How The Giants Built One of Baseball’s Best Farm Systems
It took a few years, but Buster Posey and the Giants have built one of baseball's most talented farm systems.
For years, the San Francisco Giants have had one of the more depleted farm systems in all of baseball. They repeatedly failed to develop talent and turn top prospects into everyday contributors at the big-league level.
However, over the last year and a half, something has changed. The talent at the top of the system is extremely encouraging and, for the first time in roughly 15 years, Giants fans have a real future to look forward to in San Francisco.
Signing long-term, big-money free agents seems unnecessary at this point, simply because of the surplus of top-tier talent flourishing throughout the minor leagues. It’s fair to say that this is the most upside San Francisco’s system has ever had at one time, and that feat alone has put the Giants in the upper echelon of farm systems across baseball.
Let’s break down how San Francisco built the game’s most improved system.
International Excellence
For years, the Giants were virtually nonexistent in the international free-agent market. They spent years trying to break into it and simply struggled to find their footing.
They thought they had a star in Marco Luciano, but that clearly did not work out.
Outside of Pablo Sandoval, you’d have to go back to the days of Juan Marichal and Orlando Cepeda to find the organization having real success in Latin America.
That was until a few winters ago.
It started with Jhonny Level, a switch-hitting infielder out of Venezuela who was not necessarily a highly touted prospect. He signed for under $1 million — much less than the other two shortstops we’ll mention — despite the elite production he’s provided in his first two stateside seasons.
Last year, he was the best player in the ACL and is now tearing up the lower levels at just 18 years old, with a 131 wRC+ and 17 homers between Low- and High-A. Level recently checked in at No. 71 on Just Baseball’s Top 100 update.
Next came arguably the most talented prospect this organization has seen this century.
Unlike Level, Josuar Gonzalez, Just Baseball’s No. 20 overall prospect, was an extremely hyped talent two Januarys ago and was clearly the best player in that wave of international talent. This led to him signing for right around $3 million and dominating the DSL shortly after.
Fast-forward to now, and he’s the organization’s top prospect, dominating Low-A as an 18-year-old with legitimate top-prospect-in-baseball upside.
Lastly, and most recently, came Luis Hernandez.
Hernandez, Just Baseball’s No. 85 overall prospect, was a 17-year-old wunderkind out of Venezuela who had already dominated a professional league in his home country before signing with San Francisco for a whopping total just below $5 million.
He showed an advanced feel to hit at the complex after skipping the DSL and was aggressively pushed to Low-A at just 17 years old.
These three shortstops now make up the top three position-player prospects in the organization and all sit comfortably in Just Baseball’s Top 100 Prospects list.
Not to mention, the organization has gotten other high-upside pieces like Keyner Martinez and Argenis Cayama through the international scene.
After years of being a non-threat to the league in this market, the Giants have made their presence felt in countries like the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and elsewhere. Thanks to the endless work of Joe Salermo — the Giants’ senior director of international scouting — San Francisco is a force to be reckoned with internationally.
Draft Wins
Similar to the international market, the Giants went years without some big hits in the early rounds of the draft. Outside of Heliot Ramos and Patrick Bailey — who are far from superstars — the organization struggled to draft surefire big leaguers.
However, the last few years have been a different story. Bryce Eldridge was the first player to break the mold, being San Francisco’s first-round pick back in 2023. While he’s recently graduated from the system, he helped lay the groundwork for what this farm has become.
Buster Posey had never been a part of the draft process heading into 2025, but seemingly did well with his first-ever first-round pick. While Gavin Kilen may not have the ceiling of some of the other middle infielders in this system, he likely has the highest floor.
It definitely wasn’t the riskiest selection, but, as of now, it looks like Posey’s first first-rounder will be a big leaguer.
Now, a month and a half ago was when things really turned the tides for the Giants. Despite having odds outside of the top 10 to get the first overall pick, San Francisco somehow fell into the fourth overall selection.
It was no secret they needed it, too. The club was — and still is — in one of its worst seasons since moving to San Francisco, and the young crop of talent in the farm was one of the few things fans could be excited about.
This led to them taking the first arm off the board — Jackson Flora. Not only was he the best pitcher in the class, but he filled a significant need in the organization.
He immediately became the top arm in the system and a consensus top-50 prospect in the sport (No. 36).
With the 29th overall pick (acquired from CLE) and their second-round selection, San Francisco added a pair of the best prep arms in the class with southpaw Carson Bolemon and right-hander Kaden Waechter. This further added to the dire need for arms in the system and made it clear Posey and his draft room had a clear direction for this summer’s draft.
With other fun picks over the years like Dakota Jordan, Trevor Cohen, Peyton Bonds, and many others, the Giants have been able to add both top-flight talent to the system as well as high-upside depth.
The Trade Deadline
Despite being mediocre for five years now, the last two deadlines were the first in which the Giants decided to actually sell. While some fan favorites had to go, it’s clearly worked out in the organization’s favor.
The most impressive move of the last two years was the fact that Buster Posey found a way to acquire a top-100 arm in Ramon Marquez, Just Baseball’s No. 77 overall prospect, for Luis Arraez — a rental bat whose defense had suddenly improved.
Marquez’s changeup is one of the best pitches in minor league baseball, and he slid in right behind Flora as the farm’s second-best arm.
Other pitching prospects like southpaw Henry Lalane and righty Miguel Mendez — both acquired at this year’s deadline — have been factors in pushing this system over the edge as well.
Not to mention, San Francisco acquired another teenage shortstop from the international ranks who’s dominating the DSL. Even if Joniel Hernandez isn’t quite at the level of Josuar Gonzalez and Luis Hernandez, it only took two months of Robbie Ray to acquire one of the best talents currently playing in the DSL with top-100 upside.
Arguably the club’s most impactful trade acquisition outside of Marquez is one that took place under the past regime.
A few years ago, San Francisco received Jacob Bresnahan from the Cleveland Guardians for two months of 36-year-old Alex Cobb. It seemed like a fun flyer for the Giants to take on a teenage southpaw with exciting stuff and a clear need for some fine-tuning.
Now, Bresnahan is the club’s best left-handed pitching prospect and has dominated High-A over the last few months.
Final Thoughts
While the front office won’t admit to it, it does feel like San Francisco is trying to softly rebuild despite having a handful of expensive contracts on the books. It’s not something they’re particularly fond of, but it’s something this organization has needed for years.
With repeated misses in free agency and an underwhelming farm leading to baseball purgatory, the Giants have needed a fresh start for years. With Bryce Eldridge already looking like a well-above-average bat at the big-league level and a sickening amount of surplus talent coming through the ranks, Bay Area fans finally have something to look forward to.
Thanks to some hard work internationally, a few draft hits, and some savvy trades, San Francisco finally holds one of baseball’s best and most promising farm systems.
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Written by
Michael Monreal got his start in baseball media when he started his own website covering the San Francisco Giants after playing two years of college baseball.…