Monday, February 10, 2014

Dr B's 2014 Giants Top 50 Prospects: #47 Johnshwy Fargas

Johnshwy Fargas, OF.  6'1", 165 lbs.  12/15/1994.

Rookie AZL:  .299/.393/.351, 4 2B, 0 HR, 8 SB, 9 BB, 11 K, 77 AB.

For those of you who are thirsting for the Giants to get more young toolsy, HS draft prospects in their system, I'm going to give you a hot tip here.  Run, don't walk, over to Google and type in the search words Johnshwy Fargas Baseball, then click on the link to his Perfect Game draft profile.  Click on some of the videos and scroll down the page and read the scouting reports.  Holy Toledo!  Here's another prospect that I might have ranked a lot higher if I had seen this before I researched this post.  I mean, this kid has tools and not just multiple average ones!  A 6.55 60?  Throws from the OF clocked at 97 MPH?  Then take a look at his hitting videos.  That is not a slap and dash swing there, folks(although he does seem to go into extreme protect mode with 2 strikes).  Thin, wiry strong frame with plenty of room to fill out.  Here's my comp on this kid:  Carlos Gomez.  I know it took Gomez a while to reach his ceiling, but what a ceiling!

In the AZL, Fargas did not show any power to speak of, but he does appear to already have control of the strike zone, which is probably a better first step anyway.  Love that the Giants were able to grab this kid with the #11 pick and get him signed.  I mean, that's gotta be a blueprint for future drafts as well, right?  Not sure where he goes next?  Starting CF in Augusta?  Salem-Keizer?  It may take some time, but watching this kid develop could turn into something really special.

15 comments:

  1. Two keys to succeed with this strategy

    1. be persistent, keep draft toolsy kids, the more the merrier
    2. hire people who know; otherwise #1 above would amount to insanity. (And people we have seem to have good track records).

    So, that leaves the patience part (i.e. #1). One of these days...

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    1. Two keys to 'success.

      Keep 'drafting.'

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    2. If you can find these kids late in the draft, not spend a ton of money signing them and not block yourself away from less risky talent in the early rounds, then I agree, the more the merrier. Track records of teams that rely almost exclusively on high-end HS talent in the first round have not been good.

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    3. We have been doing a better job of that (later round picks) with people of good track records, by that I mean, people who know a bit about talent judging, people like Barr, Evans, Sabean, etc., as opposed to people who don't know what they are doing, people who don't have good track records. With the latter, the more they draft, the more damage they can do. This is not to say, even with the former, as you rightly pointed out, that it is an easy job or the success rate will be high.

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  2. Best thing about players like fargas is that at the very worst he is an incredible defensive bench OF, and you can really only go up from there. He could definitely add a little weight, which could really help his power numbers. Great debut for a HS kid, and I can't wait to see him in San Jose eventually

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  3. Say, this kid's name looks like a Scrabble rack.

    I like the strategy of plucking toolsy HS athletes that slipped others radar in that range of the draft. Sounds good.

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    1. Is that a traditional name?

      How do you say it?

      Is it short for John's Highway?

      A very mystery prospect.

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    2. John's Highway - that's got to be it. A little New Testament flavor?

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    3. I thought I knew my Bible stuff pretty well. Maybe someone can educate me about this John's Highway?

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    4. I have no idea either.

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  4. Can't wait to see how Fargas does this year... Speaking of "Eyechart", it brought back memories of a San Diego Padre farmhand who played here for Hawaii's AAA team in the early 80's by the name of Doug Gwosdz (pronounced Goo-sh).. He was a RH defensive catcher who didn't hit much and only got into a handful of games with the Padres.. Didn't remember him being drafted by the Giants in the 84 rule five draft and he played 1 year for the Giants AAA team in Phoenix..
    Hope Fargas has a longer career then Gwosdz..

    LG

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    1. Oops, failed to mention that Gwosdz's nickname was "eyechart", as some may guess..

      LG

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