Scouting the Draft: Matt Smoral

Matt Grabusky has his site, MLB Draft Guide back up to full speed after that awful hack attack. If you haven't visited for awhile while he was rebuilding, go back and check it out. He has a link to a mock draft on another site called Minor League Rundown that seems pretty reasonable. This one has HS LHP Matt Smoral going to the Giants at #20. Now, Smoral is somebody I could get really excited about and could easily see the Giants drafting him and he has a reasonable chance of being available at #20.

Smoral is a big guy at 6'8" who seems to have better command than most big guys and most HS kids. In his picture on Perfect Game, he bears an uncanny resemblance to Madison Bumgarner. The PG scouting report has him at 94 MPH with easy arm action and a sharp breaking ball. There is a draft video on BA where if you didn't know who it was, you'd definitely think it might be MadBum. He doesn't bring his arm quite as far back as Bumgarner on the windup but has a 3/4 arm slot that looks a lot like Bumgarner's delivery. Also like Bum, there are concerns about his low arm slot causing the breaking ball to flatten out. There are a couple of YouTube videos out there too.

mlb.com Mock Draft has him at #22 to the Rays. Matt Garrioch at minorleagueball.com has him as the #9 HS prospect which would put him somewhere around #20 in the draft. BA has him ranked #13 on their Top 100 draft prospects, so it's possible he might go before #20. If he's there, I could really see the Giants jumping all over him with visions of Madison Bumgarner dancing in their heads.

Scouting the Draft: MLB Draft Guide's First Mock Draft

Matt Grabusky over at MLB Draft Guide, a site that has become my go-to site for draft information with the disappearance of Baseball Beginnings/Baseball Prospect Report, has put up his first Mock Draft for 2012. Just a few random comments:

I don't know if he was influenced by my comments on Lewis Brinson, but he has Brinson going to the Giants at #20. The Giants have occasionally taken toolsy HS players in the first round without a lot of success, or any success at all for that matter. Brinson does not particularly fill an organizational need either. On the other hand, I absolutely love what I've seen and read of this kid so far and would be very happy to see the Giants take him at #20. My comps for him would be the Uptons, Adam Jones and Chris Young. Getting a player like those guys with the #20 pick is doing pretty darn well. To me, I like Brinson about as much as Byron Buxton who is listed at #2 to the Twins, but you'd be getting Brinson for about 1/3 of the slot bonus.

Our white whale, Carlos Correa goes to the KC Royals at #5, so forget that.

Our reader who lives near Harvard-Westlake might want to go check out Lucas Giolito and Max Fried, righty-lefty pitchers who are slated to go #3 to the O's and #7 to the Pads respectively.

Jake Barrett, a hard throwing college RHP who might interest the Giants goes to the Cards at #23.

Victor Roache, the power hitting corner OF from Georgia Southern drops to the BrewCrew at #28. Roache is just so typical of a BrewCrew pick. If this happened in real life, we might have to pick someone up from the bottom of the stairs. LOL!

Travis Jankowski, who seems like a classic Giants pick, goes at #29 to the Rangers while Courtney Hawkins, a portly but athletic HS OF, goes to the Yanks at #29. Remember, the Yanks won't be able to go much above slot any more without some pretty stiff penalties, and not just monetary ones either.

Some names that didn't make the first round include Rio Ruiz, Javier Valentin-Diaz, Lucas Sims and Taylore Cherry.

Mock drafts change a lot as we get closer to the real draft, and even mock drafts on the eve of the draft seldom have more than a handful of correct picks. I love the idea of Brinson to the Giants at #20 but there are several players placed lower who I would be happy with too. I'm getting more and more confident that the Giants will get a very good player at a great value with the #20 draft pick in 2012. I'll say again that the players who should be available in the second half of the first round appear to be not that much different than what's available in the top 10 except their slot bonuses will be a fraction of what teams will have to pay to the higher picks. Good stuff!

Oh yeah, click on the link to the left and check out MLB Draft Guide!

Scouting the Draft: Lewis Brinson

I thought we'd take a break from running down the Giants top 50 prospects and take another peek at the 2012 draft in which the Giants hold the #20 overall pick. Since John Klima has gone on a longstanding hiatus(I hope he's not ill or something, but I wish he'd post some explanation), MLB Draft Guide linked over to the left is now my go-to site for draft information. Matt Grabusky just posted a profile of HS OF Lewis Brinson that has me even more convinced that this is a remarkably deep draft.

Brinson is a toolsy OF with tremendous size, 6'4", 180 lbs. He's got the speed and athleticism to play CF. On top of that, he knows how to play the game. In other words, he's toolsy, without the usually requisite rawness. His most common comp is Dexter Fowler. Not that Fowler has done all that much, but unfortunately for us Giants fans, I think Fowler still has a huge breakout in his future. What really caught my eye was that despite tons of room to fill out his frame, and despite all those tools and athleticism, Brinson won the Under Armour All American HR Derby!

What does this all have to do with the Giants and their 20'th pick? Probably nothing. Their experience with drafting toolsy HS OF's has been uniformly terrible and I doubt they go in that direction even if Brinson is available. But, the other big thing that got my attention is I don't see Brinson listed in most mock drafts and Grabusky has him ranked as his #12 OF. Now, Grabusky says he's definitely going to move him up and that Brinson is a likely first rounder, but in looking at the OF's ranked ahead of him now, moving him up is going to push some mighty good looking prospects down a notch. That doesn't even count what promises to be a remarkably strong SS class and a decent pitching class.

The Giants are going to get a really good player at #20 and probably another really good one in round 2! If it happens to be Brinson at #20, I would be very happy.

In a related note, SS prospect Carlos Correa reportedly unleashed a throw from the hole at the Perfect Game World Showcase that was clocked at 97 MPH!

Scouting the Draft: Travis Jankowski

OK, team. Gotta go into Christmas on a more positive note than the Beltran post.

Brian Sabean has a history of going back to things that work, until they don't work. The early returns on the last two drafts are that they have worked out very well for the Giants. In both cases, they went for low risk, high floor college hitters with excellent BA's but limited power at positions of relative scarcity. There is at least one player who fits that profile to a T in the upcoming 2012 draft. Travis Jankowski is a 4 tool CF for Stony Brook, an emerging program and alma mater of Joe Nathan. Acknowledgement to MLB Draft Guide linked over on the left for a nice career summary and scouting report on Jankowski.

Jankowski has nice size at 6'3", 190 lbs. He hits LH and throws RH. He is rated as a plus defender in CF with plus speed and and a strong arm. His offensive profile is a high batting average with some plate discipline and an ability to steal bases. Power is his one heretofore missing tool although he has the size for some possible upside in power. Here are his stats for his first two college seasons:

2010: .262/.339/.301 with 13 SB against 1 CS in 103 AB.
2011: .355/.419/.457 with 30 SB against just 4 CS in 186 AB.

Brian Sabean is well known to put a lot of stock in performance in wood bat summer leagues, particularly the Cape Cod League. This just happens to be where Jankowski has really shined:

2010 .346/.414/.385 with 6 SB in just 26 AB.
2011 .329/.410/.445 with 15 SB against 5 CS in 173 AB.

He was the 2011 Cape Cod League MVP while leading the league in hits, runs and triples. He was second in steals.

mlb.com has a scouting video up that includes a nice AB where he hangs in against a LHP and drives a ball up the middle. I found the link to the video by searching Travis Jankowski on Google Video. That's the only video of Jankowski in action I could find.

I've seen a couple of mock drafts with Jankowski going to the Giants at #20. I've seen him ranked anywhere from #20 down to about #35 or so. He certainly fits the mold of Gary Brown and Joe Panik from the Giants last 2 drafts. The danger in going back to the same well too many times in the draft is it can unbalance your organization. On the other hand, there are worse things for an organization than to have a surplus of talent at a position of relative scarcity. 4 tool CF's don't exactly grow on trees. I would be happy, though maybe not thrilled, if the Giants drafted Travis Jankowski at #20 in the 2012 draft.

Scouting the Draft: Jeffrey Gibbs

I think I've stumbled onto a sleeper of sleepers who seems like a perfect Giants draft pick. I was perusing the College Baseball Daily website and came across an article about a RHP named Jeffrey Gibbs who plays for Univ. of Maine. Gibbs is from Canada and had a scouting video on mlb.com for the 2009 draft coming out of high school. He's got great size: 6'4", 215 lbs. Here's the part that got my attention: He throws 97 MPH! Well, he actually uses an easier motion to sit at 92-94 MPH and gets more movement in that range, but he dials it up to 97 when he has to. He also has a drop-off-the-table breaking ball that generates swings and misses. He is reportedly hard at work this fall on a changeup that he plans to use more in the spring games.

His stat line in 2011 wasn't spectacular, but that makes him all the more typical of a Giants pitching draft pick, right?

8-5, 3.42, 76.1 IP, 46 BB, 69 K's. He held opposing batters to a .204 BA

This guy has the strength to go deep into games. He could be developed as a starter or else go to the pen and hump up that velocity into the 97-99 mph range.

One more tidbit: Keith Bilodeau, who the Giants drafted and signed in the 2011 draft, was a teammate of Gibbs last year, so we know the Giants are aware of him. The Giants seem to have a very active scout up in the far northeast.

I looked Gibbs up on some top college prospects lists. He was nowhere to be found! He isn't even listed as a top 55 pitcher for the draft by the guy at MLB Draft Guide! His coach says he could be drafted in rounds 1-5. He might be a bit of a reach in round 1 but I could so see the Giants drafting him in round 2 or 3. He would be a steal in round 5.

Jeffrey Gibbs is definitely one of several pitchers we'll be following closely once the college season starts.

Scouting the Draft: Taylore Cherry

The trade of Zack Wheeler to the Mets for a 2 month rental of Carlos Beltran left a gaping hole in the Giants ordinarily strong organizational depth chart for pitchers. Even before that, the system had thinned out a lot with the graduation of Madison Bumgarner and the recent organizational emphasis on hitting. While you always want to see your team draft the best player available, especially in the first round of the draft, there are often several players who grade out as approximately equal at different positions giving some flexibility. In that situation, drafting for organizational need is not a terrible idea. HS RHP Taylore Cherry is a name that seems to move between #15 and #30 from mock draft to mock draft, keeping in mind that these rankings fluctuate wildly between now and draft day.

The thing that jumps out at you about Cherry is his size, 6'9", 260 lbs. The amazing thing is that even at that weight, he doesn't look overweight at all. Cherry sports a FB that goes 91-94 MPH with late movement. In one extended video on youtube.com, it looked like he has both a 4 seamer and 2 seamer. The 2 seamer has sink and armside run. His second pitch is a changeup that is rated plus. The breaking ball is a work in progress. Anther standout characteristic when you look at the videos is how easy his motion is. It looks like he just out there playing catch with the catcher with a minimum of visible effort.

