SF Giants add two more undrafted players to free-agent haul

The SF Giants have officially added two more undrafted free agents to their post-draft haul.

The SF Giants and the rest of the MLB world seem to be preparing for the return of baseball. And the organization continues to stack up on undrafted talent.

The 2020 MLB Draft was an experience unlike any other before in league history. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the draft was limited to just five rounds as opposed to the typical 40 rounds.

In turn, a large portion of young prospects who would have likely been drafted instead went unselected following the conclusion of the draft. That left a pretty talented pool of free agents for MLB teams to dive into.

The Giants have been one of those teams signing a trio of undrafted free agents in NC Central outfielder Carter Williams, Illinois right-handed pitcher Ty Weber, and high school outfielder Tyler Forner in the days following the draft.

And on Tuesday they added a couple more to that growing list.

The Giants first signed Alabama utility player Brett Auerbach and followed that up with the addition of standout Pepperdine righty Wil Jensen.

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What are the SF Giants getting in Brett Auerbach and Wil Jensen?

Auerbach is a bit of a jack of all trades in that he played everywhere from the infield to the outfield to even behind the plate as a catcher. The 21-year-old has experience playing catcher, second base, third base, and all three positions in the outfield.

While never much of a power threat in college, Auerbach did get on base quite a bit walking 45 times over his college career, more than his strikeout total of 44. Still, his 5-foot-9, 190-pound stature doesn’t indicate much in the way of untapped power.

Auerbach will give the Giants a young, versatile prospect to develop whose ceiling is likely a quality MLB utility player.

Perhaps more intriguing, however, is the signing of Jensen who becomes the highest-profile undrafted player the Giants have signed. Baseball America ranked Jensen No. 236 on their pre-draft top-500.

A 28th-round pick by the A’s just last year, Jensen dominated at Pepperdine in 2018 before missing essentially the entire 2019 season after undergoing Tommy John Surgery.

But he bounced back in a big way in 2020 finishing the short-lived season with a 2.92 ERA in four starts while striking out 26 batters in 24.2 innings.

An older prospect, Jensen will turn 23-years-old in September meaning that his time in the minor-leagues could be rather brief if he progresses nicely. With his good control and average stuff, Jensen projects as a back-of-the-rotation starter if he could reach the majors.

Now that baseball is officially set to return, it will be interesting to see if the Giants and other teams announce more undrafted signings in the coming days.