The San Francisco Giants have a Major League team that finished .500 in 2025, has a new manager and a farm system that is starting to produce significant talent.
New manager Tony Vitello will have his introductory press conference soon. But the hiring of the former Tennessee head coach is the most seismic thing president of baseball operations Buster Posey has done since he took over last year. And this is a baseball leader that traded for a disgruntled Rafael Devers in June.
The Giants are starting to reap the benefits of a farm system that hasn’t always been highly regarded. But one player, per Baseball America (subscription required) could be a breakthrough prospect for them in 2026 — outfielder Trevor Cohen.
About Trevor Cohen
Cohen hasn’t been part of the Giants organization for long. San Francisco drafted him in the third round of this year’s draft and signed him to a $847,500 bonus after three quality seasons with Rutgers. That brought the New Jersey native cross-country as the Giants dropped him into their Class A affiliate at San Jose.
He only played 28 games, but he was sharp. He slashed .327/.438/.402 with an .840 OPS, including one home run and 15 RBI. Power isn’t part of his profile. But speed, on-base and defense are on his profile. He scored 23 runs in 28 games and stole eight bases.
Baseball America described him as a player with “fringy” power and profiles as a line-drive hitter. But at Oracle Park, that would be a plus. The young outfielder also had quality metrics at the plate, according to the piece’s author, Geoff Pontes.
“Metrics-wise, Cohen exemplified strong plate skills with a 9.2% in-zone whiff rate in his debut to go along with a 23.8% chase rate and .373 xwOBA,” he wrote.
Starting his season at High-A Eugene is entirely possible.
Cohen played all three seasons of his collegiate career at Rutgers, where he slashed .338/.415/.430 with only four home runs and 100 RBI. But he was a scoring and on-base machine for the Scarlet Knights.
In 2025 he was named all-Big Ten second team after he set a conference single-season record for most hits in conference action (56) and tied the program record for single-season doubles (24). He slashed .387/.460/.523 with two home runs, 36 RBI, and 45 runs. He was also the batting champion in Big Ten-only games with a .467 average and went 4-fort-9 in the Big Ten Tournament.
As a freshman in 2023 he was named all-Big Ten freshman team after he batted .298 with a home run and 34 RBI.
