Before we grapple with DrB's 2025 Giants Top 50 Prospect list, I thought it might help to review the 2024 list and see where the players on that list stand. The good news is several of those players "graduated" to the major leagues. The bad news is there were so many graduations the top of the list thinned out considerably and there just weren't enough replacements coming up from below to completely fill the void. So let's review:
1. Kyle Harrison LHP- Graduated. Started off hot the seemed to wear down near the end of the season and was finally shut down with shoulder soreness.
2. Marco Luciano SS- Graduated. A tumultuous season which saw him flub a chance to take over as starting SS due to a storm of errors. Some debate among Giants fans if he was given enough time to work through the rookie jitters or if the organization should have known all along he is a bad fielder. Was officially moved to the OF. Status now unclear after change in management.
3. Bryce Eldridge OF/RHP- Stock Up. Moved to full time 1B. Fantastic season across 4 minor league levels. Now is the clear #1 prospect in the system.
4. Walker Martin SS- Stock Stable. Got a late start on the season. Played in the ACL and A levels with mixed results. Size and athleticism continue to be pluses.
5. Rayner Arias OF- Stock Down due to lingering injuries. Did not show up until near the end of the ACL. Stayed in the complex rather than moving up to A ball. Assume the ceiling is still high if he can regain full health.
6. Keaton Winn RHP- Graduated. Pitched very well when healthy. Injuries a continuing worry.
7. Mason Black RHP- Stock Up. Pitched at the MLB level with mixed results.
8. Carson Whisenhunt LHP- Stock Stable. Pitched in the upper minors with mixed results.
9. Trevor McDonald RHP- Stock Up. Late start due to injury but pitched 3 shutout innings in the final game of the season.
10. Kai-Wei Teng RHP- Stock Down. Got lit up at the MLB level and did not pitch effectively in AAA. Dropped from the 40-man roster and re-signed as a minor league free agent.
11. Hayden Birdsong RHP- Graduated. Pitched very well at the MLB level and looks like a future rotation fixture.
12. Joe Whitman LHP- Stock Stable. Pitched in the lower minors with mixed results.
13. Reggie Crawford LHP- Stock Down due to injuries. Moved to pitching full time. Tried to fast track as a reliever. Ended up requiring reconstructive shoulder surgery. Interestingly he's currently listed as an infielder on the AAA Sacramento roster.
14. Tyler Fitzgerald IF- Graduated. Finished the season as the Giants starting SS. Currently projected starter at 2B for 2025.
15. Wade Meckler OF- Stock Up. Lack of power a concern but he muscled up and hit a flurry of HR's at the end of the season. If he continues to show power, he should get another MLB opportunity.
16. Erik Miller LHP- Graduated. Pitched out of the Giants bullpen all season with mixed results.
17. Carson Seymour RHP- Stock Up. Added to the 40-man roster in November.
18. Landon Roupp RHP- Graduated. Pitched well at the MLB level and looks like he can be a back-end SP or long RP.
19. Aeverson Arteaga SS- Stock Down. Missed most of the season due to injury. Looking to bounce back in 2025.
20. Grant McCray OF. Stock Up. Ended season as starting CF for the Giants. He'll lose that in 2025 with Jung Hoo Lee coming back. Retains prospect status to to not exceeding MLB service time thresholds.
21. Diego Velasquez IF. Stock Up. I am impressed by a BA of over .300 at AAA as a 20 year old. Some question if he is a true SS. He's now blocked from SS at MLB level for the Giants for the forseeable future.
