that aren’t performing well and most of all, they’re in the depths of the NL West, which has been one of the strongest divisions in baseball. 

Oof. 

The Giants don’t have a lot of answers 50 games into the 2026 season, but one of those answers could be to trigger a fire sale. Now, does this mean gut the entire roster? Not necessarily. But you might as well trim the fat and get rid of the players you know aren’t performing well. Make them someone else’s problem and start looking elsewhere. That’s Buster Posey’s job over the next few weeks.

Matt Chapman, 3B

San Francisco Giants designated hitter Matt Chapman
San Francisco Giants designated hitter Matt Chapman | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

This is not an overexaggeration when I say the Giants have to find a way to deal Chapman as quickly as possible. If it’s a money problem, well, they need to figure it out. As of May 22, Chapman has one home run in 206 plate appearances this season. In the month of May, he's slashing .147/.205/.221 with an OPS of .426. To continue to put him out there would be coaching malpractice at this point. While he did have a productive April, he’s cooled off a lot. The Giants gain nothing from keeping him and honestly, choosing to not trade him just doesn’t make sense. 

The Giants have a lot of money tied up in Rafael Devers, Willy Adames and Chapman. Adames and Devers are easy scapegoats, but instead of purging the good players, it would make sense to get rid of the struggling ones and see if some unsung heroes can arise on this struggling roster. Besides, moving off Chapman means maybe Devers goes back to the hot corner, and maybe Giants fans can see what Bryce Eldridge is all about. 

Harrison Bader, CF

San Francisco Giants center fielder Harrison Bader
San Francisco Giants center fielder Harrison Bader | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Harrison Bader isn’t an every day player for the Giants, so the argument to keep him around strictly to move off another player is valid. That said, if there are no other options and roster decisions to make, Bader should be one of the players that should be on the move. He’s slashing .157/.184/.349 with a .533 OPS. Even if he has fewer than 100 plate appearances this year, his numbers don’t justify keeping him around. 

The Giants do have some outfielders to work with, so offloading him wouldn’t put a major dent in their depth. I think Bader could be one of those players that could benefit from a move. Bader has moved around quite a bit the last four years or so. I’m not saying he’s going to go and have an all-star second half of the season with a new team, but the Giants could offload him and let him thrive elsewhere while finding a better, short-term solution. 

Tyler Mahle, pitcher

San Francisco Giants pitcher Tyler Mahle
San Francisco Giants pitcher Tyler Mahle | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

It wouldn’t be fair to gut this entire starting rotation, though it would be justified with how poor they’ve performed. One of the worst ones has to be Tyler Mahle. His inflated 6.10 ERA tells one story. The fact that he has just 17 fewer hits than he gave up all of last year with the Texas Rangers tells the other. Teams are hitting him all over the ballpark. For what it’s worth, he hasn’t played more than 16 games since 2023. 

Trading Mahle isn’t about just trimming fat, though; it’s also about finding a way to create space for Trevor McDonald. McDonald has only started three games this year but has already looked like a mainstay in the rotation. Shoving him down the starting rotation just doesn’t make sense when the pitching staff has been mediocre. Moving on from Mahle would give Tony Vitello one reliable arm and maybe give Giants fans belief he’s not completely clueless.

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