2007 Draft: Giants Take Pitching Early

Sticking to their same formula they have kept over the past 5 years, the Giants targeted pitching with their first pick in the 2007 major league baseball amateur draft. With the Giants lacking position playing talent in their system, the general thought was that the team would try and re-stock their positional talent this draft, but they took two pitchers right off the bat and let one of the draft's more intriguing bat's pass through. I was not an expert on this draft, but have studied projected first round picks over the last week or so. What was considered a high-school rich draft, it shouldn't be too surprising to see that all 3 of the teams' first round picks were taken out of high school. Here is my breakdown of the Giants top 3 picks of the draft:

1. LHP Madison Bumgarner (10th overall): After watching scouting videos on this guy, it's easy to see why the Giants made him worthy of the number 10 pick. He has a smooth, easy delivery that somehow slings the ball out of his hand at 94-95 mph with consistency. His arm motion is very similar to Billy Wagner's. The only knock on him is his lack of secondary pitches. He throws out of a high three quarter release, which tends to flatten out his breaking pitches. His curve has been clocked at 81 mph, but it's more of a slurve-slider than a curveball at this point, and he has an average changeup. Some felt that the Giants should have taken the drafts top power hitter, Beau Mills, with this pick. Draft Grade: B+

2. RHP Tim Alderson (22nd overall): The physically intimidating, 6'-7''Alderson was the surprise pick of the first round for the Giants. A lot of people felt Alderson had the stuff to be worthy of a top 10 pick, but his uncanny delivery raised red flags for a lot of teams. After taking a guy with the same type funky delivery and the same concerns last year (Tim Lincecum), the Giants may feel like they have gotten another steal. Alderson has pitched his whole high school career out of the stretch so placing him into the bullpen could make some sense. I would have rather seen the Giants get Fred Porcello with this pick even though he did come with Scott Boras. Grade: C+

3. OF Wendall Fairley (29th overall): This is the guy I am most excited about for the Giants in this years draft. He is one of the top athletes in the draft and has a very smooth left-handed swing. He can run, hit and throw (touched 97 mph as a pitcher) and he is a guy who I think can catch the fast track to the bigs. Another guy who could have been a top 10 talent, except for some troubles off the field. Scouts who have watched him extensively say that he controls at bats with his patience and ability, the same thing a guy named Bonds has done for the past 20 years in the big leagues. He has been compared to Carl Crawford at this stage in his career. Draft Grade: A

More draft coverage to come......