Darryl Zero

[Darryl Zero @Darryl_Zero]

Tanner Thach, the Giants Rnd 18 pick, has a famous relative. His great uncle is Hall of Fame pitcher “Catfish” Hunter. Thach was a long-time top high school prospect in North Carolina. Set to start his college career at UNC-Wilmington in several weeks. No chance he'll sign.

[Darryl Zero @Darryl_Zero]

IMO, this Draft class is going to take significantly longer to see results from than the typical drafts under the Zaidi & Sabean/Evans regimes. Lot of long-term development work in minors needed. I currently only see Whisenhunt (Rnd 2) & Zach Morgan (R7) as possible quick-movers.

[Darryl Zero @Darryl_Zero]

Very, very unlikely the Giants have a shot at signing any of their last 3 picks (the 2 high schoolers & the age-eligible true sophomore from ASU). Seems likely 1 or 2 other guys from today (R11-R20) won't sign. Everybody from Day 1 & 2 will sign, meaning a 15- or 16-person class.

[Darryl Zero @Darryl_Zero]

Giants should also add 3-5 guys, as UDFAs, to the class by the middle of August.

[Darryl Zero @Darryl_Zero]

@thecalebduarte A pick that a team makes as a gesture of goodwill to the player, his family, his agent, his coach, or his relative - knowing they have no intention/chance to sign him. Typically a local guy or a guy that has some type of historic tie to the team.

[Darryl Zero @Darryl_Zero]

Now almost certain that the Giants will take mostly older college players (with a focus on pitchers) today, during the final 10 rounds of the Draft. Any high schooler, or hi-upside younger college guy, they take will be "courtesy" picks that they know are unsignable.

[Darryl Zero @Darryl_Zero]

Boom! As if on cue, the Giants take a Puerto Rican high school catcher (Nomar Diaz) in Round 14. I'm almost certain he'll end up signing with the Giants.

[Darryl Zero @Darryl_Zero]

The one exception I'll make to this prediction is if the Giants take a high schooler from Puerto Rico. Those guys tend to be more agreeable to sign for <= $150K. Especially if they have no major college commitment.

[Darryl Zero @Darryl_Zero]

Giants R12 pick, Tyler Vogel, is a skinny & a bit undersized (6', 175) RHP who had a very successful season as Jacksonville's closer in 2022. He's a Covid Soph, so could be an iffy signing. Stop me if you've heard this b4, but he's got abv avg velo, but well below avg control.

[Darryl Zero @Darryl_Zero]

Bower is a Covid sophomore with good size (6'3", 220). He's relies on command/control to induce weak contact & groundballs. Giants likely believe they can train him up to get more velo & swing & miss out of him.

[Darryl Zero @Darryl_Zero]

Giants R11 pick, RHP Sam Bower from St. Mary's College, isn't going to cost them > $125K to sign. Likely means the Giants don't have much, or any, $$$ left in bonus pool to pay an over slot bonus (> $125K) today.

[Darryl Zero @Darryl_Zero]

If Crawford does cost $250K - $500K over slot, then that eats up pretty much all, or much more than, the Giants 5% overage allowance. Giants likely saved a total of $150K - $300K under slot with the 7 guys they picked yesterday (R3-R10), but that's not enough to splurge today.

[Darryl Zero @Darryl_Zero]

Minutes away from the start of Day 3 of the 2022 Draft. We should find out early today whether the Giants were able to save enough of their bonus pool on under-slot signings to splurge on 1 or 2 hi-upside prospects today.

[Darryl Zero @Darryl_Zero]

I initially thought that SF's first 2 picks (Crawford & Whisenhunt) would sign for between 0% & 5% over slot, but now I'm thinking that Crawford likely will likely cost between 10% & 20% over slot. Didn't initially realize he has 3 more full seasons of college eligibility left.

[Darryl Zero @Darryl_Zero]

Giants last 20 picks in rounds 1 - 10 (from the 2021 & '22 Drafts):
College pitchers = 16;
High school pitchers = 1;
College catcher = 1;
College OFers = 2.
That's 80% college pitchers. Definitely found a comfort level. Onus on the org's pitching development gurus/coaches.

[Darryl Zero @Darryl_Zero]

Giants follow up the Morgan pick by taking Wade Meckler, the Oregon State OFer, in Rnd 8. Value! Common threads between the 2:
1. Extreme grinders;
2. More BBs than Ks;
3. More productive than tools would indicate;
4. Hi baseball IQ;
5. Hi character & great teammates.

[Darryl Zero @Darryl_Zero]

Zach Morgan, the Fresno State catcher that the Giants took in Rnd 7, is the type of prospect that I was thinking of when I tweeted this morning that the best value on Day 2 for the Giants should be college position players. Really good value so late in the Draft. Scout report:

[Darryl Zero @Darryl_Zero]

Unless... Zaidi smiles to himself while thinking: catcher-to-pitcher conversion!

[Darryl Zero @Darryl_Zero]

OMG! Some trickster must have sneaked a bogus slip of paper into the Giants pick bowl.