BA came out with their High School Top 100 list yesterday. Oscar Mercado is a shortstop who has been linked to the Giants in at least 1 mock draft. Other mocks have him going significantly higher. BA has him ranked #11 on the HS list which means he is borderline for being available at #27 for the Giants. Of course, chances go up if they can move up in the draft as teams lose picks for signing FA's with qualified offers.
Mercado is a 6'2", 175 lb HS SS out of Florida. He is committed to Florida State. He bats R and throws R. Big League Futures rates him as the top SS in the draft. BA ranks him second behind JP Crawford. He does not have any one outstanding tool but is an excellent all-around athlete. Projects more as a line drive hitting with gap power than a slugger. He is projected as a true SS who will stick at the position.
Big League Futures has a more complete write up as well as some video. You can find video on Youtube also.
Check it out and tell me what you think.
I really like the kid and would be happy if he fell to the Giants and they grabbed him.
AFL Update: Chris Gloor pitched 5 shutout innings yesterday to lower his ERA to 2.70. Saw a note in BA that LHP Ryan Bradley was assigned to the AFL. Not sure who, if anybody, got sent home.
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He's gonna go large, I don't think I'm spending much time dreaming about Mercado.
ReplyDeleteAs will JP Crawford, I imagine. BA just put him at #5 overall for HS players. Klima put up a post on him, 6 arm, 6 glove, 5 run.
http://www.bbprospectreport.com/2012/11/14/jp-crawford-video
Those SS's just go quick. I'd be ecstatic with either Mercado or Crawford, but I do not see them being there.
I remember last year several early mock drafts had Carlos Correa going to the Giants and he ended up as the #1 overall pick!
DeleteAt this point, it is really too early to say definitively one or the other. I remember one year BA had Evan Longoria as the pre-season 10th best prospect in the draft, so I watched with disappointment as he did well and rose in the draft, getting taken by the Rays with, I think, the third pick. Then we selected Lincecum and life wasn't so bad after all.
ReplyDeleteEven just before another draft, one of the early mocks I saw had Brown being selected by the Giants, but then he fell out of favor with his finger injury and wasn't even mentioned for the first round at all. Then the Giants picked him. So sometimes things just cycle back.
For another example, Crawford was being viewed as a first round possibility before the season but he had a poor season and fell all the way back to us in, what, the third or fourth round?
Not that discussing possibles are not useful and fun, just don't want anyone getting any hopes up or down yet, that's all. Things can and will change.
Oscar sounds like a perfect type of hitter for AT&T. And lots of good prospects come out of Florida (I wonder why? I understand California, population and all, but Florida has a significant percentage of retirees, not really the demographics for a thriving youth baseball scene, to me. Maybe it is because a lot of baseball players settle there because of the Grapefruit League, just like many live in Arizona?)
How do you think his commitment to Florida State changes things for the drafting team? They are a pretty good college team (Hail Buster!) but with the draft now essentially slotted, either you want to be in the pros or you want to be in college, right? But amateur SS who can stick in the pros defensively is very rare, it seems, and there is value in that, at worse a utility MI. And age wise, he'll be coming up around the time Crawford would be a free agent, so good timing in that regard.
On the AFL, I'm speculating, but there was an article on Brown on sfgiants.com and they gave an update at the bottom on all the players performances, and in an understatement for one guy, where he gave up 7 runs in 8 innings, noted his "modest success", so I would speculate that Jake Dunnington is the one who got sent home, as the other three are doing well so far, barring, of course, any new unreported injury.
True that there are a lot of retirees in Florida, but it's hardly the only demographic. There is a sizable Cuban population and an African-American population. The thing Florida has in common with SoCal is they can play baseball year around.
DeleteHow likely do you think it is the Giants would draft a high school position player? I can't remember the last time they used a high draft pick on one (Tony Torcato?).
ReplyDeleteNot too likely. You can cheat a little and go with the 2007 draft with Fairley and Noonan who were in the top 32 as far as position players out of hs. The only hs position player in the first 5 rounds under Barr running things is Tommy Joseph.
DeleteThere are a few interesting hs left handers this year the Gints might look at.
Another top SS that some argue is the best HS hitter in the draft is Texas commit, Andy McGuire. He was a member of Team USA that won the Gold over the summer in Seoul. BA has him at 24, but Keith Law has him going at 19. I saw on Perfect Game that McGuire and Mercado played on the same team at the Perfect Game National Games last year, sharing time at SS, and McGuire was named MVP from the East.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/high-school-football-blooper-star-attracting-eyes-on-the-baseball-diamond/1d2oqv8rx
rip marvin miller
ReplyDeletewithout him, the giants would be in florida right now and would never have won 2 ws in our lifetime....FACT
bacci lover of labor