What's the Buzz? There is no buzz, at least around the Giants pick at #13. A big part of that is because #13 is kind of a blah pick anyway, but it's mostly because whatever the Giants are up to in the draft, they seem to be keeping it to themselves, which is probably a good thing. There does seem to be a small buzz out there that under new President of Baseball Operations, Buster Posey, the Giants will use a more scouting-based approach to the draft. What does that mean? Nobody seems to quite know.
There is also no buzz around my favorite draft prospect, Kruz Schoolcraft HS LHP and not just in connection with the Giants. There just is no buzz about him at all. When draft analysts finally get around to (briefly) mention him, they still have glowing things to say about his size, stuff and upside but then they quickly move on. Is that because of the general industry aversion to prep pitchers in the first round? Is is because he seems pretty serious about his commitment to Tennessee and may be tough to sign? I'm starting to think the latter as prospects I liked in the past in similar situations ended up dropping out of sight on draft day and going to college. I will keep a sliver of hope alive that the Giants scouts love him and are just keeping it extremely quiet.
One name I keep seeing in mock drafts and discussions about the Giants pick is Ike Irish College C/OF. Some analysts think he is the best pure hitter in the draft. I'm thinking part of the reason he is frequently linked to the Giants is that C after his name. Problem is he is considered a marginal at best defensive catcher and played most of his games this season in the OF. Sorry but after the Giants loaded up on corner bats last draft I'm just not feeling this one(although admittedly, their top pick James Tibbs III is already traded). Some mock drafts have Irish going higher than #13.
There is a whole raft of high school shortstops who in terms of sheer numbers are expected to be the dominant demographic in the draft. What bothers me about this group is none, other than Ethan Holliday at the top, have emerged as standouts over the others. There is a small buzz out there that the Giants are heavily scouting these kids. The specific names I've seen linked to the Giants are JoJo Parker, who some analysts think might be the best hitter of the bunch and Steele Hall, one of the youngest players in the draft, a ++ defensive shortstop, ++ speed and some projectability at the plate.
That's all I have for now.
Thanks Doc I'm getting excited with the draft coming up. I'll add that I read that Kiley McDaniel is hearing the Giants limkef to 2 college Shortstops : Marik Houston of Wake Forest and Weiawa Aloy Arkansas. Their scouting director Michael Holmes went to Wake Forest and Weiawa Aloy dad Jamie was a UH player once drafted by the Giants. Doesn't matter who they draft as long as its a good player
ReplyDeleteDoc, do you think Giants might be eyeing — and have a chance at — a catcher Luke Stevenson from NC or Caden Bodine from Coastal Carolina? It seems some scouts are especially high on Bodine for his natural hitting skills …
ReplyDeleteFrom everything I've read, Stevenson and Bodine would both be overdrafts at #13 and probably won't still be on the board in round 3.
DeleteMaybe you're with Grant Brisbee: he's kinda in on Kruz Schoolcraft, sort of after Killen and Witherspoon.
ReplyDelete"Kruz Schoolcraft has a great name and even better stuff. He’s also left-handed and 6-foot-8."
I agree with your assessments of the draft and prospects.
ReplyDeleteSchoolcraft is similar to Boston Bateman, high school LHP from Oxnard, who was drafted in the second round last year.
About 10 years ago a tall kid from the bay area was considered the #1 HS LHP in the draft. I thought he would be a great draft selection for the Giants. He withdrew from the available draft list and to attend UCLA. He had injuries and never developed into what was expected. After four years he was in the 14th round draft pick and lasted one year in the low minors.
I think a college shortstop who can hit fits well for the Giants this draft. The Giants need help at middle infield and a college guy could be ready in soon.
The Giants have some good young middle infielders in the low minors. They are supposedly in on another top Dominican SS in the International draft this year. Drafting a HS SS in the first round just limits playing and development time for all involved.
Schoolcraft is said to be high on attending Tennessee. Teams are reluctant to go over slot for him but he might be worth taking that gamble on.
DeleteI'm not sure how reliable the "insiders" are. The Giants will be drafting right behind the Athletics and Rangers, both of whom have shrewd front offices so they should be playing things close to the vest. Pundits are probably just making best guesses based on draft position or perceived need. I think drafting a pitcher at the #13 slot would provide the most draft value. Also, I'm guessing that out of all the middle infielders that are in the system, only a couple will remain at shortstop. All of the ones the Giants are linked to (Schoolcraft, Summerhill, Jojo, Houston, Aloy, and Irish) seem like decent prospects and I trust the front office to do what is best.
ReplyDeleteDodgers radio guy said today on KNBR interview that the Dodgers consider the Padres as their numero uno rivals...
ReplyDeleteRegarding the buzz that the Giants using a more scouting based approach to the draft under Buster. Who knows but based on the reporting I've read Buster wants the org to be strong in using both scouting and analytics in player evaluations, FZ wanted the organization to be more reliant on analytics and less on scouting, didn't he let some scouts go before he was fired? I don't know but maybe the Giants were more reliant on analytical data and video and less on scouts when preparing for drafts under FZ? Reporters should ask Buster after the draft if their draft was more scout or analytics driven. I'll say that Buster has been a breath of fresh air since becoming PBO. The org is on the right path for success. He was smart to extend Melvin he did. Showed good leadership
ReplyDeleteI've been watching some videos from the Baseball America YouTube channel. While they mention that Buster has said he wants the Giants to have a more scouting-driven approach to the draft, they also say they don't know what that means in terms of what type of players the Giants will select. Almost all modern scouts evaluate numbers as part of their standard evaluations. Does it mean there will be less "gamesmanship" with underslot/overslot deals impacting selection decisions? Does it mean they will focus more on ceiling that floor which might favor high school talent over college? FZ said many times that while he was analytics driven in his approach, he also wanted players with tools. If you look at the players the Giants drafted under FZ, they had tools and he took players from every demographic.
DeleteAs for Buster being a breath of fresh air, I think the jury is still out on whether his results are ultimately better than FZ's. I am very interested to see what player they take at #13. Will we look at that pick and say, "Aha! That's a great pick. FZ never would have taken that player."? As for his free agent/trade approach, no doubt Buster has been decisive but he sure has saddled himself with some potential albatross contracts and he's still far from a lock to end up with a better record at the end of the season than last year's team.
Interesting stuff Doc on what Busters scout driven approach means. The Giants have the 5th lowest bonus pool $ available since they lost 2 picks with Adames signing so maybe they have to be creative with overslot/underslot deals. I remember reading somewhere about a year ago that the Giants didn't have their scouts gather in their draft room for discussions under FZ, maybe that's a trend with other teams too? I agree too early to judge Buster since he hasn't been in the job that long.. I like that he wants the org to be analytics and scouting driven. The Devers trade shows he's not afraid to make a big trade. It seemed to me that FZ and a lot of GMs around the league have become risk adverse. He exercised Melvins option instead of letting it hang around.. We'll see FZ regime made a liot of good draft picks too, look at Bailey, Roupp, Birdsong, Harrison to name a few. We should see Eldridge by 2026, Walker Martin seems to be getting better too.
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