We’re so close to Spring Training! So close! And we’re surprisingly close to finishing our ranking of the top 44 prospects in the San Francisco Giants organization, too. The list marches on, as we gear up for real baseball once more.
The next name on the list is a newcomer: it’s outfielder Cam Maldonado, who makes his CPL debut as the No. 34 prospect in the system. Maldonado, who hits and fields right-handed, was the team’s seventh-round pick in July’s draft out of Northeastern, and received a signing bonus ($287,400) right in line with his draft position.
He got into 17 games after being drafted, all with Low-A San Jose, where he hit .237/.352/.339 for a .691 OPS and a 92 wRC+.
Maldonado, who turned 22 in November, has some big time tools, notably his speed. He stole five bases in his short stint with the Baby Giants (without getting caught), and in his three years of college ball he swiped 90 bags, while being caught just 13 times. But he’s no tweener: he also has some exciting power, and bopped 15 home runs in just 60 games in his final season with Northeastern, while sporting a .631 slugging percentage and a .279 isolated slugging.
The downsides are ones that are shared by a few of his prospects in this area of the list. The biggest hole in Maldonado’s game is that there’s a large amount of swing and miss. He K’d in 18.8% of his at-bats last year with Northeastern which, on the one hand, represented huge improvement over his 25.9% rate the year prior but, on the other hand, is still a way-too-high number for college, especially outside of a power conference.
Maldonado also has, despite his speed, some question marks surrounding his center field defense, though those question marks are more of the “unknown” variety than the “red flag” variety, which is the case with most outfielders getting ready for their first full season of affiliated ball. Needless to say, we’ll likely get some clarity on his defensive abilities in the upcoming year, and if he can play decently in center, that will make his offensive profile a lot greener. I’d expect him to return to San Jose to start the year, where he should play every day in the outfield, and hopefully see a lot of time in the center of the grass.
Now let’s add to the list, and we’ve got some new names to vote on today.
The list so far
Note: Clicking on the above names will link to the CPL where they were voted onto the list.
No. 35 prospect nominees
Rayner Arias — 19.9-year old OF — .173 OPS/-42 wRC+ in Low-A (30 PA); .699 OPS/87 wRC+ in ACL (178 PA)
Victor Bericoto — 24.1-year old OF/1B — .478 OPS/16 wRC+ in AAA (46 PA); .784 OPS/130 wRC+ in AA (393 PA)
Sabin Ceballos — 23.5-year old 3B — .670 OPS/102 wRC+ in AA (420 PA)
Jack Choate — 24.9-year old LHP — 3.51 ERA/4.17 FIP in AA (102.2 IP)
Jakob Christian — 23.4-year old OF/1B — .950 OPS/155 wRC+ in High-A (92 PA); .815 OPS/119 wRC+ in Low-A (318 PA)
Reggie Crawford — 25.1-year old LHP — did not pitch in 2025; 1.04 ERA/4.07 FIP in AAA in 2024 (8.2 IP); 4.66 ERA/4.93 FIP in AA in 2024 (9.2 IP)
Reid Worley — 19.6-year old RHP — yet to debut
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 2025 season.
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