I think the Giants board looks like:

1. T. Beckham
2. Alvarez
3. Posey
4. Smoak
5. Matusz

Maybe not in that order but I think those are the guys. If 1-4 goes 1-4, then I’d be just okay with taking Matusz. I know I’d rather have Hosmer and think I’d rather have Skipworth but if it did go down like that I’d live with Matusz.

Line up the draft board based on TALENT. Then “scrub” that board with the following considerations:

1) psychological test results
2) drug test results
3) signability
4) organizational need

On John Barr’s interview on KNBR this morning, he was really trying not to show his cards. I noticed everytime Smoak’s name came up, he would change the subject and talk about Hosmer or Matusz.

Is it done intentlionally to talk about another prospect you are absolutely not interested in just so you can raise those prospects’ stock ? And is it in hope that those first 4 teams ahead of the Giants focus their attention on those guys?

This is some espionage stuff right here, IMO. But good stuff.

You had me worried that you had partaken of the KoolAid© for a minute there, Grant. Glad to see you ended with the conclusion all right-thinking Giants fans have agreed upon.

Brian Matusz just doesn’t do it for me at #5. “Shoots lightning bolts from his eyes” might convince me, but his eyes look pretty average to me.

an emphatic “NO” to Matusz.

Brett Wallace, Eric Hosmer, and Yonder Alonso will still be available if the first 4 go Posey/Alvarez/Beckham/Smoak in some order.
There is no reason to pick Matusz. You CAN have too much pitching.

Hopefully one of the top 4 teams picks either Hosmer or Matusz, clearing the way for one of the top 4 position players to fall to the Giants. Preferably Smoak

I think you’ve pretty much got to take the best player left on your board. If it’s a pitcher, I’ll be a bit disappointed, but the Giants have earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to pitching.

The thing with the draft is, it’s such a crap shoot. A year from now, Justin Smoak could look like Ben Broussard.

But for the record, I don’t like Matusz better than any of the top 5 hitters available.

They will take a pitcher. I don’t know how, or why, or who.
If by some reason they don’t – they will take an up-the-middle guy, SS or C.

...is whether or not anyone will throw themselves down the stairs if we draft Matusz?

I don’t think it would be a bad thing to add him to the system.

Let’s be honest, none of the alternative hitters are flawless or epic, or scream future all-star – maybe Tim Beckham, but Alvarez strikes out a ton, Posey is an above average hitter at the Catcher position, Hosmer is a high schooler with an ego that will take a tuna boat full of money to sign, Smoak might not hit for a superb average, etc, etc, etc. If them’s your options, why not take a lefty #2 starter?

Whilst obviously a hitter would be preferable, taking a pitcher wouldn’t be a bad thing, if we believed him to be much better than the hitters available. Having said that, this year, that won’t be the case, the pitchers available are good prospects who’ll probably turn out to be good pitchers, but as you say, don’t have that ace potential. Even if the draft goes terribly & the better hitters are gone, there are still 5 or more position players in the draft who i like & would chose so at least one will be available.

-There Are Worse Things I Could Do (Than Hit Under .200 My First Full Year in the Majors)
-The House of Willie Mays
-The Rumor: Lincecum for Rios
-I Cain’t Say No
-Tom, Dick Tidrow, or Harry
-Six Months Out of Every Year
-Short Seasons of Love
-Bye Bye Baby
And of course….At The End of the Day

Whats our chances of getting Beckham. I am very hyped up for this kid.

thats a bit disheartening

Especially since there’s two of them.

This topic brings to mind the John Shea column on Sunday in which he claimed “The pitching depth [historically] enabled general manager Brian Sabean to trade prospects for big-league hitters and keep the team in contention.”

To which I say, “When did he do that?” I remember pitchers being traded for Livan, Nen, and Schmidt, but I don’t remember landing any hitters. I agree Sabean always claimed that he could… it’s just interesting he never did.

One that’s already on his way to being a more mature hitter, if possible.

kent was gotten for Matt Williams
Snow was for Allan Watson, a lefty pitcher I liked.