Taylore Cherry's profile can be found at MLB Draft Guide linked on the left. There are a couple of links on the site to You Tube videos. I would be happy if Taylore Cherry was the Giants first round draft pick at #20.

Scouting the Draft: Keon Barnum

I've become fascinated with baseball scouting. The proliferation of high quality video cameras and access of these to the internet has enabled some of us who were previously only able to look at statistics and read other people's scouting reports to look at players from around the country, who we would never be able to see play in person, and form our own opinions about them. I started out by going to minor league games in my local area and making mental notes of players physical appearance and some of the good and bad things I thought I saw them do on the field. I then compared my own observations with published scouting reports. Over time, I've tried to remember some of these impressions and follow them to see if they hold true over time. It's been a learning experience. Sometimes I'm right, sometimes I'm wrong, but I feel I've gotten better at it with experience.

There's a great site I've recently discovered, MLB Draft Guide. I have it linked over on the left hand side of this blog. I've already learned a tremendous amount about the upcoming draft class from reading this site and a few early mock drafts around the internet. MLB Draft Guide's current player profile is of a kid named Keon Barnum from Florida. He's not listed in BA's Early Top 50 Draft Prospects, nor is he in Draft Site's current 2 round mock draft. Holy moly! If this kid is not a top 50 draft prospect, all I can say is this must be one heckuva deep draft! Perfect Game reportedly has him ranked #17. Their list requires a subscription though.

He's a B-L, T-L first baseman in the mold of Willie McCovey and Ryan Howard. He's 6'4", 225 lbs. Big boned and long limbed at the same time. He has a tremendously powerful swing that is simple, short to the ball. His follow through may be a bit long and exaggerated but that's all after contact with the ball. On top of the raw power, he's a patient hitter with enough speed to steal 10 bases. He's rangy at first base with an arm that throws 90 MPH. I know HS stats don't mean much, but here's his junior numbers just for fun: .491/.654/.964 with 6 HR, 10 SB in 55 AB. Part of the reason why his AB's are so low is he drew 26 BB!

Check out MLB Draft Guide and look up some of Keon Barnum's videos around the internet. There are some links in his MLB Draft Guide profile. He doesn't fit the profile of the type of player the Giants have drafted in the first round, but man, I love what I see in this kid, even as a first baseman. I would expect his stock to be pure helium or else some team is going to get a real steal in this draft!

What are your thoughts after scouting Keon Barnum by video?

Hot Tips and Early Draft Thoughts

I'd like to call your attention to a couple of new links over on the left hand side of the site: 1. College Baseball Daily has updates almost daily, as the name implies. Right now they are running down their top 100 college players for 2012. 2. MLB Draft Guide is a very ambitious MLB draft site that gives almost daily profiles of prospects eligible for the 2012 draft.

I was cruising around the the draft sites looking for early 2012 mock drafts. I thought it might be fun to look as some of the names being projected for the Giants at #20 overall. Since the new CBA was announced, it seems much less likely that the Giants will be signing any FA's that cost draft picks, so I'm assuming they will still have #20 when draft day rolls around.

2012 looks to be not as strong as 2011, especially at the top. It seems to be strong for both college and HS shortstops, prep arms and power hitters. Not so strong for college pitching and college hitters other than shortstops. Here are some names I've seen in mock drafts at #20:

My MLB Draft; Baseball America: Carlos Correa, HS SS. 6'3", 190 lbs. Some draft sites are ranking this kid the #1 shortstop in the draft in a pretty strong draft for shortstops. His size makes some wonder whether he will stick at the position, but he may hit well enough that it doesn't matter. He's from the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy. We know the Giants have a scout down there because they drafted 4 kids from there in 2011! This is one guy who might make me think they should take him as the BPA rather than a pitcher.

Baseball Draft Report: Ryne Stanek, Arkansas RHP(Draft Eligible Soph). 6'4", 180 lbs. 3'rd round pick by the Mariners out of HS in 2010. His coach says he has a "tremendous fastball" and "three really good pitches." Made 12 starts as a true freshman going 4-1, 3.94, 64 IP, 26 BB's, 41 K's. I'm not wild about the ratios and I doubt the Giants take a chance on a draft eligible soph with the new harder slot rules.

TTF Baseball: Brian Johnson, Florida, LHP. Polished college lefty who keeps the ball on the ground and has great control. Not a typical Giants first round pick.

Draft Site: Rio Ruiz, HS 3B. B-L, T-R. 6'2", 200 lbs. Two sport star out of SoCal also a football QB. Committed to USC. There are a few videos out there. His swing looks quite long to my eye, but a nice looking athlete with power potential. I expect the Giants to stay away from two-sport guys in this draft as they always have.

Rant Sports: Travis Jankwoski, Stony Brook, OF. 6'3", 190 lbs. B-L, T-R. Put up a .355/.419/.457 with 30/34 SB's. Not a bad guess given the type of player the Giants have taken in the last 2 first rounds. We know they scout the Northeast. In addition, Jankowski hit .326 with 7 triples in the Cape Cod League which is pretty sensational for that league. The Giants historically put a huge amount of stock in the Cape Cod League.

MLB Bonus Baby: Jake Barrett, Arizona State, RHP. 6'3", 220 lbs. Big hard-throwing RHP. 7-4, 4.14, 76 IP, 21 BB, 72 K's. Given the Giants organizational needs at pitcher, this could be a very nice pick to help fill that gap. We know they favor hard throwers, so I would put more stock in a guy like Barrett than Brian Johnson.

Draft boards change dramatically over time, so the take home point here is not the specific players listed but a general idea of what type of players may be available to the Giants at #20. From this list, I am encouraged that they will be able to draft a solid MLB prospect at this slot.

DrB's 2011 Giants Draft Wrap

OK, sorry for the delay, everybody. Finally got back from my meeting and have some time this weekend to stretch out and take the time to evaluate the draft. Let's get right to the draft list by round:

1. Joe Panik, SS/2B, St. John's. B-L, T-R. 6'2", 195 lbs. .398/.509/.642, 10 HR, 19 2B, 3 3B, 21 SB, 6 CS. This pick took a lot of observers, including me, by surprise so it's been discussed and analyzed as much as any pick in the draft. My own reaction when I saw the pick was less WTF and more, "Oh yeah, Panik. Why didn't I put him on my short list?" I've liked Panik's bat for a long time and thought he might make a good pick for the Giants. Somehow, I just had him pigeonholed in my mind as a supplemental or second round pick rather than late first rounder. Really though, when you look at his numbers, it's easy to imagine him becoming a very good offensive middle infielder. A lot of the criticism centers around his lack of ability to stay at SS due to a history of labrum surgery. First of all, John Barr insists he can stick at SS. Second, think of it this way: I and a lot of other people would have been perfectly happy if the Giants had drafted Kolton Wong at this spot. Well, Kolton Wong wasn't available, but he's not a shortstop either, and Panik's numbers are every bit as good or better across the board. I think there is a high probability that Panik will have a long MLB career as a middle infielder and make a terrific #2 hole hitter behind the Giants future CF, Gary Brown who will handle the leadoff spot. So far, Barr has shown a strong preference for college hitters with high BA's and gap power at the top of the draft while gambling on power hitters with contact issues in subsequent rounds. Word comes in today that the Giants have already signed Panik which means he signed for essentially slot money. That's good because it potentially frees up money in the draft budget to go over slot with some guys drafted later who might be tougher to sign.

1S. Kyle Crick, RHP, HS. 6'3", 225 lbs. I also overlooked Crick in my pre-draft lists of HS power arms that might be available in the first 3 rounds or so, but I really like him, possibly better than some of the ones who were drafted in Round 1 ahead of where the Giants were picking. He's a big burly righthander in the mold of Matt Cain and Zack Wheeler. Consistent low 90's fastball that has peaked at 97. A mid-70's curveball that is a plus pitch at times. An above average slider and he "fiddles around" with a splitter and changeup. Looks like a classic Giants pitching prospect who should develop nicely under the tutelage of Dick Tidrow and the Giants developmental staff.

2. Andrew Susac, C, Oregon State. 6'1", 205 lbs. .304/.434/.536, 5 HR, 4 3B, 9 2B, 33 K's, 27 BB's. Susac was being talked up as a potential first round pick for the Giants. I can't say I was excited about him in the first round, but I'm A-OK with him here in round 2. He doesn't seem to have any single outstanding tool but is above average across the board. Played well in the Cape Cod League which the Giants are well known to scout heavily and put a lot of stock in. He's a draft eligible soph, so may require close to first round money to sign. He gives the Giants another legitimate catching prospect in their system assuming he signs.

3. Ricky Oropesa, 1B, USC. B-L, T-R. 6'3", 230 lbs. .322/.402/.481, 7 HR's. As most of you know, I work with Ricky's mom, so am more than somewhat biased in my analysis. I love this pick and think the Giants got a steal. Ricky fits right in with John Barr's tendency to draft players whose stock may have slipped due to a disappointing junior season and also his tendency to draft power hitters with a history of contact issues in rounds 2-4. Some have compared Ricky to Chris Dominguez, but I think Ricky is a much better hitter. His sophomore numbers were much better with a .353 BA and 20 HR's. In his college career, he hit .331 with a .409 OBP. There are some mitigating issues from his junior year that are not well known: 1. BBCOR did not make a bat in the size Ricky was used to until 1 month into the season, then he had to readjust again when bats in his size finally came through. 2. The new coach at USC asked him to hit with a more level, line drive swing which again, he wasn't used to and it sapped his power numbers in addition to the effect of the new bats. Why anyone would want a hitter like Ricky to hit with a line drive swing, is beyond me, but IMO, the Giants need to encourage him to go back to the loftier swing immediately before he has any more time away from it. I would not think that would be a problem for the Giants coaches after the success of Brandon Belt with changing from a line drive approach to more of a power stroke. He led the Cape Cod League in HR's although with a low BA. Ricky loves to hit with wood and is anxious to start his pro career. I think he will sign. Could be later in the summer though. Ricky has a great arm and hit 92-94 MPH as a pitcher in HS and as a freshman at USC. He's not a burner, but managed to steal 13 bases in his college career. I think he's fast enough to play corner OF.

4. Bryce Bandilla, LHP, Arizona. 6'4", 237 lbs. 5-3, 3.66, 46.2 IP, 36 BB, 48 K's. Power lefty with a fastball that sits 92-95 MPH and reaches 97. Pitched out of Arizona's bullpen, mostly in the middle innings due to inconsistency. When he was on, he was electric though. Still has a chance to start as a pro. Solid pick for Round 4.

5. Chris Marlowe, RHP, Oklahoma State. 6'1", 170 lbs. 3-3, 5.05, 41 IP, 34 BB, 71 K's! 4 Saves. Not a big kid but has a power arm with a fastball that sits 92-95 with a peak of 97. Incredible K rates of 17.3/9 in JC ball and 15.5/9 at OSU. Curveball can also be a plus-plus pitch at times. Give him a changeup and boom, you have a high ceiling starter or a shut down closer!

