Scouting the Draft: Giants Day 1 Review- Cutting Against the Grain

The Giants are well known for thumbing their nose at consensus and cutting against the grain of the draft.  Boy, did they ever do both with this one?!!  In a draft that was heavy on pitching, which has always been their forte, the Giants took a high school shortstop with the #25 pick in round 1 and for good measure, took another one in round 2, #64 albeit one who will likely move to 3B in the pros.  Both players were ranked much lower their their draft position by virtually all pre-draft analysts.

So, what are the Giants up to here?  Are they crazy?  Are they punting the draft?  Are they smarter than anyone else?  Let's try to break it down.  The key word in the previous sentence is "try".

A draft analyst/blogger named Kiley McDaniel went with a rumor that the Giants were planning to draft HS SS Christian Arroyo at #25 and sign him to an underslot contract.  Turns out he was right, at least about the first part. BA had him ranked as the #102 draft prospect.  He's out of Hernando HS, Brooksville, FL.  He is 6'1", 180 lbs.  He has a reputation as an excellent hitter who squares up balls.  His HS stats, for what they are worth:  BA= .524, 105 AB, 42 R, 55 H, 13 2B, 3 3B, 11 HR, 35 RBI, 9 SB.  The main knocks against him are  lack of projectable power and lack of speed.  There is some question about whether he can stick at SS.  There is talk of him possibly moving to 2B or even catcher.  He seems to be something of an academic nerd who sported a 4.4 GPA and took AP calculus. He is committed to Florida, but has said he will sign if he price is right, which he has not defined further.

I'll say this.  If you are someone who dreams on 5 tool guys, you probably hate this pick.  If you are of the persuasion that there is only one tool that really counts, the hit tool, you will have a lot more equanimity about it.

In round 2, pick 64, the Giants selected Ryder Jones out of Watauga HS, Boone, NC.  He is bigger than Arroyo at 6'3", 185 lbs.  He is B-L, T-R.  He played SS in HS but was listed in BA as a 3B.  He also pitches with a 90+ MPH FB, but is expected to develop as a position player.  BA's scouting comment was that he has "solid power" at the plate.  His HS batting stats, again, for what they are worth:  BA= .461.  76 AB, 31 R, 35 H, 9 2B, 1 3B, 11 HR, 43 RBI, 7 SB.  The kicker is he is committed to Stanford which, if the rumors about Arroyo signing below slot are correct, may explain what the Giants intend to do with the money saved, sign Jones!

I'll say this.  I guess Jones is a 3 tool player:  hit, hit for power, throw.  Again, the hit tool is what stands out.  Are we seeing a John Barr trend here?

My guess is these picks are part of a grand draft strategy the Giants worked out ahead of time and they either know or are pretty sure they can get both players signed.  It will be extremely interesting to see if they have any more tricks up their sleeve over the rest of the top 10 picks which encompass their bonus pool.  Will they spend the pool on their first 2 HS picks and go college senior the rest of the way, or will they push the HS theme down to the $500 K bonus level or lower?  My own bias is that if you go HS, you better go all in with multiple picks and hope 1 or 2 pan out.

I'm not doing cartwheels, but I'm also not ready to pan these picks.  There is certainly something to be said for valuing the hit tool above all and both of these kids seem to have it.  HS picks require a ton of patience, though, and us internet denizens tend to be a rather impatient bunch.