By Morris Phillips

The flipside to the Giants regaining their health with the impending returns of Hunter Pence, Matt Cain and Jake Peavy is that the team is likely to part ways with two or more significant faces.

And from all appearances, those decisions won’t be popular or based on sentiment.

The rotation comes first and has the most moving parts.  But, solidifying the starting rotation could be the difference in whether the Giants miss the playoffs entirely, or overtake the Dodgers and win the NL West.

As it stands the Giants have seven candidates for five spots.  And given that Ryan Vogelsong’s performances out of the bullpen early in the season weren’t encouraging, none of the seven would appear to have much value as anything other than starters.

General manager Bobby Evans had discounted the possibility of a trade for another starter, saying the team needs to see what it has on hand first before venturing outside the organization for rotation depth. Given that, it appears that faltering Tim Lincecum—who’s headed to the disabled list—could be a non-factor for the remainder of the season not unlike Barry Zito was banished in 2010.

Could the Freak be traded?  Doubtful, given his prodigious contract and the fact that the contract extends to next season.

So that would leave six candidates for the five spots, and in that scenario, either Vogelsong or Peavy would be the likely odd men out, especially if Cain returns healthy regardless of whether he struggles or excels in the short run.

Could the 37-year old Vogelsong be released or traded?  With his affordable contract–$4 million for just this season–either would be a possibility.  The team wouldn’t flinch if it forfeited the remainder of the money or hesitate if Vogelsong could be attractive in a trade that would undoubtedly net the team another starter or an upgrade in the bullpen.

Vogelsong could be an option as the team’s long reliever if the plug is pulled on the incumbent at that position, Yusmeiro Petit.  Petit played a significant role in the 2014 postseason, but he hasn’t looked like the same guy this season in limited work. Once again, Vogelsong nor Petit have hefty contracts, so either guy could be expendable.  And maybe both if the five, veteran starters click, clearing a spot for Chris Heston to be the long man.

In the bullpen, Jean Machi could be let go, especially with the emergence of George Kontos.  In spring training, all signs pointed toward the Giants parting with either Machi or Kontos, since there didn’t appear to be spots for both.  Injuries sorted that one out at the beginning of the season, but at this stage of the season, only the real contributors are essential, and that could cost Machi.

Offensively, don’t expect the Giants to make many changes.  Andrew Susac, Joe Panik and Matt Duffy are establishing themselves as high-level major leaguers and the team will afford them every opportunity to explore the limits of their ability.  Also, Nori Aoki has proven himself as a leadoff man on a team that appears to no longer have Angel Pagan as a viable option in the role.

Given all the players entrenched in their roles in the Giants’ lineup, the only possible subtractions would be Travis Ishikawa, Casey McGehee (for a second time) or in a surprise, Justin Maxwell, who was a revelation in April and May, but far less in June.

And one other thing: if the Giants don’t find suitable candidates for their rotation spots then all bets are off, and several players could be traded to bring back a front line starter.

On Tuesday, the Giants begin a stretch of 12 consecutive games against four NL East opponents, starting with a trip to Miami to face the Marlins minus major league home run leader Giancarlo Stanton.  Vogelsong faces Mat Latos in the series opener at 4:05pm.