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Farhan Zaidi hints at Dickerson, Dubon roles for next season

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Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports


At Tuesday’s end-of-season news conference, Farhan Zaidi mentioned the Giants can use next season’s 26th man to get creative with their pitching staff.

Thursday on KNBR, Zaidi mentioned the added roster spot as a possible avenue for an extra position player.

So, stay tuned.

The Giants’ president of baseball operations, asked whether he views unproven yet intriguing names such as Alex Dickerson and Donovan Solano as everyday players for next season, gave an interesting answer.

“With some of the challenges that we have around the roster-building standpoint, we’re going to have to be creative on how we get that production. We might not have one second baseman that hits .300 with 18 homers, but maybe you have a platoon of guys that can produce that outcome,” Zaidi said on “Tolbert, Krueger & Brooks.” “And with a 26th roster spot, it gives you a little bit more flexibility to do that.

“Alex Dickerson is a perfect example. You’re hoping that you can get as many at-bats as possible out of him and talk to him how getting through the season healthy should be a major goal of his. But that’s where you hope to have enough outfield depth that, if he does have to miss time, it doesn’t wind up taking the air out of the balloon the way it kind of did this year.”

Dickerson, entering his second year of arbitration, should be back with the Giants, but it does not sound as if Zaidi believes he can be relied upon as an everyday left fielder. They likely will look to add depth to the position after Dickerson’s at-times-electric, at-other-times-injured first season with the Giants, after an injury-plagued career with the Padres.

Zaidi did not mention Mauricio Dubon. But if he is viewing second base as a platoon, the 25-year-old Dubon likely will be moving around next season. He can play shortstop as a right-handed alternative to Brandon Crawford and, perhaps, move to center field, where he did not play this season but has in years past.

“Whether it’s timeshares, platoon, that sort of thing, we’re going to look at all that,” said Zaidi, whose Giants platooned often this season.


Speaking of intriguing, Zaidi called it a “real possibility” that star prospects Joey Bart and Heliot Ramos see time in the majors next season.

“I wouldn’t rule it out. Once guys get to Double-A for me, they’re on the radar, and they can work their way into the picture,” Zaidi said of catcher Bart and center fielder Ramos. “We know real talented players can get there quickly once they get to that level. They’re going to have to earn it. There’s plenty of cautionary tales of guys getting rushed and how that hurt their development in the long run. But we sent both guys to the [Arizona] Fall League. That’s part of hoping they can continue to take big steps forward next year.”