2018 Amateur Draft

[calsnowskier]

i am surprised we don’t have a thread for this yet.

The Giants pick 2nd. The Tigers pick first.

Apparently, the Tigers are currently looking at Auburn righty Casey Mize and high school OFer Jerrod Kelenic (my personal fave in this draft). Earlier reports had them taking HS SS phenom Nander de Sedas.

The Giants are reportedly linked to the top Latin prospect this year who happens to be a middle infielder, so I wonder how interested they would be in doubling up with de Sedas if he falls to them. To be fare, though, the Giants minor league strength right now is clearly in the OF and is somewhat bare everywhere else, so maybe adding two HIGHEND middle infield prospects would not be the worst thing.

 

[SFGRTB]

Good idea.

Since you brought it up, the shortstop they are looking at in the international market (the period starting July 2) is Marco Luciano. He's the top shortstop in the class, and one of the best players that is coming out of the Dominican Republic.


The Giants are out of the penalty this signing period and have been connected with this kid by many of the experts.

 

[SFGRTB]

i am surprised we don’t have a thread for this yet.

The Giants pick 2nd. The Tigers pick first.

Apparently, the Tigers are currently looking at Auburn righty Casey Mize and high school OFer Jerrod Kelenic (my personal fave in this draft). Earlier reports had them taking HS SS phenom Nander de Sedas.

The Giants are reportedly linked to the top Latin prospect this year who happens to be a middle infielder, so I wonder how interested they would be in doubling up with de Sedas if he falls to them. To be fare, though, the Giants minor league strength right now is clearly in the OF and is somewhat bare everywhere else, so maybe adding two HIGHEND middle infield prospects would not be the worst thing.

I've heard Mize and Kelenic as well going 1.1.

Every day that passes I keep leaning more towards a pitcher.

Mize might be my hope right now thanks to a combination of dominant stuff (an absolutely nasty split), good command and proximity to the majors (ideally).

Matthew Liberatore is someone the Giants have been connected to (they're obviously looking at all these guys). He's advanced for a high school lefty, relies more on breaking stuff than a blow 'em away fastball. He also has great size at 6'5".

Shane McClanahan is a college lefty that can throw 99 mph. That's always nice. Has had TJ surgery in the past.

A guy that has started making a lot of noise is Carter Stewart, a high school right hander. We talk about how good Stratton's curveball is because of it's spin rate and all. Stewart is all about that. He's generating insane spin rates on his curveball that rival the best in the majors (above 3300 rmps)


He's also throwing in the mid 90s. My concern is that high schoolers are easy to fool with a curveball like that, how good is his fastball? All he really needs right now is a curveball. He does have great size at 6'6", so perhaps some room to add strength and more velocity.

Ethan Hankins and Brady Singer are other names you'll probably hear about as far as pitchers go.

 

[SFGRTB]

If they do go hitter, Kelenic is probably the guy (if he's there).

I personally am always a little hesitant about cold weather bats. I prefer warm weather bats and cold weather pitchers, not as a rule, though, and cold weather bats certainly concern me more than warm weather pitchers.

What I mean by this is in warm weather states guys as playing baseball year-round and in cold weather states guys are playing six, or even less, months. I like hitters hitting year-round, but pitchers going year-round freaks me out especially when high school coaches don't have a clue what they're doing.

Kelenic is out of Wisconsin, so there are some concerns (for me) but he's been doing other things to compensate. The talent speaks for itself.

I'm completely opposed to Nolan Gorman. Left-handed, likely limited to first base and there are a lot of red flags about his pitch recognition, and he's in high school. No thanks.

Alec Bohm is probably the guy I'd go for. A huge RH power bat at third base. College guy. Bohn has crushed it in every year at Wichita State, and destroyed the Cape Cod League (a favorite of the Giants').

 

[tzill]

i am surprised we don’t have a thread for this yet.

The Giants pick 2nd. The Tigers pick first.

Apparently, the Tigers are currently looking at Auburn righty Casey Mize and high school OFer Jerrod Kelenic (my personal fave in this draft). Earlier reports had them taking HS SS phenom Nander de Sedas.

The Giants are reportedly linked to the top Latin prospect this year who happens to be a middle infielder, so I wonder how interested they would be in doubling up with de Sedas if he falls to them. To be fare, though, the Giants minor league strength right now is clearly in the OF and is somewhat bare everywhere else, so maybe adding two HIGHEND middle infield prospects would not be the worst thing.

