Introduction to the Top 30 SF Giants Rankings and Scouting Philosophies

The Grading Scale

Before reading the top 30 prospects of the Giants’ organization entering the 2022 season, it is important first to know how grading was done. Those familiar with reading prospect reports should be familiar with the 20-80 grading scale. The 20-80 grading scale used here is a changed grading scale used during my Prospects Worldwide days. That grading scale is refined to be as close to what the industry/professional scouting community is currently using.

It means no pluses on the tool grades (for example, 45+). The modifications done to the old grading scale include removal of the 35-grade, the addition of catcher pop times, and adjustment of baselines for a couple of statistics and measurable.

Aside from a prospect’s tool grades, the 20-80 scale above is also used for grading Present Value (PV) and Future Value (FV) to represent the overall grade of the prospect. To explain, PV is the value that a prospect could provide if that prospect is promoted to the big leagues right now. In simplest terms, it answers the question of "how well will this prospect play in the big leagues right now?". FV is the value that the prospect would most likely provide if everything goes as planned.

It should be understood that every prospect's overall ceiling is an 80, but there are a lot of factors that could lower or even keep that 80-overall grade down. One example that could lower a player's FV is a below-average hit tool. The definition of future value is phrased as "as planned" because sometimes a prospect could overachieve or underachieve because of the varying development curves of prospects and baseball players.

Some prospects looked great as a prospect but struggled hard in the big leagues (e.g., Brandon Wood). Some prospects were solid rather than impressive but exploded after reaching the big leagues (e.g., Bryan Reynolds). Some prospects were legitimate late-bloomers (e.g., R.A. Dickey). These situations happened before and will happen again in the future.

The grading scale used to evaluate the tool grades and the PV and FV of the 150 San Francisco Giants’ prospects can be found here.