tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post8237560788330146813..comments2024-02-23T20:49:09.057-08:00Comments on obsessivegiantscompulsive: Your 2011 Giants: Panik Giants Draft Pick #29obsessivegiantscompulsivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11362706004246875823noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-63127951907661076862011-06-12T05:56:40.686-07:002011-06-12T05:56:40.686-07:00According to Perfect Game's Top 100 list, he i...According to Perfect Game's Top 100 list, he is 39th best, and John Sickel has him as 45th best, both much closer to the Giants pick, though Sickel, in his second mock draft only had him being selected 57th.Online Blackjackhttp://www.onlineblackjack.org/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-15708344658447939062011-06-07T13:48:42.429-07:002011-06-07T13:48:42.429-07:00Baggarly has a nice article on Panik, including so...Baggarly has a nice article on Panik, including some info from the press conference (wish those were still made public): http://www.minorleagueball.com/2011/6/1/2201021/2011-baseball-draft-johns-current-draft-board<br /><br />Barr notes that Panik is MI, but not sure which right now. Says that his bat profiles as #2 hitter, noting "he walks more than he strikes out. He swings it with authority. He can drive the ball and he's very surehanded. He was the best available player at the time we selected him."<br /><br />Barr noted, when asked about getting a catcher in light of Posey, said that the Giants never discussed or considered drafting a catcher. First and foremost, "you have to acculmulate talent. That's the key." Amen to that, amen to that.<br /><br />In even better news, Panik "signaled his intention to sign quickly and begin his pro career." That could accelerate his ascension to the majors, had Brown signed quickly, assuming he was healthy, could have shown his abilities in SJ already and instead started in AA this season.<br /><br />Panik is also a NY product, Yonkers, whereas Aurilia was from Brooklyn. Not sure how close, but just saying.obsessivegiantscompulsivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11362706004246875823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-13676334666452403242011-06-07T09:26:20.389-07:002011-06-07T09:26:20.389-07:00John Sickels gave his commentary on the Panik pick...John Sickels gave his commentary on the Panik pick here: http://www.minorleagueball.com/2011/6/7/2211105/2011-mlb-draft-results-steals-and-stretches#69066902<br /><br />Basically, he does not feel that Panik was an overdraft, which jibes with the Perfect Game notes, noting he had him as an early supplemental (remember, 39th on Sickel's draft board, so 10 picks early). Says he has underrated tools and is extremely polished. He is totally OK with the pick (topic of thread was steals and stretches and the questioner thought Panik was a second rounder).<br /><br />Answering follow-up questions, he thinks Panik can possibly develop enough power to be a league average 2B, possibly steal enough bases to provide value that way, thinks more important are OBP skills that he really believe in, that he has at least doubles power, and he's not worried about Panik's swing (questioner thinks it is "longish"), noting that he hit well in Cape Cod League with wood so he's not worried about his swing.<br /><br />I would also remind that the Perfect Game profile above notes his "smooth, easy, compact lefthanded swing and ability to barrel up balls on a consistent basis."<br /><br />I'm still happy with the pick. Would have been better if he was more of a sure SS, for while I'm loving Crawford right now, his strikeouts in the minors worry me (though the long battles he has had with pitchers are slowly converting me). <br /><br />Still, to me, if the guy leads the league in hitting, and by a pretty good margin, that shows a lot of skill. And doing that in spite of the switch from aluminum - which many other prospects had problems with - plus doing well in a wood league, Cape Cod, speaks well of his hitting abilities. <br /><br />And it was not just hitting, he took a lot of walks, hardly struck out at all at the same time, hit for power, hit for HR power, that's a lot of hitting skills.<br /><br />Meanwhile, while he has no speed, he was able through baseball-savvy to steal a lot of bases. And in terms of baseball-maturity, I would have to say that the descriptions remind me of what people were saying about Buster Posey when we drafted him.<br /><br />And that seems to be one of the traits - maturity - the Giants look for, though that is not often true about their prospects. I noticed long ago, at least since Kurt Ainsworth and Jerome Williams prospect times that Sabean would use the term "maturity" a lot when describing certain prospects. Panik appears to have baseball-maturity, a steadiness, dependability, work ethic, game awareness.<br /><br />I was more excited by Brown than Panik so far, but I still haven't checked out Panik's career stats in college, check out other comments I see out on web.obsessivegiantscompulsivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11362706004246875823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-39386013156450798462011-06-06T22:38:38.257-07:002011-06-06T22:38:38.257-07:00Should have also noted that he showed he could tak...Should have also noted that he showed he could take walks even while hitting very well, he had 44 walks against only 24 strikeouts, a dominant ratio and a sign of a very good hitter.obsessivegiantscompulsivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11362706004246875823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-56700697874098269832011-06-06T22:10:33.840-07:002011-06-06T22:10:33.840-07:00Forgot to include BA's blog entry after the dr...Forgot to include BA's blog entry after the draft:<br /><br />http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/2011/06/pick-129-giants-pick-joe-panik/<br /><br />The first truly off-the-board pick of the night is made by the Giants. San Francisco takes St. John's grinder middle infielder Joe Panik, who was No. 67 on BA's Top 200.<br /><br />Panik has a nice track record and profile, though. He's a lefthanded-hitting shortstop who fits better at second base down the line for some scouts, but his bat will play there. Panik batted .398/.509/.642 this season, better numbers than he had as a sophomore, and added 21 stolen bases. But his speed won't be a big factor at the pro level.<br /><br />For Giants fans, Panik's profile is similar to that of Freddy Sanchez, except he has a more polished approach and isn't allergic to walks. It's interesting that he went higher than North Carolina's Levi Michael, a similar player who appears to be falling a bit.obsessivegiantscompulsivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11362706004246875823noreply@blogger.com