2019 Top Prospects

[SFGRTB]

I wonder, if Luciano continues to press and look overmatched, if the Giants stick with an AZL Black assignment or if they ship him overseas to start in the DSL.

Before the season there was chatter that he was headed to the DSL, which was disappointing. However, as the scout guy points out, his current assignment is fairly aggressive, so perhaps he sticks around. I think the fact that he's still here is a good sign.

I'd hope that even if he continues to look overmatched, he just sticks around and hopefully grows out of it.

 

[SFGRTB]

Fangraphs posted their Giants' list, always a good, honest read from two pro scouts (one a former front office executive) who are well-connected with many other scouts.

Top 29 Prospects: San Francisco Giants

The top 3 are still very exciting (three potential stars, with Luciano getting the potential superstar tag). Lots of bullpen arms too, so they shouldn't be afraid to trade the guys they have right now.

This is the writeup on P.J. Hilston, who I liked last year but wow, this is some high praise:

"Of all the players we’ve written up on the team reports (there are about 1,000 on The Board and well over that if you count the Others of Note section of the lists) the gap between what Hilson is now and what he might be is perhaps the biggest. He has scintillating physical ability. Speed, arm strength, barrel quickness, burgeoning power, hit-thieving defensive ability in center field. But he is raw as steak tartare and often takes hapless, juvenile swings that demonstrate an alarming lack of baseball feel, as evidenced by his 67 strikeouts in 166 2018 at-bats.

Likely a long term project who will move through the minors with this exciting young contingent of talent from Latin America, Hilson’s chances of even making the big leagues are probably in the 20-30% range, and that may be optimistic. But on the scouting card, the tools read like David Dahl’s or Starling Marte’s, so there’s a chance for a star turn here, as well. It will likely take a long time and there will likely be developmental bumps in the road, but Hilson has monster, long-term potential and would be a peacock feather in the cap of Giants player dev if he can realize it."

One omission that's concerning is David Villar. I had high hopes for him, but maybe there are misplaced.

 

[LHG]

Fangraphs posted their Giants' list, always a good, honest read from two pro scouts (one a former front office executive) who are well-connected with many other scouts.

Top 29 Prospects: San Francisco Giants

The top 3 are still very exciting (three potential stars, with Luciano getting the potential superstar tag). Lots of bullpen arms too, so they shouldn't be afraid to trade the guys they have right now.

This is the writeup on P.J. Hilston, who I liked last year but wow, this is some high praise:

"Of all the players we’ve written up on the team reports (there are about 1,000 on The Board and well over that if you count the Others of Note section of the lists) the gap between what Hilson is now and what he might be is perhaps the biggest. He has scintillating physical ability. Speed, arm strength, barrel quickness, burgeoning power, hit-thieving defensive ability in center field. But he is raw as steak tartare and often takes hapless, juvenile swings that demonstrate an alarming lack of baseball feel, as evidenced by his 67 strikeouts in 166 2018 at-bats.

Likely a long term project who will move through the minors with this exciting young contingent of talent from Latin America, Hilson’s chances of even making the big leagues are probably in the 20-30% range, and that may be optimistic. But on the scouting card, the tools read like David Dahl’s or Starling Marte’s, so there’s a chance for a star turn here, as well. It will likely take a long time and there will likely be developmental bumps in the road, but Hilson has monster, long-term potential and would be a peacock feather in the cap of Giants player dev if he can realize it."

One omission that's concerning is David Villar. I had high hopes for him, but maybe there are misplaced.

That is one crazy range of potential for Hilson. He could be a star player (for the Giants) or could be out of baseball at 26 (in my words). I get that this could be said for a lot of big time prospects but Hilson flies under that radar. I do wonder how many non top prospects, on an average year, that could be said about.

As for Villar, I wonder if his slow start this year with San Jose had an impact on their rankings. I liked his numbers last year and hope he can begin to hit better now that he is healthy again.

A little side note - the remaining Wander Franco got released last week from Augusta (as did Ryan Kirby from San Jose). He was off to a really slow start but had good numbers last year with Salem and was still 22 years old. I'm a bit surprised they pulled the plug on him so quickly.

 

[SFGRTB]

That is one crazy range of potential for Hilson. He could be a star player (for the Giants) or could be out of baseball at 26 (in my words). I get that this could be said for a lot of big time prospects but Hilson flies under that radar. I do wonder how many non top prospects, on an average year, that could be said about.