22. Vaun Brown OF- Stock Down. Career apparently derailed by injuries.
23. Victor Bericoto OF/1B- Stock Stable. Hit .261 with 11 HR's for AA Richmond.
24. Zach Morgan C- Stock Down. Bat has not progressed.
25. Adrian Sugastey C- Stock Down. Missed much of season due to injury. Bat challenged by AA.
26. Onil Perez- Stock Down. Bat struggled at A+.
27. Jack Choate LHP- Stock Stable. Pitched effectively at A+.
28. Hayden Wynja LHP- Stock Down. Missed time with injury. Reminder that 6' 9" LHP's don't grow on trees.
29. Daniel Blair RHP- Stock Down. Struggled at A+.
30. Cole Foster SS- Stock Down. Bat extremely disappointing.
31. Gerelmi Maldonado RHP- Stock Down due to injury.
32. Alix Hernandez RHP- Stock Stable. Pitched effectively at ACL level, not so much is short trial at A level.
33. Maui Ahuna SS- Stock Down. Hasn't played much due to lingering injury issues.
34. Quinn McDaniel 2B- Stock Stable. Gets on base, steals bases. Strikes out too much.
35. Thomas Szapucki LHP- Stock Down due to persistent injuries.
36. Juan Sanchez LHP- Stock Stable. Pitched pretty well for AAA Sacramento.
37. Randy Rodriguez RHP- Graduated. Pitched at MLB level with mixed results.
38. Jose Cruz RHP- Released.
39. Heliot Ramos OF- Graduated. Projected starting LF for the Giants in 2025.
40. TJ Hopkins OF- DFA'd in Feb 2024. Washed away in The Churn.
41. Trenton Brooks 1B/OF- Out of Organization. Minor league free agency.
42. Nick Avila RHP- Out of Organization. Claimed off waivers by the Orioles. Released in Aug 2024.
43. Chris Wright LHP- Stock Down. Missed all of 2024 with injury.
44. Manuel Mercedes RHP- Stock Down. Extreme contact/groundball approach doesn't work in the launch angle age.
45. Scott Bandura OF- Stock Stable. Played well at A level but struggled after promotion to A+.
46. Guillermo Williamson- Stock Down. Bad body, hits for power but doesn't make enough contact.
47. Elian Rayo 3B. Stock Stable. Mixed results at ACL level.
48. Cesar Quintas OF- Lost in minor league portion of Rule 5 Draft.
49. Ryan Reckley 2B- Stock Stable. Played at A level without a lot of success.
50. Ubert Mejias RHP- Stock Stable. SP at A level with mixed results.
Here is a list of Honorable Mentions whose stock is up:
I knew Kyle Harrison’s season would go just exactly as you summarized. Farhan was dumb with how he developed him by putting such a severe hard pitch count for him every game throughout his minor league career. We get protecting young pitchers from future injury but that was so overboard and actually ended up causing his injury this season because Harrison didn’t build up the necesssary pitch counts and innings in the minors in order to prepare to be a major league starter.
ReplyDeleteIMO, the problem is not in the limiting innings early in the minors, it's more in not managing his innings better after reaching the majors but I think FZ was pretty much in a win-now mode last season which kind of spreads the blame around to the whole organization.
DeleteHarrison was drafted from HS. Of course, his innings were limited. Not everybody is Bamgarner. And FZ did not meet expectations, we was not dumb either.
DeleteIs this really as bad of a minor league system as so many lament? Arguably after years of neglect, it’s still a work in progress … but it’s hardly one of baseball’s worst.
ReplyDeleteA lot of people, even knowledgeable ones, only look at the current ranking with strict criteria for counting prospect status. So if you rank the farm system based only on the list of players who currently meet prospect criteria and completely ignore the 9 prospects who "graduated" during the previous season, of course it's going to look worse than it really is.
DeleteAlso, many prospect analysts severely downgrade talented players in the lower minors so in their eyes and system that just graduated 9 players from the upper minors is going to seem a lot worse than it really is.
DeleteI count six among graduated who proved they belong. That is outstanding. At the same time, after 21 all stocks are down or stable. Normally, you would expect a few of them pleasantly surprise you. The surprises come from HM list: Ragsdale and Howell.
ReplyDeleteNow my question is did anyone expect this at the beginning of the year? That is after 20 the list was weak?
It is extremely rare for a farm system to have 20 good prospects in it, so no it's not a surprise that the list is weak after #20.
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