SF Giants Prospects: Hitters rank among best in MLB

The SF Giants have collected an impressive group of position-player prospects, but how does it compare to the rest of baseball? Sam Dykstra of MLB.Com released his list of the top ten farm systems by position players and the SF Giants came in at no. 2.

Only the Tampa Bay Rays had a higher ranking than San Francisco. In addition to this, the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres represented the National League West as well, coming in at no. 7 and no. 10, respectively.

SF Giants group of position prospects near best in baseball

This is quite the turnaround for a farm system that has struggled to produce impactful talent in recent years. Giants fans saw Joey Bart debut in 2020, but they have also seen glimpses of outfield Heliot Ramos and shortstop Marco Luciano this spring.

Furthermore, Dykstra has high hopes for Luciano and mentions a handful of lesser-known names as well:

“Marco Luciano could easily be the game’s top prospect talent by this time next year if he picks up where he left off in 2019, and there are more young names where he came from with Luis Matos, Alexander Canario and Luis Toribio representing the next layer, all at 20 years old or younger.”

Of course, there are a couple of other names that have not been mentioned yet including Hunter Bishop, Will Wilson, and Patrick Bailey. All three are college draftees, so the hope is that they have less of a developmental arc in the minors.

Bart and Ramos are the closest prospects to make an impact on the major-league roster, but they will begin the year in Triple-A. Bart should return to the Giants at some point in 2021, whereas Ramos’ bat may force his way to a promotion. Outside of these two, many of the top position players in the system still have a long development arc to realize.

While the strength of the farm system is in position players, Dykstra notes that the talent on the pitching side lags far behind. Kyle Harrison, Seth Corry, Sean Hjelle, and Nick Swiney are some of the top arms in the system, but they are not expected to be as impactful as Ramos, Luciano, or Matos.

If you want to read more on the best prospects in the Giants system, check out Around the Foghorn’s official Giants top 31 prospect rankings.

Nevertheless, the SF Giants are building a talented farm system, especially in terms of position prospects. It is uncharted territory that their group of prospects ranks as highly as it does throughout baseball. The rebuild has been a tough one to watch, but Giants fans should see their patience rewarded soon enough when the farm system begins to regularly feed the major-league roster.