Monday BP: Grade the draft

Happy Monday, San Francisco Giants fans.

We’re only one day into the three-day MLB Draft. And the Giants have only drafted three of their eventual 21 selections. Yet history tells us that if the Giants are going to get a franchise player in the 2023 MLB Draft, it will likely come from one of the dudes who heard his name called on Sunday.

I, for one, am stoked on all three players the Giants took. For the second year in a row, they used their first-round selection on a two-way player, this time taking 6’7” high school RHP and first baseman Bryce Eldridge with the No. 16 pick. Two-way players are the coolest thing, and Eldridge seems like even more of a two-way player than even last year’s pick, Reggie Crawford. He was who I was hoping the Giants would draft, just because of how fun it is.

In the second round, the Giants took high school shortstop Walker Martin with the No. 52 pick. Martin was a player who many people thought the Giants would consider ... with their first-round pick. I would have been quite pleased had they used the No. 16 pick on him. Instead, they get him at No. 52, and don’t worry about any signability concerns. Also, it’s the third time in the last four years the Giants have taken a player viewed by many as having a first-round grade outside of the first round. The other two times? Carson Whisenhunt (second round, 2022) and Kyle Harrison (third-round, 2020).

And in the compensatory round, the Giants used the No. 69 pick that they got when Carlos Rodón signed elsewhere to nab LHP Joe Whitman. As a proud Whitman alum, I love this pick. Whitman is also a player somewhat unanimously seen as being much better than the No. 69 prospect in the draft.

So, to recap, the Giants had the No. 16, 52, and 69 picks, and got prep two-way player Bryce Eldridge, prep shortstop Walker Martin, and college lefty Joe Whitman.

Here’s how Eldridge ranked on pre-draft big boards:

ESPN: No. 20
MLB: No. 23
The Athletic: No. 16
Fangraphs: No. 35

Here’s how Martin ranked:

ESPN: No. 26
MLB: No. 30
The Athletic: No. 77
Fangraphs: No. 40

And here’s how Whitman ranked:

ESPN: No. 38
MLB: No. 37
The Athletic: No. 42
Fangraphs: No. 21

Looks good from where I’m sitting. What about from where you’re sitting?