Yes folks, it is, once again, that time of year. The time to come together as a community, share thoughts, debate ideas, and ultimately crowdsource the list of the top 44 prospects in the San Francisco
Giants organization.
It figures to be a very fun year for the CPL. The Giants had one of their best developmental seasons in recent memory in 2025, in the first season of Buster Posey and Randy Winn, and on top of that, added a fair amount of talent at the trade deadline (and through the draft, as always). 40 of the 44 names we chose last year are still in the system and prospect eligible, though that number figures to dwindle as a few of the players on the 2025 CPL are headed for free agency.
Today marks the first chapter in a community exercise that will take us through the winter months, and up to Spring Training, when hope will blossom anew, with plenty of watering from Tony Vitello. Today we will choose seven nominees for the coveted title of “top prospect” in the Giants system, and even though we all know who will emerge with that title, it’s still important to pick a good group of names; after all, they’ll be jockey for the title of second-best prospect, and third-best prospect, and…
One note before we get into the rules: last year we included international free agent Josuar González in our rankings, even though he hadn’t yet signed. This year we will do the same with the team’s all-but-assured star signing for January, shortstop Luis Hernandez. If there are other players signed in January — or prospects who are acquired in trades — that we believe should be ranked higher than where we are on the CPL at that time, we will vote on where to retroactively add them to the list, and adjust accordingly.
Now, let’s dive into the rules, as (mostly) copy and pasted from years prior.
- 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, which I suggest doing. 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, with the exception of MLB-ready international free agents (the “Jung Hoo Lee exception”). 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!
- All 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: Drew Gilbert, Christian Koss, Carson Seymour, and Kai-Wei Teng.
- I know there is always a hot debate as to 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 with that — and with a nod to Roger, Kevin, and the many, many folks who have helped run this special project in the past — we start our engines and get to nominating! See you all on Monday!
