In the midst of a season in which the San Francisco Giants have fallen 14 games under .500 and 14.0 games back of the two teams tied atop the National League West, the franchise’s front office had an opportunity to hit the panic button.
With the Major League Baseball Draft taking place this week, the Giants could have used early round draft choices on outfielders ready to be rushed through the Minor Leagues, or left-handed arms who could contribute to the team’s bullpen, or perhaps even its rotation, in the near future.
Instead, in his 10th year in charge of the Giants’ draft board, scouting director John Barr broke with the franchise’s recent precedent, and went young in this year’s draft. Very young.
For the first time since 2007, a draft that netted the Giants ace Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco used its top three selections on high school talent.
On Tuesday afternoon, Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy spoke about the Giants’ top two selections, first round choice Heliot Ramos, a 17-year-old Puerto Rican outfield prospect, and second round pick Jacob Gonzalez, the son of former Diamondbacks’ slugger Luis Gonzalez.
“It’s never an easy thing for the scouts, you’re looking at a high school kid,” Bochy said. “You’ve got to project. Project what he’s going to look like, what he’s going to hit up here. But these two, they’re impressive kids.”
Ramos is the younger brother of Dodgers’ farmhand Henry Ramos and the all-time leading scorer for Puerto Rico’s national soccer team, Hector Ramos.
Gonzalez already stands 6-foot-4, and Bochy said he wasn’t surprised the Chaparral High (Scottsdale, Arizona) product is already technically advanced.
“Solid,” Bochy said of Gonzalez’s swing. “Really mechanics, of course he’s got a dad that’s working with him so that’s to be expected, but no, they (Ramos, Gonzalez) had good balance, both of them and you could see that there’s power potential there in both of them.”
The Giants’ decision to draft Ramos marks the third time Barr has used the team’s first overall selection on a high school prospect, as the 17-year-old outfielder follows in the path of 2009 first-round pick Zach Wheeler, and 2013 selection Christian Arroyo.
“You just don’t get the chance to get a player of his (Ramos) athleticism and how young he was, you don’t get that very often,” Barr said on Monday evening. “We thought it was the right time to take him.”
Now that the Giants have identified and selected their talent, the next step is signing the high schoolers. Ramos is committed to Florida International, while Gonzalez has a commitment to Texas Christian.
Teams that draft high schoolers typically float a dollar amount around to draft choices and their agents before they select them, and it’s unlikely the Giants would have drafted Ramos without feeling confident in his signability.
As for Gonzalez, his family has already told The Arizona Republic that the third baseman will forego the opportunity to play in college to sign with the Giants.
“Big kid, 6-foot-4, so I look forward to watching him (Gonzalez) play,” Bochy said. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to his dad about him, I know he’s a bat that potentially is a big bat that could help us down the road.”
After selecting left-handed pitcher Seth Corry in the third round of this year’s draft on Tuesday, the Giants chose collegiate prospects with their next seven picks.
One of the notable selections from this year’s crop of Giants’ draftees is Cal State Fullerton left-handed pitcher John Gavin, the team’s eighth round selection. Gavin played his high school ball at Saint Francis High (Mountain View) locally, which is the same school that produced Eric Byrnes and Phillies’ outfielder Daniel Nava.
