Giants Top 50 Prospects #6: Brandon Crawford

#6: Brandon Crawford. SS. B-L, T-R. BD: 01-21-1987. 6'2", 200 lbs.

2009 stats: High A: .371/.445./.600 with 6 HR's in 105 AB's. AA: .258/.294/.365 with 4 HR's in 392 AB's. AFL: .312/.396/.455 with 2 HR's in 77 AB's.

The Giants have used their round 3/4 draft choices the last couple of years to take highly rated college players whose stock dropped for one reason or another. Brandon Crawford was a preseason college All-American going into his 2008 junior season at UCLA and widely considered a sure-fire first round draft pick after putting up a line of .335/.405/.504 with 7 HR's. He is an exceptional athlete and a plus defender at SS with an arm strong enough to be a pitcher. Then, he had a terrible Cape Cod league season and struggled for most of the 2008 college season, but finished stronger: .302/.394/.491 with 7 HR's. The Giants drafted him in the 4'th round. He got into just 4 games in Arizona with 6 hits in 14 AB's, and just one game for short season Salem-Keizer before his season ended with an injury.

The Giants showed confidence in him by placing him in high A San Jose for the 2009 season and he responded by tearing up the league. They showed even more confidence with an early season promotion to AA Connecticut, a very difficult environment for hitters. His line there was not nearly as exciting, but he did cut his K's down to <25% from a frightful nearly 30% rate in San Jose. The Giants again showed their confidence in him by sending him to the prestigious Arizona Fall League where he was competing with the top AA and AAA talents in baseball. He responded with a very solid campaign.

I'm not sure if the Giants will start Brandon off back in AA or at AAA Fresno for 2010, but they are behaving like they see him as the SS of the future. With Edgar Renteria's contract expiring after this season, 2011 would be a perfect fit for Brandon to take over the reigns. The Giants don't like to just hand positions over to rookies, but if they are serious about building this team from within, they have to stop blocking their prospects by signing mediocre veterans. Brandon grew up in the Bay Area, born in Mountain View and went to HS in Pleasanton. It would be a great story for him to be the starting SS for the future SF Giants.