The Giants’ minor league season wrapped up last week, and the system had a few notable accomplishments to go with it.
Start with the managers. Ydwin Villegas of the San Jose Giants and Jacob Heyward of the Eugene Emeralds were named Manager of the Year in the California League and Northwest League, respectively. For Villegas, it was the third straight year he’s taken home the honor.
Heyward’s first season at High-A went well right away. After three years managing the Giants’ Arizona Complex League affiliate, he moved up and guided Eugene to a 79-52 record. The Emeralds fell to the Vancouver Canadians in the league championship series, but Heyward spent the year working with some of the organization’s top prospects, including Jhonny Level and Jacob Bresnahan.
Villegas had San Jose rolling again, too. The Giants finished with an 80-52 record, best in the California League.
They got past the Stockton Ports in the Division Series before losing to the Lake Elsinore Storm in the Championship Series. Even so, the club still managed one tidy feat in the finals.
The other big takeaway from the year was speed and power showing up together. The big league club may not be known for running, but the minors gave the Giants plenty of players who could do both. In 2026, three Giants minor leaguers hit at least 20 homers and stole at least 20 bases: Bo Davidson, Lisbel Diaz and Cam Maldonado.
That group was especially notable because those were the only three minor leaguers in the system to reach 20 home runs, and all three also cleared the 20-steal mark.
Davidson earned a late-season promotion to the major league roster. Giants fans are still waiting on his first home run, but he did swipe a bag in his major league debut.
Diaz put together a strong season of his own. He’d flashed raw power in the ACL back in 2024, then spent time with four affiliates before ending 2026 with the Richmond Flying Squirrels. He finished with 21 home runs for Eugene and nine steals, and in just 22 games with Richmond he went 8-for-9 on stolen-base attempts.
Maldonado, meanwhile, showed off one of the better power-speed profiles in the Giants’ 2025 draft class. In 98 games across three affiliates, he posted 22 home runs and 22 steals.
Dakota Jordan came close to joining the club as well. He finished with 21 steals and 19 home runs, and likely would have reached the 20-20 mark if he hadn’t missed more than a month during the minor league season.
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