2013 MLB Draft: The reviews are in

The Giants nabbed 10 of Baseball America's top 200 prospects. That's good! They didn't get anyone in the top 100. That's ... less good. It was an odd draft for the Giants, as they used their first two picks on players widely perceived to be second-to-fifth-round talents. Baseball America, for example, had eight of the Giants' subsequent picks ranked higher than second-rounder Ryder Jones. The Giants were either seeing through the matrix, or they were writing Matrix: Revolutions and telling everyone it was going to be Blade Runner.

The draftniks overwhelmingly figured it was the latter. First, from Keith Law:

This was my least favorite draft class this year, as they took only one player I rated in the top 100 in this draft class: first-rounder Christian Arroyo (25), whom I ranked 99th overall as a potential average regular at second base. He has more upside than their 2011 first-rounder Joe Panik did, due to his youth and better swing.

Well, shoot. From John Sickels:

The Giants are well-known for having a draft board that doesn't look much like everyone else's. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but on paper this group has some things to prove. Arroyo has a very solid bat but most people don't think he can remain in the middle infield; the Giants disagree. Jones has so-so tools but a good performance record that put him in the 5-8 round range for most.

And while Baseball America doesn't have their draft grades or NL roundup yet, they did have a couple notes about the Giants' first-rounder.

A bit of a reach here for the Giants. Arroyo is an undersized grinder, but the Giants like his ability to hit.

...

Still, few scouts see him as a shortstop in the big leagues. Those who don’t think he can catch see him as a tweener, not quick enough for second and not powerful enough for third base.

Chris Crawford reviewed the team's picking philosophy more than the specific selections, and here's what he had to say:

San Francisco Giants — Just because I projected the Giants to take Christian Arroyo doesn’t mean it’s an endorsement. Then, in the second round, they took a guy I had a fifth round grade on in Ryder Jones. So in the first and second round, they got third and fifth round players. Not the goal, pretty easy fail.

Or, as he put it in the middle of the draft:

There's still a ton, a ton, of good players left in this draft. You can thank the Giants for that. That was mean. I'm sorry.

— Chris Crawford (@CrawfordChrisV) June 7, 2013

And McC's own Fla-Giant gave his thoughts here. My favorite quote:

I initially disliked this pick and now I hate it.

Yep.

After a few days to reflect my brief, useless thoughts:

1. I'm pretty okay with Christian Arroyo at #25 if the Giants really believed in his bat and ability to stay at short, but I haven't heard anything that's made me the slightest bit optimistic about Ryder Jones.

2. My third-favorite pick is ninth-rounder D.J. Snelten, if only because he's gigantic and left-handed. Unfortunately, anonymous hates him :(.

3. My second-favorite pick is fifth-rounder Daniel Slania because he's shaped like a 6'7" Ram Man.

4. My favorite pick is 36th-rounder Grant Goodman because he has a great first name and he's the first player from my high school to be drafted since Kaazim Summerville, whom I probably made up.