SF Giants news: Team confident about the draft

The SF Giants are getting ready for the draft in today’s roundup.

There is no baseball. The MLB draft will probably be delayed (though we don’t actually know yet). It will definitely be shortened. But the SF Giants and other teams still have to prepare.

And prepare they have.

MLB.com’s Maria Guardado spoke to the team about its plans and preparation heading up to the event.

Amateur scouting director Michael Holmes told Guardado that he’s been hard at work in his Atlanta home:

“We have a tremendous group of guys in the amateur scouting department. A lot of guys have a lot of experience, and they’ve been very willing to adapt to the new situation and current conditions. It really has not affected our Draft preparation at all. We just learned to kind of go about it in some different ways under the restrictions.”

The Giants are set to pick 13th this year, whenever it is held. Their second-round pick is 49th overall. Per Baseball America, their draft bonus pool is projected to be about $9.2 million for five rounds or $10.2 million for 10.

The draft will be different this year, too, because it will only be five to 10 rounds rather than the endless (40) number that it normally is. It could be held as soon as June 10 or as late as July 20. It hasn’t been decided.

This year’s draft has another quirk to it, and it could be a big one. Players will be paid the bulk of their bonuses in 2021 and 2022, rather than this year. That is expected to cause some players to choose to forgo the draft to play (or continue to play) in college, costing some talent.

Holmes told Guardado:

"I think that there’s quality players all throughout the Draft. I don’t think it’s a situation where it’s top heavy, or there’s a certain position that stands out more than another. I think there’s a nice balance to this Draft class throughout, and I think there’s tremendous depth. It’s a class that I know that our group has been really excited about ever since the beginning of last summer.”"

How the vision plays out remains to be seen.

Best trades in SF Giants history

Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area took a dive into the best trades in Giants history this week.

While we’re not going to spoil the list for you, it shouldn’t be a surprise to tell you that JT Snow, Vida Blue, and Hunter Pence were among the best in his view.

Only three of them were from within the past decade or so. Which trades would you include that from era?

Best lineup in SF Giants lineup of the past 25 years?

Our own contributor and former expert Joel Reuter wrote about the best lineup each team fielded during the past 25 years.

For the Giants, he selected the year 2000, with an OPS+ of 115.

This was a typically good Barry Bonds year (188 OPS+), but his teammate, Jeff Kent, actually took home NL MVP honors, Reuter notes.

Quick hits:

• Hunter Pence’s ultimate goal is to save the earth. (@InfieldChatter)
• Speaking of, Pence’s Giants (8-11), winners of six of their last eight games, are off in MLB The Show action tonight.
• Barry Bonds’ walks record will never be broken (FanSided.com)