Baseball America views SF Giants farm system as night-and-day improvement over last year

Ahead of publishing its top-100 prospect list, Baseball America sat down to talk about the state of the SF Giants farm system. Josh Norris viewed the system as showing a night-and-day improvement compared to last year.

Baseball America views SF Giants farm system as night-and-day improvement over last year

In fact, that was not the exact analogy Norris used. “It’s not just night and day,” he said. “It’s shortest day of the year versus longest day of the year.”

Norris reflected on his handbook from last year, and admitted that it was not a good system. He believes that the system just has more talent and depth than it did a year ago.

Baseball America touched on a few Giants prospects, including Bryce Eldridge, Josuar Gonzalez, Jhonny Level, and Bo Davidson. Norris relayed that scouts view Davidson as a potential five-top player.

It has quickly become a system that has a lot of depth in terms of middle infielders. Gonzalez, Level, Gavin Kilen, and Luis Hernández are all mentioned. They also have several glove-first options, such as Lorenzo Meola, Maui Ahuna, and Zane Zielinski.

While they have a lot of positions, they have some younger pitching prospects as well. Norris views Jacob Bresnahan as the top pitching prospect in the system. The southpaw pitcher posted a 2.61 ERA in 22 starts for the San Jose Giants last year while taking home California League Pitcher of the Year honors.

They have several young pitchers who popped up last summer. Argenis Cayama, Keyner Martinez, and Luis De La Torre anchored an Arizona Complex League (ACL) Giants pitching staff that was arguably the best in the league. All three pitchers finished the year in San Jose, and if they return to that affiliate to start next year, it should be a good team to watch again.

The farm system has shown improvement, especially at the lower levels. Every good team needs the farm system to support the major league roster. It has been years since the Giants farm system has consistently fed the major league roster. Not surprisingly, they have had one winning season since 2017. 

It is not just about feeding the major league roster, but how they use some of those prospects as trade assets. They have not been able to do that either. If the latest discussion is any indication, that tide could soon be shifting.