Here we go again!
It is, once again, time for perhaps the best McCovey Chronicles tradition of them all: the Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List. Over the next few months, we’ll get together as a community to honor one of the greats in franchise history, and rank the top 44 prospects in the San Francisco Giants organization.
There’s a lot of change this year for the Giants, who have replaced Farhan Zaidi with Buster Posey, replaced Pete Putila with Zack Minasian, and seem to be taking a very-different-yet-not-at-all-different approach to the offseason.
But the farm always offers some familiarity. Even with roster turnover and regime changes, the farm stays fairly similar. And we get to rank all those exciting young prospects who are chasing their dreams of becoming established MLB players.
Even though we are likely in near-unanimous agreement as to who the top prospect in the organization is, we must still respect the process by making him earn it. And so today we will elect the first seven nominees for the coveted title of “Best Prospect in the System,” an honor given last year to Kyle Harrison. So please, head to the comments and join the time-honored tradition of choosing those seven nominees.
Before we get to the rules, I want to make two notes.
First, in the past, when international prospects sign (a process that now happens almost entirely in January), we’ve retroactively voted on a spot for any player deserving of making the list. This year, I’m making the executive decision to include Josuar de Jesus González from the start. González, widely considered the top international prospect in this year’s class, won’t officially become part of the organization until January and yes, there have been instances in the past where a deal with a player falls through. But given the near-certainty of his signing (in addition to it being widely reported that he’ll sign with the Giants, his Instagram page has the Giants’ handle in its description alongside black and orange hearts, and all four of his posts feature him wearing Giants gear), it seems most authentic to just include him now and slot him in properly.
Second, last year we had a debate as to whether Jung Hoo Lee, who technically had prospect status but in name only, was eligible. As a community, we decided the answer was “no,” and so I’m using that as the precedent going forward with MLB-ready international signings. So on the happy off chance that the Giants sign Rōki Sasaki, he won’t be included in this exercise.
With that, let’s copy, paste, and update the rules from last year:
- CPL’s will be every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I may not follow that strictly, especially with the holidays, but it will be close. Voting will be open until the next CPL.
- As always, we will begin by voting with polls, which is easier and more inclusive. If the bots take over — as they have a few times — we will switch to a voting system in the comments.
- We’ll start with seven nominees to choose from. When we are down to voting on four prospects we will nominate new players, and add them to the next list so we’re back at seven.
- When it’s nomination day (such as today), use the comments to nominate new players. I’ll leave a top comment that you can respond to with prospect names, and you can recommend any comment that has a player you think should be added. If someone else has already nominated a player, please do not comment nominating that player, but instead cast your vote by hitting the “rec” button. You can also rec your own nomination. The four players with the most recs will get added to the next CPL.
- To honor McCovey, we will rank 44 prospects, which includes all Giants who are still rookie eligible, save for the aforementioned MLB-ready international signings. If there is a tie, the next CPL will be a runoff post, with the loser of the runoff also getting added to the list.
- If the Giants acquire a prospect during the CPL, through trade or international signing, and it seems as though they belong somewhere that the voting is already past, we’ll do a special post to vote on/debate their placement.
- Use the comments to stump for players, argue, share knowledge, etc. This is always really fun, because of the energy, passion, and smartness that you all bring to it. The real CPL is the invigorating conversations we have along the way!
- Players in the organization who still have their prospect status are eligible, even if they’re on the 40-man roster and/or expected to be on the active roster when the season begins.
- Players who graduated this season and are no longer eligible: Hayden Birdsong, Spencer Bivens, Jerar Encarnación, Tyler Fitzgerald, Kyle Harrison, Marco Luciano, Erik Miller, Heliot Ramos, Randy Rodríguez, Landen Roupp, and Keaton Winn.
- I know there is always a hot debate on what constitutes a prospect, and many in our lovely community feel strongly that players who have made MLB debuts should not be included on prospect lists. I certainly understand that sentiment, and can’t control who anyone votes for, but I strongly encourage people to vote based on who is included on this list, not on their personal ones, as that will more accurately reflect the purpose of the project.
And now, let’s head to the comments and get this thing started! As always, a special thanks to Roger, Kevin, and the many, many people who have made this such an important and amazing part of the McCovey Chronicles community.
Here’s a link to last year’s final CPL voting.