Former Giants on other player pools

The world is depriving you of at least 102 San Francisco Giants baseball games this year. Or, seen in another light, the world is treating you to 102 fewer Giants games this year.

Take your pick.

Either way, barring a completely predictable and perhaps even likely unforeseeable second wave of the coronavirus shutting things down again, we’ll get 60 regular season games of Giants baseball in 2020. And that just may leave you craving some more.

So to scratch that itch, I’d like to offer the next best thing: Non-Giants baseball featuring Giants players.

Yes, as always, there are former Giants scattered all over the league. And you can get started rooting for — or against — them now, as they populate player pools and look to make active rosters.

If you expand this list to involve former Giants prospects or camp invitees, it gets even longer, but I’m going to stick with people who have played a game for the Giants. Here’s who to watch.

Note: I am making this list based on the original player pools released by the teams on social media accounts because it’s impossible to keep track of all the names. So there may have been some late additions I missed. As always, please feel free to use the comments to point out if I’ve been an idiot.

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NL West

Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images

Arizona Diamondbacks

LHP Madison Bumgarner — Oh, Bum. The most popular former Giant that’s still in the league. It’s a disservice that baseball is trying to ban both his at bats and his snotrockets, but it will still be great to watch him pitch, even if it is poignant.

C Stephen Vogt — Like Bumgarner, Vogt signed with the Diamondbacks over the offseason after a nice year with the Giants. He reportedly wanted to stay in San Francisco, but with Joey Bart on the up-and-up, the Giants couldn’t offer Vogt the two-year deal he was seeking.

Mike Leake was also part of the pool originally, though he has since opted out of the season restart.

San Diego Padres

RHP Pierce Johnson — Everyone’s favorite phallic command of a name. Johnson pitched 43.2 innings for the Giants in 2018, which is about 42 more innings than I remember.

LHP Drew Pomeranz — Hey, remember when the Giants signed Pomeranz last year, and then he wasn’t good, and then they traded him for Mauricio Dubon anyway? That was cool.

San Francisco Giants

Too many to list. Shockingly, the Giants have a lot of players who have played for the Giants.

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AL West

Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images

Los Angeles Angels

RHP Neil Ramirez — Ahh, we all have such deeply embedded memories of those 10.1 innings in 2017.

Oakland Athletics

RHP Yusmeiro Petit — The legend who never gets enough credit.

RHP Burch Smith — If you do the Sporcle quiz of the 64 people who played for the Giants in 2019, you will miss Burch Smith. I promise. Even if you do it immediately after reading this article.

Texas Rangers

C Tim Federowicz — He only had 14 plate appearances in a Giants jersey, but he hit twice as many home runs as Duane Kuiper.

RHP Derek Law — He’s still trying to recapture the magic of the 2016 season, when he was really, really good. Hopefully he can do so in Texas.

NL Central

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Milwaukee Brewers

RHP Ray Black — Still hitting 100, as far as I know. Also part of the Mauricio Dubon trade, so thank you for that.

Pittsburgh Pirates

RHP Kyle Crick — Hopefully he can avoid those locker room disputes this year.

LHP Derek Holland — Hopefully he can avoid those racist “jokes” this year.

RHP Chris Stratton — I’m out of snarky things to say. Best of luck, Chris.

C Andrew Susac — Now there’s a name I hadn’t heard in a while. 2014 World Series champion Andrew Susac! He hasn’t received more than 26 plate appearances in a season since 2015, so hopefully he can get some mojo in Pittsburgh.

AL Central

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Cleveland

INF Christian Arroyo — Arroyo is still trying to find a role in the league after being the Giants top prospect for a while.

Minnesota Twins

INF Ehire Adrianza — Don’t look know, but Adrianza has been worth 2.2 fWAR in his three years with the Twins. Good Giant.

RHP Cory Gearrin — Cory Gearrin! He of four seasons spent wearing a Giants jersey. Hasn’t found a long-term home since. Maybe it’ll be Minnesota.

RHP Sergio Romo — OK, root for Minnesota. Everyone root for Minnesota, I demand it.

NL East

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Atlanta

UTIL Charlie Culberson — Culberson got the first 23 plate appearances of his career for the Giants in 2012, and that was the last we saw of him. But he’s still doing work.

OF Adam Duvall — Duvall had a nice bounceback season last year for Atlanta. Let’s hope he keeps it up.

RHP Mark Melancon — Melancon gets way too much negativity from Giants fans for the simple fact that he was overrated and thus overpaid by the last front office.

LHP Will Smith — A good Giant, and we can thank him for Jimmy Glowenke.

INF Yangervis Solarte — Ahh, Solarte, whom the Giants brought in last year and was very likable but did not play very well.

New York Mets

INF Eduardo Nunez — One thing I always forget about Nunez is that he was an All-Star with the Twins the year that the Giants acquired him in 2016. He also has been worth negative rWAR for his career, which is funny for an All-Star. Baseball!

OF Jarrett Parker — Parker is still trying to find an MLB home, but remember the three-dinger game against the A’s? That sure was fun.

Philadelphia Phillies

OF Andrew McCutchen — Great Giant, two-thirds of a season on a bad team be damned.

Washington Nationals

LHP Fernando Abad — Remember how I said you wouldn’t get Burch Smith if you did the Sporcle quiz of 2019 Giants right after reading this article? Yeah, you won’t get Fernando Abad either.

AL EAST

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Baltimore Orioles

LHP Ty Blach — That’s 2018 Opening Day starter Ty Blach, thank you very much.

Boston Red Sox

RHP Heath Hembree — Hembree helped the Giants win a World Series. He was a decent prospect for them when they sent him to the Red Sox in 2014 for Jake Peavy, and we all know how that worked out. He’s been in Boston ever since.

LHP Josh Osich — I didn’t realize until now that Osich spent a full four years on the Giants.

OF Kevin Pillar — Giants fans may be mad at the organization for letting Pillar go, but he found a good home.

New York Yankees

INF Matt Duffy — Be still my heart.

C Erik Kratz — You have a much better chance of getting Erik Kratz than Burch Smith or Fernando Abad on the 2019 Giants Sporcle quiz, but you’ll probably still forget him.

RHP Dan Otero — Those 12.1 innings in 2012 might not have left a huge impression on Giants fans, but they jumpstarted a decent career.

Tampa Bay Rays

LHP D.J. Snelten — Snelten pitched 4.1 innings for the Giants in 2018, and those are the only innings he’s ever pitched at the MLB level. Here’s hoping he can get back there with the Rays, who sure know how to use a bullpen.

And while he never played for the Giants, it’s worth noting that Lucius Fox is in the Rays pool.

Toronto Blue Jays

2B Joe Panik — We could end up getting to see Panik and Duffy play in the same game. I’d turn off the Giants game to watch that.

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Apologies to the players I invariably missed while going through player pool announcements.