Field guide to ex-Giants in the playoffs

Spoiler: There aren't that many ex-Giants in the playoffs.

That's probably true for a couple reasons. First, the Giants have been diligent about paying their players to stay, for better or for worse. There just aren't a lot of ex-Giants that leak out into the wild.

Second, the, uh, "veteran presence" of recent Giants teams means there are more than a few retired ex-Giants. Aubrey Huff, Edgar Renteria, Pat Burrell, Bengie Molina … they gone. They could probably start on a playoff team, sure. They choose not to. Mm-hmm.

But there are ex-Giants in the playoffs. And this is a field guide to them in the wild.

Rays
Jamey Wright

He is alive. He is still playing baseball. Even weirder is that he just had his best season, both by ERA and strikeout-to-walk ratio. It's been seven years since Wright was a Giant, and he's been an NRI to every single camp before the Rays signed him to a guaranteed deal.

The last time he appeared in a Giants uniform, Matt Morris started the game and Shea Hillenbrand hit a home run. Of the 13 players who appeared for the Giants that day, only Wright is still active.

Vampire.

A's
Dan Otero

For a while, Otero was The Official McC Bullpen Dark Horse of 2012. But things got too dark, too quick. I still had hope for him; the Giants didn't. They took him off the 40-man roster, where he was claimed by the Yankees. The A's claimed him the next day.

This season? He has a 1.38 ERA in 39 innings. He hasn't really been that good -- his K-rate is low, and a lot of his runners have been stranded -- but he's a sinkerballer with excellent control. Really, really excellent control. He's walked 47 batters in his seven-season career.

Wish the Giants kept him, but not enough to burn an effigy of someone. Maybe, like, poke an effigy in the ear.

Pirates
Jason Grilli
Francisco Liriano

Technically, they were never Giants. But they were prospects back in the day before getting dealt. Grilli was traded for Livan Hernandez, and Liriano was traded for Cody Ross and Marco Scutaro. In my mind. Which is how I can process how awesome Liriano looked against the Reds on Tuesday.

It's still amazing that it was the Pirates who lucked into Liriano this year. Doesn't that seem like the kind of thing that would happen to the Yankees?

Indians
Scott Barnes

Barnes isn't going to make the playoff roster, so he doesn't really count. But I wanted to make you think about Ryan Garko. Did you know he was on the Rangers in 2010? I'd like to think he kept talking about "Madison Bumgarner, the young, right-handed knuckleballer," and it screwed the rest of the team up in October.

Cardinals
Carlos Beltran

BOOOOOOO. BOOOOOOOOO. HOW DARE YOU PLAY WELL FOR US AFTER A TRADE. BOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Though I think of Beltran as an ex-Giant like I think of Gram Parsons being an ex-Byrd. It's not the first thing that comes to mind. But while we have a long offseason of rosterbation ahead -- slickers, everyone, remember your slickers! -- a preview is that I'm driving the Beltran bandwagon if the Cardinals don't make the qualifying offer.

They're going to make the qualifying offer. But if they're set on Oscar Taveras taking over, maybe they won't …

Tigers
Octavio Dotel

Just seeing if you were paying attention.

Tigers/Red Sox/Braves
No one

Those arrogant twits. The last team to win the World Series without a player who used to be in the Giants' organization? The 1993 Blue Jays. Now look at them. The lack of ex-Giants like Mike Aldrete ('96 Yankees) and Pat Rapp ('97 Marlins) sucked them dry, and it started a 20-year playoff drought.

Dodgers
Juan Uribe
Brian Wilson

Ugh. Just … ugh.

You're all pretty clear that Brian Wilson is going to get the last out of the World Series, right? It'll be a 5-0 Game 4 against the Indians, and he'll be the non-closer in to save it. I'm not sure if Uribe will hit an opposite-field homer to give the Dodgers that lead, but I'm pretty sure about the Wilson part.

It was worth doubling the Dodgers' offer to not think about this, even if the Giants just locked Wilson in a steamer trunk and slipped it into the luggage for the Jim Rose Circus instead of putting him on the roster.

That's the list. It's a pretty lame list. And it's not going to affect your rooting interests, considering that the two most interesting ex-Giants play for the Pirates, for whom you were already rooting.

Come on, not-Dodgers. Help us out.