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San Francisco Giants Spring Training 2006 Report

The San Francisco Giants are generally a net importer of talent for the major league roster, but there are a few standouts in the 40 and NRI list from this Spring worth keeping an eye on. The minor league camp sports 168 hopefuls of varying age and condition.

40 Man/NRI Prospects

Venezuelan catcher Eliezer Alfonso took a fast ride across the farm in 2005, after putting up a .357 average with 13 home runs and 45 RBIs for the San Jose Giants. He batted .313 for the Norwich Navigators, and delivered a solid .286 in four games with the Fresno Grizzlies.

Outfielders got some additional time up in the majors last year with Barry Bonds' long road to rehab. We still like Todd Linden (MLN FAB50 Baseball 2005 No. 18) who batted .321 for Fresno and a bitmore anemic .216 for the Giants last season. Nate Schierholtz (MLN FAB50 Baseball 2004 No. 45) looked good this Spring. He finished faster than he started, with a solid .319 average and 15 home runs for San Jose.

Of the pitchers who spent the majority of their seasons in the minor leagues last year, Jack Taschner, who jumpred from Fresno with a 1.64 ERA to San Francisco, where it chilled down to a 1.59 on 22 games of work, looks to be a lock for a big league spot.

Righty Matt Cain (MLN FAB50 Baseball 2005 No. 12 , 2004 No. 19) , who spent most of last year in Fresno, looks like a contender for a major league job. Jeremy Accardo has potential and we'll continue to watch Kelyn Accosta develop in the lower depths of the Giants farm system, where he's showing some promise.

Minor League Camp

The separate minor league camp, where players continue to be evaluated and sorted for the 2006 season, yields a few interesting players and numbers.

168 players were invited to the minor league program. The majority were from Arizona League, Norwich Navigators, San Jose Giants, and Fresno Grizzlies affiliates.

Four Rockies players/prospects came into Giants camp, including Jamey Wright, Todd Greene, Tomas Delarosa, and Matt Anderson.

18 year old outfielder Tayler Cresswell of Deer Valley (CA) High School was the youngest member of camp. He looked a bit greener than the rest of the pack but shows great promise.

There are veteran floaters that move from team to team like Abraham Nunez, and several interesting 19+ Dominican pitchers who might shape into something. None was a particular standout in our sweep of the camp worthy of comment at this point, though. (See the full list of minor league camp invitees.)