A’s and Giants think young

Both the Giants and A’s want to get younger, which sounds strange on the surface, considering two vastly different bayside teams have a similar game plan.

The Giants want to get younger so they can get more athletic, more powerful and more durable. In other words, more competitive.

The A’s want to get younger because, well, that’s what they do.

With just less than two months left in the season, both Bay Area managers said Wednesday they’ll be orchestrating games differently the rest of the way, experimenting with various personnel with an eye toward 2018.

“Everybody’s going to play,” the Giants’ Bruce Bochy proclaimed. “We’ll continue to play matchups. We’re going to try to keep winning ballgames. We feel obligated to do that, and we’ll continue to do that. But we can still get at-bats to younger guys.”

Oakland’s Bob Melvin was reminded he tends to play young guys anyway, to which he said, “We do. We have younger than younger guys now.”

The teams are three games into a four-game interleague stretch that’s about as meaningless as if they were playing

spring training games.

Dreams of success in 2017 were dashed long ago, and perhaps the only reason to follow the standings anymore is to see if the Giants lose 100 games and/or earn the No. 1 overall pick in next year’s draft.

Or if the A’s can somehow sneak out of last place.

Changes are coming for both sides, and it’s a refreshing development for Giants fans and maybe not so much for A’s fans, who are far more practiced in the art of roster changeovers and far more patient with the process, if only because it’s part of the drill.

Giants fans know little about transformations. Three championships in five years brought roster stability but an awful lot of expensive, long-term contracts, which no longer work on a team that has become blemished on practically every front.

After Wednesday’s game, the Giants optioned Jae-Gyun Hwang and designated Conor Gillaspie for assignment, creating roster room for Ryder Jones, who was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento and presumably will take over third base, and Jarrett Parker, who’ll be reinstated from the disabled list.

Moving forward, pitcher Matt Cain and outfielders Hunter Pence and Denard Span seem destined for cuts in playing time.

Bochy was asked if Cain — he of the 5.37 ERA and contract that expires after the season — will stick in the rotation, and the manager hinted which way he’s leaning when saying, “I’d like to talk to Matty about it. … Until I get with the players, I want to reserve comment.”

Bochy met with other team decision-makers before Wednesday’s 6-1 loss to the A’s to map out plans into September. He also met with Span and plans a new course for who plays in the outfield. Wednesday’s alignment was the familiar Gorkys Hernandez in left, Span in center and Pence in right.

“I’m not going to send the same three guys out there every day,” Bochy said. “I’ll rotate and make this thing work.”

So who ultimately could replace Cain? Lefty Andrew Suarez, who’s at Triple-A Sacramento, is an option. Perhaps righty Albert Suarez, who pitched in relief Wednesday. Or Chris Stratton, who by rule could be activated from the disabled list early if another player is sent to the DL.

As for the outfield, Parker, who opened the season as a platoon left fielder but played just nine games before breaking his clavicle, will be worked into the mix.

Though the A’s are a younger team, they have players who could be spending their final weeks in green and gold. AllStar first baseman Yonder Alonso, second baseman Jed Lowrie and center fielder Rajai Davis will be free agents after the season.

The A’s have plenty of young candidates to play those positions. Alonso was out of Wednesday’s lineup because Melvin likes how Ryon Healy hits lefthanders, and Healy singled and homered in his first two at-bats off lefty Matt Moore.

“There may be some games down the road as well that (Alonso) might not play against lefties,” Melvin said. “And we’ll see who’s here in September as far as the dynamic goes with Jed.” Franklin Barreto, anyone? “That’s what happens when you’re in the position we are and when you want to see some younger players play and develop,” said Melvin, you batted youngsters Healy, Chad Pinder and Matt Chapman fourth, fifth and sixth. “Sometimes a couple of the veteran guys might get a couple of more off days than they’re used to. That’s not uncommon for us.”

It is for the Giants. They didn’t trade players before Monday’s deadline other than Eduardo Nuñez. The A’s dealt Sean Doolittle, Ryan Madson, Sonny Gray and Adam Rosales, and figure to make more post-deadline deals.

These are different times in the Bay Area, and the Giants and A’s have two months to see if youth will serve them. Or not.