Predicting the Giants' 25-man roster for the NL Wild Card Game

Will Tim Lincecum be on the playoff roster? Will Michael Morse be on the roster? What about Gary Brown, when he comes back from his inj ... oh, he's been on the roster the whole time? Odd.

The Giants are in the playoffs. The playoff. Whatever. As such, they'll need to figure out what their 25-man roster is going to be, and it looks a little different from the 25-man roster they had at the end of August. Here's a guess:

Locks

C
Buster Posey
Andrew Susac

INF
Brandon Belt
Joe Panik
Joaquin Arias
Brandon Crawford
Pablo Sandoval

OF
Gregor Blanco
Hunter Pence

SP
Madison Bumgarner
Jake Peavy
Ryan Vogelsong
Yusmeiro Petit
Tim Hudson

RP
Santiago Casilla
Sergio Romo
Jean Machi
Jeremy Affeldt
Javier Lopez

Total
19

Which means there are six spots open. You might have noticed there are only two outfielders on that list. I say, whatever, bring it on, play two outfielders. The Giants winning the World Series with two outfielders would be like beating Legend of Zelda without a sword. They beat the regular quest. They beat the Master Quest. Two outfielders. Who's with me?

Alas, the Giants probably want a third outfielder. So dull. I'd be shocked if Michael Morse weren't on a potential NLDS roster. On the one-game roster? Not sure. If he can't play on Wednesday, there's no sense putting him on the roster and playing a man short. Considering that the Giants were hoping for him to play this weekend, though, I'll put him in the locks. That leaves us with five spots.

Bubble

C
N/A

INF
Matt Duffy
Adam Duvall

INF/OF
Travis Ishikawa
Chris Dominguez

OF
Juan Perez

SP
Tim Lincecum

RP
Hunter Strickland
Juan Gutierrez
George Kontos

You know, Lincecum just might make a postseason roster.

He wouldn't make mine -- I'd trust George Kontos more, he typed with a single tear rolling down his cheek. But there's an extra spot, even after Hunter Strickland is added. Of course, with the four-man rotation, the Giants might not want a 12-man pitching staff.

Perez and Ishikawa are in. Strickland is in. Bochy's use of all three pretty much confirms that they'll be in, so now we're up to 23 players. If you think Matt Duffy is a lock because the Giants will want an extra utility infielder -- I do! -- then Matt Duffy is in.

One spot left. One spot. Onnnnnnne spot. Seems like the Giants could do a reality show thing. Maybe them clamber over the doom rope to get the immunity medal. Instead, they'll have to ask some questions. Do the Giants go with an 11-man pitching staff? With the days off and (probably) Hudson in the bullpen, that would seem like a bit much. And Bruce Bochy seems to like Dominguez a lot, possibly because he got him confused with Daniel Carbonell.

I'll guess they go pitching:

Playoff roster guess

C
Buster Posey
Andrew Susac

INF
Brandon Belt
Joe Panik
Joaquin Arias
Brandon Crawford
Pablo Sandoval
Matt Duffy

OF
Gregor Blanco
Hunter Pence
Michael Morse
Juan Perez
Travis Ishikawa

SP
Madison Bumgarner
Jake Peavy
Ryan Vogelsong
Yusmeiro Petit
Tim Hudson

RP
Santiago Casilla
Sergio Romo
Jean Machi
Jeremy Affeldt
Javier Lopez
Hunter Strickland
Tim Lincecum

There you go.

But ... there's a twist! Teams can change the rosters between the Wild Card Game and the NLDS. So that roster up there is more about what would happen if the Giants were lucky enough to advance. The roster against the Pirates or Cardinals isn't going to need Peavy, Vogelsong, or Hudson. It probably won't need Petit, but I have a feeling he'll make Bochy more comfortable as a long-relief option.

Wild Card roster guess

C
Buster Posey
Andrew Susac

INF
Brandon Belt
Joe Panik
Joaquin Arias
Brandon Crawford
Pablo Sandoval
Matt Duffy
Chris Dominguez

OF
Gregor Blanco
Hunter Pence
Michael Morse
Juan Perez
Travis Ishikawa

SP
Madison Bumgarner
Yusmeiro Petit

RP
Santiago Casilla
Sergio Romo
Jean Machi
Jeremy Affeldt
Javier Lopez
Hunter Strickland
Tim Lincecum
George Kontos
Juan Gutierrez

That's the kind of roster that lets you take out the starting pitcher in the fifth and still have enough relievers to go 14 innings. Please, do not go 14 innings, Giants.