The San Francisco Giants have managed to lift themselves out of the league’s basement and put together a respectable farm system after years of ineptitude.
For years, theSan Francisco Giantshave hosted one of the very worst farm systems in all of baseball.
Whether it was a result of bad drafting, poor player development, or trading for veterans, the Giants minor leagues haven’t exactly been stacked with top-tier prospects awaiting their major-league call-ups.
However, that reputation could be set to change in the near future.
Don’t look now, but the Giants surprisingly have a pretty deep farm system at the moment complete with some highly-touted players at the top. Of course, we’re talking about the likes ofJoey Bart,Heliot Ramos, andMarco Luciano.
Bart is perhaps the most high-profile of the three beingBuster Posey‘s heir-apparent at catcher. The 22-year-old was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft and has already impressed enough to earn a promotion to Double-A.
And while Bart hasn’t exactly been tearing it up with Richmond, it’s still encouraging to see him flying through the ranks of the minors so quickly.
Then there’s Ramos whose struggles with Single-A Augusta last season were well-documented. However, the 19-year-old phenom made some offseason adjustments and came back better than ever with the San Jose Giants this season playing in High-A.
Much like Bart, the consensus top-75 prospect has only recently earned a promotion to Double-A Richmond.
Luciano is the lesser-known of the three but he could offer the highest ceiling. At just 17-years-old, Luciano is still a ways away from reaching the majors but his progression in his first year in the minors this season has been impressive.
After tearing it up in the rookie-level Arizona League, Luciano received the call-up to short-season Salem-Keizer where he’s been playing for a little over a week now.
But outside of the consensus top-three, the Giants appear to have more depth than they have in quite some time.
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Of course, much of that depth starts with 2019 first-round pickHunter Bishopwho could put himself in the same category as Bart, Ramos, and Luciano before long.
Bishop is a local Bay Area product who shares many similarities in background to a certain former legend who also happened to play for the Giants. He andBarry Bondsboth attended the same high school (Junipero Serra High School) and college (Arizona State).
But no pressure, right?
Bishop has an excellent blend of speed and power that should allow him to rise up prospect rankings provided he works out some kinks in his stance and approach.
Other such asSean Hjelle,Alexander Canario, andSeth Corryremain on the brink of top-100 recognition with strong showings this season. And while we can’t really consider pitcherLogan Webba prospect anymore after his recent call-up, he’s still yet another young arm in the organization.
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That’s not even mentioning 24-year-old shortstopMauricio Dubonwho was acquired in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers at the deadline. Dubon hastechnicallyalready made his MLB debut, but he remains down in the minors nonetheless.
After years of relying on aging veterans and Triple-A cast-offs to fill out the roster, San Francisco could be on the cusp of a new generation in Giants baseball.
Following this year’s draft,Bleacher Reportranked the Giants as the No. 22 farm system in baseball. And that was prior to the mid-season trade for Dubon or the promotions of Bart, Ramos, and Luciano.
They may not be a top-10 organization just yet, but they are leaps and bounds ahead of the situation they were in a year ago or even at the start of the season.
Players have developed, trades have been made, and the Giants farm system has shown signs of life for the first time in what feels like forever.
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