The remaining need for the 2016 Giants

Denard Span is the new outfielder. Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto are the new pitchers. The offseason is dead. Long live the offseason.

Except we can still have rumors! Look at this here rumor:

The Giants could still use some roster depth and there are a lot of free-agent options available, but they won't dive into the market again now that they've signed Span to be their center fielder. It's possible they could make a trade to thicken the roster.

I'll just assume that last part is code for "re-acquiring Pablo Sandoval" and ignore it. But roster depth is good. Everyone wants more roster depth. Go up to the best GM in baseball, ask him if he wants more roster depth, and he will unequivocally say he wants more roster depth. Also, I've found that if you keep typing "roster depth" over and over in the same paragraph, it loses its meaning. Roster depth.

What kind of roster depth, though? Let's guess at the locks on the projected 25-man roster and see what the Giants still might need.

C

Buster Posey
Andrew Susac or Trevor Brown

INF

Brandon Belt
Joe Panik
Brandon Crawford
Matt Duffy
Kelby Tomlinson

OF

Angel Pagan
Denard Span
Gregor Blanco
Hunter Pence

SP

Madison Bumgarner
Johnny Cueto
Jeff Samardzija
Jake Peavy
Matt Cain

RP

Santiago Casilla
Sergio Romo
Hunter Strickland
George Kontos
Javier Lopez
Josh Osich
Chris Heston

Total players: 23
Still needed: One more outfielder, one more infielder

The outfielder could be a free agent like Marlon Byrd, sure. But it seems more likely for the Giants to use one of the internal options, like Kyle Blanks, Mac Williamson, or Jarrett Parker. There's a little depth there, at least as far as interchangeable parts, which would allow them to find the right answer in spring training without panicking.

That leaves one more infielder. And as several people have pointed out, there sure is one left on the market.

Juan Uribe will be 37 next year, and at some point his see-ball-swing approach is going to be ghastly. He's been an above-average contributor for three years running, though, and he couldn't be too expensive. He hasn't played more than a couple of innings at shortstop since 2010, but both Tomlinson and Duffy have extensive experience at short in the minors, so they could fill in for a game or three if the Giants were in a roster pickle.

The Giants also have Ehire Adrianza, who probably isn't as abominable at the plate as he was last year, but who probably can't help a bench on a team that doesn't need a defensive replacement. Grant Green and Ramiro Pena both have major league experience, and it's possible the Giants could wait for the spring training battle from all of the above to fill that last spot.

Uribe would fit well with the Giants Even Year Bullshit ring theory, where a fourth installment would likely circle back around and pay homage to the first episode of a trilogy, but it's also just as likely that the Giants would sign someone boring and competent, like Clint Barmes or Alberto Callaspo. He might be more expensive (or want more at-bats) than what the the Giants would prefer to commit to.

There is one more infield spot up for grabs, though. That's the remaining need of the offseason. Don't pack away your rosterbatory zeal just yet. There's another infielder to get.