MESA, Ariz. -- Giants manager Bruce Bochy dropped a very large hint that James Rollins won't be on his club's roster when it opens the 2017 season Sunday at Arizona.
Asked about Rollins' absence from San Francisco's Cactus League exhibition finale Tuesday against the Chicago Cubs, Bochy said, "We're waiting to hear back. We talked to Jimmy. He knows the scenario and the situation. We're just waiting to hear back from him."
The scenario is that other candidates for a utility infield spot, such as non-roster invitee Aaron Hill and hustling homegrown product Kelby Tomlinson, have more versatility than Rollins, who has played shortstop for virtually his entire 17-year Major League career.
The situation was a dire one for Rollins, the 2007 National League Most Valuable Player and a three-time All-Star with Philadelphia. Though Rollins looked relatively comfortable at second base, the Giants never tried the 38-year-old at third. Moreover, the switch-hitting Rollins batted .125 (5-for-40) in 16 games.
Even Bochy's remark about talking to Rollins sounded ominous. Without revealing players' identities, Bochy has repeated recently that he already has told various players they won't make the team, despite their presence on the active roster for the Bay Bridge Series beginning Thursday.
Marrero mashes again: Continuing his prodigious hitting in clutch situations, non-roster invitee Chris Marrero slugged a three-run, ninth-inning home run to help lift the Giants to a 10-7 victory over the Cubs and sustain his momentum toward claiming a reserve role on the Opening Day roster.

Marrero has a team-high seven home runs and a .672 slugging percentage, excluding a round-tripper he hit in the exhibition against the Puerto Rican national team that isn't counted in the Cactus League statistics.
"It seems fitting that he would do something like that. He's done all he can do to be on this club," Bochy said. "I love his swing, his attitude, the work he's put in. ... He has a great approach. He has a quiet intensity and determination. From Day One you could see he bears down with every at-bat."
• Bochy said Eduardo Nunez, who has been bothered much of the spring by a sore right shoulder, will play third base in the first two games of the Bay Bridge Series against the A's. Bochy added that Nunez, who can handle multiple infield and outfield positions, will play five innings at shortstop Saturday at Oakland.