There R Giants' 2024 Top 50: #10-11
It's Readers' Choice Time!
Photo Credit: Kevin Cunningham | Giant Futures
So far in the Top 50:
#50-46 (Lisbel Diaz, Hayden Wynja, Alix Hernandez, Carson Ragsdale, Ben Madison)
#45-41 (Jose Cruz, Tyler Myrick, Eric Silva, Nick Zwack, Josh Bostick)
#40-36 (William Kempner, R.J. Dabovich, Scott Bandura, Cole Foster, Nick Avila)
#35-31 (Jairo Pomares, Manuel Mercedes, Ryan Murphy, Erik Miller, Spencer Miles)
#30-26 (Kai-Wei Teng, Cole Waites, Randy Rodriguez, Maui Ahuna, Liam Simon)
#25-21 (Gerelmi Maldonado, Carson Seymour, Adrian Sugastey, Onil Perez, Diego Velasquez)
#20-16 (Heliot Ramos, Trevor McDonald, Landen Roupp, Victor Bericoto, Wade Meckler)
#15-12 (Tyler Fitzgerald, Joe Whitman, Vaun Brown, Reggie Crawford)
And now for something completely different!
Today I’m going to try something new. I’ve gone back and forth on these two players a lot this winter — just as I did last year, when I ended up with Arteaga at #4 on my list and McCray at #5. There is a world of similarities that this talented two-some shares — both their strengths and their flaws fit them into almost identical prospect profiles. Both bring high level up-the-middle defensive abilities that put a utility career within their reasonable reach; both have built up a long-enough track record to raise legitimate questions regarding their hit tools.
Oh certainly there are differences as well — age, experience, physical tools. This duo is essentially a Rorschach test of what any individual observer values. And there’s clearly no right answer here: texts I’ve sent to various scouts over the winter have turned up fairly even preferences for one or the other.
So here’s what I’m going to do with this pair. Because I can’t choose, I’ll let you folks do it. I’ll lay out the cases for each player, including pros and cons going forward. I’ll provide a few of the pinch point differences that may cause you to value one over the other. And then I’ll invite you to vote on which order I officially place them in in this year’s Top 50.
I would call it a Choose Your Own Adventure ranking, but I’m old enough to remember when friend of the site, Grant Brisbee, received a literal Cease and Desist letter for this little bit of brilliance — so it’s most definitely not that! Instead, let’s consider it something more like “Clue: The Movie: The There R Giants’ Post.” I’m sure the owners of that particular IP are a little more lenient. I’ll leave the clues and you select the ending of your choice.
See you at the Polls!
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