I TOLD you dues were going up....

 

[SFGRTB]

Sounds like the Giants are not interested in Nick Madrigal, one of the top position players in the college ranks.

As usual, though, the Giants are the hardest to nail down

 

[SFGRTB]

Good idea.

Since you brought it up, the shortstop they are looking at in the international market (the period starting July 2) is Marco Luciano. He's the top shortstop in the class, and one of the best players that is coming out of the Dominican Republic.


The Giants are out of the penalty this signing period and have been connected with this kid by many of the experts.

MLB.com released their top-30 International Prospects list today: MLB.com 2018 Prospect Watch

The Giants are the favorites to sign two among the top-30, Marco Luciano (mentioned above) and Luis Matos, 27th on this list.

This is now the second major publication to link Luciano to the Giants, a very good sign. This is the first I've heard about Matos though.

2018 Top 30 International Prospects list

Interesting that they list Luciano as an OFer. They mentioned he could be a SS or CFer, but is likely to end up on a corner OF spot.

Matos is solidly tooled up across the board.

 

[tzill]

Here's my preliminary draft board:

Tier I - Singer

Tier II - Hankins, Liberatore, McClanahan, Turang

Tier III - Mize, Gorman, Rolison, Kowar, de Desedas, Madrigal

Tier IV - Kelanic, Swaggerty, Beer, Rocker, Vasil

The Tigers aren't dumb, they will take Singer. Of the Tier II guys, I like Liberatore the best and he fits the Giants profile: HS pitcher. Hankins fits as well, but Liberatore is LH so I'd lean towards him. McClanahan is also a LHP, so he fits but is a college guy. Turang might be a fit as he's 3+ years away and Crawfords contract is up right about the time he'd be ready.

Who knows what the Giants rankings are, but if we come away with Liberatore, I'd be happy.

 

[SFGRTB]

Here's my preliminary draft board:

Tier I - Singer

Tier II - Hankins, Liberatore, McClanahan, Turang

Tier III - Mize, Gorman, Rolison, Kowar, de Desedas, Madrigal

Tier IV - Kelanic, Swaggerty, Beer, Rocker, Vasil

The Tigers aren't dumb, they will take Singer. Of the Tier II guys, I like Liberatore the best and he fits the Giants profile: HS pitcher. Hankins fits as well, but Liberatore is LH so I'd lean towards him. McClanahan is also a LHP, so he fits but is a college guy. Turang might be a fit as he's 3+ years away and Crawfords contract is up right about the time he'd be ready.

Who knows what the Giants rankings are, but if we come away with Liberatore, I'd be happy.

Seems like Casey Mize is the consensus number 1 at this point, at least from what I've seen. Could be misdirect/prospect fatigue.

Mize and Singer will pitch against each other on Thursday at 4:00 PT. I'm not sure if it's televised, but it better be. Any Giants' fan interested should tune in, if they can.

 

[calsnowskier]

Seems like Casey Mize is the consensus number 1 at this point, at least from what I've seen. Could be misdirect/prospect fatigue.

Mize and Singer will pitch against each other on Thursday at 4:00 PT. I'm not sure if it's televised, but it better be. Any Giants' fan interested should tune in, if they can.

Everything I have seen/heard/read recently has Mize becoming the more and more clear #1. And I haven’t seen Singer mentioned at the top top in quite a while.

 

[SFGRTB]

Everything I have seen/heard/read recently has Mize becoming the more and more clear #1. And I haven’t seen Singer mentioned at the top top in quite a while.

Same. Seems like Singer has fallen to the teens

 

[SFGRTB]

A guy to look out for could be Joey Bart.

A catcher out of Georgia Tech, has huge power. Solid defensive skills too and he calls his own game, which in college is not typical. The Giants don't really have an heir to Posey at the moment, but Bart could be the guy. Both guys are from Georgia, but from drastically different parts. Still, makes it kinda interesting.

He's batting .366/.483/.641 with 11 homers.

 

[SFGRTB]

My board is probably:

I: Mize

II: Bohm, Bart, Kleneic, Carter Stewart

III: Liberator, McClanlahan, Madrigal

IV: Singer, Swaggerty

After leaning pitcher early in the Spring, I'm back to a hitter if Mize is off the board.

 

[GiantsPackersChamps2011]

On a sandwich pick note.

