• Have something to say? Register Now! and be posting in minutes!

Draft Review

calsnowskier

Sarcastic F-wad
59,535
15,813
1,033
Joined
Aug 11, 2010
Location
San Diego
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,400.09
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
So now that Brown is officially a bust (at least as far as the Giants are concerned), I wanted to look at the recent 1st rounders (ignoring comp round picks - Crick, Gillaspie, etc)...

2014 - Tyler Beede - Way too early to tell.

2013 - Christian Arroyo - Too early to tell, but I am a big fan of his. He was drafted out of HS, so we still have about 4 years or so before we need to even begin to worry about him.

2012 - Chris Stratton - He was drafted (presumably) due to his proximity to the Majors. Well, he has not performed like a prospect on the fast-track. WAY too early to declare him a bust, but I would se he is closer to a bust than he is to a HR.

2011 - Joe Panik - Too early to declare him a HR, but he has already cleared the bust bar by a good margin. Heck, if he were to walk away from the game today, he may still qualify as a HR pick since there is absolutely zero chance we win in 2014 if not for him. Add to that the fact that he looks like a Robbie Thompson 2.0, and I do not think anyone can argue that this was GREAT pick.

2010 - Gary Brown - Bust. Pure and simple.

2009 - Zack Wheeler - If you ONLY look at what the Giants got out of this pick, I think it safe to call it a bust pick. However, he was a big enough piece to acquire the best bat available during a pennant chase, so regardless of the end result, the pick's value was realized and spent for an asset the org wanted/needed. If you look at ZACK WHEELER, ignoring what the Giants got out of the pick, I think it safe to say he has done enough to clear the Bust bar, but not by much, YET. Let's see if he recovers from TJ and how he proceeds in '16 and beyond.

2008 - Buster Posey - Face of Baseball. This pick was the equivalent of a lead-off, 6-run HR.

2007 - Madison Bumgarner, Tim Alderson, Wendall Fairley - Bum was also a lead-off, 6-run HR of a pick. Failey was a bust, but he was a high-risk high-reward pick to begin with. I am OK with those. Alderson, in the vacuum of himself, was a bust. However, the Giants bought a championship with the pick, so I would have to rate the value of the asset at a solid double, maybe more.

2006 - Tim Lincecum - Two CYs, Ace of the 2010 rotation. Ignore what has happened since after 2011, he was a HR pick. If the Giants had the #1 pick in the draft, and they were guarenteed to get that same production out of a kid, I would be THRILLED if that was what they got. Solid lead-off grand slam. Clearly not as good as Bum or Posey, but certainly organization-changing, and that is more than you can ever hope for from a single draft pick.

2005 - No first rounder

2004 - No first rounder

2003 - David Aardsma - Any discussion about all the players in the history of the game must start with him. Literally. Alphabetically, he is player #1. As a Giants pick, though, I would say he ranks as a 7th inning, 2-out, bases-empty walk in a game we are losing 8-2. Nice to have, but certainly would not even qualify as a side note in the game-story the next day. He was packaged with Williams to get LaTroy Hawkins. To this day, I still do not understand that trade.

2002 - Matt Cain - He was the face of the franchise during the lean years, and then was the old-man in the clubhouse as the Giants became "The Joneses". All the while, he performed like a low-end Ace for an extended period of time. No HOFer, but he will certainly go down as a key member of the Golden-Years of the Giants organization. Solid HR pick.

2001 - Noah Lowry - If not for the injury and the following bad blood with the org, this would have been a great pick. As it was, his fictionalized brother led to years of classic posting here and on Disney. For that along, he was a solid double of a pick.

2001 - Brad Hennessey - Middling, dime-a-dozen player for 3-4 years in SF. Nice single of a pick, but in the grand scheme of things, not much more valuable than a bust.

2000 - Boof Bonser - He was the centerpiece of the AJ trade. That alone should rank him as a bust in the Giants eyes. He had 3+ years in the bigs as a middling, dime-a-dozen player.


Once the Giants decided to dedicate themselves to the draft (starting with the '06 draft), I dont think any other org can argue that they have done more with 1st rounders than the Giants. Of course, that argument ignores the punting strategy they showed in '04 and '06, and the fact that they BASICALLY punted all but 1 pick in the '07 draft (they had 6 freaking picks, and only one of the picks was anywhere near slot - what a wasted opportunity!).

Just some food for thought on this day, when one of this family is officially laid to rest...
 

Band of Brothers

A Dreamer...trying to find my way home for dinner
7,713
121
63
Joined
Jul 14, 2013
Location
SF Bay Area
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Good post Cal, you put some work into that. Nice job.
 

MarcoPolo

Huge member
3,457
350
83
Joined
Mar 7, 2012
Location
San José, CA
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
You also have to take into consideration *where* they were taken in the first round. A 6th pick overall is not at all the same as a 22nd pick. I did an analysis several years back (and I've seen a few articles on the subject as well). A 1-5 pick had darn well better become a major league starter or it's a major failure. About half of the 6-10 picks *should* become major leaguers. Maybe 2 of the 11-40 picks *might* become major leaguers (for more than 2 or 3 years). Cain and Panik were VERY late picks in the first round. I'm rather surprised at how well the Giants have done in the last 14 years, considering that they have had ONE top 5 pick in that time, as well as a single #6 and two #10 picks, with most of the other picks being 20 or later. (Every single top 10 pick of the Giants in the last 15 years has been a success, with 3 of them being stars already , and one MAY become a star.) Also, how successful they have been getting quality players from picks in later rounds (very few picks after round 2 become quality players, and the Giants have been *very* successful with late picks).

2013 - Christian Arroyo (25th pick overall)
2012 - Chris Stratton (20th)
2011 - Joe Panik (29th). {Also 49th pick Kyle Crick and 86th pick Susac.}
2010 - Gary Brown (24th)
2009 - Zack Wheeler (6th) {also Belt as pick #147}
2008 - Buster Posey (5th) {also Crawford at #117}
2007 - Madison Bumgarner (10th)
2006 - Tim Lincecum (10th)
2005 - {Sergio Romo (pick #852)}
2004 - {Jonathan Sanchez (#820)}
2003 - David Aardsma (22nd) { Brian Wilson at #723 }
2002 - Matt Cain (25th)
2001 - Noah Lowry (30th)
2001 - Brad Hennessey (21st)
2000 - Boof Bonser (21st)
 

MarcoPolo

Huge member
3,457
350
83
Joined
Mar 7, 2012
Location
San José, CA
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Surprisingly, the world champion Giants have pick #18 in the 2015 draft !!
 
Top