Decision to move on from Joey Bart highlights another missed draft by SF Giants

The SF Giants placed 2018 first-round pick Joey Bart on waivers on Sunday, likely ending his tenure in San Francisco. The move highlights yet another missed draft by the organization.

Decision to move on from Joey Bart highlights another missed draft by SF Giants

The Giants endured a brutal and surprising 98-loss season in 2017. The only consolation prize that came from this is that they would be drafting near the top of every round in the 2018 draft. Bart led the way as the second overall pick.

There was no real surprise with the pick. After all, the former top catching prospect was widely considered one of the best prospects in that year's draft class. In fact, he was a consideration for the first overall pick if the Detroit Tigers decided to pass on Casey Mize.

The Giants did not necessarily whiff on the Bart pick. With the second overall pick, there are only a handful of players who are even in consideration at that point. With hindsight in our favor now, it would be easy to say that the Giants should have drafted someone like Nico Hoerner. Hoerner was drafted with the No. 24 pick by the Chicago Cubs.

That type of analysis is easy to say, but it is an extreme stretch to suggest that he was in consideration by the Giants for the second overall pick. Names like Alec Bohm, Matthew Liberatore, and Brady Singer were some of the players considered. However, Bart had a more impressive amateur career up until that point.

It was not a whiff so much as it was an extremely weak class. None of the players taken directly behind Bart like Bohm, Nick Madrigal, or Jonathan India have necessarily established themselves since then. In the middle of the first round, Grayson Rodriguez and Logan Gilbert will likely become some of the better values after being selected by the Baltimore Orioles and Seattle Mariners, respectively.

With the second overall pick, teams hope to land a cornerstone player. However, in the 2018 draft, there just were not many examples of that in the first round and even fewer cases of players who were realistic options with the second overall pick.

With that being said, the 2018 draft highlights another year of missed picks by the Giants. This will be the sixth full season for players who were taken and signed from that draft. That means that they will be eligible for free agency next winter if they are not added to the 40-man roster before then.

The Giants still have several players from that draft on the roster. This includes Sean Hjelle (second round), Keaton Winn (fifth round), David Villar (11th round), and Ryan Walker (31st round). Minor league reliever Ben Madison has some potential to reach the majors as well, but most of the picks from that draft class are no longer with the organization. That is not uncommon six years after a draft.

However, it continues a trend for the Giants of complete misses in the draft during the 2010's. Logan Webb (2014 fourth-round pick) is easily the best pick by the Giants to remain with the club from that decade. Of course, they drafted Bryan Reynolds in 2016 but shipped him to the Pittsburgh Pirates while he was still in the lower minors.

Outside of that, the everyday regulars are few and far between. Joe Panik (2011 first-round pick) and Matt Duffy (2012 18th-round pick) are some of the best names picked by the Giants in the 2010's. In fact, Patrick Bailey (2020 first-round pick) might be the first everyday regular since Panik to stick with the club for beyond one full season.

It has been a long time of draft misses. This is not to belabor the point. The Giants' draft misses in the 2010's is well known at this point. However, Keaton Winn will arguably end up being the best value from the Giants in the 2018 draft. If he turns into a rotation cog, that is great news. Though, it is yet another reminder that the Giants will have little to show for a draft class outside of Winn at this point.