Predicting the San Francisco Giants’ 40-man roster and 2012 Opening Day lineup

There will likely be some more tinkering with the 40-man roster between now and Opening Day (April 5), but the San Francisco Giants have enough of their pieces in place to do a little rosterbating now.

Anything can happen in spring training (including injuries and trades), so please don’t take this as gospel (not that you would anyway).

There’s still a chance that the 2011 season-ending injuries to Buster Posey and Freddy Sanchez might keep either or both men from being ready on April 5. But for now, I’m assuming they’ll both answer the opening bell. Posey is way ahead of schedule with his off-season rehab work, and Sanchez, as usual, is reportedly working very hard, too.

I’m also assuming the Giants will open the season with 12 pitchers—the starting five, plus seven in the bullpen. Should they decide to go with a 13th arm—say, Steve Edlefsen or Dan Runzler—then it’s quite possible that one of the utility infielders (like Mike Fontenot or Ryan Theriot) gets cut. The Giants don’t have much team speed on the bench, so Emmanuel Burriss‘s job is probably safe.

The signing of Theriot virtually ensures that Brett Pill (pictured) will start the season in Triple-A, in my opinion. Giants manager Bruce Bochy loves him some veterans and Pill would have to have a monster spring to force the Giants to keep him on the active roster. Suffice to say, how players perform in spring training will determine whether they break camp with the big league team, get assigned to the minors, or get placed on the DL.

Not listed on the 40-man roster below is Eli Whiteside, who was signed to a minor league deal earlier this month and invited to spring training. If he looks anything like he did last summer while filling in for Posey, he won’t make the team out of camp. Instead, the back-up backstop job will likely go to Chris Stewart. I’m guessing Hector Sanchez will start the season at Triple-A Fresno.

The Giants have not yet officially set their 40-man roster (with Theriot, Whiteside, and Guillermo Mota, they currently have 41 players listed).

I’ll try to update this information throughout spring training and as we get closer to Opening Day. In the meantime, I’ve made my best guesses below, following my Opening Day lineup projection. Enjoy.

Giants 2012 Opening Day Lineup (projected)

1. Angel Pagan (cf)
2. Freddy Sanchez (2b)
3. Pablo Sandoval (3b)
4. Buster Posey (c)
5. Aubrey Huff (1b)
6. Melky Cabrera (lf)
7. Nate Schierholz (rf)
8. Brandon Crawford (ss)
9. Tim Lincecum (p)

Giants 40-man roster (projected)

Catchers (Bats/Throws):
1. Buster Posey (R/R)‡
2. Hector Sanchez (S/R)
3. Chris Stewart (R/R)‡

Infielders (Bats/Throws):
4. Ehire Adrianza (S/R)
5. Brandon Belt (L/L)‡
6. Emmanuel Burriss (S/R)‡
7. Brandon Crawford (L/R)‡
8. Charlie Culberson (R/R)
9. Mike Fontenot (L/R)‡
10. Conor Gillaspie (L/R)
11. Aubrey Huff (L/R)‡
12. Brett Pill (R/R)
13. Freddy Sanchez (R/R)‡
14. Pablo Sandoval (S/R)‡
15. Ryan Theriot (R/R)‡
16. Angel Villalona (R/R)

Outfielders (Bats/Throws):
17. Melky Cabrera (S/L)‡
18. Justin Christian (R/R)
19. Tyler Graham (R/R)
20. Roger Kieschnick (L/R)
21. Angel Pagan (S/R)‡
22. Francisco Peguero (R/R)
23. Nate Schierholtz (L/R)‡

Starting pitchers (Throws):
24. Madison Bumgarner (LHP)‡
25. Matt Cain (RHP)‡
26. Tim Lincecum (RHP)‡
27. Dan Runzler (LHP)
28. Eric Surkamp (LHP)
29. Ryan Vogelsong (RHP)‡
30. Barry Zito (LHP)‡

Relievers (Throws):
31. Jeremy Affeldt (LHP)‡
32. Santiago Casilla (RHP)‡
33. Hector Correa (RHP)
34. Steve Edlefsen (RHP)
35. Clay Hensley (RHP)‡
36. Javier Lopez (LHP)‡
37. Guillermo Mota (RHP)‡
38. Danny Otero (RHP)
39. Sergio Romo (RHP)‡
40. Brian Wilson (RHP)‡

‡ - Players whom I predict will be on the Giants’ 25-man active roster on Opening Day.