San Francisco Giants’ Farm System Is One of MLB’s Most-Improved

For the majority of the last decade, the Giants have been notorious for consistently having one of the weaker farm systems in all of baseball. They’ve clearly lacked the ability to draft and develop the right guys that fit within their organization.

The 2020 and 2021 seasons were the only across the last decade in which they made an appearance in the top 10 ranked systems according to MLB Pipeline. Even then, a lot of the guys who contributed to those rankings are either outside of the system or fatigued prospects who have failed to solidify themselves as big leagues pieces.

However, there’s a new wave of prospects in the lower minors that are providing a significant amount of upside for the Giants. While the upper minors are still a weak point for the system, the overall talent is miles ahead of where they were just over a year ago.

It’s a new era in the minor leagues of the San Francisco Giants. Let’s take a look at what went wrong with a few of the last top prospects and which guys are contributing to this current one that’s rising in the ranks.

Previous Wave of Top Prospects

As mentioned earlier, the only time across the last decade that the Giants had a decent farm was between 2020 and 2021. There were a handful of guys who looked like they were headed to be surefire contributors at the big league level.

However, somewhere a long the road, things went sideways and the Giants have gotten few contributions from these prospects.

Names like Hunter Bishop, Will Bednar, and Vaun Brown are names that were at one point in the top five of this system, and now, are either out of the organization, or have stalled out in the minors.

However, these three guys were the highest ranked prospects who failed to secure there spot in the future of the Giants’ organization.

Joey Bart

Joey Bart was the top ranked prospect in the system between 2019 and 2020 and sat at the number two spot from 2021 to 2022. He showed promising power behind the plate hitting 39 home runs across the minor leagues from 2018 to 2021 and the defense was good enough to stick behind the plate.

Once Buster Posey retired, Bart was seen as the replacement and handed the keys to the catching position for San Francisco. However, things didn’t go well for the former top prospect in his first full season at the big league level. In 2022, he slashed .215/.296/.364 with 11 home runs in 97 games.

Patrick Bailey came up the next year and displayed elite defense with some solid moments at the plate and the rest was history. Bart was sent to the Pirates in early 2024 and has been the backup there ever since.

Kyle Harrison

In 2023 and 2024, the Giants saw a new name climb to the very top of the system. Prep southpaw Kyle Harrison was turning heads with his unicorn fastball and rose quickly through the minor leagues.

He debuted in late 2023 and opened some eyes with a 10 strikeout effort against the Reds late in the year. However, in 2024, his first full year in the big leagues, the Giants saw a lot of mediocrity. He saw a major regression in terms of his stuff and pitched to a 4.56 ERA in 124.1 innings and only averaged 8.54 K/9.

Fast-forward to 2025, and Harrison started the year in Triple-A Sacramento. He was later called up and split time between the bullpen and the rotation. However, in June, Harrison was shipped off to the Boston Red Sox in the blockbuster Rafael Devers deal.

Marco Luciano

Marco Luciano moved between the top three spots in the system from 2019 to 2024. He was seen as a weaker defending shortstop whose bat would carry him throughout his career.

In his first pro season, he opened eyes with a 161 wRC+ while slashing .302/.417/.564 with 10 home runs. He quickly climbed rankings and was viewed as the Giants’ future shortstop once Brandon Crawford’s tenure was over.

However, since debuting in 2023, it’s been a rocky road for Luciano. In 126 plate appearances in the big leagues in that span, he’s failed to perform, hitting a mere .217 and failing to launch his first career long ball.

In 2025, Luciano has seen a resurgence in Triple-A Sacramento but only time will tell if he can become a part of San Francisco’s future.

Successes

Now it hasn’t been all bad for some of the higher ranked prospects in the system. In the past two seasons, the Giants have seen two players fully establish themselves as key members of the organization’s future.

While his defense has been lackluster of late, Heliot Ramos looks like a bat that will stick in the middle of the Giants lineup. He made the All-Star game in his first full season in the bigs and has shown the ability to hit for average as well as for some power in his big league time across the last two seasons.

The other name is Landen Roupp. Roupp wasn’t as well known as Kyle Harrison, but he won the fifth starter spot heading into 2025. Fast-forward to August, and he’s the clear number three in the Giants rotation.

He’s been a revelation, pitching to a 3.11 ERA in 101.1 innings with a 3.60 FIP. While these success stories are great, they don’t come anywhere close to outweighing the failures the Giants have seen in their development across the last half decade.

Who’s Contributing to The System’s Rise?

As mentioned earlier, the Giants’ system has seen a recent rise throughout the ranks, just in the last few months. According to MLB.com’s rankings, the Giants have jumped 10 spots, from 28th to 18th in the latest release.

