Who is the 27th-best prospect on the farm?
Spring Training is just around the corner, for Minor and Major League players. And as they start to frantically pack their bags to get to Scottsdale — if they’re not already there — we start to frantically try to work our way through the 2025 Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List, in which we’ll rank the top 44 prospects in the San Francisco Giants organization.
The next name on our list is center fielder Jonah Cox, who has been voted as the No. 26 prospect in the organization in his first appearance on the CPL.
Cox is a player that the Giants, for all intents and purposes, stole. He was a sixth-round pick in the 2023 draft by the Athletics, and last spring the Giants somehow convinced the Athletics to not only take on Ross Stripling’s contract, but give them Cox as a thank you for that privilege. Stripling had an awful year and Cox emerged as an exciting prospect, and a trade that the Giants had already won turned to an even bigger win.
2024 was a strong first full season for Cox, a right-handed hitter who will turn 24 in August. He began the year with Low-A San Jose, where he hit a delightful .297/.412/.384, good for a .797 OPS and a 124 wRC+. He wasn’t as dynamic after a midseason promotion to High-A Eugene, but still held his own with a .225/.324/.350 line, a .674 OPS, and a 94 wRC+.
Cox is an old school center fielder. He is sorely lacking in power, with just five home runs and 22 total extra-base hits in 460 plate appearances last year. But he has blistering speed, as he led the organization with 58 stolen bases, while getting nabbed just nine times (he also legged out eight triples). And, with Grant McCray graduated, there’s a good case to be made that Cox is the best defensive center fielder in the system right now.
He’ll likely never be a dynamic hitter, but it’s well within the realm of Cox’s possible outcomes that he becomes a high-end defensive center fielder who can get on base and steal, steal, steal. And I’ll take that any day of the week!
Now let’s add to our list.
The list so far
- Bryce Eldridge — 1B
- Carson Whisenhunt — LHP
- James Tibbs III — OF
- Rayner Arias — OF
- Josuar de Jesus González — SS
- Jhonny Level — SS
- Mason Black — RHP
- Dakota Jordan — OF
- Joe Whitman — LHP
- Reggie Crawford — LHP
- Bo Davidson — OF
- Aeverson Arteaga — SS
- Wade Meckler — OF
- Walker Martin — SS
- Trevor McDonald — RHP
- Diego Velasquez — SS/2B
- Lisbel Diaz — OF
- Sabin Ceballos — 3B
- Carson Ragsdale — RHP
- Trent Harris — RHP
- Carson Seymour — RHP
- Jose Ortiz — CF
- Maui Ahuna — SS
- Victor Bericoto — OF/1B
- Robert Hipwell — 3B
- Jonah Cox — CF
Note: Clicking on the above names will link to the CPL where they were voted onto the list.
No. 27 prospect nominees
Josh Bostick — 23.3-year old RHP — 4.78 ERA/4.71 FIP in Low-A (107.1 IP)
Jacob Bresnahan — 19.6-year old LHP — 10.98 ERA/7.32 FIP in Giants Low-A (19.2 IP); 4.50 ERA/6.83 FIP in Guardians Low-A (4 IP); 2.54 ERA/3.57 FIP in ACL (46 IP)
Argenis Cayama — 18.4-year old RHP — 2.59 ERA/3.20 FIP in DSL (24.1 IP)
Jack Choate — 23.9-year old LHP — 5.82 ERA/4.41 FIP in AA (34 IP); 2.90 ERA/3.13 FIP in High-A (77.2 IP)
Gerelmi Maldonado — 21.1-year old RHP — did not play in 2024 (in 2023, 4.71 ERA/4.83 FIP in 65 Low-A IP)
Onil Perez — 22.4-year old C — .637 OPS/87 wRC+ in High-A (350 PA)
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 2024 season.