2022 Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List: the final rankings

On December 6, we embarked on a time-honored McCovey Chronicles tradition: the Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List.

Back then, the lockout had just gotten underway. Now it’s resolved, Spring Training is wrapping up, and the 2022 MLB season is about to start. And so, four months after this project started, it’s only fitting that on the first day of the Minor League season, we unveil the top 44 prospects in the San Francisco Giants organization, as voted on by the community.

Let’s take a look at the final list. The number in parenthesis next to each name is their ranking in last year’s CPL. Names that have “UN” next to them were unranked a year ago, while players with “N/A” were not in the system last season.

The final list

1. SS Marco Luciano (1)
2. C Joey Bart (2)
3. CF Luis Matos (5)
4. OF Heliot Ramos (3)
5. LHP Kyle Harrison (9)
6. RHP Camilo Doval (16)
7. OF Jairo Pomares (14)
8. RHP Will Bednar (N/A)
9. C Patrick Bailey (8)
10. OF Hunter Bishop (4)
11. SS Ryan Reckley (N/A)
12. SS Aeverson Arteaga (28)
13. RHP Ryan Murphy (UN)
14. LHP Matt Mikulski (N/A)
15. OF Diego Rincones (37)
16. RHP R.J. Dabovich (36)
17. LHP Nick Swiney (17)
18. INF Will Wilson (10)
19. 3B David Villar (UN)
20. C Ricardo Genovés (29)
21. LHP Sammy Long (38)
22. RHP Randy Rodriguez (UN)
23. RHP Manuel Mercedes (UN)
24. 3B Casey Schmitt (21)
25. OF Ismael Munguia (UN)
26. RHP Kervin Castro (25)
27. C Adrian Sugastey (UN)
28. C/INF/OF Brett Auerbach (UN)
29. LHP Chris Wright (UN)
30. RHP Sean Hjelle (11)
31. RHP Prelander Berroa (UN)
32. RHP Gregory Santos (15)
33. LHP Seth Corry (6)
34. OF Grant McCray (26)
35. INF Tyler Fitzgerald (40)
36. RHP Carson Ragsdale (UN)
37. CF Alexander Suarez (UN)
38. RHP Eric Silva (N/A)
39. 1B/3B Luis Toribio (12)
40. LHP Esmerlin Vinicio (UN)
41. OF Armani Smith (44)
42. RHP Mason Black (N/A)
43. 2B Jimmy Glowenke (34)
44. RHP Kai-Wei Teng (18)

Note: Clicking on the above names will link to the CPL where they were voted onto the list.

Did something happen in 2020?

Before getting to a breakdown, let’s point out the glaringly obvious: there’s a lot of movement between this year’s list and last year’s. Movement is normal in the CPL, but it’s extra prevalent this time around.

And the reason is simple: there was no Minor League season in 2020. When we were doing this exercise last year it was with basically no recent information on any prospects. And now, doing it this year, we have two years of growth and development crammed into one season that we then had to evaluate.

It makes it a touch chaotic, but a lot of fun.

Who’s off the list?

There are a whopping 17 new names on this year’s CPL. That means that 18 players that were on last year’s CPL didn’t return in 2022 (we ranked 45 players last year, as there was a tie for No. 44).

So who are they, and where did they go?

Remarkably, none of the 18 players graduated from the realm of prospectdom, though there are some conflicting opinions on whether Sammy Long and Camilo Doval — whom we included — should count.

This is doubly remarkable because last year’s CPL saw three players (Mauricio Dubón, Logan Webb, and Tyler Rogers) graduate after the 60-game season.

Six players from last year’s CPL are no longer in the organization. Outfielder Alexander Canario (No. 7) and RHP Caleb Kilian (No. 43) were traded to the Chicago Cubs in the Kris Bryant deal, and first baseman Connor Cannon (No. 35) was shipped to the New York Yankees as part of the Mike Tauchman trade.

Outfielders Sandro Fabian (No. 31) and Luis Alexander Basabe (No. 33) elected free agency after the season, and have signed Minor League deals with other teams, while RHP Dedniel Nuñez (T-No. 44), a Rule 5 selection, was returned to the New York Mets.

