Giants Prospects Among Baseball's Best

Former San Jose Giant Gary Brown received mention on the MLB.com Top 100 prospects in baseball list released last week. Brown, who garnered the #100 overall prospect ranking, is coming off of a season at Double-A Richmond where he hit .279 with seven home runs, 32 doubles and 42 RBI's in 134 games. Brown, who started slow last year but managed to hit an even .300 from June 1 through the end of the regular season, was the only position player in the San Francisco farm system that was ranked among the top 100 prospects.

MLB.com notes that, "Brown's best tool is his plus speed, which allows him to be a terrific center fielder as well as a major basestealing threat, though he needs to learn to be more efficient on the basepaths." Brown led the Flying Squirrels with 33 stolen bases last year, but was also caught 18 times. He hit considerably better against left-handed pitching (.319) compared to versus right-handers (.264) while ranking fourth in the Eastern League in hits (150).

Brown's breakout year in the minor leagues came with the San Jose Giants in 2011 when he was named team MVP and the California League Rookie of the Year. Brown hit .336 with San Jose while also producing 34 doubles, 13 triples, 14 home runs, 80 RBI's and 53 stolen bases. His 188 hits established a new San Jose Giants single-season record. MLB.com adds that Brown "has an understanding that his job is to be a catalyst at the top of the lineup, one who can get on base and let his speed work for him."

Brown will likely open the 2013 season with the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies.

Kyle Crick was the only other Giants prospect on the top 100 list as the flame-throwing right-hander was placed at #86 overall. Crick had a terrific 2012 campaign with the Class-A Augusta GreenJackets logging a 2.51 ERA and a 7-6 record over 22 starts. He struck out a whopping 128 batters in just 111 1/3 innings and limited the opposition to a .193 batting average.

MLB.com describes Crick's fastball as "easily plus, though he's still learning to command it" and that "all the pieces are there for him to be a frontline starter."

Baseball America also rated Crick the top prospect in the San Francisco organization last week. After his stellar year in the South Atlantic League, it's expected that Crick will begin this season as a member of the San Jose starting rotation.

Last year, Brown (#48) and Francisco Peguero (#98) were ranked on MLB.com's Top 100 prospects list.

MLB.com is scheduled to announce their top 20 San Francisco Giants prospects on Friday.