6. Josh Osich, LHP, Oregon State. 6'3", 225 lbs. 6-4, 3.64, 76.2 IP, 34 BB, 79 K's. Hmm...two picks from Oregon State and one for Oklahoma State in the first 6 rounds? Yup, these kids already know how to wear the orange and black! Osich's stock peaked around the time he threw a no-hitter against UCLA fairly late in the college season. A big lefty with a mid 90's fastball and an excellent changeup. His stock faded down the stretch and the latest reports I've seen were that his velocity dropped into the 80's and teams got concerned due to his history of TJ surgery. He may have just lost stamina from the long college season after the layoff for TJ, but I'm sure the Giants will examine him thoroughly and maybe even follow him for awhile this summer before signing him. If he's healthy, he's a first round talent in round 6! Some scouts think he will do better as a fast-track reliever than as a starter. I'm not sure I agree with that. I'd like to see him stay at starter as long as possible. He can always relieve if he has to.

7. Ray Black, RHP, Pittsburgh. 6'5", 225 lbs. 1-1, 6.62, 18 IP, 24 BB, 30 K's. College power reliever with a fastball that sits 94-97 MPH. He's a bit inconsistent with his command and was used sparingly this spring. Between that and all the weather postponements, it was difficult to scout him. Obviously the Giants must have stuck with it and liked what they saw.

8. Jean Delgado, SS, HS(P.R.). 5' 11", 150 lbs. Small kid with a big swing. Good infield actions but his arm may play better at 2B which would be disappointing for a kid this size. This was the first in a string of Giants picks out of Puerto Rican HS's. I would deduce that the Giants targeted Puerto Rico as an undervalued market and assigned a scout there for this season.

9. Derek Law, RHP, Miami-Dade, CC. 8-5, 2.35, 92 IP, 16 BB, 121 K's. Fell this far due to a violent delivery. Able to hold 89-93 MPH FB deep into games though. The Giants tend to be open minded about violent deliveries which helped them land Tim Lincecum. Love that K/BB!!

10. Kentrell Hill, OF, JC. 6'0", 185 lbs. Described by BA as having "loud tools". Work ethic and aptitude earn high marks.

11. Christian Diaz, OF, HS(P.R). No info.

12. Kelby Tomlinson, SS, Texas Tech. 6'3", 175 lbs, B-R, T-R. .307/.415/.372, 21 SB, 8 CS. Speed is only plus tool, but a steady defender at SS and has a patient plate approach. Rated as top position prospect in the summer Jayhawk League and starred for 2 years in JC ball before transferring to Texas Tech.

13. Adam Paulencu, RHP, HS(Canada). Not much info. FB up to 92.

14. Garrett Buechele, 3B, Oklahoma. B-R, T-R 6'0", 205 lbs .317/.383/.461, 8 HR. A bit of a polarizing player from a scouting perspective. Father is former MLB 3B Steve Buechele. I envision Garrett as somewhere between Casey Blake and Scott Rolen which means he has a good chance at a better than decent MLB career which would be terrific value from a round 14 pick.

15. Tyler Leslie, RHP, HS. I haven't heard of him even though he hails from Victorville which is fairly close to where I live. FB runs 91-94. Uncommitted and expected to sign out of HS. Perhaps he's this year's version of Matt Graham and Brandon Allen?

16. Clayton Blackburn, RHP, HS. No info.

17. Paul Davis, RHP, Florida Atlantic. 6'2", 200 lbs. 10-1, 2.87, 100.1 IP, 34 BB, 73 K's. Velocity up to 94 MPH. Maintains velocity deep into games hitting 93 in the 9'th inning of one game. Solid slider. Some scouts think his emotional nature lends itself more to relieving, but led the Sun Belt conference in CG's.

18. Cristian Otero, SS, HS(P.R.) Another Puerto Rican player. Has a better chance to stick at SS than Delgado above. Hits to all fields, but with little power.

19. Cody Hall, RHP, Southern. SR. 6'5", 220 lbs. 4-2, 3.67, 56.1 IP, 17 BB, 56 Ks'. No other info. Nice K/BB and love the size though.

20. Mitchell Beacom, LHP, UCLA. 6'8", 260 lbs. 0-2, 2.20, 32.2 IP, 9 BB, 38 K's. Hey! A UCLA pitcher! Beacom is a sidearm lefty with a "funky" delivery. FB is just 85-88, but that's not bad for a sidewinder. Profiles as a lefty specialist. Hey, we all know how valuable Javier Lopez has been! A 6'8", 260 lb sidewinder? Can't wait to see that!

21. Andrew Triggs, RHP, USC. 6'3", 210 lbs. 5-4, 3.67, 91 IP, 28 BB's, 72 K's. FB 88-91 with heavy sink. Throws strikes. I really like Triggs and think he is underrated as a college pitcher. Excellent pick in round 21. Will he sign or stay in school?

22. Cameron McVey, RHP, Biola. The Giants really went for college relievers this year. McVey hits 92-93 MPH on the gun.

23. Jonathan Jones, 3B, JC(Canada). No info.

24. Keith Bilodeau, RHP, Maine. 6'4", 190 lbs. 10-3, 3.04, 91.2 IP, 36 BB, 83 K's. 89-91 MPH FB with a decent curveball. Pitched the last two summers in the Cape Cod League which is undoubtedly where the Giants saw him and liked him. Some scouts think he has projection on the velocity.

25. DeMondre Arnold, RHP, Middle Georgia, JC. 6'3", 200 lbs. Low 90's FB with some projection. Very raw. Might benefit from staying in school.

26. Joseph Biagini, RHP, UC Davis. 6'4", 215 lbs. 3-1, 7.47, 15.2 IP, 9 BB, 18 K's. Draft eligible soph. Dad played minor league ball in the Giants organization. Good student. I would think the wise choice would be to stay in school.

27. Steven Jackson Snodgrass(Jack), LHP, Austin Peay State. 6'8", 216 lbs. 4-6, 3.50, 79.2 IP, 27 BB, 67 K's. Missed the 2010 season with shoulder surgery. Lots of room to fill out the frame. Should do that from the looks of his facial picture.

28. Tyler Mizenko, RHP, Winthrop. 6'2", 200 lbs. 5-3, 3.79, 90.1 IP, 19 BB, 65 K's. Had 20 Saves in his first two college season before moving to starter. Another Cape Code League alumnus. FB hit 93/94 at the Cape. Also has a curveball, slider and changeup. High effort delivery may ticket him for the bullpen. Nice pick for this low in the draft.

29. Eldred Barnett, OF, Grambling State. B-R, T-R, 6'2", 200 lbs. .353/.437/.558, 4 HR, 14 SB, 6 CS. Seems to have some tools and his raw skills are rounding into form. Love the still pic of his swing on the Grambling website. Nice finish!

30. David Fischer, RHP, Connecticut. 6'5", 200 lbs. 2-1, 1.68, 48.1 IP, 21 BB, 43 K's. FB was at 90-93 early in the season creating some scouting buzz, but velocity leveled off and he showed some inconistency. Might return to school.

31. Phil McCormick, LHP, Missouri. 6'0", 184 lbs. SR. 8-2, 3.50, 61.2 IP, 32 BB, 56 K's.

32. Michael Merganthaler, OF, Richmond. 6'4", 215 lbs, SR. .307/.390/.496, 7 HR, 18 2B, 18 SB, 2 CS. No scouting report.

33. Brock Bennett, C, Alabama. 5'10", 165 lbs. SR. .338/.392/.369, 9 SB, 3 CS. Extremely small catcher but rated as an excellent defensive catcher. After what happened to Buster, gotta shudder at the thought.

34. Ben Thomas, 1B, Xavier. SR. 6'1", 240 lbs. .350/.415/.632,15 HR, 5 SB, 2 CS. Did some pitching too but a much better hitter than pitcher. Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Year. Love the pick here!

35. Reshawn Payne, OF, Georgia Southern. SR. B-R, T-R. 6'0", 195 lbs .314/.432/.504, 16 2B, 6 3B, 6 HR, 33 SB, 3 CS. Looks like a speed burner with a bit of power.

36. Austin Lubinsky, RHP, Minnesota. 6'1", 195 lbs. 5-6, 4.36, 74.1 IP, 24 BB, 53 K's. FB 88-92, decent slider and effective changeup.

37. Michael Williams, C, Kentucky. B-R, T-R. 6'2", 205 lbs. .264/.321/.448, 7 HR. A junior. I would think he might elect to stay in school.

38. Bryan Nicholson, 1B, Concordia(CA). B-L .400 BA with 13 2B, 7 3B, 9 HR.

39. Ryan Holland, LHP, Memphis. SR. 6'1", 220 lbs. 5-3, 4.61, 95.2 IP, 54 BB, 78 K's. I'm guessing he throws hard but doesn't always know where it's going.

40. Alan Garcia, RHP, Eastern Arizona JC. Native of Mexico. 6'4", 210 lbs. FB touched 95 early in season but was mostly 87-91. Had an appendectomy in season that slowed him down. May go to college at Azusa Pacific.

41. Steven Neff, LHP, South Carolina. 6'2", 190 lbs. 3-1, 2.45, 36.2 IP, 10 BB, 29 K's. I always figure juniors taken this low will likely stay in school. I guess it depends partly on what opportunities they might have for more playing time as seniors.

42. Danny Sandbrink, RHP, Stanford. SR. 6'2", 200 lbs. 4-1, 3.39, 61 IP, 15 BB, 45 K's. No scouting report.

43. Drew Stiner, C, HS. 6'2", 210 lbs. Main claim to fame seems to be that he was Dylan Bundy's catcher in HS. Projects as more of a defensive catcher. I'm thinking he is likely to keep a commitment to Oklahoma State.

44. Travious Relaford, SS, Hinds CC(Mississippi)- Cousin of ex-big leaguer Desi Relaford. Has the tools to stick at SS but is raw in all phases of the game. Probably should stay in school.

45. Brian Maloney, LHP, Franklin Pierce(NH). 6'0", 185 lbs. College Senior. Pitchability lefty with 88 MPH heater. Pitches off secondary stuff. Probably profiles more as an organizational player.

46. Elliott Blair, OF, Oklahoma. SR. 6'1", 181 lbs. .333/.405/.485. Had just 33 AB's. Not sure what the story is here.

47. Marc Frazier, 3B, Newnan(GA) HS. B-L, T-R. 6'1", 195 lbs. Has a 91 MPH FB as a pitcher. Commitment is to Chipola, JC. Seems to be a workout freak. Out pitched Cam Bedrosian in a game in 2010.

48. Jacob Smith, RHP, Campbell. 6'4", 195 lbs. 2-3, 7.44, 52 IP, 26 BB, 39 K's. A junior so might return to school. BTW, Campbell signed a LHP recruit by the last name of Linthicum!

