San Francisco Giants 2010 Minor League Review
Overall farm rankings via Baseball America (2010)
2010 (4) | 2009 (5) | 2008 (23) | 2007 (20) | 2006 (18) | 2005 (17) | 2004 (24)
Record of Major and Minor League Teams
MLB: [92– 70] NL West – World Series Champions
AAA: [75 – 69] Pacific Coast League – Fresno
AA: [68 – 73] Eastern League – Richmond
A+: [76– 64] California League – San Jose
A: [79 – 59] South Atlantic League (Sally League) – Augusta
A(ss): [31 – 45] Northwest League – Salem-Keizer
R: [34 – 20] Arizona Rookie League
The Run Down
With the season up and running, these articles will be a bit more succinct. The Giants relied heavily on their own developed talent last year. Key pieces, such as Lincecum, Cain, Bumgarner, Sanchez, Posey, Runzler, Sergio Romo and Pablo Sandoval (if you count signings) were home grown talents. With the graduation of Posey and Bumgarner, the Giants farm sank to a lowly number 23 for 2011. Brandon Belt blasted his way to an opening day starting gig. Beyond Belt, there shouldn’t be the wealth of talent graduating in 2011.
Graduated Prospects
#1 (C) Buster Posey; #2 (LHP) Madison Bumgarner; #5 (RHP) Dan Runzler;
Arizona Fall League Players – Scottsdale Scropions
Sources’ list of players were incomplete.
Pitchers – TBA (P), TBA (P), TBA (P), TBA (P)
Hitters – (1B) Brandon Belt; Charlie Culberson (IF); #17 (3B) Conor Gillaspie
Players of Interest
Hitters
#1 Brandon Belt | 1B/OF: Everyone knows of Belt by now. With his stellar 2010 season in which he hit .352/.455/.620 in 492 at bats between three levels. His 76 XBH were a shocker and his 99:93 K:BB ratio show a patient hitter. His future should be bright. Don’t expect the steals to be there, but you can go to the bank with a 25 home run hitting first basemen with good average in his prime.
#7 Thomas Neal | LF: Athletic for size, comparisons to Jermaine Dye due to power ceiling, outfield arm and bat speed. Not the fastest runner on the basepaths, but a smart runner. He thrived at Double-A last year hitting .291/.359/.440 in 525 Double-A at-bats. In those at-bats he had 53 XBH with 12 Hr and a 94:46 K:BB ratio. He is currently playing at Triple-A to start this year young 2011 season. I like his potential. Ceiling is 25/10. So Hunter Pence without the defense.
#6 Brandon Crawford | SS: Plays Gold Glove defense with a Little League bat. Could find a valuable real-life role as a utility player. His ceiling would be 10 to 15 home runs with a poor average. Should be playing at Triple-A this year.
Brock Bond | 2B: The Giants Sparky Anklebiter. Has good plate discipline, able to play multiple positions, and ability to play decent defense as multiple positions too. If given a chance, would be a viable bench player for, say, a Tony La Russa-type manager.
#17 Conor Gillaspie | 3B: Has gap power, makes good contact, plays poor defense and yet another utility type player for the Giants. Nothing exciting here. He hit .287/.335/.420 in 491 Double-A at-bats with 41 XBH (6 home runs) and a 67:37 K:BB ratio. Currently playing at Triple-A to open the 2011 season.
Pitchers
#9 Eric Surkamp | LHP: Not the top pitching prospect for the Giants – that’s Zach Wheeler – Surkamp is the second best. He throws a upper 80s fastball with great deception. Both his changeup and curveball are plus-pitches. With the high number of innings on Bumgarner’s arm, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Surkamp get a chance to pitch in the majors come mid-summer. In 101 1/3 innings last year, he had a 9.6 K/9 and a 2.0 BB/9 as a starter. Good control and high strikeouts. I’m in when he gets a chance.
Honorable Mentions
Hitters
#4 Francisco Peguero | CF/RF: Hit .329/.358/.488 in 510 High-A at-bats. Had a Curtis Granderson type year with 45 XBH. Of those extra base hits, 10 were home runs, 16 were triples and 20 were doubles. His plate discipline isn’t great (88:20 K:BB) but did have 40 steals in 62 attempts. Baseball America stated Peguero, “has the best blend of power and speed in the system … reminiscent of a more compact Vladimir Guerrero.” That’s some large hype to live up to. Could be an under-the-radar Domonic Brown type prospect.
#15 Chris Dominguez | 3B: Far better than Conor Gillaspie. He has a good power (21 home runs in 2010) but average defense with a plus-throwing arm. Could end up in the outfield. Is old for the level of play this year and last year. He his .272/.326/.356 in 559 Single-A at-bats. What’s exciting were his 57 XBH and 21 home runs. Not so exciting, the hack-fest 133:25 K:BB ratio. Is currently playing at High-A.
#8 Charlie Culberson | 2B: Good bat speed, “hard-nosed player,” and slightly above-average power. Doesn’t have good plate-discipline (99:33 K:BB). He had a 16 home run, 25 steal year in 2010. Plays better defense than Dan Uggla and is similar to Brandon Phillips. Should be playing at Double-A this year. Only thing holding him back would be his plate-discipline and improving defense as he just started playing second.
Pitchers
#2 Zach Wheeler | RHP: Throws a 94 to 97 MPH fastball, an improving changeup and an improving curveball. He still is very raw. Turns 21 in late May. Ceiling is a front-line starter.
#21 Jorge Bucardo | RHP: A wiry pitcher who throws a 88 to 90 MPH fastball that tops out at 94 MPH. Also has an average slider and changeup is spotty at best. Looks like a reliever long-term.
#22 Jason Stoffel | RHP: Throws a power slider and a mid-90s fastball. Will be a reliever with the inability to develop changeup. Has great strikeout potential (85 strikeouts in 71 career innings) but walks can be a killer (4.5 BB/9 for career). Will pitch at Double-A this year.
