Giants release Jarrett Parker

The Giants have released outfielder Jarrett Parker, per the team’s transactions page. Parker was out of options, and the Giants needed to clear a 40-man roster spot for pitcher Derek Holland, who was in camp as a non-roster invitee this spring but will be on the Opening Day roster.

Parker, 29, struggled out of the gates last year after earning the Giants’ starting left field job in spring training, and just as he was beginning to heat up in late April he suffered a broken clavicle. He returned in late August and finished the season with a solid but unspectacular .247/.294/.416 slash line and four homers in 177 plate appearances. He posted a solid .220/.333/.561 line with three homers in 48 plate appearances this spring, but since he’s limited to the corner spots, he was going to have to absolutely tear the cover off the ball in order to have a chance with Andrew McCutchen, Hunter Pence, Austin Jackson, Steven Duggar, Gregor Blanco, and Gorkys Hernandez already factoring into the Giants’ outfield mix.

Parker possesses exceptional power — he has 15 homers and a .456 slugging percentage over 382 major-league plate appearances — but worries about his excessive strikeouts and the fact that he’s 29 and out of options will likely limit his attractiveness to other clubs, at least as far as major-league offers are concerned. Assuming that he isn’t brought back on a minor-league deal, the Giants will still have quite a bit of outfield depth heading into the season; at least one and maybe two of Duggar, Blanco, and Hernandez won’t make the Opening Day roster, and they have Mac Williamson, Austin Slater, and Chris Shaw slated to begin the year at Triple-A Sacramento.