That leaves 12 players who simply fell off the list: RHP Tristan Beck (No. 13), first baseman Logan Wyatt (No. 19), outfielder Jaylin Davis (No. 20), RHP Blake Rivera (No. 22), RHP Trevor McDonald (No. 23), RHP Melvin Adon (No. 24), first baseman Garrett Frechette (No. 27), RHP Jake Wong (No. 30), corner infielder Sean Roby (No. 32), RHP Matt Frisbee (No. 39), catcher Rayner Santana (No. 41), and third baseman Jason Vosler (No. 42).

The door certainly isn’t closed on those players. Many of them had injury-riddled seasons, and some had good years but were pushed off by an influx of talent in the system. Beck and Rivera were both in the final pool of nominees, and almost made the list. And Davis and Vosler are both on the 40-man roster, so they may get their chance to prove themselves in the big leagues this year.

The biggest movers

As already mentioned, there were a lot of big movers in this year’s CPL after last year’s mystery picks.

The biggest droppers are highlighted by the players listed above, such as Tristan Beck, who fell from No. 13 straight off the list. But as for those who stayed on the list, five players fell 10 or more spots. The biggest drop-off was for Seth Corry and Luis Toribio, who both fell 27 spots, with Kai-Wei Teng right behind with a 26-spot drop. Sean Hjelle fell 19 spots, and Gregory Santos dropped 17 positions.

On the other side of things, Ryan Murphy was the highest rising of the players who entered the list, debuting at No. 13 after going unranked a season ago. Five players stayed on the list but rose at least 10 spots, highlighted by 22 places for Diego Rincones and 20 for R.J. Dabovich. Sammy Long jumped up 17 spots, Aeverson Arteaga rose 16 positions, and Camilo Doval hopped 10 spots upwards.

Acquisition breakdown

Of the 44 ranked prospects, 21 were drafted by the Giants: Joey Bart (No. 2), Heliot Ramos (No. 4), Kyle Harrison (No. 5), Will Bednar (No. 8), Patrick Bailey (No. 9), Hunter Bishop (No. 10), Ryan Murphy (No. 13), Matt Mikulski (No. 14), R.J. Dabovich (No. 16), Nick Swiney (No. 17), David Villar (No. 19), Casey Schmitt (No. 24), Chris Wright (No. 29), Sean Hjelle (No. 30), Seth Corry (No. 33), Grant McCray (No. 34), Tyler Fitzgerald (No. 35), Eric Silva (No. 38), Armani Smith (No. 41), Mason Black (No. 42), and Jimmy Glowenke (No. 43).

Another 16 of the prospects were international signings by the Giants: Marco Luciano (No. 1), Luis Matos (No. 3), Camilo Doval (No. 6), Jairo Pomares (No. 7), Ryan Reckley (No. 11), Aeverson Arteaga (No. 12), Diego Rincones (No. 15), Ricardo Genovés (No. 20), Randy Rodriguez (No. 22), Manuel Mercedes (No. 23), Ismael Munguia (No. 25), Kervin Castro (No. 26), Alexander Suarez (No. 37), Luis Toribio (No. 39), and Esmerlin Vinicio (No. 40).

Five players were acquired by trade: Will Wilson (No. 18, Zack Cozart trade), Prelander Berroa (No. 31, Sam Dyson trade), Gregory Santos (No. 32, Eduardo Nuñez trade), Carson Ragsdale (No. 36, Sam Coonrod trade), and Kai-Wei Teng (No. 44, Sam Dyson Trade).

One player (Sammy Long, No. 21) was a Minor League free agent, and one player (Brett Auerbach, No. 28) was an undrafted free agent, though that was in the five-round demon draft in 2020, so it might be more accurate to view him as a drafted player.

As for the pick breakdown, and only looking at the players drafted by the Giants, seven came from the 2020 draft, five from 2019, four from 2021, three from 2018, and two from 2017. There were five each from the first and second rounds, four from the third round, three from the fourth round, and one each from the fifth, seventh, 11th, and 12th rounds.

And that’s our community prospect list, folks. Thanks to all who participated.

Now we march into the Minor League season.