The 25-Man Playoff Roster

Right now dugouts are cramped for space due to the September call-ups but once the Postseason begins, we’re going to see the dugouts looking cozy again down to twenty-five active players. Some decisions as for who will be included will be easy, but some might not be as easy. Taking a look at who’s up there right now:

Outfielders

1. Angel Pagan

2. Hunter Pence

3. Gregor Blanco

4. Xavier Nady

5. Justin Christian

6. Francisco Peguero

Infielders

7. Marco Scutaro

8. Pablo Sandoval

9. Brandon Belt

10. Brandon Crawford

11. Aubrey Huff

12. Brett Pill

13. Joaquin Arias

14. Emmanuel Burriss

15. Ryan Theriot

Catchers 

16. Buster Posey

17. Hector Sanchez

18. Eli Whiteside

Starting Pitchers

19. Tim Lincecum

20. Madison Bumgarner

21. Matt Cain

22. Barry Zito

23. Ryan Vogelsong

Bullpen

24. Yusmerio Petit

25. Sergio Romo

26. Javier Lopez

27. Santiago Casilla

28. Jeremy Affeldt

29. Jose Mijares

30. Guillermo Mota

31. George Kontos

32. Clay Hensley

33. Jean Machi

34. Brad Penny

35. Dan Otero

36. Dan Runzler

37. Shane Loux

The easy decisions as for who to take off will be these guys:

5. Justin Christian

6. Francisco Peguero

12. Brett Pill

14. Emmanuel Burriss

18. Eli Whiteside

24. Yusmerio Petit

33. Jean Machi

34. Brad Penny

35. Dan Otero

36. Dan Runzler

37. Shane Loux

Well, I’m not even sure Peguero and Burriss are “easy” since they have an element of speed, but there’s only so many spots on the roster, and luckily there are other guys on the roster that can run at least a little bit.

Outfielders

1. Angel Pagan

2. Hunter Pence

3. Gregor Blanco

4. Xavier Nady

5. Justin Christian

6. Francisco Peguero

Infielders

7. Marco Scutaro

8. Pablo Sandoval

9. Brandon Belt

10. Brandon Crawford

11. Aubrey Huff

12. Brett Pill

13. Joaquin Arias

14. Emmanuel Burriss

15. Ryan Theriot

Catchers 

16. Buster Posey

17. Hector Sanchez

18. Eli Whiteside

Starting Pitchers

19. Tim Lincecum

20. Madison Bumgarner

21. Matt Cain

22. Barry Zito

23. Ryan Vogelsong

Bullpen

24. Yusmerio Petit

25. Sergio Romo

26. Javier Lopez

27. Santiago Casilla

28. Jeremy Affeldt

29. Jose Mijares

30. Guillermo Mota

31. George Kontos

32. Clay Hensley

33. Jean Machi

34. Brad Penny

35. Dan Otero

36. Dan Runzler

37. Shane Loux

After cutting eleven guys, you’re now down to twenty-six. There’s thirteen guys that can pitch for you. That’s not going to stick, and it sure would be a heck of a lot easier if Aubrey Huff weren’t hitting and Bochy weren’t already hinting at the probability of Huff being on the postseason roster. I don’t mind have all five starters on the 25-man, since I don’t mind the idea of Vogelsong and/or Zito piggybacking a starter if things go bad. I’ve seen through some twitter conversation maybe the FO chooses Hensley over Kontos. This would drive a lot of stat-dwellers nuts, but I could it happening, also, but I think they make the right move in the end. The last cut ends up being this:

32. Clay Hensley

Without Hensley, Bochy has twelve guys to work with, which should be just fine by him. If/when Melky comes back, I imagine Nady would be the one that gets demoted to the non-playoff roster, while someone like Emmanuel Burriss gets taken off the 40-man and DFA again as Wendy Thurm suggested in her Fangraphs piece this morning.

This could all change if Machi goes on a hot streak, Kontos can’t find the strike zone, and Emmanuel Burriss hits a HR, so stay tuned, but I don’t think it’d be realistic to suggest that the Giants aren’t trying to put out the best 25 guys out there to give them seconds of 2010 in 2012. The work done by the front office throughout the season, including the initial 25-man in April is hopefully evidence enough for the skeptical, but there will always be doubters and haters.