For the 06 draft I’m surprised so many people were down on Lincecum (lots of comments about horrible or ugly mechanics). I didn’t post here then, but I remember the first time I went on MLB.com to read a draft preview for that year. After watching lots of scouting videos and interviews, the one player I really fell in love with was Lincecum. I was already imagining what he would look like in a Giants uniform, on the mound at SBC/ATT Park. A few days later, a mock draft was posted, with Lincecum as the first pick. I was incredibly disappointed. When we drafted him, I went crazy. He was the one guy I really wanted. Last year, I was one of the many people who really wanted Beau Mills. This time, I’m a Smoak guy. Matusz is okay, but he doesn’t seem to be quite as dominant as he would have to be for me to accept a pitcher pick. (Strasburg next year would fit that requirement)

Andrew Baggarly’s Blog has some conjecture about the draft.

It sure sounds like the Rays will take either high school shortstop Tim Beckham or FSU catcher Buster Posey with the top pick, and the Pirates will tab Vanderbilt third baseman Pedro Alvarez second overall. There’s a pretty good chance Brian Matusz from USD will be the first pitcher taken, probably to Baltimore or Kansas City with the 3-4 picks. Where do Posey, Tim Beckham, Gordon Beckham and Justin Smoak stack up on the Giants’ draft board? Still very tough to say. I’d be very surprised if the Giants didn’t take one of those four players, though.

Like last year, I would prefer a hitter (I liked Heyward and Dominguez but not Mills so much). But after reading everything, Bumgarner seemed arguably the best pick due to his high 90’s fastball, a rarity among LHP, plus superlative control and command. Heyward and Dominguez will be nice players but I didn’t get that they were difference makers, Dominguez has great defense but average power, and Heyward has plus power but average defense. And, is he that much better than what we got in RF already in Schierholtz?

Still, I think I would have rolled the dice on Dominguez, though I like Bumgarner, mainly because we don’t have a good 3B prospect at that time other than Villalona, and even then Angel could hit well enough for 1B if necessary, so it wouldn’t be a situation like McCovey/Cepeda, there would be a spot for both guys. I might be taking a hit on talent, but there’s no guarantee that we can trade Bumgarner (or whoever he replaces in the rotation) to get the 3B we need either, the other team would have to be willing to give him up, it is not enough that the other team needs a pitcher.

I like John Barr, he’s a good interview, very lively conversational style. With Sabean, you always felt like he was formulating what he can say without saying much of anything but sounding like he did. Barr is a welcome change, a breath of fresh air, particularly since he’s the one in charge of the draft now whereas before Tidrow was in charge but Sabean was the face of the team regarding the draft.

I don’t think that he gave short shrift to Smoak, though I agree that he brought up Alonso rather quickly and Matusz as well. He talked about how Smoak is a 1) switch-hitting 1B 2) SC, 3) follow since high school, 4) power both side, 5) middle of lineup hitter. About Alonso he 1) performed well everywhere including Cape Cod, 2) works count, 3) has power, 4) nice BB/K ratio (interesting that he brought that up; most assume Giants don’t take sabermetric principles into consideration), 5) high OBP (again). About Matusz 1) can’t overlook him, 2) perform at every level (maybe one other thing).

But like Sabean, he talked pretty safely. I’m sure he’s seen most of the mock drafts out there, and thus felt safe talking about Smoak, Alonso and Matusz, as well as noting Posey and T-Beckham. Didn’t mention Hosmer, G-Beckham or Kyle Skipworth. Didn’t mention anyone as a preference other than if Posey was there, the Giants have to pick him.

Noticed him making the point to say a few times “We are building a winning team.” Gave hint as to how Giants would pick, get strength up the middle as base for the team and go from there, but that you can’t let positional need drive your selection, you cannot force the pick, you can only pick what is there, so he couldn’t cross off high school vs. college, nor pitcher vs. hitter, they want to pick a difference maker. Now Isn’t all that classic Sabean? :^)

“nostocksjustbonds” came up with Bumgarner’s nickname in record time. Bravo.

Good on “giants92388,” among others (allfrank), for remaining so level-headed in the face of all the blood and bile being spewed over the pick.