Skip to main content

Giants Go For Speed In 2010 Draft

The Giants have notoriously gone after pitching at the top of their drafts in recent years, but they switched things up in 2010, taking a couple of speedy centerfielders with their top-2 picks in the 2010 draft.

The draft kind of crept up on us this year, and wasn't as highly anticipated on the Giants front, because they didn't have a top-10 pick for the first time in years. Instead, they picked 24th in the first round, and with that pick, they took Cal State Fullerton speedy centerfielder Gary Brown. The 22 year-old has improved each year at the plate, and has always been amongst the most polished baserunners and basestealers during his time at Fullerton. He's a very good hitter, with the potential to be a plus leadoff hitter in the future, but I don't think he was the best available hitter at that point and I feel the Giants could have made a better selection. Zack Cox and Kyle Parker went with the following 2 picks after the Giants took Brown, and I think a lot of fans would have been happy had the Giants gone with one of those guys with a little bit more thump in their bat. A guy I really liked who I was kind of hoping for was the centerfielder out of Georgia (HS), Chevy Clarke. That kid has legit 5-tool talent, and although he had an up-and-down senior year, he is going to be a tremendously bright ballplayer. I can't help but think of the Upton brothers when watching him. Not saying Brown is a bad ballplayer by any stretch, and I do expect him to catch the fast track to the big leagues seeing that he's had plenty of college and Cape Cod experience.

With their second pick, the Giants took a somewhat identical version of Brown, just a little taller with a little more power, in Jarrett Parker. The 6'4" smooth swinging lefty has a bit of pop, but is mostly a contact/speed type hitter. He did struggle a lot in 2010 which caused his value to drop (many had him as a top-20 pick coming into the year). He kind of reminds me a bit of Johnny Damon, but I don't think he'll project out to be half as good in the Majors. Again, the Giants didn't have a supplemental pick this year, and didn't get another pick in the top-50 like they usually have over the last couple of drafts, so the top of their class isn't as quality as we're used too. I think Parker will end up being like Connor Gillespie with a bit more speed, though I do have some expectations for him. Outside of Parker and Brown, the Giants did grab a couple of intriguing arms in the draft as well. I like the potential of fourth rounder Seth Rosin (Brad Penny Jr. with his motion and stuff) as well as Charlston rightie Richard Hembree, who can really bring it. Look for big lefty Andrew Barbosa to end up being one of the better value picks outside of the top-10 rounds as well... Much more on the draft to come!

Giants Win 3rd Straight: Meanwhile, back in Cincinnati, the Giants have gotten hot all of the sudden, winning their 3rd straight on Tuesday behind another Matt Cain gem. Juan Uribe also went yard again and Pat Burrell continued his hot start in SF with a couple more hits. Jonathan Sanchez will look to further continue his hot streak as well Wednesday as the Giants go for the series victory.

Comments

jerry said…
I don't get why they go after sppedy leadoff guys when its obvious what the team needs? Things like that always make me scratch my head with sabean.
Anonymous said…
Brown is a good player. I could see him becoming like a right-handed version of brett butler.

Giants need to bring up Bumgarner in Wellemeyer's spot. Look how good Posey did after his promotion. If the Giants show faith in the youngsters, they'll be rewarded.
Anonymous said…
anyone knows if Vilaluna is coming back? The guy if innocent is one of the best prospects the giants had...
Anonymous said…
Hello there!
This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give
a quick shout out and tell you I genuinely enjoy reading your blog posts.
Can you recommend any other blogs/websites/forums that cover
the same subjects?
Many thanks!

My blog: Desktop Gadgets

Popular posts from this blog

Giants Notes: Lincecum Signs, Ross to Boston

Well, even though I touched on it a little bit in our last post, I haven't really had a chance to get my thoughts out on the new Lincecum deal since he and the Giants agreed earlier in the week. Also, on the other end of things, the Giants missed out on shoring up their outfield by letting Cody Ross sign in Boston for only $3 million in 2012. First off, obviously, wanted to talk a bit about Lincecum. I've already said here that I didn't expect him to sign a long-term deal that takes him through free agency, but it doesn't mean he wants to leave San Francisco like everyone is suspecting. I mean, if I were Lincecum, I'd probably do the same thing, even if I planned on eventually signing with the Giants long-term. Why take a chance at mitigating your value to just sign a deal? Granted, a 5 year, $100 million deal isn't anything to sneeze at, in this market, if he were a free agent, Lincecum could probably easily command a 8 year, $200 million deal. If he could get ...

SF Giants' 2024 season preview and predictions

 We've reached the finish line of spring training and it's time for the games to start mattering. The Giants are a much different team than the one we saw report to camp six weeks ago. Did they add enough over the winter and spring to catapult them into playoff contention? What are some keys to success this season? We'll get into all that and more in the 2024 season preview. A winter that started out a little slow and concerning for Giants' fans, really came into form in the spring and was capped beautifully by a Blake Snell signing just over a week before opening day. The Giants are indeed a much improved team from the one we saw in 2023, just how much better they become will rely a lot on three big things. Three Keys to 2024 1. Health Of course, you can say this about every team in baseball and in any sport. In order for them to reach their end-season goals, they'll have to have had stayed relatively healthy throughout the summer. But for the Giants I've highl...

Giants Still Need Infield Help

On Saturday, the Giants finalized a 2 year contract extension with Freddy Sanchez, who they acquired in July for Tim Alderson. The new deal for Sanchez will pay him 12 million over the next 2 seasons instead of 8.5 million for just 2010, which was his option for 2010. I've voiced my disappointment in Sanchez a few times here since the Giants dealt for him over the summer. He wasn't able to stay on the field full time to help this club with their run at the NL Wild Card, and even when he was in there, he didn't seem to make much of an impact in th e lineup. Now, I wasn't necessarily hoping the Giants would cut ties with Sanchez (they probably would have had to pay 4 million or so to buy him out), just didn't think he was worth upwards of 10 million dollars, and would have liked to see the Giants pursue someone like Orlando Hudson with that money. The Giants already have an infielder who's being paid about 3-4 times what his play over the last 2 seasons would indi...