2009 Mock Draft: Baseball America John Manuel

Baseball America today published Jim Callis's and John Manuel's thoughts about the draft tomorrow. For their mock draft, they did not take signability into as much concern as a team might, so that is a giant grain of salt to consider when thinking about the draft, but still, it is a lot of good discussion about the prospects in general who the Giants might select. This is what John had to say about the Giants:

6. GIANTS (John). Interesting point on Crow. I can't say I disagree, nor do I disagree that Turner is the best prep righthander available. The Giants in the past would be all over someone like Wheeler at No. 6 in this situation, and we know that general manager Brian Sabean has seen Wheeler pitch himself. But the Giants have become much more daring about rebuilding their franchise the last few years, particularly in terms of position players. They've paid large bonuses internationally and domestically, and shouldn't be scared off by Georgia high school outfielder Donavan Tate's price tag. He has a high upside as a potential premium defender, and the Giants have enough prospects to be patient with Tate's bat, which could need more time than most clubs are willing to give.

Many mock drafts had them doing that, so it is not a big shock to see this.

Also, echoing what Mayo noted, Callis thought so well about Tyler Matzek that he had the 'Dres selecting him with the third pick, noting:

But I'm not the biggest Tate fan—I worry about his bat some, and he spurned my alma mater's football program for yours, though Georgia is demonstrably better than North Carolina—so I'd go with a different potential superstar. Give me California high school lefthander Tyler Matzek. He came into the year as the top lefthander available and his stock has only gone up. He has been spectacular in playoff starts the last two weeks, and some teams would be tempted to take him over Ackley.

And Ackley, most acknowledge is the second best prospect in the draft and should be selected second or at worse third in this draft.

Here is Callis's thought on Shelby Miller, who he picked 9th:

I'm not ready to pull the trigger on St. Paul Saints (American Association) righthander Tanner Scheppers yet either. He has thrown hard this spring, but he had serious shoulder issues a year ago, and shoulder issues scare me. I'm going to go for a little gamesmanship here, because there are a couple of players I like that I don't think you're going to pop, so I'll take Texas high school righthander Shelby Miller. He's got the best high school fastball in this draft, and that works for me.

Here are Manuel's comments on Grant Green, with 12th pick:

But a Boras client that's too good to pass up also is available, and Southern California shortstop Grant Green makes more sense for me here than Sanchez. He's not as safe a pick, but he's got more upside. Usually, I think the Cape Cod League is over-rated, but I'm banking that Green's rumored hand injury is the reason he didn't hit for power this spring. Get him healthy, get him back with a wood bat and get the Royals a middle-of-the-diamond talent with offensive upside.

Interesting comment about Cape Cod, I see a lot of prognosticators touting success in that league, but after our Todd Linden experience, I haven't been sold on that league yet as a precursor for success. If it really is an injury, Green might be a good selection for the Giants, except for the high price tag on him with Boras as his agent.

Again, Baseball America is not saying that Tate is who the Giants will pick, just that they think the Giants might take that chance given their past spending over the past few years now and given that Tate is probably the best prospect available when it is their turn to select. They have thus far avoided Boras picks in recent years, passing by, notably, on Rick Porcello when they could have selected him with the Alderson pick (which I don't blame them for, but others do), but you never know, they have stated that they will go for best player available, regardless of whether Boras is their agent or not.