It’s almost September, and you know what that means! Young players. New players. Anyone but these old players, please. I’m tired of the old players. They smell like loss. Give me the new, fresh players who smell like not-loss. Maybe one day they can smell like win.

I’ll settle for smelling like not-loss for now.

The Giants will be allowed to expand their roster on Friday, and that means it’s time to guess at who they’ll call up before the season ends. Note that the goal isn’t to predict who comes up on September 1, because there are all sorts of considerations (leaving a functional team in Sacramento, the San Jose Giants being within a game of making the playoffs, et cetera), but who comes up before the end of the season.

If you’re expecting Chris Shaw, you might be disappointed for reasons I explained here. The Giants might value the ability to get a look at him before next March more than they value the 40-man roster spot, so it’s still possible. But even if they do bring Shaw up, the main point stands: The 40-man roster and the Giants’ ability to protect players from the Rule 5 draft is going to play a huge part in what they do.

First, start with the players on the 40-man roster who are likely to be called up:

• Reyes Moronta
• Steven Okert
• Derek Law
• Trevor Brown
• Mac Williamson
• Orlando Calixte

Again, they won’t all get called up at once, but once Sacramento’s season ends on September 4, I’d guess that they’ll all be in the majors.

Then there are the players on the 40-man roster who could get called up, but could also be designated for assignment to make room for other call-ups. The Giants’ 40-man roster is full, so if there’s anyone other than the above six players they want to call up, they’ll have to get remove some of the current players.

• Jae-gyun Hwang
• Dan Slania

I would be mildly surprised at Slania being DFA’d, just because he’s been solid in Double-A since getting sent back down, but he’s 25 and took a fair step back this season. The roster crunch is going to squeeze someone out, and just about every team is in this position on September 1, so it would surprise me if another team claimed him.

Hwang has a .789 OPS in the PCL, and the Giants got their look at him already this season ... I’m thinking he’s a roster casualty. We’ll always have that game against the Pirates.

The Giants will put Chase Johnson on the 60-day DL to open up one spot, I’m guessing, even though they won’t be able to use that trick in the offseason, when the 60-day DL doesn’t exist. Michael Morse might fall under that category, too, but the Giants might just DFA him, too.

Of the players who aren’t in the bullet points up there, the Giants would be smart to add some of the players they’ll have to protect in the Rule 5 Draft anyway. Tyler Beede will need to be added, but he’s hurt, so the Giants might as well wait until after the season, when spots open up organically when free agents leave.

D.J. Snelten is a left-handed reliever doing well in Triple-A, though, and I’m a little surprised he’s not on the roster getting a look right now. He would almost certainly get picked in the Rule 5, and he should be a candidate for a job next spring.

Tyler Rogers is a right-handed funk maven, a sidearmer with a pretty ERA, and I am here for that. He also has a brutally low strikeout rate, even for a sinkerballer, so I wouldn’t guarantee that another team would take him in the Rule 5. But Brad Ziegler’s strikeout rate isn’t much to talk about, and he had an extended run of success. I’m guessing the Giants give Rogers a look.

Dusten Knight is another Triple-A reliever with a shot to get added before the offseason, but he doesn’t have a ton of experience above Single-A, so it would be a touch unorthodox.

Sam Coonrod was disappointing as a starter this season, but his strikeout pitch returned when he was put in the bullpen earlier this month. He’s hurt, though, and hasn’t pitched in 11 days, so he’ll probably be added with Beede before December, after the Giants open up some room.

Aramis Garcia is currently in Double-A, and he’ll definitely be added to the roster before the Rule 5, but considering his assignment in the AFL, I’m not so sure he’ll get the call up. The Giants might wait until the offseason with him, too.

As for the additional outfielders, infielders, and catchers, I’m not seeing too many other possibilities. Steven Duggar probably has a better chance than Shaw to be the player put on the 40-man roster even though he’s not Rule 5 eligible, just because he plays center field and the Giants already have several in-house candidates to play left field next year. The look-see means more for to the Giants with Duggar than Shaw, in other words.

TL;DR

Here are my guesses for the September call-ups:

I’ll guess that Chase Johnson, Michael Morse are put on 60-day DL, which leaves the roster with two open spots.

• Reyes Moronta
• Steven Okert
• Derek Law
• Trevor Brown
• Mac Williamson
• Orlando Calixte
• Tyler Rogers
• D.J. Snelten
• Jae-gyun Hwang

That last one is the only one I’m really waffling on, just because I think the Giants might want to experiment with Dusten Knight more than Hwang at this point, but the Giants would also be aware that if they have a 17-man bullpen that no one will get a fair look.

I’m also thinking the Giants could designate Hwang to make room for Duggar, just because they’re expecting him to play a substantial role in 2018. On the other hand, I like Hwang, and I think the team does, too. So he’s up. For now.

Now’s the part of the program where you kick back and watch me be wrong. It’s your absolute right, you know.