Reacts: Giants fans give the draft a B grade

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The San Francisco Giants had seven picks in the 2020 MLB Draft, tied for most in the league. It was a chance for president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, general manager Scott Harris, and amateur scouting director Michael Holmes to add to the rapidly developing farm system, and keep improving the depth of the organization.

For the most part, Giants fans felt Zaidi, Harris, Holmes and the rest of the crew did a good job. Not a great job, but a good job.

The Giants kicked things off by drafting North Carolina State catcher Patrick Bailey in the first round. Bailey was highly ranked by most publications, though lacked the intriguing high-risk, high-reward profile of prep pitchers Mick Abel and Nick Bitsko, or the months-long connection to the Giants like local prep catcher Tyler Soderstrom.

Bailey is seen by most publications as a good, albeit safe pick, and Giants fans seem to agree on that. The majority of polled fans gave the team a grade of “B” for the selection.

Overall, that seemed to set the tone for the team’s draft. There were some intriguing selections, some players taken way above where they were projected, and an exciting local prep talent taken in the third round, despite having some first round pedigree.

As a result, the grade that Giants fans gave for the Bailey selection was pretty much echoed by the grade given for the entire draft class.

It takes longer — usually a lot longer — for a drafted baseball player to debut than in most sports. So while Giants fans have a little bit of excitement about this year’s draft, they’re not expecting anyone to actually make an impact at the Major League level until 2022 (let’s hope there is a 2022 season).

For what it’s worth, 2022 is the estimated time of arrival (ETA) for Bailey (first round, 13 overall), according to Fangraphs. They list 2023 as the ETA for North Carolina State left-handed pitcher Nick Swiney (compensation round, 67 overall) and Arizona State right-handed pitcher R.J. Dabovich (fourth round, 114 overall).

2024 is the Fangraphs ETA for San Diego State third baseman and right-handed pitcher Casey Schmitt (second round, 49 overall) and Dallas Baptist middle infielder Jimmy Glowenke (compensation round, 68 overall). De La Salle High School left-handed pitcher Kyle Harrison (third round, 85 overall) is given an ETA of 2025.

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