San Francisco Giants on Opening Day roster who won’t be on the roster next season

The San Francisco Giants acquired a lot of new players in the offseason that greatly improved the team, the most notable of which were three big free agents in Jorge Soler, Matt Chapman and Blake Snell. They also made a trade to acquire Robbie Ray, though he is currently injured. That being said, there are still players who were on the Opening Day team that are expendable.

The team looks a lot different already, and that could be even more so the case next year. Despite the big changes, every team has players who will be there for just one year or are only there to be a placeholder until a young prospect is ready for a call-up. There could even be someone who could lose a job to a younger player in surprising fashion.

The Giants have a few players who are locks to be gone before the 2025 season, and it has been apparent for a while. Whether it's because they lost their job or will be free agents, there is going to be more roster turnover yet again.

3. Joey Bart won't be on the Giants roster in 2025

The entire Joey Bart saga has been a fascinating one. He was drafted second overall in 2018 as the heir-apparent to Buster Posey, and immediately hit when he got to the minors, swatting 13 home runs and hitting .293 with a .983 OPS in 45 games at Single-A Short Season.

He was giving Giants fans something to get excited about. Then in 2019, he got hit and broke his hand. That same year, the new front office regime, led by Farhan Zaidi, drafted catcher Patrick Bailey in the top 10. This caused fans to ask a lot of questions about Bart's future, which are now being answered.

Bart has been up and down from the minors since 2020 and has not hit particularly well in the opportunities he's gotten at the major league level. His best season at the plate was in 2022 when he hit 11 homers in 97 games, but he had a .660 OPS and has just an 87 OPS+. In 2023, Patrick Bailey came up and took the job and the Giants starting catcher and hasn't let it go. Then, during the offseason, the Giants brought in Tom Murphy to be the backup catcher, leaving Bart in limbo.

Even though he made the Opening Day roster, he's still the third catcher. He's on the team for now, but keeping three catchers is hard, especially when Bart has never played another position in the big leagues. It seems like the Giants want to try to sneak Bart through waivers as of now. However, there was a lot of speculation that he could be traded at some point.

His days with the team seem limited, it's just a matter of how he leaves at this point.

2. Nick Ahmed won't be on the Giants roster in 2025

Nick Ahmed had a great spring training and was the starting shortstop on Opening Day, but he was always meant to be a stopgap. The Giants see Marco Luciano as the future at shortstop, but with a lackluster spring, they sent him down to Triple-A Sacramento to get more at-bats.

Ahmed will likely remain with the team throughout the season, even if Luciano takes over, to be the backup. However, I don't see a long-term future with the team. While the defense is fantastic, and he collected two hits and drove in two runs on Opening Day, the bat seems shot at this point.

Last season, the two-time Gold Glover, hit .212 with a .560 OPS and 53 OPS+ in 72 games with Arizona last season, leading to his eventual release in September. That's what you're gonna get with Ahmed, a good glove and basically no bat at this point. Add that to the fact that he is 34 years old, the Giants are going to want to look to the future, which is presumably Marco Luciano.

1. Several Giants have opt-outs they'll exercise or will hit free agency

The Giants have a few players who are either upcoming free agents or can opt out of their contracts and are unlikely to be with the team next year. This includes Matt Chapman, who has an opt-out after the season, but he seems lower on the list of the players who would leave. He's set to make $17 million if he stays with the team, and I have a hard time seeing him getting more on the open market.

Wilmer Flores also has a player option, but it's doubtful he opts out.

One player I would consider a lock to leave is Blake Snell. He signed a two-year, $60 million deal with a player option worth $30 million in the second year. If he has a good year, there's almost no way he opts in.

Coming off a Cy Young season in which he posted a 2.25 ERA and struck out 11.7 batters per nine, he didn't get the long-term, big-money deal that was expected, so it's likely he would try to do that again next offseason. Think Carlos Rodon's tenure with the Giants and you're likely to see the same thing play out with Snell. He posted a career-high in starts and strikeouts, so he will likely take advantage of the pillow contract he received.

Before 2023, Michael Conforto signed a similar deal to Snell in terms of structure. After an injury-riddled season, Conforto exercised his player option to stay with the team in hopes of a healthy season in 2024. This means that he is a free agent after the season no matter what, and if he remains healthy, he could get a pretty healthy deal. The Giants seemingly want to give Luis Matos some run in the outfield, so it feels unlikely they would bring him back.

Robbie Ray, who they acquired from the manager in a trade that included Mitch Haniger, also has an opt-out. However, given that he is coming back from Tommy John and likely won't be back until mid-season, it's highly unlikely he will test free agency.

There could be some more turnover for the Giants again heading into 2025, but with the moves they made in this past offseason, the team should be able to withstand that better than they could have in the past. Once again, San Francisco will be a team to keep an eye on in the offseason.