SF Giants: Five prospects other teams should target

SF Giants prospects to target: 2. Alexander Canario, OF

One of the most tooled-up prospects in the farm system and also, one of the most coveted is Alexander Canario. His numbers this season look slightly disappointing but his slow start in May largely skewed his stat line. Since June 1st, the outfielder looks settled in and is flashing all of the tools in the box with a triple-slash line of .277/.350/.503 with 11 doubles, two triples, seven home runs, 24 RBIs, and 11 stolen bases.

Even though Canario’s level of play this season has been solid, there are still plenty of reasons why the Giants could be willing to let go of a prospect as talented as Canario for the right price. Canario has shown better patience at the plate with a 10.6% walk rate since June 1st. However, the Dominican still racks up the strikeouts with a 26.1% strikeout rate. The Giants offense this season definitely does not mind three-true-outcome traits as the team rank inside the top 10 in home runs and walks, but bottom 10 in strikeouts. Still, having a prospect flashing hard three-true-outcomes traits at Canario’s age is a bit of a concern as he matures. More importantly, they already have deep outfield depth in their system, and Canario is already on the 40-man roster. Trading him could give them more roster flexibility while not impacting their long-term plans too severally.

Prospects of Canario’s skillset (plus athleticism, ability to play center field, at least above-average power, speed, arm strength, and fielding with some strikeout issues) are often highly coveted in the trade market. In 2016, Lewis Brinson was the centerpiece of the deal that brought Jonathan Lucroy and Jeremy Jeffress to the Texas Rangers. A couple of years after, Brinson and fellow toolsy outfield prospect Monte Harrison were the centerpieces that brought Christian Yelich from the Marlins to Milwaukee. I would not expect Canario to be a centerpiece of a trade for a controllable star, like Yelich, but he could bring back a solid big-leaguer with team control or possibly an elite rental.

SF Giants prospects to target: 3. Jairo Pomares, OF

The San Jose squad has been one of the go-to teams in the minor leagues due to the huge collection of exciting hitters in their lineup. Yet as talented as it has been, the best all-around hitter on the team all season might be outfielder Jairo Pomares. Among prospects who played at least 30 games in the Low-A West, Pomares leads the league in slugging percentage, on-base plus slugging, and among Giants prospects age 25 and lower with at least 100 plate appearances, he is first in both isolated power and wRC+. In 32 games this season, he is hitting .333/.393/.675 with 13 doubles and 10 home runs.

Pomares offensive production is hard to deny, hitting for both average and power. However, there is one glaring concern with Pomares’ bat. Pomares’ swinging strike rate is the highest among all Giants hitters age 27 and below with at least 100 plate appearances. While both his walk and strikeout rate are below average, he’s still relatively young (he turns 21 in August) and started the year late because of injury.

With the way Pomares has been swinging the bat this year, it’s easy to see why the Giants front office would like to keep him on the organization. On the other hand, Pomares’ power bat is also highly attractive for other teams as well, and teams have done deals in the past on prospects with bat-over-glove profiles like Pomares. In 2017, Willie Calhoun was the centerpiece of the Yu Darvish to the Dodgers trade and in 2019, Seth Beer was one of the main pieces in the Zack Greinke to Astros trade. Pomares might not net someone of Darvish’s talent alone. But with the depth of the farm system centered around the outfield, having Pomares as one of the centerpieces of a major trade is a potential win-win scenario for the Giants in their playoff push.

SF Giants prospects to target: 4. Camilo Doval, RHP

If ever a trade would be made by the SF Giants at the trade deadline this season, it would ultimately involve a 40-man roster move to accommodate the acquired big leaguer. Also, the team trading for a prospect would also want a player who is young, controllable, and still has huge potential. By trading one of the young, Latino relievers on the 40-man roster, the Giants could knock two birds with one stone. Trading Gregory Santos would be hard to do since he’s currently serving an 80-game suspension for testing positive for PEDs. With the way that Kervin Castro has been pitching in Sacramento at the moment, the Giants could think that they could use him in their own bullpen rather than allowing other teams to use him on theirs. Those factors make Camilo Doval one of their most sensible assets at the deadline.

Doval’s numbers this season have not been great with a 6.33 ERA that’s backed up by a 5.98 FIP. His strike rate has been decent at 59% but he’s allowing walks at a career-high rate in Sacramento with 16.5% while striking out a career-low 25.2%. He’s walked a hitter in his last eight games and has been giving up hits at pitches thrown at the heart of the plate when he’s not out of the zone.

Like Corry, Doval does not have a massive amount of value. However, it would be easy to think of other teams attempting to add him in a package deal as a lottery ticket prospect because of his closer potential or in a one-for-one swap for a solid, but not elite MLB reliever. When he’s on, he’s tough to deal with as he can run his fastball up to triple digits with deception in his delivery as well as a hard low-90s slider. However, he has not found the on button all season long and with plenty of relievers in the system that can throw as hard as Doval but throw for better strikes like Jose Marte and R.J. Dabovich, Doval is an expendable prospect.

SF Giants prospects to target: 5. Ricardo Genoves, C

Before getting promoted to Eugene, there was a strong case to be made for Ricardo Genoves as the best player in the San Jose Giants roster. Genoves’ San Jose stats are excellent where he had a batting average of .338, a near 1.000 OPS, six home runs, 13.7% walk rate, and just a 18% strikeout rate. His numbers for Eugene this season have not been eye-popping, but he’s hit four home runs in recent weeks at High-A (giving him 10 total on the season) and is walking at a well above-average rate.

The improvement in Genoves’ offensive game has been a big revelation to everyone. However, the renowned defense of Genoves has now become a bit of a liability this season. Genoves’ catch and throw skills are still excellent with a 43% caught stealing rate. However, his blocking and receiving has largely been the issue for him all season. His 19 passed balls are easily the highest of his career and he’s allowed more than a handful of wild pitches where he could have easily blocked it traditionally with his torso but instead tried to pick the ball in the dirt.

With the game hinting towards adopting the electronic strike zone in the future, catchers who can control the run game while also provide all-around value offensively have become an asset now and will be more valuable in the future. While trading for catching prospects is not common recently, Indians prospect Francisco Mejia was dealt a couple of years ago to the Padres for Brad Hand. While Genoves would not command the same value as Mejia, a team could easily fall in love with Genoves’ skillset to flip a deal for a solid big leaguer, and the Giants would not really empty up the catching depth chart with former second overall pick Joey Bart ready for another shot at the big-league level, Adrian Sugastey doing well in Rookie ball, Patrick Bailey in the fold, and super-utility man Brett Auerbach being more than able to handle the position.

The SF Giants will have plenty of decisions to make at this year’s MLB trade deadline. Teams will surely covet some of their most premium prospects, but besides the biggest names, Alexander Canario, Ricardo Genoves, Seth Corry, Jairo Pomares, and Camilo Doval could all end up intriguing a team enough to get them to pull the trigger on a trade.