Giants planning for ‘balanced’ approach in Draft

July 8th, 2023

This story was excerpted from Maria Guardado’s Giants Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

SAN FRANCISCO -- After taking a pitcher-heavy approach to the MLB Draft in the last two years, the Giants have accumulated an enviable crop of talented young arms across all levels of their farm system.

Left-handers Kyle Harrison (third-round pick in 2020), Carson Whisenhunt (second-round pick in ‘22) and Reggie Crawford (first-round pick in ‘22) and right-handers Mason Black (third-round pick in ‘21), Landen Roupp (12th-round pick in ‘21) and Hayden Birdsong (sixth-round pick in ‘22) are among the hurlers who have come into the system in recent years and helped turn pitching into an organizational strength. 

Despite their abundance of arms, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said the Giants might not necessarily be inclined to shift their focus from pitchers to position players in the 2023 Draft, which will run from Sunday to Tuesday.

"I think we're probably going to take a balanced approach,” Zaidi said Friday. “I know I said that in 2021 and we took pitchers with, like, our first 11 picks. I don't know how much credibility I have there, but I don't think we're going into this Draft with a set notion of really hammering one side or the other."

First pick and bonus slot: No. 16 overall, $4,326,600
Additional first-day picks: No. 52 overall, $1,620,800 (second round); No. 69 overall, $1,074,100 (free agent compensation pick for Carlos Rodón)
Total bonus pool: $9,916,900

Under Zaidi and amateur scouting director Michael Holmes, the Giants have used their first-round Draft pick on college players in four consecutive years. That trend could potentially continue this year, as MLB Pipeline’s Jonathan Mayo has San Francisco selecting Vanderbilt outfielder Enrique Bradfield in his latest mock draft. The Giants have also been linked to Stanford shortstop and Los Gatos, Calif., native Tommy Troy, Maryland infielder Matt Shaw and prep lefty Thomas White. 

"I think it's a really good Draft, a really deep Draft,” Zaidi said. “We're picking in the middle of the first round and usually, when you're picking 16 you think it's a 15-player Draft, that's just how it goes. But we have well more than 16 players that I think we're really excited about. I think it's a really, really good Draft at the top.”

Here’s a look at how the Giants have fared with their top picks from the last five Drafts, with their current team in parentheses: 

2022: LHP/1B Reggie Crawford (Single-A San Jose)
2021: RHP Will Bednar (Rookie-level Arizona Complex League)
2020: C Patrick Bailey (MLB)
2019: OF Hunter Bishop (underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery in April)
2018: C Joey Bart (Triple-A Sacramento)

Did you like this story?
In this story:

Senior Reporter Maria Guardado covers the Giants for MLB.com. She previously covered the Angels from 2017-18.