49. Benjamin Sosnick, 2B, Jewish Community HS of the Bay, SF. A truly strange pick. He happens to be the brother of sports agent Matthew Sosnick who happens to represent Scott Cousins. If you don't know who Scott Cousins is, never mind!

50. Waldyvan Estrada, OF, HS P.R. 17 years old. Might be the best prospect of the P.R. contingent. It will be interesting to see how many of them the Giants sign and how they do in the system.

Overall, I like the draft. You're obviously not going to land a Trevor Bauer or Dylan Bundy when drafting this late, but I'll take the Ring any day! I was hoping for a re-stock of the system with young power arms. I don't think the Giants accomplished that, but it doesn't mean it was not a good draft. I think it's clear that John Barr is an offensive oriented Scouting Director. That's what he was brought in for.

A huge factor in the success of any draft is how the first rounder turns out. Panik may have a limited ceiling but has a very high floor. I think he has an extremely high probability of becoming an above average middle infielder, especially on offense, which is a very good return when drafting this late in the first round.

Obviously if Crick turns into the next Matt Cain/Zack Wheeler pitching prospect, it would make the draft enormously successful. He seems to have a decent chance of doing just that. I think he has just as much ceiling and is just as likely to reach it as several first round arms taken ahead of the Giants pick at #29.

The Giants got late first round/supplemental round value in Susac and Oropesa with Oropesa having a very high ceiling because of his power potential.

One very intriguing angle is the Puerto Rican contingent. This is a clear change in direction and the Giants obviously feel they have tapped into an undervalued, underscouted market. The P.R. kids are a huge wild card that could make this draft epic!

The rest of the draft is the usual collection of big pitchers with big arms from places you've never heard of before. There always seems to be 1 or 2 that pan out each year and gotta give the scouting staff kudos for that!

Can't wait to get these kids signed and start of short season ball!

Scouting the Draft: Day 1 Reaction

OK, well, I can't say I was expecting Joe Panik to be the Giants first round draft pick, even at #29. Maybe the supplemental round but not in round 1. Was it a bad pick? Maybe not as bad as it seems on the surface even though BA had him ranked at #67 in their top 200 draft picks. Is there something BA and we overlooked in Panik? I mean, John Barr seemed awfully confident that one of the top 15 players on the Giants draft board would fall to them. Was Panik in the Giants top 15 targets?

First of all, most of the players who mock drafts have linked to the Giants were already picked by the time the Giants turn came: Robert Stephenson, Kolton Wong, Joe Ross, Tyler Beede, all gone! Levi Michael went next to the Twins and I like Panik a lot better than Levi Michael even if Michael projects to stay at SS. Henry Owens went at #36, but he is not a classic Giants pitching prospect by any means. Mikie Mahtook and Brian Goodwin went later, but they were OF's and the Giants clearly have a greater organizational need on the IF and neither Mahtook or Goodwin are sure things to be better hitters than Panik. Let's take a look at a couple of lines here:

Player A: .378/.492/.560, 7 HR, 3 3B, 11 2B, 23 SB, 7 CS.

Player B: .398/.509/.642, 10 HR, 3 3B, 19 2B, 21 SB, 6 CS.

Player A is Kolton Wong, who I think we all would have been very happy with. Player B is Panik. In addition, I would submit that the Big East is a slightly tougher conference than the WAC, and that's not taking anything away from the WAC. The Big East is a serious college baseball conference! Wong is not projected as a SS any more than Panik. IN addition, Panik is physically bigger of the two players. It looks to me like the Giants got the better hitter with more power upside a few picks later than the team that drafted Wong.

The Giants supplemental first rounder, Kyle Crick was also flying under the radar, but I might like him better than any of the names that had been linked to the Giants that went earlier than pick #29. Crick is a classic Texas HS RHP with a Matt Cain build at 6'4", 220 lbs. He pounds the zone with a 94 MPH fastball that has reached 97. He has a curveball that he tends to overthrow but also can throw a sharp slider. He's dabbled in a splitter and changeup. Love this pick!

The D'Backs draft scares the heck out of me! OMG! Trevor Bauer and Archie Bradley are two premium, premium pitchers and they added Andrew Chafin, a hard throwing LHP from Kent State in the Supplemental round. The D'Backs rotation is going to be a beast in a few years and Bauer will help them as early as next season. I think he's probably ready to pitch in the majors right now! It appears the D'Backs were able to manipulate the draft rules to their advantage by essentially dumping their pick last year and then using the compensation pick to get a much better player in a much deeper draft. More power too them!

The Dodgers were obviously forced to go with a signability pick by MLB due to their financial situation. Chris Reed, the Stanford closer is a good pitcher and had climbed a lot of draft boards, but this is not a Logan White/Dodgers pick. This is a pick that was shoved down White's throat by the Dodgers' financial constraints.

I like Tyler Anderson as a pitcher, but don't like him for the Rockies. He's a finesse pitcher who depends on secondary stuff. He will suffer the same fate as Jeff Francis and other finesse pitchers the Rockies have tried in the past. The Rockies need to be drafting nothing but power pitchers, IMO.

The Padres had a bunch of extra picks. I'm not at all impressed with their haul. Not a fan of Spangenburg at all. He's likely a corner OF without any power. I was not high on Joe Ross at all and am glad the Giants did not draft him as a lot of rumors had them doing at #29. The Padres supplemental round picks also seem to be relatively low ceiling picks to me.

Scouting the Draft: Christmas in June!

Somone asked who I was hoping the Giants pick in the draft. When your team is picking at #29, it's awfully tough to zero in on just one player. The draft boards are churning out there and players that looked like they might be available are now projected to go much higher and other players are falling down the list. Just a week ago, the buzz seemed to be that a lot of teams were looking at position players in the first round with the thinking that the draft is so deep in pitching they can get good pitching in later rounds. Now, it seems like pitchers are moving up the boards in last minute projections.

The Giants have said they will take the Best Player Available. Scouting Director John Barr revealed a bit of their War Room strategy when he said they have 800 players ranked in order and won't waiver from that list in taking the BPA once the draft starts. He added that he is confident that a player they have ranked in the top 15 will fall to the Giants. The Giants do have an organizational need to re-stock the pitching and Barr did indicate that this draft is particularly deep in pitching hinting that is where the Giants are likely to make their early picks. IMO, the Giants could also stand to upgrade their organizational depth at SS, 3B, and possibly catcher and 2B.

With that background, I'll just put some names out who I think might be fits for the Giants at the early draft slots who are possibly available when they pick:

First Round:

Robert Stephenson, RHP, HS- My top pick for HS power arm, but is now rumored to be going to the Dodgers at #16. I'm guessing Colletti read about the rumors of the Giants being in on him and is going to feed his obsession of copycatting his old mentor. Could the Giants have sent out a smoke screen? They almost never tip their hand before the draft.

Kolton Wong, 2B, Hawaii- Premier gap-to-gap hitter in the draft with some speed. Prototype hitter for the NL West ballparks. Might not be there but would make a perfect 1-2 punch at the top of the order with Gary Brown.

Brian Goodwin, OF, JC- The Giants have a pretty good stock of OF prospects but if Wong and Stephenson are both gone, might be the BPA on the board. 5 tool OF although no single tool stands out.

Henry Owens, LHP, HS- Tall lefty with advanced stuff but may not have a ton of projection.

Tyler Beede, RHP, HS- Big, strong RHP from the Northeast. Has a strong commitment to Vandy so may be difficult to sign.

Tyler Anderson, LHP- Polished lefty with multiple plus pitches. Again may not fall this far but his stock seems to be dropping just a bit. May not fit the Giants mold for first rounders, but would be a good value this late in the first round.

I'm not excited about rumors of catcher Andrew Susac and RHP Joe Ross to the Giants at #29 but if the scouting staff likes them, I'll trust them.

Supplemental Round:

Jorge Lopez, RHP, HS- I actually wouldn't mind if he was the first rounder! Great looking physical speciman with a ton of projection. Comes out of Puerto Rico.

Josh Osich, LHP, Oregon State- Hot rumor from a couple of weeks ago for Round 1. Stock seems to have fallen back a bit.

Zach Cone, OF, Georgia- John Barr really likes to draft players who were highly rated in the pre-season whose stock has fallen. Cone is another toolsy OF who had a weak season this year.

Ricky Oropesa, 1B, USC- A personal favorite of mine. Barr has not shied away from power hitters with contact issues. I personally think he's underrated as an athlete and as a hitter.

Aaron Westlake, 1B, Vanderbilt- One of the better pure hitters in the draft. May be a better all-around hitter than Oropesa but might not have the power projection.

Travis Harrison, 3B, HS- Kind of a slightly more athletic version of Tommy Joseph. Great looking power potential who might not stick at 3B.

Round 2:

Hawtin Buchanan, RHP, HS- Huge RHP at 6'8", 240 lbs. I've seen scouting videos that make my jaw drop. Looks like a huge version of Matt Cain! Not sure why he isn't ranked higher than Round's 3 or 4 on a lot of draft boards. Personally, I'd like to see the Giants reach in round 2 because he might not make it to rounds 3 or 4.

Grayson Garvin, LHP, Vanderbilt- I really like this guy. Overshadowed by Sonny Gray, he's pitched just as well and is a big LHP to boot. I think he's at least as good as Tyler Anderson except available in a later draft slot.

Cory Mazzoni, RHP, NC State- Hard throwing RHP who can take it deep into games. Workhorse type. Has touched 97 MPH with the fastball.

Phil Evans, IF, HS- Might have the most advanced skills of any HS player. Advanced hit skill. May not have a lot of projection. Could be a steal in Round 2. Probably not a MLB SS.

Christian Lopes, IF, HS- Ranked in the late first round early. His stock seems to have fallen back a bit. Has some power potential. Probably not a SS.

I would really like to see the Giants take at least 2 pitchers with their top 3 picks with at least one being a HS power arm. I would be happy if they took 3 HS power arms with the first 3 picks but that may be expensive to sign all of them. There are so many reasonable options and the Giants tend to play it close to the vest. The most likely outcome is we will be surprised by their picks, but they will make sense once we see them.

It's like looking at a Christmas tree with stacks of presents and wondering which ones are yours and what's inside. Christmas in June!

BTW, check out Optioned to Fresno's predraft analysis for another perspective. Link is over on the left.

Scouting the Draft: Sleepers

I'm just going to list a few "sleepers" that I'm going to be watching for in the MLB Free Agent Draft that starts this afternoon at 4:00 PM PDT. Of course, with over 1500 players being drafted over 50 rounds by 30 teams, it is extremely unlikely that any of these kids end up with the Giants, but I would be happy if they did. These are kids you won't find on any Top 200 lists or any mock drafts.