As for Villar, I wonder if his slow start this year with San Jose had an impact on their rankings. I liked his numbers last year and hope he can begin to hit better now that he is healthy again.

A little side note - the remaining Wander Franco got released last week from Augusta (as did Ryan Kirby from San Jose). He was off to a really slow start but had good numbers last year with Salem and was still 22 years old. I'm a bit surprised they pulled the plug on him so quickly.

Hilston apparently just had never really played baseball until recently, which I think would be way tougher to adjust to than say football or basketball (maybe).

 

[LHG]

International signings announced - Giants ink 3 international prospects
I wonder where Esmerlin Vinicio will rank on this list.

 

[calsnowskier]

International signings announced - Giants ink 3 international prospects
I wonder where Esmerlin Vinicio will rank on this list.

Massive crapshoot, but uninspiring haul. Hopefully there will be some bigger names later in the signing period.

 

[SFGRTB]

Massive crapshoot, but uninspiring haul. Hopefully there will be some bigger names later in the signing period.

Very unlikely, they've used the majority of their allotment already. They can trade for more money (up to $3,239,280 more), but most of the big boys have already signed.

 

[LHG]

Very unlikely, they've used the majority of their allotment already. They can trade for more money (up to $3,239,280 more), but most of the big boys have already signed.

Including the Martian.

 

[LHG]

Massive crapshoot, but uninspiring haul. Hopefully there will be some bigger names later in the signing period.

Here's a breakdown of international signings - Here's where top int'l prospects are signing

 

[Stokes1931]

Tonight (7/3), Hjelle pitched another gem for the San Jose Giants, who were shut out 2-0

6 2/3 IP

5 H

1 ER

1 BB

6 K

93 pitches, 62 strikes


Heliot Ramos was 2-4

Bart was 0-3

 

[calsnowskier]

Very unlikely, they've used the majority of their allotment already. They can trade for more money (up to $3,239,280 more), but most of the big boys have already signed.

So why did they (apparently) take this year off from the international scene?

Again, I totally understand the international market is a crapshoot. But for one of the big boy orgs to max out at the #23 rated prospect? That is embarrassing. That is a BAD look.

 

[SFGRTB]

So why did they (apparently) take this year off from the international scene?

Again, I totally understand the international market is a crapshoot. But for one of the big boy orgs to max out at the #23 rated prospect? That is embarrassing. That is a BAD look.

A lot of these deals are agreed to one, two years in advance.

 

[calsnowskier]

A lot of these deals are agreed to one, two years in advance.

Right...

So they took the year off 2 years ago.

 

[SFGRTB]

Right...

So they took the year off 2 years ago.

Could be they were just wrong in their evals.

 

[calsnowskier]

Could be they were just wrong in their evals.

I wonder if this was one of the reasons Evens was let go. Or why Bell was hired last year. They saw this coming way back when.

 

[pachyderm]

Tonight (7/3), Hjelle pitched another gem for the San Jose Giants, who were shut out 2-0

6 2/3 IP

5 H

1 ER

1 BB

6 K

93 pitches, 62 strikes


Heliot Ramos was 2-4

Bart was 0-3

Cool.

Despite our recent form, it seems like we aren't hitting at any level.

 

[SFGRTB]

Baseball America has updated their top-100 for mid-season. Giants now have 4 guys in the top-100:

Bart (19), Ramos (68), Luciano (71), Bishop (98). Pre-season Ramos was 94 and Bart was 14. With 4 players in the top-100, this would put the Giants tied for 7th most prospects in the top 100. Canario is also probably pretty close.

2019 Top 100 MLB Prospects

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Fangraphs have also updated their board. Giants have 3 guys in the top-100:

Bart (21), Luciano (43), Ramos (76).

The guys gush about Luciano over there. They threw a 50 Future Value (on the 20/80 scale) in the preseason and they said it was remarkable at that time for a guy his age. They bumped it up to a 55 this week after he's exceeded expectations, saying that assuming there's no major flaw that's unearthed with this kid, he has number 1 overall prospect potential. Special.

THE BOARD! | FanGraphs Baseball

 

[MarcoPolo]

The future looks good, with Bart, Ramos & Luciano, however ... It's a long way from 'A' -level (or rookie) to the majors. Let's hope all three can keep it up. If so, the 2023 Giant might be one hell of a team.

 

[Stokes1931]

Logan Webb will debut tomorrow

 

[MarcoPolo]

How does the 2019 list compare to the 2018 list ? ( 2018 Top Prospects )

or the 2017 list ? ( 2017 Top Prospects )