SAN FRANCISCO -- "Forever Giant" is a nice slogan, but it sure has made life a bit more difficult for Farhan Zaidi and the rest of the front office.
Giants fans have grown accustomed to stability. The Giants, in the year 2019, can still take the field with an infield of Buster Posey, Brandon Belt, Joe Panik, Brandon Crawford and Pablo Sandoval. That's incredible, and it shows you just how much continuity there has been in this organization for the past decade.
It worked until it didn't, and when Zaidi switched sides of a rivalry, he did so with the reputation of preferring flexibility. On his first day on the job, Zaidi talked passionately about finding incremental improvements and having options, and that has colored much of the offseason.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Why Gerardo Parra instead of Adam Jones? Because Parra would have been easier to cut if a young outfielder, who could be part of future winners, broke through in spring training. That didn't happen in Scottsdale, but after a month of action Zaidi had seen enough to make a Mike Gerber-for-Parra swap.
Gerber is hitting second Friday night and the Giants face four right-handers in Cincinnati, so the lefty should get a quick opportunity to show what he has. And if Gerber doesn't work out, it will be Mac Williamson, or Chris Shaw, or Henry Ramos, or someone else without a large contractual guarantee.
Why Erik Kratz over Aramis Garcia? Because the Giants knew they wanted to take a look at Stephen Vogt, and Kratz seemed a solid-enough option until Vogt's shoulder got healthy enough for a promotion. That became official on Wednesday, and Kratz went on the injured list Friday with a hamstring strain. The Giants did not want Garcia sitting on the bench five days a week, and his struggles in Triple-A this season show there's still some development ahead of him.
Why Derek Holland and Drew Pomeranz instead of bigger names? Because it wasn't difficult this week to put Holland on the injured list when it became clear that Tyler Beede needed to get another audition in the big leagues. This is no spot-start on Friday night.
San Francisco Giants
The Giants would like Beede to grab the rotation spot and hold onto it. If he gets rocked, he has minor league options remaining, and an extra position player or reliever can be added until that rotation spot comes up again.
[RELATED: Which other Giants prospects could get called up soon?]
It took a month to get here, but this is what was expected of the new regime. The Giants are looking towards the future, and the 25-year-old Beede and 26-year-old Gerber have a chance to be part of it.
Most of the players on the roster do not, but Zaidi hoped the veteran group could at least be competitive early in the season. Kratz was hitting .133, Parra was hitting .198, and Holland has a 5.34 ERA, and thus we have a flurry of roster moves, with plenty more sure to come.