Kenneth Gaines Jr. AKA Julius Gaines, SS, HS. John Klima posted scouting video of him over on baseballbeginnings.com and I found a couple of videos on youtube.com. Seems to be a true shortstop who may have been overlooked because he didn't go on the showcase circuit and comes from a small town in Georgia. If that sounds a lot like Chuckie Jones' story from last year to you, it sure does to me. Love the swing, love the way he looks in a baseball uniform.

Greg Larson, RHP, Florida. Non-closer college reliever which is why he may be flying under radar. Huge at 6'8", 240 lbs. Again, Klima has posted scouting video. FB goes 87-90 which is not as fast as you'd think for a kid this big. Klima seems to think there is more there with some tweaking. Here's his college stat line: 1-1, 2.25, 36 IP, 6 BB, 27 K's. The Giants have a long history of drafting guys like this later in the draft.

Jordan Pries, RHP, Stanford. Was last year's Friday starter. Passed on the depth chart by Mark Appel this year. Can pound the lower half of the strike zone with a two seamer that goes 90-92 and has 3 quality secondary pitches to go with it. Had a great start this weekend in the College Regionals against CS Fullerton. Stat Line: 6-5, 3.24, 94.1 IP, 30 BB, 74 K's.

Matt Fleishman, OF, Villanova. 6'2", 200 lbs. Good all-around hitter. Played well despite being on a team that didn't perform well. .325/.381/.542 with 5 HR, 4 3B, 21 2B, 6 SB, 1 CS in 203 AB.

Scouting the Draft: Ranking the First Basemen

First base is not a huge need for the Giants what with Brandon Belt around and having trouble breaking in. Both Pablo Sandoval and Buster Posey could move to 1B in the future too. The system is a bit thin at first base in the lower minors, so if the BPA happens to be a first baseman, no harm in pulling the trigger. Here's how BA ranks them in terms of talent by round:

First Round:

CJ Cron, Utah- .448/.520/.855, 14 HR's. I'm always suspicious of offensive numbers from the mountain west, but the scouts seem to think Cron is the real-deal calling him the best hitter in the draft. He moved off catcher this year due to injuries and will probably stay at first base. Not a great defensive player at any position, but if you have the best bat in the draft it may not matter. I've seen one mock draft with Cron going to the Giants at #29, but most of them have him going earlier.

Supplemental Round:

2. Ricky Oropesa, USC- .322/.402/.481, 7 HR, 3 SB, 2 CS. I work with Ricky's mom, so am a huge fan. He has enormous raw power and hit for both power and average his first two years at USC. He led the Cape Cod League in HR's with 7, but his BA was near the Mendoza line. He has tended to strike out a lot. He was not able to get a BBCOR bat of the size he is used to until a month into the college season this year. He also tried a more controlled approach at the plate with more of a line drive swing that he had some trouble adjusting to so his numbers this year were a bit disappointing. One thing about Ricky that is not well know is he probably could have been a pitching prospect too. BA rates his arm as the best of any position player in the draft. That's why there is still a thought that he could play 3B or even corner OF. He does have some speed, probably enough to play corner OF, but it's not his biggest plus by far. I would be happy if the Giants took Ricky in the Supplemental round although I'm not sure he fits the profile of the type of player the Giants are looking for that high in the draft and pitching is a bigger organizational need.

3. Aaron Westlake, Vanderbilt- .354/.467/.624, 14 HR. Westlake is probably a better all-around hitter than Oropesa but does not have Ricky's power potential, IMO. He's a good defensive first baseman. He would be a solid selection in the supplemental round with the same disclaimers about the Giants MO and organizational needs.

Second Round: None

Third/Fourth Rounds:

4. Dan Vogelbach, HS- Kid looks like the Pillsbury Doughboy but has prodigious power and is a much better athlete than he looks like. Would the success the Giants have had with Pablo Sandoval make them less afraid of Vogelbach's size?

5. Cody Stubbs, JC- No info.

Fifth/Sixth Rounds:

Nick Ramirez, CS Fullerton- .286/.386/.500, 9 HR's Kind of a sleeper type. Could be a steal this late in the draft.

Overall it's an extremely thin year for corner players in general and first basemen in particular. A team might want to reach for the top 2 or 3 if there is an organizational need, otherwise it might be better to punt the category this year and concentrate on other positions, like pitching for instance.

Scouting the Draft: Ranking the Catchers

Two weeks ago, I would have said catcher is the least of the Giants worries and they should not even consider drafting one early. All that has, obviously, changed dramatically. I'm not advocating drafting a catcher thinking he's going to enable the Giants to move Buster Posey to another position next year or to take his place if, God forbid, he's not able to come back at all. It's just that if there is a catcher who is the BPA at any given draft slot, you take him because much like pitching, you can never have too much catching in your system. Here's a rundown of BA's catcher rankings by round of talent level with my own comments:

First Round:

1. Blake Swihart, HS- Athletic catcher on the smallish side at 6'0", 175 lbs. May be more of a third baseman. Led Team USA in batting. Switch-hitter.

2. Austin Hedges, HS- Top defensive catcher prospect in the draft. Some scouts doubt his offense will develop.

3. Andrew Susac, Oregon State- .320/.453/.552, 5 HR. Might be available at #29 and I've seen at least on mock draft that has him going to the Giants there. Seems to be a pretty good all-around talent, but not a standout in any one area.

Supplemental Round: None

Second Round:

4. Brett Austin, HS- Switch-hitter with some power. 6'1", 190 lbs. Not athletic so has to make it at catcher.

5. Cam Gallagher, HS- 6'3", 210 lbs. Average hit tool with plus power who might stick at catcher.

6. Nick Delmonico, HS- More of an offensive catcher who might not stick at the position. One early mock draft had him going to the Giants in round 1.

Third/Fourth Rounds:

Peter O'Brien, Bethune Cookman- .308/.384/.564, 14 HR. Love the power here. Might be too tall at 6'5", 225 lbs.

8. James McCann, Arkansas- .308/.393/.477, 6 HR, 9 SB, 6 CS. Nice size at 6'3", 210.

Fifth/Sixth Round:

9. Riley Moore, HS- No info.

10. John Hicks, Virginia- .340/.382/.519, 7 HR, 5 SB, 4 CS. 6'2", 205 lbs. Has played multiple positions.

11. Pratt Maynard, NC State- .328/.418/.482, 5 HR. 6'0" 220 lbs. I like catchers with a low center of gravity.

12. Jake Lowery, James Madison- .364/.450/.808, 23 HR. 6'0", 200 lbs. This guy might be worth a flyer in rounds 5 or 6 on his college offensive stats alone. No scouting report, but that's some mighty impressive hitting. Lefthanded bat to boot.

13. Aramis Garcia, HS- No info.

It's generally not a good idea to take catchers high unless they have overwhelming talent and I don't see anyone here who fits that description, so it's hard to see any of them being the BPA in the first 2 rounds. Lowery's numbers intrigue me, although I'm sure there is a reason he is ranked in the 5'th/6'th rounds by BA.

Scouting the Draft: Ranking the RHP's

First a couple of notes:

There's in interesting tidbit on sfgiants.com from Giants Director of Scouting, John Barr. He says the Giants have 800 players ranked on their draft board and will draft BPA all the way. He also said that he is confident that at least one player who they have ranked in their top 15 will be there at #29. This may mean they are willing to go well above slot for a signing bonus and are looking to grab someone who falls due to signability concerns or it may mean they have some players ranked a lot higher than they think other teams do. Intriguing!

Draft analysts like John Sickels and BA are apparently getting strong vibes that a lot of teams are unexpectedly targeting position players in the first round, possibly thinking the draft is so deep in pitching they will still be able to get high ceiling pitchers later in the draft. If that's the case, there could be a bonanza of high ceiling pitching available in the 29-49 range where the Giants have their first round and supplemental round picks.

On with the RHP rankings, as always, based on BA's rankings:

First Round:

1. Gerrit Cole, UCLA- 6-7, 3.28, 107 IP, 23 BB, 108 K's. Didn't even let the Yankees make an offer when they drafted him late in the first round out of high school. Now will likely go #1 or #2 overall in this draft. Got hit a little bit in the second half of this season, but a premium talent who should be a MLB star if not a HOF'er.

2. Trevor Bauer, UCLA- 12-2, 1.27, 127.2 IP, 34 BB, 189 K's!! There are people out there who like Bauer better than Cole. There are other teams out there who don't have him on their draft board at all because he insists on long-tossing! How inflexible and stupid is that? It's really a shame that some team is going to take him before the Giants have a chance. He's a slightly bigger clone of Tim Lincecum. The Giants would be a perfect team for him and he would be a perfect pick for them. Alas, it won't happen!

3. Dylan Bundy, HS- There are some people who think Bundy might be the best pitcher in the draft, period. He's hit triple digits on radar guns multiple times with K/BB's that are off the charts. He's a workout freak and already has a plus curveball and cutter with an average changeup. Won't be there at #29!

4. Sonny Gray, Vanderbilt- 10-3, 2.12, 101.2 IP, 39 BB, 112 K's. This is a guy who might fall, due to his height(5'11") but probably not as far as to #29. Best pitch is a power curveball to go with a fastball that gets up to 97 MPH. The changeup needs work.

5. Taylor Jungmann, Texas- 13-0, 0.95, 122.2 IP, 27 BB, 116 K's. He's been a stud since he was a freshman. FB isn't quite in the class as the top 4, sitting at 91-93 topping out at 95, but he makes up for it with his height(6'6") and downhill plane with the ability to keep the ball low. Relies on the FB but the slider is improved and the changeup is improving. Another possible slider but probably not to #29.

6. Taylor Guerrieri, HS- A late bloomer whose fastball gets up to 98 MPH. He may end up falling back down due to off-field incidents that raise character issues. The Giants don't have a history of drafting players with known makeup issues.

7. Archie Bradley, HS- Athletic projectable body with a FB that goes 92-98 MPH. He's a highly rated football QB recruit to Oklahoma so will take a lot of $$ to sign. That can be a plus though, because there is a special exemption for 2 way prospects that allows the bonus to be spread out over 5 years. Again, will probably go well before #29.

8. Matt Barnes, Connecticut- 11-3, 1.12, 112.1 IP, 28 BB, 105 K's. Great pitcher's frame at 6'4", 205 lbs. FB sits 92-96 with a peak of 98. Most mocks have him projected mid first round but has an outside chance of falling to #29 if there is a big run on position players. He would be a very solid choice.

9. Jose Fernandez, HS- a Cuban refugee who comes with some questions about his age which is already listed as older than most HS graduates at 19. At 6'3", 235 lbs, weight is also a concern for the future. Has 3 "swing and miss pitches" FB 90-95 with heavy sink plus a slider and curve that sometimes morph into a slurve. There is enough great pitching available in this draft that I would probably stay away.

