SF Giants Picks in the 2010 First Year Player Draft

SF Giants 2010 Baseball First Year Player Draft picks

Follow-ups:

August 16, 2010– Yahoo Sports reports the Giants signed first round pick Gary Brown out of Cal State Fullerton for a reported $1.3 million. Brown has tremendous potential as a fast tracked lead-off hitter and centerfielder.

June 19, 2010– SF Chronicle sports writer Henry Schulman reported the Giants signed third round pick Carter Jurica and fourth round pick Seth Rosin.

First round #24
Gary Brown CF – Cal State Fullerton
Batted .438 with 31 stolen bases this year. Good contact hitter, great speed on the bases and in the outfield. Excellent defensive outfielder. Classic lead-off batter. Ranked #24 in Baseball America’s Top 50 overall prospects.

Second round #74
Jarrett Parker OF – Virginia
In 2009 Parker batted .355 with 16 home runs for the Virginia Cavaliers, and was projected to be a top ten draft pick. He has fallen off somewhat this year, but is still considered a potential five tool player. Plays center field and has blinding speed on the bases and in the field. Power potential makes him a possible first baseman.  

Third round #105
Carter Jurica SS – Kansas State
The Baseball Draft Report listed Jurica 2nd out of the top 30 college shortstop prospects for 2010. He batted .360 last year and his fielding and hitting skills are rated outstanding.

Fourth Round #138
Seth Rosin RHP – University of Minnesota
Selected 28th by the Twins in the 2007 draft, but did not sign. Minnesota’s ace, Rosin is a 6’7″ strike thrower who can hit 95 MPH with his fastball.

Also picked by the Giants:
#168 Richard Hembree RHP – Charleston
#198 Mike Kickham LHP – Missouri State
#228 Charles Jones CF – High school (Missouri)

For almost fourteen years, the Giants constructed not only the big league team, but the entire organization, around Barry Bonds. The idea was to stockpile pitching prospects, from the draft or by accquiring propsects from other teams, to be used as trade bait. What were the Giants trading for? Round after round of older veteran players to drop into the batting line-up around Bonds. The concept was to have just enough bats to get into the playoffs each year.

But as Bonds era ended, the organization woke up and found itself strip-mined of any real minor league talent to develop. As a result, the Giants did not produce one legitimate big league position player for years.

Under Special Assistant for Scouting John Barr, the Giants have slowly moved away from their pitcher-centric strategy and started to restock the minor leagues with players who have speed, who can hit, and who play in the field. In 2006, two of the top three draft players were pitchers (including Tim Lincecum); in 2007, two of the top three draft picks were pitchers; in 2008, all three of the top picks were position players (including catcher Buster Posey); in 2009 , two out of the top three picks were position players.

And in 2010, the top three draft picks are two outfielders and a shortstop. Now that the minor league system is actually producing position players who can contribute at the Major League level, the Giants have finally joined organizations like Minnesota, Tampa, and Oakland, who compete successfully by building from within.

But there’s a ways to go. The organization still seems to be reluctant to move homegrown younger players into pivotal starting rolls. And the Giants are still burdened by a number of inflated contracts with veteran players, and even a player of the caliber and promise of Buster Posey is blocked from a starting job because benching or releasing a high paid nonproducing player like Bengie Molina (or Edgar Renteria, or Aaron Rowand) would make the organization look bad.

Having said that, there is no doubt the San Francisco Giants have retooled and are now committed to a comprehensive organizational vision and to long-term planning. And it will be fun watching it begin to fully blossom over the next several seaons.