2022 Pre-Season SF Giants Prospects: 30-21

A Friendly Reminder Before You Start Reading

Just a friendly reminder before reading the top 30 rankings that RANKINGS ARE ALL BS. Rankings are subjective, meaning it is all according to my evaluation. “Oh, this guy ranked this prospect only at #30??”, or “You ranked this guy way too high!” are common remarks by readers regarding rankings. Remember that you also have your rankings in your mind. However, it does not mean that these prospects were ranked nonchalantly. A couple of questions were asked, such as for pitchers:

2022 Pre-Season SF Giants Prospects: 30-21

“Can this pitcher be a rotation piece in the big leagues in the long run?”

“If this pitcher is a full-time reliever, is his stuff enough to blow away other starter-type prospects who will probably be back-end rotation guys?”

Or with a position player:

“Does this position player play a difficult position defensively, and can he play the position at a high level?”

“If a player is a liability defensively, is the player’s offensive projection strong enough to overcome other players who might be worse offensively, but will play adequate defense in the big leagues?”

Other factors that in play are age, their playing level, expectation from them before the season vs. their actual performance during the season, progress in their development curve, the rarity of their position based on value (legitimate left-handed starting pitcher prospects are way more valuable than second baseman prospects), and the front office's 40-man decisions. The front office’s 40-man decisions are included because they can indicate how the organization views a prospect based on their performance.

Those questions are difficult to answer and will always never be perfect, but that’s the beauty of it. The imperfection of the rankings creates a talking point. However, imperfections are the reasoning tool grades are much more important than rankings. REMEMBER: TOOL GRADES ARE A REFLECTION OF THE PLAYER; RANKINGS ARE A MEANS OF DISCUSSION. The prospect's tool grades and its corresponding scouting report are a much better reflection of how good the player can be rather than what the rankings tell.