Who is the 14th-best prospect on the farm?
The year is coming to an end, but our 2025 Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List is still in its infancy. But every few days we get a little closer to ranking the top 44 prospects in the San Francisco Giants organization. The latest chapter was a close one, but in the end, outfielder Wade Meckler has been voted as the No. 13 prospect on the farm.
It’s a fall of two spots for the left-handed hitter, who was No. 11 on last year’s CPL. And the fall is explained largely by the fact that Meckler lost much of the year. He was one of the team’s standout players in Spring Training, and looked primed to be a key part of the outfield depth chart at the Major League level.
But then he was injured before the year began. He returned in mid-May, starting a rehab assignment in the Complex League, but then took another injury hiatus in June. He finally got healthy and worked his way back up the system, returning to AAA Sacramento on August 1.
His numbers there were decent, as he sported an .866 OPS and a 113 wRC+. But, oddly enough, Meckler — a player whose game is predicated almost entirely on contact and plate control — achieved a lot of that success with power that has eluded him for his amateur and professional career. Year-over-year, his AAA batting average dropped from .354 to .288, and his on-base percentage from .465 to .357. But after hitting just six home runs in 427 plate appearances across four levels in 2023, Meckler bopped eight home runs in AAA alone in 2024, in just 196 plate appearances. That was fun to see, but given the grain of salt that Pacific Coast League stats need to be taken with — and Meckler’s low exit-velocity stats — it doesn’t seem like a power trend that will sustain. So for Meckler, 2025 will be all about proving that he can get back to being a contact savant with an ultra-high batting average and on-base percentage.
It will also potentially be about learning a new position. Towards the end of the year, the Giants started to get Meckler acclimated to second base, though he never actually played the position in a game, just in drills. It seems unlikely that the Giants are moving him out of the outfield entirely, but it does look like the organization is prepping him for a utility role, to increase the ways that he can provide value.
Now let’s move on with the list!
The list so far
- Bryce Eldridge — 1B
- Carson Whisenhunt — LHP
- James Tibbs III — OF
- Rayner Arias — OF
- Josuar de Jesus González — SS
- Jhonny Level — SS
- Mason Black — RHP
- Dakota Jordan — OF
- Joe Whitman — LHP
- Reggie Crawford — LHP
- Bo Davidson — OF
- Aeverson Arteaga — SS
- Wade Meckler — OF
Note: Clicking on the above names will link to the CPL where they were voted onto the list.
No. 14 prospect nominees
Maui Ahuna — 22.9-year old SS — .636 OPS/84 wRC+ in Low-A (107 PA); 1.063 OPS/158 wRC+ in ACL (42 PA)
Lisbel Diaz — 19.4-year old OF — .767 OPS/103 wRC+ in Low-A (255 PA); .951 OPS/138 wRC+ in ACL (90 PA)
Walker Martin — 20.9-year old SS — .691 OPS/96 wRC+ in Low-A (123 PA); .795 OPS/115 wRC+ in ACL (189 PA)
Trevor McDonald — 23.9-year old RHP — 0.00 ERA/3.50 FIP in MLB (3 IP); 4.72 ERA/4.61 FIP in AAA (47.2 IP); 3.21 ERA/3.52 FIP in AA (14 IP); 4.86 ERA/5.75 FIP in High-A (16.2 IP); 3.52 ERA/4.83 FIP in ACL (7.2 IP)
Carson Ragsdale — 26.6-year old RHP — 5.03 ERA/5.64 FIP in AAA (53.2 IP); 3.49 ERA/3.92 FIP in AA (67 IP)
Diego Velasquez — 21.2-year old 2B/SS — .763 OPS/125 wRC+ in AA (170 PA); .746 OPS/112 wRC+ in High-A (318 PA)
Note: Each player’s first name links to their Baseball-Reference page, and their last name links to their Fangraphs page. All stats are from the 2024 season.