SF Giants news: Keith Law names 2 possible draft picks for team

SF Giants face challenges in the 2020 MLB draft

Keith Law has already talked about how impressed he is by the SF Giants‘ recent successes in their farm system. Recently he spoke about two players the team might be targeting in the MLB draft in June.

Speaking last month, Law noted that the Giants have begun to put together an ‘elite’ minor league system. Most of them clustered around the same age and level. He stated his belief in president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi as well, expecting him to continue adding good talent to the organization.

This year the MLB draft will be a lot different. With COVID-19 causing the shutdown of all sports in North America for a couple of months and restrictions only beginning to lift in many states, amateur baseball came to an end before it ever really started.

For that reason, Law told KNBR over the weekend that he expected this to be a conservative, college-heavy draft because of the limited number of rounds and the fact that amateur players who are eligible will likely choose to go play college ball to improve their draft stock for next year.

So who might the Giants be looking for when they make their No. 13 pick on June 10?

SF Giants mock draft by Keith Law

Two names that come up, Law told KNBR, are Tyler Soderstrom and Garrett Crochet. Pretty much opposites of each other, though neither could be considered a complete player. After the first few picks, especially this year, there are bound to be a few noticeable flaws.

Soderstrom, the son of short-time Giant Steve Soderstrom, is a high school catcher — a position the Giants appear to be quite familiar with after taking Buster Posey and Joey Bart in the draft over the past decade-plus. But that might not be the longterm plan.

Law notes that he’d be a pick primarily for his bat. “He is not being drafted primarily as a catcher. … He’d be drafted because teams feel pretty confident in his ability to hit. There’s a non-zero chance he sticks at catcher, but folks he might be athletic enough to go to third base.”

Crochet is a 6-foot-6, 218-pound left-handed pitcher out of the University of Tennessee. He may be “the hardest-throwing college starter in the draft class,” Law told the Marie Lurie podcast.

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Crochet only pitched once, Law said, due to a back injury. So he’s only pitched three innings all year. Law also notes he doesn’t have great secondary pitches and “fine, but not great’ control.