After Pederson deal, Giants don't expect to add another bat

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- With three weeks until Opening Day, the Giants have two catchers, eight infielders and nine outfielders on their 40-man roster. Only two of them were acquired this offseason, and one of those players, Austin Dean, is Triple-A depth at the moment. 

That leaves Joc Pederson as the only notable offseason hitting addition to a team that lost Buster Posey to retirement, Kris Bryant to the Colorado Rockies and Donovan Solano to the Cincinnati Reds. But don't expect another big bat to walk through the Scottsdale Stadium clubhouse door anytime soon.

Shortly after the ink dried on the Pederson deal, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi met with reporters and indicated that Pederson's one-year, $6 million contract would be the final addition to the lineup. Zaidi and general manager Scott Harris never stop tinkering, of course, but they feel good about their current group. 

"Even before we added Joc, we talked some about having a pretty good depth of guys that we thought could factor into our roster," Zaidi said. "There's still a chance that we have expanded rosters, at least early in the season, and that may give us a chance to carry more of the group. As we add guys -- I wouldn't rule it out -- but it's starting to become harder to think about who comes off that position player group.

"You factor in injuries to some degree, but you don't want to create too much of a crowd there. I think the right fit, we would still look at, but we feel pretty set on the position player side."

Zaidi has talked all offseason about how he wants to get some incumbents more involved, most notably Thairo Estrada and Steven Duggar. With Tommy La Stella likely to miss Opening Day after Achilles surgery, Estrada is in line for a lot of early playing time at second base. If La Stella misses games in April, Mauricio Dubon -- who, like Estrada, is out of options -- could make the team. 

Pederson's addition put a roadblock in front of Duggar, but the Giants expect to have at least a couple of extra roster spots to work with in April. They could carry six outfielders, playing Darin Ruf, Austin Slater and Mike Yastrzemski against lefties and Yastrzemski, LaMonte Wade Jr. and Duggar against righties, with Pederson at DH. 

Down the line, Heliot Ramos could be an option, and the coaching staff is really, really high on Jason Krizan, a left-handed-hitting infielder who had consistently strong plate appearances in Triple-A last year. 

None of those guys, however, are Carlos Correa. Or Nick Castellanos. Or Trevor Story. Those big names remain on the market, but at the moment, the Giants appear done shopping in the more expensive aisles. 

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Zaidi and Harris spent most of their offseason focused on pitching, committing multiple years and more than $100 million combined to Carlos Rodon, Alex Wood, Anthony DeSclafani and Alex Cobb. The Giants have also agreed to deals with Jakob Junis, Matthew Boyd and Carlos Martinez, who should arrive in camp shortly. 

More starting pitching depth would always be welcome, but the bullpen is set with every contributor back from last year's club, and it now appears the lineup is set, too. 

"We have a plan, we have targets," Zaidi said. "I think if Joc plays to the potential we've talked about -- which I know he's intent on and we're intent on -- he's just going to really help our team."

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