Also, in Baseball America’s preseason rankings, the Giants were ranked 24th. However, earlier this week, San Francisco’s system was ranked 16th. It’s clear that scouts are noticing the talent that is showing up in the lower minors along with top prospect Bryce Eldridge.

Here are the names that are helping this system grow alongside the #13 prospect in all of baseball.

Bryce Eldridge

This one is quite obvious and we could see Eldridge as soon as this year. He flew through the minors in his first professional season and finished in Triple-A.

The 20-year-old started 2025 in Double-A and mashed to start the year. After initially getting promoted to Sacramento, he struggled, but since returning from the IL after a hamstring injury, all he’s done is hit.

From July 18th to August 5th, Eldridge went on a tear, hitting eight homers in 16 games with a 1.088 OPS and 160 wRC+. While the defense at first base is still a work in progress, the bat looks scarily close to being big league ready.

In the most recent updates, the 6’7 prospect ranked 13th according the MLB.com and 16th according to Just Baseball’s own Aram Leighton.

Josuar Gonzalez

Josuar Gonzalez was arguably the best international prospect signed out of the most recent class. Gonzalez is a 6’0″, 170 pound switch-hitting shortstop who is performing well in the DSL at only 17 years old.

While it’s still extremely early, the teenager has shown the ability to do a little bit of everything at the plate as well as defend well enough to stick at shortstop. DSL statistics should always be taken with a grain of salt, but Gonzalez is currently slashing .273/.390/.420 with three home runs and a 120 wRC+ in just 47 games.

If everything goes right, Gonzalez could slide in as the everyday shortstop for San Francisco once Willy Adames’ tenure is over, but we’re a long ways from that point. Due to early returns and his higher ceiling, he recently debuted on FanGraph’s Top 100 at 27th overall.

Jhonny Level

Level has had a breakout year as a prospect and has jumped in terms of the organization’s prospect rankings. The slightly undersized middle infielder has shown some promising signs in his age 18 season.

Just Baseball’s Aram Leighton on Level:

“A switch-hitter with good bat speed and intriguing tools, Level has produced at both the DSL and Complex Leagues, offering as much upside as any prospect in the system not named Eldridge.”

Level has impressed across two levels in 2025, hitting .285 with 10 home runs between the complex and low-A San Jose. Since being promoted, he has actually walked (16.9%) more than he has struck out (13.6%) which is an encouraging sign for an 18-year old.

Dakota Jordan

Dakota Jordan was one of the riskier picks that was projected to go early in the 2024 MLB Draft. He ended up falling to the Giants in the fourth round and, as of now, it looks like a steal for the organization.

Jordan was labeled risky due to some of the concerns around his hit tool and the overall approach, resulting in some serious whiff issues. While that is still true as we get into August, Jordan has been able to mitigate it with his combination of athleticism, speed, and power.

The center fielder has hit 14 home runs in Low-A with 27 stolen bases and a batting average well over .300 (.311). According to Aram Leighton on an episode of The Call Up, Jordan has also developed in center field.

“He wasn’t even the best defender in center field, but he’s developed a lot there.”

Other Names to Watch

While those are the guys who have really shown up in 2025 to push this system from below-average to middle-of-the-pack, there are few other names who have also contributed.

Bo Davidson has had a massive 2025 and dominated High-A Eugene with 10 home runs and a 150 wRC+. He has unfortunately struggled since being promoted to Double-A Richmond.

There are several arms who have also added to the system. Carson Whisenhunt is the headliner with his unicorn changeup. The organization’s top pitching prospect recently made his Major League debut and struggled in two of his three starts.

Argenis Cayama, Keyner Martinez, and Jacob Bresnahan are three arms who have really opened some eyes this season and are all in Low-A San Jose currently. Bresnahan, a southpaw, has thrown well in San Jose all year while the other two, both right-handers, dominated at the complex before recently getting promoted.

Gavin Kilen is another guy who was just drafted last month who has quickly jumped to the top of the system. He debuted as the number four prospect in the system according to Just Baseball’s organization rankings.

Trade Deadline

Lastly, the farm system added a mixed bag of player types at the deadline. The seven guys they received while selling Tyler Rogers, Camilo Doval, and Mike Yastrzemski added some solid depth to the system. A few guys are big league ready while some are higher upside options who are still in the lower minors.

You can read about San Francisco’s deadline hauls here.

Final Thoughts

It’s no secret that the Giants have had trouble finding and developing big league pieces from within their own system. However, with a surplus of young guys who have displayed some inspiring upside in 2025, could things finally be turning around?

With an expensive core of Rafael Devers, Willy Adames, and Matt Chapman at the big league level, San Francisco can’t necessarily afford to have these young prospects stall out in the minors like so many have for them in the last decade.

Will San Francisco finally find big league talent within, or will the trend continue for an organization that has struggled to develop?