SF Giants: Farm system ranks as eighth-best in MLB

MLB Pipeline released its midseason rankings of each team’s farm system and the SF Giants were ranked as the eighth-best farm system in baseball:

SF Giants: Farm system ranks as eighth-best in MLB

Given that the farm system has yet to graduate many of its top prospects including Marco Luciano (No. 5), Joey Bart (No. 16), Luis Matos (No. 84), and Heliot Ramos (No. 87), Giants fans have a lot to look forward to in the coming years.

Over the past six years, the Giants farm system has not been viewed favorably until recently. This is not surprising given that the organization was in the midst of a modest rebuild starting with the hire of Farhan Zaidi as team president of baseball operations.

Of course, it bears mentioning that all four of the prospects listed above were drafted or signed by the previous regime. Nevertheless, the current front office has been tasked with coaching and developing the talent they inherited and the early returns have been encouraging.

Giants fans got a glimpse of Joey Bart midway through the 2020 season. He struggled at the plate, slashing .233/.288/.320 (67 OPS+) with zero home runs, 15 runs, and seven RBI in 111 plate appearances.

Bart struggled to flash the power that he commonly displayed as a minor leaguer, but it was fair to say that he was promoted too early. Prior to his call up, the catching prospect had a total of 87 plate appearances above High-A, so his challenges at the plate were not too surprising. The Giants remain committed to allowing Bart to receive the minor league development he needs as he has spent the bulk of the 2021 season in Triple-A.

Outside of Bart, outfielder Heliot Ramos is the next closest prospect to being added to the major league club. The 21-year-old was recently promoted to Triple-A and looks poised to debut with the Giants next season.

Marco Luciano and Luis Matos are further away but each one brings an extremely intriguing skill set to the table. Luciano has worked primarily at shortstop and he has demonstrated considerable power as a pro. On the other hand, Matos is a center fielder and has a fundamentally sound swing that finds the barrel of the bat often.

While the major league team is creating a lot of excitement as they sit in first place in the NL West with an 82-44 record, the farm system is generating plenty of buzz as well. The farm system has been gradually improving in recent years and external evaluators are now ranking them as one of the best in baseball. This is a remarkable turnaround for a farm system that was viewed as one of the worst not that long ago.