10. Alex Meyer, Kentucky- 7-5, 2.94, 101 IP, 46 BB, 110 K's. Huge 6'9", 220 lb power pitcher whose FB sits in the mid-upper 90's. Has made great strides with his command this year. Stock is volatile and could go anywhere from top 10 early supplemental round. Command is iffy enough that I might stay away unless he falls all the way to #49.

11. John Stilson, Texas A&M- had a great junior season but is reportedly out now with a torn labrum which should put him off the board entirely.

12. Robert Stephenson, HS- Local kid from Martinez, CA. 6'2" with long arms and legs and a sturdy, yet athletic frame. Has dialed his fastball up to the mid-90's topping out at 97. A good student who is committed to Washington and may want to go to school. Lots of buzz about the Giants being in on him with some mocks having him a bit higher. If he's there at #29 and if they think they can get him signed, he might be the BPA!

13. Dillon Howard, HS- Good body with a low-mid 90's FB that he pounds with heavy sink. Command has been an issue at times and I've read that he has hefty bonus demands. I've thought he might be #1 on the Giants board of likely available pitchers, but not so sure now.

Supplemental Round:

14. Tyler Beede, HS- 6'4", 200 lbs with FB that goes 88-95 MPH with a good changeup and firm curveball. Advanced command and feel for pitching. The Giants definitely scout the northeast, so I'm sure they know about him.

15. Joe Ross, HS- Brother of Tyson Ross who pitched for Cal and is now in the A's organization. Similar build as Stephenson with maybe not quite as much fastball. Has had elbow questions. Another pitcher who has been linked to the Giants in several mock drafts, which of course don't mean anything. I'd be OK with him at #49, not so much at #29.

16. Jorge Lopez, HS(Puerto Rico)- Projectable 6'4", 180 lb frame. FB 89-93. Above average curveball. Main attraction is his projectability. Optioned to Fresno posted a video and length scouting report and sold me. I'd be OK with him at #29 if Stephenson isn't there and he might be #1 on my board for #49.

17. Kyle Winkler, TCU- 8-2, 1.40, 90 IP, 13 BB, 98 K's. Amid all the hoopla around Matt Purke, Winkler quietly kept pounding the strike zone with a heavy 91-95 MPH fastball and power slider. His changeup is improved making him a true 3 pitch pitcher. Very competitive. Lack of height(5'11") seems to be his only negative. I've always liked his pitching lines in boxscores and would be happy if he was the Giants supplemental round pick.

18. Michael Fulmer, HS- Don't know much about him. From Oklahoma and has been overshadowed by Bundy and Bradley.

19. Dillon Maples, HS- Don't know much about him either. I get the feeling he's a later supplemental round talent.

20. Kyle Crick, HS- A latecomer to pitching. He was a first baseman but discovered he could hit 94 on radar guns and switched to pitching. Still quite raw but has worked on several secondary pitches. Nice size at 6'3", 225 lbs.

21. Tony Zych, Louisville- 0-2, 3.00, 30 IP, 14 BB, 30 K's, 13 Saves. College closer. FB goes 94-99 MPH. Let the Cape Cod League with 12 Saves and hit 97 in their all-star game. The Giants are known to scout the Cape heavily. Hmm.....

22. Anthony Meo, Coastal Carolina- 9-3, 2.21, 102 IP, 29 BB, 108 K's. Great velocity(93-96) with mixed results on the field. Some scouts see him as a future reliever. Threw a no-hitter in the Big South Tournament.

23. Hudson Boyd, HS- Big kid at 6'3", 235 lbs with a FB that goes 90-96. Has drawn comparisons to Jonathan Broxton and Bartolo Colon in terms of size and stuff.

Second Round:

24. Madison Boer, Oregon- 3-6, 2.27, 99 IP, 35 BB, 74 K's. Big guy at 6'4", 215 lbs. Big fastball 90-93 as a starter, 96 as a reliever. Has added a splitter that he throws at 2 different speeds.

25. Erik Johnson, Cal- 6-3, 2.08, 90.2 IP, 41 BB, 91 K's. Another big guy at 6'2", 240 lbs. FB 90-95. Good hard slider which he can throw for strikes or as a chase pitch out of the zone. Walks obviously may be an issue.

26. Andrew Gagnon, Long Beach State- 4-10, 2.81, 99.1 IP, 38 BB, 84 K's. Typical Long Beach State pounder who can work both sides of the plate. Projects more as a workhorse type.

27. Evan Marshall, Kansas St.- 5-5, 1.71, 58 IP, 15 BB, 50 K's. College reliever who throws much harder as a reliever than a starter. Could reach the majors quickly as a reliever.

28. Burch Smith, Oklahoma- 6'3", 195 lbs. 10-3, 3.62, 87 IP, 31 BB, 90 K's. Reaches 95 MPH with ease. Secondary stuff and command need work.

29. Bryan Brickhouse, HS- Same HS as Kyle Drabek and Jameson Taillon. Not as developed as Drabek and not as big or powerful as Taillon. May end up going to college at North Carolina.

30. Michael Kelly, HS- Haven't heard much about him. At 6'5", 210 lbs sounds like a typical HS projectable arm from BA's description.

31. Joe Musgrove, HS- Projectable big kid, 6'5", 225 lbs. FB 90-94 with heavy sink. Has played both offensive and defensive line in football and is a competitor. Projects to be a big workhorse starter.

Third/Fourth Rounds:

32. Noe Ramirez, CS Fullerton- 8-3, 1.74, 82.2 IP, 18 BB, 91 K's. Low 90's FB with fantastic pitchability.

33. Kyle McMillen, Kent State- 0-2, 2.03, 26.2 IP, 11 BB, 28 K's, 17 Saves. No scouting report.

34. Chris Marlowe, Oklahoma State- 3-3, 4.43, 40.2 IP, 33 BB, 70 K's! No scouting report, but look at that K/9!

35. Jeff Soptic, JC- No scouting report.

36. Matt Andriese, UC Riverside- 4-5, 2.63, 95.2 IP, 25 BB, 74 K's. 6'3", 205 lbs. mid-high 90's fastball with inconisistent results on the field. The Giants are known to scout the Riverside area heavily.

37. Logan Verrett, Baylor- 6-5, 2.81, 93 IP, 28 BB, 91 K's. Typical big time college Friday starter which means he's pretty good.

38. Kevin Comer, HS- No scouting report.

39. Colton Murray, Kansas- 3-4, 3.79, 40.1 IP, 15 BB, 33 K's, 7 Saves. No scouting report.

40. Matt Summers, UC Irvine- 10-2, 1.74, 103.2 IP, 30 BB, 90 K's. no scouting report.

41. Scott McGough, Oregon- 3-6, 3.59, 57.2 IP, 25 BB, 62 K's, 5 Saves. No scouting report. I think our reader from Hawaii has seen him pitch.

42. Kyle Smith, HS- No scouting report.

43. Navery Mooor, Vanderbilt- 4-2, 1.21, 29.2 IP, 12 BB, 25 K's, 11 Saves. Obviously a college closer. 6'2", 205 lbs. No scouting report.

44. Jeff Ames, JC- No scouting report.

45. Cory Mazzoni, NC State- 5-6, 3.38, 106.2 IP, 28 BB, 125 K's. No scouting report, but love the ratios.

46. JR Graham, Santa Clara- 3-5, 3.34, 62 IP, 9 BB, 45 K's, 3 Saves. No scouting report.

47. Lenny Linsky, Hawaii- 1-1, 1.30, 34.2 IP, 9 BB, 34 K's, 14 Saves. Hawaii's closer. Stock seems to be rising.

48. Nick Burdi, HS- No scouting report.

49. Mason Hope, HS- No scouting report.

50. Jake Reed, HS- No scouting report.

51. Brooks Pinckard, Baylor- 5-2, 3.81, 52 IP, 30 BB, 41 K's. No scouting report. More of a reliever than starter at Baylor.

52. John Curtiss, HS- No scouting report.

53. Adrian Houser, HS- No scouting report.

54. Hawtin Buchanan, HS- Huge kid at 6'8", 225 lbs. Man, I really really like what I see in the scouting videos. All I can say is if he is a fourth round talent in this draft then this is one heckuva draft! I would be ecstatic if the Giants took him as high as round 2. Think of a much bigger version of Matt Cain. Maybe the height affects his command?

55. Cole Wiper, HS- No scouting report.

56. Clay Homes, HS- No scouting report.

57. Matt Price, South Carolina- 5-3, 2.47, 43.2 IP, 14 BB, 58 K's, 15 Saves. No scouting report but SC is the defending College Champ so they must be doing something right. Draft eligible freshman?

58. Carson Smith, Texas State- 9-3, 1.98, 104.1 IP, 46 BB, 124 K's. 6'5", 215 lbs. No scouting report. Love the size and numbers.

Fifth/Sixth Rounds:

59. Carter Capps, Mount Olive(N.C.)- No scouting report, but scouts must have seen something to list him from a place like that.

60. Jack Armstrong, Jr, Vanderbilt- 0-1, 2.81, 16 IP, 17 BB, 15 K's. Big RHP who can pound the zone. MLB pedigree. Dad was a MLB pitcher for Cincinnati, I believe. Has spent most of this year rehabbing with limited innings, but has a high ceiling. John Klima likes him a lot.

61. Kyle McMyne, Villanova- 4-8, 4.75, 77.2 IP, 49 BB, 94 K's. Big kid with mid 90's velocity. Inconsistent results on the field.

62. Austin Wood, USC- 5-7, 5.61, 77 IP, 34 BB's, 50 K's. 6'4", 220 lbs. Throws hard but had terrible results on the field. Do scouts see something they can fix?

63. Cole Green, Texas- 7-3, 3.20, 90 IP, 18 BB, 90 K's. Senior. Saturday starter. Probably more of a #3 or #4 starter which ain't bad coming from the rounds 5/6.

64. Tyler Pill, CS Fullerton- 6-1, 2.08, 90.2 IP, 19 BB, 99 K's. Brett's baby bro. Two way player who probably projects better as a pitcher.

65. Mark Pope, Georgia Tech- 11-4, 1.77, 112 IP, 23 BB, 88 K's. 6'2", 205 lbs. Less hyped than Jed Bradley but very effective pitcher.

66. Michael Cederoth, HS- No scouting report.

67. Taylor Hill, Vanderbilt- 4-1, 3.00, 84 IP, 21 BB, 75 K's. 6-4", 225 lbs. No scouting report. Talent runs deep at a program like Vanderbilt.

68. Ian Gardeck, JC- No scouting report.

69. Sam Gaviglio, Oregon State- 11-2, 1.95, 106.1 IP, 25 BB, 102 K's. TJ graduate. Osich has been more hyped but Gaviglio has been OSU's best pitcher.

