There R Giants 2024 Top 50: #46-50

The ones I agonized over

Photo Credit: Trey Wilson | Richmond Flying Squirrels

Before starting up the Top 50, I want to give a quick congratulations to Giants’ West regional scouting supervisor, Matt Woodward, who was named the organization’s Dick Tidrow Scout of the Year. Matt has been a cross-checker on recent picks like Casey Schmitt, Kyle Harrison, Wade Meckler and many more. If you love the players, then give it up for the scouts as well. This is one of my very favorite things that the Giants’ organization does every year, highlighting a member of the scouting department for special achievement. Woodward joins NorCal Area Scout Keith Snider and Florida area scout Jim Gabella as recipients of this honor since its inception. Congratulations, and thanks for the great work, Matt!

So far in the Top 50:

• Just Missed List

Weirdly, this is the one that really causes me angst. Once I get past this final group of five, I’m fine. Honestly, there’s just not enough difference between #38 and #36 to be all that concerned about. There’s probably not enough difference between #42 and #32 to get all that fussed about either for that matter. But, as much as the difference between #50 and #51 is completely negligible in terms of expected future prospect goes, the practical difference — on the list, off the list — is huge. That binary distinction creates a sense of difference that we just can’t get over, despite the fact that we know perfectly well that players at this level are completely interchangeable. They’re guys who have something to like, a few red flags, and a chance to make the magic adjustment that brings the entire picture into focus. A tool and a prayer, essentially.

So I worry it. I wiggle it. I move names off and then move them back in again. I exchange players, undo it, and then exchange new players. I exchange the exact same players again to see if it feels any different the second time around. I do it all over again until I forget who I actually have on the list and who off, and end up completely miserable about the players I’ve consigned to the “Here Be Monsters” portion of my rankings map.

In some ways, I spend more time and more anguish working on my #46-50 post than any other single spot in my Top 50 Rankings — maybe more than deciding who’s #1 and who’s 2 — because I just hate saying “Player X isn’t a member of my Top 50. Stupid ordinal numeric system! What Greek egghead put this thing in our brain just so we could do the maths and evolve ever higher systems of quantification and all that?

Anyway, all of that pearl clutching and lip biting is over now — the list is completed and these are the guys who made it. And I have to say that I’m thrilled to include each and every one of them. So, let’s get this year’s rankings going with the ones who just snuck in ….