Every time you log onto the Internet, it seems like there’s something designed to break the brains of San Francisco Giants fans. Take Spencer Miles, someone you didn’t pay attention to until you saw a video like this:
Not often you see a Rule 5 guy (Spencer Miles, from the SF org) throw 99 with movement like this on the corner, while striking out the side. He’s a real one.
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— Mike Petriello (@mikepetriello.bsky.social) July 1, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Do you think the Giants’ bullpen could benefit from a reliever like that? I certainly do. Which makes it extra painful that the Giants drafted him in 2022 and let him slip away in the Rule 5 Draft last December. The Giants had a rookie reliever with closer stuff and they just let him get away.It’s not just him, though. It’s Kyle Harrison. It’s James Tibbs III annihilating Triple A in the Dodgers’ system. It’s half the players in the Braves’ starting lineup on any given day. Every time you turn around, it feels like a recent ex-Giant is having a fine season, if not a career best. Is it possible to build a shadow Giants team, a 26-man roster filled with players who could reasonably still be with the team?This is an article timed to run on an off day after a Giants win. It is not intended to prove a point or make you angry. It’s simply One of Those Things™ that adds to the dark comedy of 2026. Contained within are names that should make you angry and pessimistic about the direction of the franchise, of course, but any argument that the Giants simply should have run out a lineup of less-than-heralded prospects and other organizational bits wouldn’t be in good faith.Consider Miles up there. On the surface, it’s exactly what it looks like: a team mis-evaluating one of its own players. But it was also a calculated risk to decline to protect a 25-year-old who’d thrown only 14 2/3 professional innings in the four years since he’d been drafted. Even if another team drafted him, what were the odds he was going to stick all season? If you grumbled at the time, take a bow and pick up your ribbon, but there can’t be many of you.Spencer Miles threw just 14 2/3 innings in the Giants’ organization after being drafted in 2022, but he’s been a stalwart for the Blue Jays this season. (Duane Burleson / Getty Images)If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry. And maybe chuck a bobblehead at the wall. Be careful, some of those are worth more than you think. But this is a list of ex-Giants that it’s reasonable to pine for. They’re the ones who got away, and it’s still reasonable to feel like that in 2026. It’s a fine line, and I’m the sole arbiter, but it doesn’t seem like a stretch to lament Kevin Gausman going elsewhere, even years later, whereas Carlos Rodón traveled a much different path. The dust has cleared on the Bryan Reynolds trade, which feels like it was 30 years ago, so complaining about him is closer in time to complaining about Brian Sabean not pursuing Vladimir Guerrero Sr. You get the idea. There will also be random utility players and less-than-heralded bullpen arms included to fill out the roster. Not every transaction needs to be lamented.
