by
Greek Giant
I have never been one to get too excited about MLB drafts. There are many reasons for my sentiments but the main issue I have with draft hoopla is this: Baseball is a bloody difficult sport and because of that, it is so hard to predict success when it comes to individual players at the age of 18, 19 or 20. There have been more draft misses historically, than hits, if you look at the history of first round picks. Heck, even Buster Posey was passed up by the Tampa Bay Rays!
Last night the Giants completed their draft picks and the results, according to the Social Media Giants Nation appear to range from “meh” to “what the..”
Here is the list of 2020 Giants draft picks:
Giants Draft Selections:
- First Round – 13th Pick – Patrick Bailey – Catcher – North Carolina State (NC)
- Second Round – 49th Pick – Casey Schmitt – 3B – San Diego State (CA)
- Compensation Pick – 67th Pick – Nick Swiney – LHP – North Carolina State (NC)
- Compensation Pick – 68th Pick – Jimmy Glowenke – SS – Dallas Baptist (TX)
- Third Round – 85th Pick – Kyle Harrison – LHP – De La Salle HS (CA)
- Fourth Round – 114th Pick – R.J. Dabovich – RHP – Arizona State (AZ)
- Fifth Round – 144th Pick – Ryan Murphy – RHP – Le Moyne College (NY)
The Giants had seven picks total (5 rounds and two compensation picks for losing a couple of left handed pitchers last season… (Will Smith and some guy…))
They took four pitchers, including Patrick Bailey’s battery mate, Nick Swiney, a LHP from NC State. Swiney is the compensatory pick the Giants received when MadBum walked. So… the result is, the Giants acquired a giant question mark in Swiney for a living legend who still has more than few good years left in his arm. Now, I am not saying Nick Swiney might not help the Giants win another World Series.. you just never know. However, what I am saying is I do not like the chances of this happening.
Should Bumgarner have been traded? Should the Giants have found a way to reign in their rodeo-loving bronco bustin’ big guy? Was that even possible? Someday Sabean or Bumgarner will write a book and we will know more…
Getting back to the draft…
There seem to be many complaints about average stuff for Ryan Murphy and questionable choices in terms of organizational need. My take is simple, there is no reasonable way to judge this or any draft until at least two years later. With this said, I really, really, really want Farhan Zaidi, and the Giants to succeed and I basically ignore all the Internet and expert chatter.
With the 85th pick in the 2020 #MLBDraft, the #SFGiants select: Kyle Harrison, LHP from De La Salle High School pic.twitter.com/yPkXKJ4uAS
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) June 12, 2020
P.S. If you are wondering why there is a photo of Madison Bumgarner at the top of this post it’s because I am still bitter…