70. David Goforth, Mississippi- 4-8, 4.88, 83 IP, 27 BB, 63 K's. No scouting report.

71. Matt Stites, Missouri- 3-6, 3.72, 92 IP, 41 BB, 77 K's. No scouting report.

72. Dylan Davis, HS- I think Klima scouted him. I can't remember what he said.

73. Kyle Simon, Arizona- 10-3, 2.93, 119.2 IP, 11 BB, 80 K's. Big kid 6'5", 219 lbs. Liked his numbers this year, especially the low BB's.

74. Mike Wright, East Carolina- 6-3, 2.84, 92 IP, 26 BB, 70 K"s. No scouting report. 6'5" 195 lbs.

75. Ricky Jacquez, HS- No scouting report.

76. Blake Treinen, South Dakota State- 7-3, 3.00, 84 IP, 25 BB, 84 K's. 6'4", 220 lbs, Senior. No scouting report.

77. Taylor Scott, HS- No scouting report.

78. Nick Tropeono, Stony Brook- 12-1, 1.84, 93 IP, 24 BB, 119 K's. Joe Nathan's alma mater. FB up to 94 MPH. Nice size.

79. Devin Jones, Mississippi State- 2-5. 4.45, 54.2 IP, 23 BB, 48 K's. 6'3", 180 lbs. No scouting report.

80. Jesus Valdez, JC- No scouting report.

81. Ray Black, Pitt- 1-1, 6.30, 20 IP, 26 BB, 33 K's. 6'5" 225. Draft eligible soph. No scouting report.

82. Kenny Giles, JC- No scouting report.

83. Thomas Robson, HS(Canada)- Somebody over on Sickels' site liked him a lot.

84. Anthony DeSclafani, Florida- 5-3, 3.77, 43 IP, 5 BB, 37 K's, 3 Saves. No scouting report.

85. Cody Hebner, JC- No scouting report.

86. Aaron Nola, HS- No scouting report.

87. Brandon Woodruff, HS- No scouting report.

88. Ben Paullus, Memphis- 5-4, 2.98, 48.1 IP, 16 BB, 51 K's, 4 Saves. No scouting report.

89. Matt Ramsey, Tennessee-0-1, 0.96, 9.1 IP, 6 BB, 15 K's, 3 Saves. No scouting report. Played in the field more than he pitched.

90. Ryan Woolley, Alabama-Birmingham- No scouting report.

91. Dixon Anderson, Cal- 4-3, 4.04, 62.1 IP, 19 BB, 37 K's. 6'6", 225 lbs. No scouting report.

92. Colin O'Connell, CS Fullerton- 7-3, 2.42, 70.2 IP, 6 BB, 49 K's. 6'6", 200 lbs. No scouting report.

93. Rookie Davis, HS- gotta love the name if nothing else!

94. Gandy Stubblefield, HS- No scouting report.

95. Pat Connaughton, HS- No scouting report.

96. Ross Stripling, Texas A&M- 12-2, 2.41, 100.2 IP, 14 BB, 94 K's. 6'3", 190 lbs. No scouting report.

97. Chris Jenson, San Diego- 3-7, 3.95, 82 IP, 36 BB, 73 K's. 6'4" 190 lbs. No scouting report.

Scouting the Draft: Ranking the LHP's

The Giants have not shown a particular preference for LHP's or RHP's although Madison Bumgarner is the only LHP they've taken in the first round in the Brian Sabean era. The common denominators seem to be velocity and fastball command as the major criteria the Giants look for in the early rounds. Here's a breakdown of how BA ranks the LHP's in this draft along with my own comments:

First Round:

1. Danny Hultzen, Virginia- Definite top 10 pick, probable top 5 D'Backs seem like the most likely destination.

2. Jed Bradley, Georgia Tech- Big kid with excellent velocity and great command. Has not allowed a HR this season. Perfect fit for the Giants, but won't be there at #29.

3. Daniel Norris, HS- The top HS LHP in the country. I'm not enamored with his mechanics from what I've seen in videos. Should go a lot higher than #29 anyway.

4. Tyler Anderson, Oregon- 8-3, 2.17, 107.2 IP, 35 BB, 114 K's. Polished college LHP with good stuff. He'll probably go higher than #29, but has an outside chance of being there. More of a pitchability guy than a stuff guy which is why I'm not sure the Giants would take him even if he drops to them.

5. Matt Purke, Texas Christian- Was the top ranked LHP in the pre-season. Stock has dropped considerably due to shoulder issues, loss of velocity and mediocre performances. Personally, I'd stay away even at #29

6. Henry Owens, HS- 6'7" tall. Has an advanced feel for pitching but not as much velocity as you might expect for a kid his size. A real possibility at #29. Whether the Giants would take him probably depends on whether they think the velocity spike to 94 is real and whether Tidrow sees something he can tweak to create a monster.

Supplemental Round:

7. Andrew Chafin, Kent State- 7-1, 1.90, 80.1 IP, 21 BB, 97 K's. Missed 2010 with TJ. Low- mid 90's velocity and a wipeout slider. Had some dominating starts this year. Has an outside chance of being taken late in the first round.

8. Josh Osich, Oregon State- 6-4, 3.57, 75.2 IP, 32 BB, 79 K's. Another TJ graduate. Big LHP with a mid-90's fastball and a nice changeup. Got progressively stronger as the season progressed. Reached a peak with a no-hitter against UCLA, but has faded a bit down the stretch. He would fit the mold of the typical Giants pitcher and the Giants have never shied away from drafting TJ survivors. The Giants are rumored to have scouted him heavily. Seems to be on the short list for #29.

9. Sean Gilmartin, Florida State- 11-1, 1.52, 106.1 IP, 18 BB, 116 K's. A pitchability lefty who has been compared to Mike Minor. Doesn't seem to fit what the Giants look for at the top of the draft. Has had an excellent junior year season with 4 double digit K games. I wonder what Buster has to say about him?

10. Chris Reed, Stanford- 6-2, 2.61, 48.1 IP, 14 BB, 48 K's, 8 Saves. Mostly used as a reliever at Stanford. Big lefty who has touched 96 MPH but has been inconsistent. Probably projects more for the back end of the supplemental round.

11. Adam Conley, Washington St.- 6-7, 3.50, 108, IP, 27 BB, 83 K's. Another big Pac 10 lefty. Mixed reviews. Probably more for back end of supplemental round.

Second Round:

12. Charlie Lowell, Wichita State- 10-5, 2.79, 103.1 IP, 40 BB, 124 K's. Big LHP with 90-95 FB. Don't know much more about him. Nice K/9 though.

Third/Fourth Rounds:

13. Dillon Peters, HS- Small lefty with a low 90's fastball and good pitchability. Limited upside. Committed to Texas.

14. Bryan Flynn, Wichita State- 6-4, 4.63, 83.2 IP, 39 BB, 77 K's. No scouting report.

15. Kylin Turnbull, JC- No info.

16. Grayson Garvin, Vanderbilt- 12-1, 2.35, 95.2 IP, 20 BB, 82 K's. Nice size and has pitched well for a major program. I like him as much as some of the supplemental round guys and he would be a steal in rounds 3 or 4.

17. Kevin Matthews, HS- No info.

18. Bryce Bandilla, Arizona- 5-3, 3.65, 44.1 IP, 32 BB, 47 K's. Big Kid. 6'4", 237 lbs. No scouting info.

19. Nick Maronde, Florida- 0-0, 1.72, 36.2 IP, 6 BB, 49 K's. Used mostly as a reliever. Don't know much about him. 6'3", 200 lbs.

20. Adam Morgan, Alabama- 5-6, 4.14, 91.1 IP, 23 BB, 72 K's. Seems like a standard big program college lefty.

21. Daniel Camarena, HS- No info.

Fifth/Sixth Rounds:

22. Cody Kukuk, HS- Tall lefty with nice arm action. Has an abrupt ending to his delivery. If that can be fixed, I could see him adding a couple of MPH to his current 90-92. Kind of a sleeper who could go higher if some team thinks it can improve his delivery.

23. Blake Snell, HS- No info.

24. Carlos Rodon, HS- No info.

25. Ryan Carpenter, Gonzaga- 8-2, 2.62, 96 IP, 33 BB, 107 K's. Big lefty with inconsistent velocity. I think he would be a steal in the 5'th round.

26. Amir Garrett, HS- Tall lefty who has played mostly basketball. Seems to have a ton of raw talent. John Sickels has him going to the Giants at #49 in the supplemental round in his latest mock draft.

27. Jake Cave, HS- No info.

28. Chris Lamb, Davidson- 1-7, 3.75, 81.2 IP, 19 BB, 85 K's. Smallish lefty with nice ratios. Went to HS in Berkeley. Seems to be a superior student, so might opt to stay in school for his senior year.

29. Will Lamb, Clemson- 1-1, 5.11, 24.2 IP, 11 BB, 29 K's. Two way player who hit .344 and stole 13 of 17 bases as a hitter. Tall lefty at 6'6". Just the type of guy the Giants might take as a pitcher in the 5'th or 6'th round.

30. Anthony Cingriani, Rice- 4-2, 1.76, 56.1 IP, 10 BB, 65 K's, 12 Saves. Senior, so should be an easy sign. 6'5", 205 lbs. Looks good for the 5'th or 6'th rounds.

31. Roberto Padilla, San Jose State- 9-6, 3.19, 98.2 IP, 46 BB, 81 K's. 6'3", 201 lbs. No scouting report.

32. Sam Stafford, Texas- 5-2, 1.70, 63.2 IP, 37 BB, 75 K's. Sunday starter for Texas, but talent runs deep in a program like Texas. Klima has scouted him and really likes him a lot. 6'4", 190 lbs.

33. Trent Howard, Central Michigan- 4-4, 2.78, 87.1 IP, 22 BB, 96 K's. Another guy who Klima likes a lot. Love the ratios.

Scouting the Draft: Ranking the Second Basemen

Second base may actually be a bigger relative organizational need for the Giants than third base. Pablo Sandoval looks like the third baseman for a few more years at least. Freddy Sanchez has one more year left on his contract and is always an injury risk. Second base is Emmanuel Burriss' best position, but will he ever hit well enough? Charlie Culberson is holding his own in AA after last year's breakout in San Jose, but there are still questions about his fielding and whether the bat will translate to the majors. Nick Noonan could move back to 2B, but his bat looks a lot better at SS than at 2B. I love Carlos Willoughby's combination of on-base skills and speed, but he's got a ways to go from low A ball. There is room for another 2B prospect in the system. Here's a breakdown of what's out there in the draft:

First Round:

Kolton Wong, Hawaii- .378/.492/.560, 7 HR, 23 SB, 7 CS. He's small at 5'9", 180 lbs, but a real dynamo on the field. He's a 5 tool player with a highly developed bat that is more gap-to-gap than HR power. Still, he should hit more than well enough for a middle infielder. He is also versatile and has played games in CF, at SS and catcher. There is a good chance of him being available at #29 and if the Giants selected him, he would immediately go to the head of the line for second baseman of the future.

