The Giants are hoping to reach the playoff this season for the first time since 2016 while playing in a division that might feature the NL's two best teams. But while they face an uphill battle, the future continues to look bright.
Despite there being no minor league season in 2020, the Giants' farm system continues to rise. They come in at No. 9 in Keith Law of The Athletic's farm system rankings ahead of the upcoming 2021 season. He believes they should be even higher in the near future.
"If we get games this year this system is likely to jump into the top five -- helped, naturally, by the fact that they’ll lose almost nobody to promotion to the majors, and by some of those high-ceiling hitters getting to play," Law wrote.
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The majority of the Giants' top prospects still are very young and a bit of a way away from making an impact in the majors. Joey Bart made his MLB debut last season but clearly needed more time to develop and will start this season in Triple-A. Heliot Ramos, the Giants' No. 3 ranked prospect, only is 21 years old and could make his debut this year but that likely wouldn't come until a September call-up.
Bart and Ramos were joined by Marco Luciano and Seth Corry on Law's preseason Top 100. Corry turned 22 years old last November and looked great in 2019 when he dominated on the mound for the Augusta GreenJackets in Class A, but everything starts with the 19-year-old Luciano.
Sure, Luciano lost a year of minor league games but his star continues to brighten. There aren't many bad things to say about the Giants' top prospect. He looked like a future star at Summer Camp and that only continued at the Giants' alternate site in Sacramento and the fall Instructional League. This is the Giants' version of Fernando Tatis Jr. or Ronald Acuna Jr. He could find his way to San Francisco in no time.
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The only question surrounding Luciano right now is if can stick at shortstop. The Giants believe he can, but even if he eventually moves to third base his power will make up for the defensive change.
There could be a handful of prospects that help the Giants this season, including Ramos. But players like Luciano (19), Corry (22), Luis Matos (19), Kyle Harrison (19), Hunter Bishop (22), Alexander Canario (20) and Patrick Bailey (21) are what have Law and so many others excited about the future in San Francisco.