SF Giants have a ‘big advantage’ in the 2020 MLB Draft
By Justin Fried
The SF Giants will have a so-called “big advantage” in the 2020 MLB Draft.
The SF Giants and the rest of the MLB world will have to adapt to what promises to be an MLB Draft like no other before. In just a few days, the 2020 MLB Draft will take place, but it will be in a very different format than we all are used to.
And perhaps the biggest change of all will come with the reduction from 40 rounds to just five. In what is normally a forgiving system designed to give teams plenty of chances to land the right prospects, organizations will only have five chances to make the correct moves.
More from Golden Gate Sports
- Raiders: Rookie stock report following Week 3 performance
- 49ers sign new long snapper amidst a flurry of roster moves
- Oakland Athletics win Game 2 of Wild Card round with late-inning drama
- 49ers: George Kittle and Deebo Samuel cleared to return to practice
- 49ers expected to place DE Dee Ford on injured reserve
The SF Giants will have two more draft picks than most teams.
Or in the Giants case, they’ll have seven.
The Giants, like the rest of the MLB, will have to adapt their strategies when it comes to selecting players this year. If you miss on just one of your picks (whether that player doesn’t sign or simply fails to develop), you just wasted 20 percent of your draft.
At least, that’s for the vast majority of teams. The Giants, however, will have a slight advantage.
San Francisco handled qualifying offers to both Madison Bumgarner and Will Smith before they left to sign with new teams in free agency. The process was more of a formality than anything, but it gave the team access to two additional draft picks.
And The Athletic’s Keith Law believes that the Giants will be given a major advantage as a result of those two compensatory picks.
"“The Giants having the extra picks and having the extra money associated with those picks is absolutely a big advantage. They’ve got a chance to really boost this farm system. I already think they’ve done a great job boosting the farm system. I think it can take a pretty big leap forward, because most of your value in the draft comes in the first couple of rounds anyways.”"
That farm system that Law speaks of has shown massive improvements over the last few seasons and the Giants have the chance to continue improving its depth.
Just last season, the Giants selected outfielder Hunter Bishop with their first-round pick. After just one year in the minor-leagues, Bishop already ranks in the top-75 prospects in baseball.
The Giants will pick at No. 13 overall in the draft where they should be able to land one of the top prospects in the class. They’ll also pick at No. 49 and have back-to-back compensatory picks at No. 67 and 68.
That’s four picks inside the top-68 — plenty of draft capital to do some damage.
With the 2020 MLB Draft fast approaching (June 10th is just three days away at the time of writing), the Giants are geared up and ready for what’s expected to be a unique couple of days.
dark. Next. SF Giants: The 10-part documentary series everyone should want to see
Fortunately, they’ll have a slight advantage over the majority of their competition.