San Francisco Giants Top 20 Prospects

Matt Cain

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS TOP 20 PROSPECTS

1. Matt Cain, RHP, Grade A-
   
2. Marcus Sanders, 2B, Grade B+
   
3. Merkin Valdez, RHP, B+
   
4. Eddy Martinez-Esteve, "OF," B+
   
5. Travis Ishikawa, 1B, B
   
6. Nate Schierholtz, OF, B
   
7. Jonathan Sanchez, LHP, B
   
8. Kevin Frandsen, 3B, B
   
9. Dan Griffin, RHP, B-
   
10. Pablo Sandoval, 3B, B-
    
11. Shairon Martis, RHP, B-
    
12. Freddy Lewis, OF, C+
    
13. Waldis Joaquin, RHP, C+
    
14. Ben Copeland, OF, C+
    
15. Jeremy Accardo, RHP, C+
    
16. Jon Coutlangus, LHP, C+
    
17. Dan Ortmeier, OF, C+
    
18. Brian Horwitz, OF, C+
    
19. Brian Wilson, RHP, C+
    
20. Ben Nieto, LHP, C+

I have to say that this list surprises me. . .it's a lot better than I thought. Either the Giants have a better farm system than they are given credit for, or I gave out too many Grade C+ ratings and some of those guys should be just plain C.

I do think that things have improved in this system. Cain is obviously a stud, and Sanders looks like an excellent prospect to me. I'm worried about Valdez's durability, but if his arm holds up he should be a good pitcher. EME has a Grade A bat but problems with defense push him down to B+.

Ishikawa and Schierholtz face Double-A this year....my guess is that one breaks through and one falls apart, which is which I'm not sure. Watch for Shairon Martis and Waldis Joaquin, short-season sleepers with good arms.

Craig Whitaker has a Grade C rating and is #21 on this list, but he has a higher ceiling than guys like Wilson or Nieto and could rank ahead of them depending on how you want to weight current performance vs. long-term potential. This is probably an indicator that I overrated Wilson and Nieto, and possibly Accardo, Coutlangus, and Horwitz, too. I must have been in a good mood when I wrote up the Giants grades, but there are too many to change so I will have to stick with what I wrote and hope it doesn't look too stupid 6 months from now.