Seth Beer, once projected as a future No.1 pick, now projected to go in the 30s

2018:
.283/.432/.553, .985 OPS, 36 BB/24 K, 12 HR.

 

[SFGRTB]

On a sandwich pick note.

Seth Beer, once projected as a future No.1 pick, now projected to go in the 30s

2018:
.283/.432/.553, .985 OPS, 36 BB/24 K, 12 HR.

Also, Luken Baker. He's fallen dramatically because of injuries He's out for the rest of the college season and possibly the summer, but he has light-tower power. He's a right-handed Chris Shaw.

I sense he might go back to college for one more year, he may be more of a 3rd/4th rounder now.

 

[calsnowskier]

I have been seeing Alec Bohm’s name floated a lot recently. He is a 3B out of Wichita.

Not sure I want to draft another 3B out of Wichita...

 

[SFGRTB]

I have been seeing Alec Bohm’s name floated a lot recently. He is a 3B out of Wichita.

Not sure I want to draft another 3B out of Wichita...

He's probably my #2 right now.

Mize-Bohm-Liberatore-Jonathan India-Bart-Singer-Stewart-Madrigal

Any of those 8 and I'd be pleased.

Quick note on India, since he hasn't been mentioned here yet. He's absolutely destroying the SEC, which is the best league in college baseball. He hit a homer off of Casey Mize in the huge Singer-Mize matchup.

His line: .401/.546/.810 with 14 homers and 10 steals in 44 games. He also has 39 walks to 32 K's. His defense is considered excellent at 3rd base. He's an athletic player. He also played in the Cape Cod League, which the Giants always seem to favor. He hit .264 over two seasons, with only 1 homer, but had 23 walks and 28 K's.

He's probably not the sexiest pick, his ceiling isn't sky high, but a potentially .400 OBP guy with excellent defense is pretty useful, and the Giants don't have much down the tube at 3B (Jacob Gonzalez likely shifting off the position in the future).

Bohm is the monstrous power guy, India is the all around producer.

 

[SFGRTB]

BTW, McCovey Chronicles did a piece on the draft today. One thing about India was interesting that I didn't know about:

"It was India who prevented Lucius Fox from playing SS in high school at American Heritage HS, prior to Fox moving back to his home in the Bahamas. We know that the Giants had scouted Fox in high school in Florida, which was part of the reason they went so big on him in the International Market. Could that history stir them to grab this high riser in 2018?"

India was a gifted SS in high school, more so than Fox who the Giants went all-in for. It's likely they saw a lot of India when they were looking at Fox.

Here's the whole preview, definitely worth a look

SF Giants Draft Preview: 4 Weeks Left

 

[calsnowskier]

He's probably my #2 right now.

Mize-Bohm-Liberatore-Jonathan India-Bart-Singer-Stewart-Madrigal

Any of those 8 and I'd be pleased.

Quick note on India, since he hasn't been mentioned here yet. He's absolutely destroying the SEC, which is the best league in college baseball. He hit a homer off of Casey Mize in the huge Singer-Mize matchup.

His line: .401/.546/.810 with 14 homers and 10 steals in 44 games. He also has 39 walks to 32 K's. His defense is considered excellent at 3rd base. He's an athletic player. He also played in the Cape Cod League, which the Giants always seem to favor. He hit .264 over two seasons, with only 1 homer, but had 23 walks and 28 K's.

He's probably not the sexiest pick, his ceiling isn't sky high, but a potentially .400 OBP guy with excellent defense is pretty useful, and the Giants don't have much down the tube at 3B (Jacob Gonzalez likely shifting off the position in the future).

Bohm is the monstrous power guy, India is the all around producer.

And Bohm projects as a future 1B...

 

[calsnowskier]

BTW, McCovey Chronicles did a piece on the draft today. One thing about India was interesting that I didn't know about:

"It was India who prevented Lucius Fox from playing SS in high school at American Heritage HS, prior to Fox moving back to his home in the Bahamas. We know that the Giants had scouted Fox in high school in Florida, which was part of the reason they went so big on him in the International Market. Could that history stir them to grab this high riser in 2018?"

India was a gifted SS in high school, more so than Fox who the Giants went all-in for. It's likely they saw a lot of India when they were looking at Fox.

Here's the whole preview, definitely worth a look

SF Giants Draft Preview: 4 Weeks Left

Written by Brute, FYI...