What to know about Giants' outlook, first-round history ahead of 2025 MLB Draft originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO — On the day that he traded for Rafael Devers, Buster Posey spoke passionately about what the power hitter could bring to the lineup and organization. But in talking about the cost of acquiring Devers, Posey also acknowledged that it put some extra pressure on the front office.
“It’s going to be on us as an organization to do really well in the draft and other avenues as far as being able to develop talent through our system,” he said last month.
The Devers trade sent Jordan Hicks and three young players back the other way, including Kyle Harrison, who was the No. 1 left-handed prospect in baseball a year ago, and 2024 first-rounder James Tibbs III.
Tibbs was the sixth and final first-round pick of the Farhan Zaidi Era. On Sunday, the Posey-led front office will attack a draft for the first time, although there might not be much that’s noticeably different. The head of a baseball operations department is always involved with a draft, particularly with the first-round pick, but when Posey made his evaluations in the offseason, he decided to keep the draft in the hands of senior director of amateur scouting Michael Holmes, who was hired by Zaidi. This is mostly up to Holmes and his scouts.
As Posey and Holmes prepare to embark on their first draft together, here’s what you need to know about where the Giants stand:
The Details
The draft is a two-day event this year, beginning Sunday at 3 p.m. PST with the Washington Nationals on the clock. They’re expected to select either LSU lefty Kade Anderson or prep shortstop Ethan Holliday, the son of former big league star Matt Holliday and younger brother of Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday.
The first three rounds will air Sunday on ESPN and MLB Network. The next 17 rounds will start Monday morning and be available on MLB.com.
The Giants’ Picks
There’s a draft lottery at the Winter Meetings now, and the Giants saw two teams pass them. They’ll pick 13th for the third time in six years, and while they’ve struggled in the first round overall, they have at least fared well from that spot.
The lone first-rounder under Zaidi to reach the big leagues thus far is Patrick Bailey, who was taken 13th in 2020. Tibbs was 13th last year and became a key piece in a blockbuster.
For a second straight year, the Giants will get a bit of a breather after their first selection. They sacrificed their second- and fifth-round picks to sign Willy Adames, which looked like a savvy move on Friday night.
About Those First-Rounders …
Posey was a first-round pick out of Florida State in 2008. He’s now running the Giants in part because of the prior regime’s failure to develop first-rounders over the last six years.
In 2019, the Giants selected power-speed blend Hunter Bishop, who has dealt with injuries and is now in his second season in Triple-A. Two years later, it was right-hander Will Bednar, who also dealt with injuries and is now a reliever in Double-A. Reggie Crawford was a swing for the fences in 2022, and he underwent shoulder surgery late last season. He’s said to be doing well in his rehab, but he won’t get back on the mound until the end of this season.
The big hit appears to be Bryce Eldridge, who was taken 16th overall in 2023 and is now the organization’s top prospect and the 20th-best prospect in the game, per MLB Pipeline. Last year, the pick was Tibbs, the lone Zaidi first-rounder who is no longer with the organization.
The 2024 Group
The Giants gave up their second and third picks in last year’s draft after they signed Matt Chapman and Blake Snell. The Chapman part of it all worked out extremely well, and they seem to have done a nice job of salvaging the top of that draft despite not having much to work with.
Tibbs helped them get Devers, and after sitting out two rounds, they went over-slot to get outfielder Dakota Jordan, a tremendous athlete who dropped because of concerns about his whiff rate at Mississippi State. Jordan is now their No. 5 prospect and has a .841 OPS, nine homers and 27 stolen bases for Low-A San Jose. The front office is thrilled with his outfield defense and all-fields power, and he has made notable strides with his plate discipline.
Who Will They Take?
There’s really no such thing as drafting for need in baseball, so throw out any thoughts you might have about what this organization is lacking. After getting a lay of the land, Zaidi decided the Giants were well short on pitching depth, so they took nine straight to begin the 2021 draft. But generally, teams pick the best player available, and because there are so many players in the draft pool compared to other sports, there can be some wild swings.
Posey played with Joe Panik, who was considered a massive reach when the Giants took him 29th overall in 2011. Panik ended up helping them win a ring three years later.
Just for fun … MLB Pipeline has the Giants taking Oklahoma right-hander Kyson Witherspoon, and ESPN has them selecting Arizona outfielder Brendan Summerhill.
