40 Man Rostering

Ran across some roster moves by the Giants during the month of September that might not have gotten much press as the season waned:

• Guillermo Rodriguez was released, apparently to add Scott McClain to the 40 man roster. G-Rod's days were numbered once Pablo "Kung Fu Panda" Sandoval came up and started hitting from the beginning and never stopped.
• Clay Timpner was removed from the 40-man roster in order to add Conor Gillaspie. It appears that no team picked up Timpner, a classic Giants prospect: great defense but can't really hit.
• Matt Palmer and Brian Horwitz were both removed from the 40-man roster. It appears that neither was picked up on waivers, so they are both still in the system. I'm not surprised by Palmer, but Horwitz I thought might be picked up by an AL team, he would be a natural as a DH, that is, if the power he showed this season can be duplicated at the MLB level, as his defense apparently was pretty bad.
• Vinnie Chulk was granted free agency. No more jokes using his last name for Giants fans. Not sure how or why he outgrew his welcome, he did pretty well for them last season but not so much this season, and from what I recall, he did not go down to the minors quietly either, which Brian Sabean does not like, vocally negative players (or was that Messenger?). I suppose it also has to do with his age (he'll be 30 next season), his lack of a strikeout pitch, his lack of control (didn't have a very high K/BB ratio, meaning his walk rate was too high for his K-rate), and his probably being arbitration eligible, which would mean a payday boost from the $396,000 he got this season to probably somewhere between $750K and $1M. Thanks for the 2006 and great 2007 seasons, good luck whereever you land.

The 40 man roster, however, is basically full right now, there are 41 players listed, with Valdez and Lowry not counting because of the 60 day DL list. Vizquel and Aurilia will clear out spots when they become free agents. It has been rumored/speculated in various Giants water coolers that Correia, Hennessey, Taschner, and/or Walker will be released because of their salaries. None of them are scheduled for big raises, so I don't agree, but this is a possibility so I note it.

Alfonzo could be part of that as well, particularly with Sandoval and Holm around. Plus Yabu is 40 now, so he could possibly go as well. And McClain could be dropped as well. And if the Giants finally decide to go with Schierholtz in RF, they will gain a spot when Winn gets traded to open a spot for Schierholtz. Lastly, Ishikawa, I am pretty sure, is out of options, and if he took a bench spot behind Sandoval, he would be there as defense at 1B in late game situations and a power lefty bat off the bench, which is not what Sabean has looked for in his bench players, he prefers flexibility in positions played, so Ishikawa could be gone as well.