Supplemental Round: None. Wow, that's surprising!

Second Round: None. Wow, that's even more surprising!

Third/Fourth Rounds:

Ryan Wright, Louisville- .346/.426/.598, 12 HR, 16 SB, 2 CS. Don't have a scouting report but the numbers look good.

Dante Flores, HS- No info.

Fifth/Sixth Rounds:

Phillip Evans, HS- I'm surprised to see him ranked this low by BA. I've seen mock drafts with him going to the Giants at #29. This may be a tools vs skills thing. Evans is reputed to have the most highly developed skills of any HS position player in the draft but pedestrian tools. BA has always heavily favored tools.

Christian Lopes, HS- I'm surprised to see Lopes this low too. He's got nice size for a middle infielder and a projectable bat. May not be a terrific fielder.

Mookie Betts, HS- no info.

It looks like Wong or else find a couple of organizational college guys down in the draft.

Scouting the Draft: Ranking the Third Basemen

First a few general draft notes:

BA's latest Mock Draft has the Giants taking LHP Josh Osich of Oregon State at #29. Osich probably has the highest ceiling of any college pitcher likely to be available that low in the first round. He is fairly polished with an advanced changeup and a decent breaking ball to go with a FB that ranges from 92-97 MPH. As a college pitcher, he would likely be ready for the majors much more quickly than any of the HS arms available at that slot. The Giants don't have an immediate need for a starting pitcher at the MLB level and are unlikely to next year either. Osich could be ready as early as midseason next year as an insurance plan though.

It looks like two potential first rounders might be off the board entirely:

HS OF Josh Bell has reportedly sent a letter to the MLB Scouting Bureau saying he intends to honor his commitment to University of Texas rather than sign a professional contract. His advisor is Scott Boras, so who knows what machinations this may be the surface of, but Bell is much like Austin Wilson last year in that he comes from a highly educated family who may value a college education more highly than the average family. If he really sent such a letter, I would think MLB teams would have to take him seriously which means he will probably end up getting drafted after the 10'th round by a team like the Red Sox, Yankees or Cardinals who might be willing to offer first round money or more to someone drafted that low.

RHP John Stilson, Texas A&M, has been consistently ranked as a late first round pick. He has a torn labrum, often a devastating injury to pitchers. This certainly bumps him out of the first round and possibly out of the draft entirely. Some team may take a late round flyer on him and be willing to wait for a long recovery and uncertain long term future.

Third base is a relative need in the Giants organization, although Pablo's commitment to conditioning has made it less so. Conor Gillaspie, Chris Dominguez and Adam Duvall are all interesting 3B prospects, but all have flaws. There is certainly room in the organization for a first round talent at 3B. Here's BA's breakdown of this year's 3B draft prospects with some of my own comments:

First Round:

1. Anthony Rendon, Rice- could be taken #1 overall. Has injury issues so I'm not sure I would want to spend my #1 overall and the accompanying bonus $$$ on him, but he won't fall to #29.

2. Cory Spangenburg, JC- Not a classic 3B prospect. He's more of a line drive hitter with excellent speed. Could move to CF! Think Conor Gillaspie with speed. I think the Giants have better uses for the #29 pick.

Supplemental Round:

3. Matt Dean, HS- HS shortstop with plus power. Will move to 3B as a pro. Committed to Texas. I haven't heard him linked to the Giants by anybody. Doubt he will be their supplemental round pick.

Second Round:

4. BA Volmuth, Southern Mississippi- Big college shortstop with a power bat who will likely move to 3B in the pros or even corner OF/1B. I really like Vollmuth a lot and would not be at all unhappy if the Giants took in in the second round.

5. Jason Esposito, Vanderbilt- I'm surprised BA has him ranked below Vollmuth. I would probably rank him as a supplemental round talent. Some mocks have him going near the end of round 1. Good fielding 3B with power and speed. Some scouts wonder if the bat will project. I would be happy if the Giants took him either in the supplemental round or in round 2. He would be a reach at #29.

6. Travis Harrison, HS- Harrison is a power hitting prospect who will go as far as his bat takes him. Plays 3B in HS, but may not be able to stick there which is the main reason why he is not considered a first round talent. I could see his case as being similar to Tommy Joseph, so John Barr might like him in the supplemental round or round 2.

7. Tyler Goeddel, HS- Local kid from Mountain View, CA. I don't know much about him, but BA seems to think he has multiple tools that project well.

Third/Fourth Rounds:

8. Taylor Sparks, HS- Klima has a video on baseballbeginnings.com and seems to really like his swing. Projectable looking frame.

9. Cody Asche, Nebraska- .327/.424/.639 with 12 HR's. Those is mighty impressive numbers what with the new college bats. The bat is lefthanded.

10. Steven Proscia, Virginia- .335/.378/.489, 6 HR', 11 SB, 5 CS. I've been eyeing Proscia since last year when he seemed to always have a better batting line game to game than Jarrett Parker. I like the bat in the 4'th round.

Fifth/Sixth Rounds:

11. Garrett Buechele, Oklahoma- .322/.381/.469, 8 HR's. Son of former major leaguer Steve Buechele. Projects to be a similar player which would be kind of an average MLB player which would be an excellent return on a 5'th or 6'th round pick.

12. Matt Skole, Georgia Tech- .348/.442/.538, 9 HR. A big kid at 6'4", 223. Hit 17 and 20 HR's his first two years at Georgia Tech so the new bats sapped his power a bit. Still showed excellent plate discipline and hit for average. Love what I see in the bat. Maybe he is ranked this low because he profiles as more of a first baseman?

13. Harold Martinez, Miami- .308/.390/.399, 3 HR's. A down year has hurt his stock. Had some sort of injury at the end of 2010 and had surgery. Had 21 HR's in sophomore season. How much of the decline is due to injury or luck and how much is due to the new bats? I'm thinking he may stay in school to try and rebuild his stock.

14. Kyle Kubitza, Texas State- .314/.450/.555, 9 HR's, 15 SB's, 3 CS. Lanky LH batter with great plate discipline and some power. Could fill out his frame for more power. I might like him more than the 3 guys listed above him here. May not be a pro third baseman?

Scouting the Draft: Ranking the Shortstops

BA has a couple of articles ranking draft prospects by position and by what round they should be drafted in based on talent. I thought I'd look at a couple of positions where the Giants have an organizational need. I'll give BA's rankings by round and then add my own comments if I have any. Shortstop is a position of extreme need at the MLB level. It's also a position of extreme scarcity throughout baseball. Although the Giants have some depth at the position in the minors, non of their prospects stand out as sure fire MLB successes, so it could be a position they are looking to draft this year:

First Round:

1. Francisco Lindor, HS- Projected to go in the upper half of the round, he won't be there at #29.

2. Javier Baez, HS- Projected toward the end of the first round he could be there at #29. Bigger than Lindor. Great bat, marginal defense, especially long term. Prone to emotional outbursts. Probably does not fit the profile of what the Giants are looking for.

3. Levi Michael, UNC- Steady, disciplined bat with a bit of speed. Probably doesn't project for much power. Marginal for sticking at SS, but probably can. Most mocks have him projected in the mid-20's, but could fall to #29. I just don't see him as enough of a sure thing to take him over a high-ceiling arm.

Sandwich Round:

4. Trevor Story, HS- Definitely a SS with a great arm. Has hit 90-92 as a pitcher. Close to a 5 tool player but the hit tool is a bit of a question mark. If you want a player who would definitely stick at the position, he might be a better choice than Baez or Michael at the end of round 1.

Second Round:

5. Brandon Martin, HS A bit of a sleeper who has flown under the radar until recently. A 5 tool prospect, "fast twitch athlete" who can stick at the position. May take some time to develop the tools. If you are definitely looking for a SS, could be worth a reach at #49 in the 1S.

6. Joe Panik, St John's- A college SS who will probably move to 2B in the pros. The hit tool is highly developed.

7. Nick Ahmed, Connecticut- More likely to stick at SS than Panik with a great arm(91-94 as a pitcher). The hit tool is not as developed as Panik's.

8. Jace Peterson, McNeese State- Don't know anything about this guy, but he's a football cornerback so is probably a great athlete.

9. Brad Miller, Clemson- Don't know much about him, but he seems to be a better hitter than SS.

10. Connor Barron, HS- Big for a SS. Is moving up draft boards. Has been compared to Reid Brignac of Tampa Bay.

11. Tyler Greene, HS- Has some tools but runs hot and cold. Could go high if a particular team really likes him.

Third and Fourth Rounds:

12. Brandon Loy, Texas
13. Jake Hager, HS
14. Tyler Grimes, Wichita State
15. Taylor Featherstone, Texas Christian

I think I've read that Hager has a nice hit tool. Don't know much about the others but lower round college shortstops almost never make it.

Fifth and Sixth Rounds:

16. Mitchell Walding, HS
17. Austin Nola, LSU
18. Justin Boudreaux, SE Louisiana
19. Kevin Kramer, HS

Don't know anything about any of these.

There was one name I was surprised to not see in the list: Julius Gaines! This is a very athletic looking kid who also looks great at the plate. Projects as a true SS. Committed to Florida International. Man, if he's really not ranked in the top 6 rounds I could really see the Giants taking him in the 6'th or 7'th. If they could then sign him for Chuckie Jones type money, he could be the steal of the draft. Remember his name! You can find several scouting reports by googling him and there's at least 1 scouting video on youtube.com. I think Klima did a report on him for baseballbeginnings.com too where you can find him listed as Kenneth Gaines, Jr.

Scouting the Draft: Robert Stephenson

BA has their first official mock draft up and they have HS RHP Robert Stephenson going to the Giants at #29. If you just google his name, you will find scouting videos and reports galore. I looked him up on baseballbeginnings.com and Klima really likes his arm action. What makes him interesting from a Giants perspective is he's a local product of Alhambra HS in Martinez, CA. At 6'2", 180 lbs with long arms and legs, he's both compact and rangy all at the same time. From looking at his frame and delivery, I'd say he fits right into the line of Matt Cain and Zack Wheeler. From last year's draft, he reminds me the most of Peter Tago.

I would be happy if the Giants took him at #29. What's becoming clear is this draft is historically deep in pitching. The Giants are as thin as they have been in recent years in organizational pitching. They need a boost in the system so they aren't caught in a bind when it comes time for the current rotation to become FA's. If the Giants are looking to use this deep pitching draft to re-stock the farm system in arms, there will be no shortage to choose from. I would be very happy with Stephenson, Dillon Howard, or Henry Owens from the HS ranks and there are others out there who rank right with that group. From the college ranks, Osich looks like the best possibility at #29, but it's not impossible that Tyler Anderson could fall to #29 or an Andrew Chafin from Kent State or several others. Right now, if it came down to a choice between Osich and Anderson, I might take Osich because he has better velocity to go with a great changeup.