This morning, Matt Hagen posted his rankings for each Major League team's farm system on the Hardball Times. Hagen is decidedly pessimistic about the Giants system, ranking them in the bottom 5 of the league.

Hagen thinks that the system is bottom heavy (which is true; most of the premium talent is in the low minors right now) and doesn't see very many high ceilings in the bunch.

It appears that only Wheeler will fit in my top 100, and, yes, that does account for Belt, who I am far from sold on. It also appears that San Francisco only has three players who will appear in my top 200, despite having some low-level depth to work with.

It is pretty surprising that he is so down on . Most prospect watchers have him as the Giants top prospect and among the top prospects in the league after his breakout season. The other player that he is really down on is , who was ranked 9th, while most have him in the 3 to 5 range.

If Hagen is right, things look much less bright for the future as the current players age and there is little in the minors available to replace them. I am much more optimistic about some of the guys in the system, but I am far from an expert in picking out Minor League talent that will perform at the Major League level.

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