Giants 2019 Draft Notes

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Giants 2019 Draft Notes

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Apparently I forgot to this last year, maybe I'll do it at some point but for now here we go

1-20. Jackson Rutledge - RHP Washington Nationals: Everybody and their brother (at least if their brother had actually been the co-GM of the team as expected, amirite Dillons?) knew that I had to be targeting Hunter Bishop at 20. What they may not have known is that my backup target was Robert Puason, so thanks Twinkies! The obvious thing for me to do here was take Will Wilson, but honestly I'm not super enamored of the guy (remind me of that when I trade something stupid for him this summer!), so I was feeling a little flatfooted on this pick. Then I read this on Fangraphs as I was reviewing my board: This could go down the “no one can throw that hard, be that big, and be a healthy 200-inning starter” road, and see Rutledge become a potential closer, or the “how did anyone pass on this offensive lineman with Syndergaard’s stuff” path, and get immediate whoopsies from the industry, much like Nate Pearson has so far. Regardless, he’ll be fun to watch. That was for the Nats #3 prospect, Jackson Rutledge, who was on Jim Callis' just missed list for his top 100. At this point in the draft, and with the farm system I've got, picking at #20 I gotta swing for the fences, and I'll take this profile in a guy who is actually a little young for a college guy and should be pitching in the FSL as a 21 year old

2-4 (34). Zack Thompson - LHP St. Louis Cardinals: Again, I would have liked a hitter here at 34 but no one really stood out. I thought hard about Keoni Cavaco, but I just like Thompson's profile so much better. He slipped in the draft because of some injury concerns, but he seems to be healthy and dominated 13.1 innings of A+ ball in his pro debut. The Cardinals have a pretty good track record of pushing advanced college arms so I expect to see him back there to start the season and in AA before the season's over. He doesn't have the stuff of Rutledge but he probably has more of a floor, I'd expect him to one of the fastest starters to the bigs out of this class.

2-20 (50). Logan Davidson - SS The Gritty Gutty Oakland Athletics: Would have 100% taken Cavaco if he'd made it here but he didn't. Shewmake would probably have been my next choice, but he was gone too, as was Peyton Burdick who would have been a much higher pick with a less stupid name. If I hadn't taken two pitchers early I would have strongly considered Noah Song here, but I'd done that and really wanted a hitter. I started thinking about Davidson as early as my first pick, on paper he should be a top prospect; proven track record at a big school, switch hitter, 6'3, can field the position, what's not to like? Well he strikes out, that's what's not to like, and he didn't hit as well with wood bats in college as he did with aluminum. So I couldn't take him at 20, and I thought about him but I couldn't take him at 34, but to see him sitting there at 50 suddenly the upside starts to outweigh the downside. The comp for the bat (and particularly the strong aluminum but poor wood performance) is his former Clemson teammate Seth Beer, which makes it even more confusing because Beer hit the shit out of the ball in the Astros system and then appeared to forget how to do that once he got traded to Arizona for Greinke. The good news about high risk college prospects is that you get an answer fairly quickly, and the good news for Davidson in particular is that the team that drafted him is gonna have a Marcus Semien sized hole at shortstop fairly soon.

3-20 (80). Kyle Stowers - RF Baltimore Orioles: Did I really take all college guys so far? I watched him at Stanford, and he looks the part. There was a pretty cool moment you can see on youtube (since my embed code doesn't work anymore) when he was drafted while in the on-deck circle at Sunken Diamond during a regional game, and I figured it'd be fun to draft him. Another high risk/high reward college guy, Stowers has some serious pop from the left side, and he's a legit fielder with a serious arm, but he also has some swing and miss and he swings so hard that it's very boom or bust. I think he's got a chance, maybe he can be another Mike Yaz without having to wait til he's 29 and traded to get a shot.

4-20 (110). Yolbert Sanchez - SS White Sox: Lol 420. This is the sort of guy I’d historically take with a first round pick (see Baldoquin, Roberto and Martinez, Julio Pablo). So I suppose this is some progress. The glove will play, there are questions about the bat, and he’s already 22 so we’ll see where the White Sox stick him. The optimistic case is he starts in A+, mid season promotion to AA where he doesn’t embarrass himself and he’s in the conversation as a glove first utility guy in 2021. The pessimistic case is that he’s Baldoquin Jr.
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