Most organizations fill their low A minor league affiliates HS draftees in their first full seasons or international prospects after 1 year of DSL and 1 year of rookie ball. Ideally you want to see low A prospects who are age 20 or younger with 18 and 19 probably being the ideal ages. Over the years, Giants prospect watchers have been frustrated by the relative dearth of such prospects assigned to the Augusta Greenjackets. That changed this year, at least on the offensive side of the diamond with several teenage player on the Opening Day roster including top international signee Lucius Fox in his first pro experience plus infielders Jalen Miller, Kelvin Beltre and Manuel Geraldo. Of course, Fox ended up getting traded to Tampa Bay for Matt Moore and Geraldo was sent to Salem-Keizer after struggling in Augusta, but hey, at least they were trying! Here are some of the position player prospects of note:
Lucius Fox SS. DOB: 7/2/1997. B-S, T-R. 6'1", 175 lbs. .207/.305/.277, 6 2B, 4 3B, 2 HR, 25 SB, 37 BB, 76 K, 285 AB. Considering this was his first pro experience and to pitching-friendly environment, this is actually a pretty good line, IMO. It will be interesting to see how he develops, but it will be with the TB organization rather than the Giants.
Jalen Miller 2B. DOB: 12/19/1996. B-R, T-R. 5'11", 175 lbs. .223/.271/.322, 20 2B, 5 3B, 5 HR, 26 BB, 107 K, 475 AB. The 475 AB is probably the single most important number in this line. The Giants have had a lot of younger prospects miss a lot of time due to injuries. Miller stayed on the field all season. 475 is truly on impressive number of AB's for a player this young. This experience will hold him in good stead as his career progresses.
Dillon Dobson 1B/3B. DOB: 8/21/1993. B-L, T-R. 6'2", 220 lbs. Drafted in Round 23, 2015. .273/.328/.465, 27 2B, 5 3B, 13 HR, 31 BB, 99 K, 396 AB. The Giants also tend to send later round college draftees from smaller programs to Augusta for their first full pro season. Dobson had a solid college career at Appalachian St. He was drafted as a 2B, but seems destined for a corner infield position. He started out mostly at 1B early in the season but played mostly 3B after Miguel Gomez' promotion to San Jose. I would think Dobson's performance here earned him an assignment in SJ next spring.
Jean Angomas OF. DOB: 6/5/1995. B-L, T-R. 6'0", 170 lbs. .260/.299/.348, 17 2B, 5 3B, 1 HR, 14 SB, 19 BB, 39 K, 342 AB. Angomas has taken his time working through the lower minors, but seemed to find some traction this season. He is the cousin of Edwin Encarnacion. Reminds me a bit of Melky Cabrera in terms of statistical profile.
Matt Winn C. DOB: 8/5/1992. B-R, T-R. 6'1", 210 lbs. Drafted in Round 14, 2015. .230/.325/.393, 13 2B, 13 HR, 44 BB, 110 K, 331 AB. Kind of a 3-true outcomes type hitter. 13 HR's in Augusta is impressive. These kinds of hitters tend to put up the same numbers at any level. That would not be bad for a backup catcher in the majors.
Johneshwy Fargas OF. DOB: 12/15/1994. B-R, T-R. 6'1", 170 lbs. Drafted Round 11 in 2013. .275/.340/.354, 11 2B, 3 3B, 2 HR, 32 SB, 24 BB, 57 K, 291 AB. Fargas washed out in San Jose with a sub-Mendoza Line BA. He put up nice numbers back in Augusta. He can hope for another shot at Augusta next year, but the competition will be fierce with all the OF's drafted in 2016.
Miguel Gomez C/3B. DOB: 12/17/1992. B-S, T-R. 5'10", 185 lbs. .371/.401/.532, 17 2B, 8 HR, 12 BB, 25 K, 267 AB. I don't know much about the rest of his game, but Gomez can hit! Got a midseason promotion to SJ where his BA initially took a hit but he showed more HR power. The BA came back at the end of the season. He has 5 years of service time in the minors so will need to be added to the 40 man roster or be exposed to the Rule 5 draft. If I was a rival GM, I'd be targeting him.
Dylan Davis OF. DOB: 7/20/1993. B-R, T-R. 6'0", 2015 lbs. Drafted in Round 3, 2014. .288/.368/.496, 17 2B, 4 3B, 8 HR, 30 BB, 58 K's, 236 AB. Davis was kind of an all-or-nothing hitter in his first 2 pro seasons. This was a breakout of sorts as he not only hit for much better average while maintaining his power, but he also cut in K rate to below 20%. Midseason promo to SJ went well too. I could see him turning into a Mike Napoli/Mark Trumbo type hitter in the majors.
Kelvin Beltre 3B. DOB: 9/25/1996. B-R, T-R. 5'11", 170 lbs. .250/.329/.406, 14 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 7 SB, 16 BB, 63 K, 192 AB. This is an impressive line for a 19 yo kid in the SAL who has not gotten al lot of pro AB's due to injuries. Unfortunately this season was shortened by injury too, although he came back late. I get the feeling that Beltre has a very high ceiling if he can just stay healthy long enough to get enough AB's to develop.
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Gomez and Davis, at this point so far, look like the real deal. Too bad Gomez isn't taller, then maybe 1B could be in his future. He is serviceable at 3B so far. He has played some 2B in small sample sizes and did well. Maybe he is a Josh Harrison type. But we will see in the future, because AA ball seems to be a "the sound barrier" of sorts for a lot of position players.
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