It’s that time of year again, friends! The 2026 San Francisco Giants season may have been one of the worst in recent memory — or ever, for that matter — but at least we have a treat waiting to start the offseason: the return of the Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List, in which we will, as a group, rank the top 44 prospects in the Giants system.
Last year’s CPL was so much fun. After years of a middling farm system, it really felt like things were headed up going into the 2026 Minor League
Baseball season, and the 44 names (which didn’t even include Jonah Cox, Scott Bandura, Turner Hill, or César Perdomo!) reflected that. And, looking back on the list, we were right to be excited.
And yet, even though last year’s No. 1 prospect (Bryce Eldridge) graduated, it still feels like this year’s list is going to be even more exciting.
So today we embark on a community journey that will last for a few months. Hopefully by the time we wrap things up, there will be preseason baseball to keep us occupied, though the impending lockout could keep that from happening.
For the uninitiated — or just those who would like a refresher — here are the rules for the CPL, copy, pasted, and updated from a year ago:
- 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 remain open until the next CPL.
- I have given up on trying to evade the bots with polls, and so all voting will take place in the comment system through the “rec” feature. You will need to be logged in to participate.
- 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: Victor Bericoto, Drew Cavanaugh, Jonah Cox, Bryce Eldridge, Trent Harris, Turner Hill, Trevor McDonald, Jesús Rodríguez, Carson Seymour, Dylan Smith, Daniel Susac, Blade Tidwell, and Carson Whisenhunt.
- 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. Protest votes have their time and place, but I don’t think this is either.
And with that, let’s head to the comment section and nominate some players for Wednesday’s opening chapter! As always, a special thank you to all of the McCovey Chronicles writers who have handled this project in the past, with a special shoutout to Roger Munter, who not only remains an active participant in the CPL discussions, but a vital resource to all of us.
Now prospect fans, start your engines!
