My Giants Shadow Draft and Notes on the Early-Mead trade and Grant McCray
A bit of baseball potpourri
Inspired by MLB.Com’s Jim Callis I have been doing a shadow draft, where I pick as the Giants, since 2010. Here are my picks from this year
1-4: Tyler Bell-SS-Kentucky. I debated between Bell and Eric Booth Jr. The case for Bell is that he has been a productive player in the SEC. The Case for Booth Jr is that his tools are louder, and it’s unlikely the Giants will pick this high again in the future. In the end I chose Bell, because I think he would take a smaller bonus (75% of slot) than Booth, and would allow for a deeper draft class.
CB-A-29: Bo Lowrance-SS-Christ Church Episcopal HS (SC). I think Lowrance was a potential top 20 pick and getting him at 29 is excellent value.
2-55: Kaden Waechter-RHP-Jesuit HS (FL). The only time I overlapped with the actual Giants front office was selecting Waechter, one of the more projectable arms in the High School Class.
3-90: Aiden Robbins-OF-Texas. Robbins had a very productive year at Texas after transferring from Seton Hall. He’ll probably move to a corner OF spot in Pro Ball.
4-118: Kyle Johnson-LHP-Virgina. An athletic lefty with good stuff but below average control. Johnson is a former two way player and I believe in athletes learning to develop control. I think there is a lot of potential here.
5-150: Henry Ford-3B-Tennessee. Has shown hitting ability and power ability, but never at the same time, at the top level, in college. I think Pro teams should be able to help him find a swing that unlocks his offensive potential. Defensive fit is unclear, but could be worth developing him as a 4 corner utility player.
6-184: Deiten Lachance-C-Oklahoma. One of 2 Sooners I picked, Lachance has a chance to stick at catcher while also offering offensive upside, a rare combination.
7-208: Griffin Long-RHP-Sonoraville HS (GA). Another extremely projectable arm that I am willing to bet on.
8-238: Robert Omidi-3B-St. Martin SS (CAN). A player who has shown offensive upside playing with Team Canada, he also just turned 18 so he has developmental runway.
9-268: Camden Johnson-SS-Oklahoma. Johnson has good speed and some hitting ability. My hope is that his athleticism and feel for contact could turn him into a Chris Taylor type super utility player.
10-298: Kyle Casteel-RHP-Butler HS (PA). Another projectable prep arm to round out the class.
With this draft class I will have spent $17,849,000 on bonuses which is not quite to the 5% overage the Giants are allowed.
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A similarity between the Early-Mead trade and the Jacob Gonzalez-Competitive Balance pick trade.
Curtis Mead and Jacob Gonzalez have similar career arcs. Before getting traded this year, both Mead and Gonzalez were highly touted prospects whose hitting ability hit a wall. This year they both broke out and their teams traded them for a significant return. I do find it interesting that both players were traded away, I do wonder if the White Sox and Nationals saw something that said these changes weren’t sustainable or if the return was overwhelming. In reality it was likely both, that the return was so good that it wasn’t worth risking that the hitters would revert.
Also, it’s worth noting that Mead spent part of last season and a lot of the spring with the White Sox. Their hitting development group should be working with a good deal of confidence.
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A note on Grant McCray
On Friday night, McCray had an excellent game despite only having 1 Plate Appearance. He drew a walk, stole a base, drew an error on a pickoff attempt, and had an outfield assist.
McCray has always had 4 tools that were at least above average, but the question was whether or not his hit tool would be good enough to allow the rest of his tools to play. This year at AAA Sacramento he has a 33:46 BB:K ratio, compared to 55:138 last year. I don’t think his approach will be that strong in the Majors, but I think there is enough real improvement that will his hit tool to play just enough to be a lefthanded Drew Stubbs type player which would be a huge developmental win.
We’ll see how the Giants OF plays out after the trade deadline with Heliot Ramos and Jung-Hoo Lee, but I think in terms of their CF of the future, the Giants should prioritize McCray over Drew Gilbert and Jonah Cox.