Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Down on the Farm: Your 2018 Augusta Greenjackets

Giants minor league rosters are trickling out.  I have seen assignments change the day before Opening Day more than once, so I would still not necessarily take these as final, but there is likely to be no more than 1 or 2 changes per level between now and Thursday, the start of the season.  With that disclaimer, here are your 2018 Augusta Greenjackets who will play in a brand new stadium:

Pitchers:  Jason Bahr RHP, Garrett Cave RHP, Camilo Doval RHP, John Gavin LHP, CJ Gettman RHP, Peter Lannoo RHP, Joey Marciano LHP, Jose Marte RHP, Olbis Parra RHP, Aaron Phillips RHP, Eduardo Rivera RHP, Frank Rubio RHP, Franklin Van Gurp RHP.

Catchers:  Rob Calabrese, Jeffry Parra, John Riley

Infielders:  Orlando Garcia 2B, Manuel Geraldo SS, Jacob Gonzalez 3B, Ryan Kirby 1B, Shane Matheny 3B.

Outfielders:  Jean Angomas, Logan Baldwin, Heliot Ramos, Malique Zeigler.

All eyes, of course, will be on Heliot Ramos, who is the consensus top prospect in the entire system.  Jacob Gonzalez won't be far behind in term of interest in his progress.  Those 2 kids represent the long term future of the Giants and their development path is critical.

It's a bit hard to figure out who the SP's will be, and the Giants often employ tandem starters at this level early in the season.  The most likely candidates to my eye are Bahr, Cave, Doval, Gavin, Lannoo, Marciano and Marte.  Any or all of them are welcome to have breakouts this season.

Eduardo Rivera was a minor league phase Rule 5 draft pick, so he will have to make enough progress to be added to the 40 man roster next winter or be made available in the same draft again.

I'm pretty high on Rob Calabrese's bat and I like Jeffry Parra as a longterm project.  Riley will likely be more of a DH/1B.

This is a pivotal season for Manuel Geraldo and Ryan Kirby who have both washed out of Augusta in previous seasons.  Gotta get over that hump!

Shane Matheny is listed as a 3B, where Jacob Gonzalez would seem to be the priority.  The Giants have had trouble with young prospects wearing down in their first full seasons so Matheny may be there to give Gonzalez regular rest.

The same goes for the Malique Ziegler/Heliot Ramos situation in CF and I could see Ramos getting some games in RF too.

Overall it's an interesting group and one we will want to watch closely this season.

7 comments:

  1. Was hoping Ramos/Jacob went to A+ ball for my own selfish reasons - seeing them. That's probably too soon though

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    1. 18 YO to Augusta is actually pretty aggressive as it is. And I think you'll be seeing him soon enough in San Jose, the major problem for you there would be that he might be promoted quickly after that, and you don't get to see much of him there...

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  2. Disappointing assignment for Gavin. Was hoping they’d push him a bit more.

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    1. Gavin was a 3'rd tier college pitcher whose team went deep into the college playoffs, so he did not get many pro innings after the draft. Augusta is the right assignment. He can move up if he proves it was too conservative.

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  3. Should Gonzalez be aware and more prepared for the grind of pro ball because of his dad? Then again, is Matheny also a son of?

    Thanks for the great update and comments!

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    1. Shane Matheny is not the son of Mike Matheny. I don't know if they are more distantly related.

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    2. OK, thanks, I read somewhere that implied he was related to a pro ballplayer, so I wondered.

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