SF Giants: Five prospects other teams should target

The SF Giants are one of the most obvious buyers heading into the final days before the MLB trade deadline. While they reportedly have interest in some well-known outfielders, there are a bevy of moves they could make to sure up their roster. They could attempt to add a premium closer, as my colleague Marc Delucchi suggested, or look for some more under-the-radar reinforcements. Regardless, sellers around the league are examining San Francisco’s farm system looking for prospects they would be interested in. Here’s a list of five prospects that the Giants might be willing to part with that other teams should target.

SF Giants prospects to target: 1. Seth Corry, LHP

If we are being honest, Seth Corry is not having a good 2021 season. The soon-to-be 23-year old left-hander entered the season ranked among the best prospects in the organization but has a 5.98 ERA this season at High-A. The biggest issue that surrounds Corry is that he has struggled to throw strikes all season long, posting a career-worst 20.4% walk rate, more than double the league average. Corry’s FIP is a concerning 5.25 as well even as he flashes the tools that made him a top prospect.

For all the struggles that Corry has throwing strikes, his stuff is still nasty. His 88 strikeouts this season ranks fifth among all Giants pitchers, his 31.5% strikeout rate ranks fourth and his 13.5 K/9 is tied for third-highest among all Giants pitchers in full-season ball. His 12.8% swinging-strike rate is seventh-best among all Giants pitchers with at least 50 innings pitched and he has a 33.33% whiff rate. He still has the feel for throwing the curveball for a quality strike but virtually nonexistent fastball command continues to cause him problems.

Even though Corry’s value is at its lowest this season, there are still teams who would value an arm that is still capable of striking out guys. The example that is sticking out to me the most is when the Giants traded Matt Krook as part of the Evan Longoria trade. 2016 fourth-round pick has plenty of similarities to Corry: both are left-handed pitchers who are strong athletes that have the ability to spin a breaking ball for quality strikes but have high-maintenance deliveries that resulted in them having sustained control issues. Plenty of teams could value Corry’s swing and miss stuff enough to include him as a second or third prospect in a major deal at the deadline. Given his youth, and relatively recent success at Low-A in 2019, another front office should jump at the chance to add him in a deal and see if their player development staff can help him make some adjustments.

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: 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.