Giants Draft A Position Player!! 2008 Draft Results

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Giants selected Florida State catcher Buster Posey with the fifth pick in the draft.
A bit of a surprise. The Giants will have to spend big to sign Posey, but it should be worth it. He's turned into a legitimate catcher prospect, and he has great on-base skills and modest power potential. His skill set resembles Joe Mauer's, even if he is a right-handed hitter, but since he does lack polish behind the plate, he might not advance quite as quickly as Alvarez or a couple of the other top college players.

Great news and I am really excited about this kid. Through June 3rd, he was hitting .468 with 24 HRs and 86 RBI for FSU. Posey is an infielder turned catcher so there is multiple options on where he could play in the future. He is one of five finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, an award won by Tim Lincecum. He also was the first sophomore to be named a finalist for the Coleman Company Johnny Bench Award. The Giants are weak when it comes to position players and glad we finally drafted one. Looks like a good pick and hope he pans out at either catcher or where ever.

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Wichita State third baseman Conor Gillaspie was selected 37th overall by the Giants.
A second consecutive terrific pick for the Giants. Gillaspie won't be a 30-homer guy, but he can really hit for average and will still draw walks. He's drawn comparisons to former Giant infielder Bill Mueller. He could move quickly -- lesser Giants prospects certainly are -- and potentially arrive in the majors in 2010.

Hitting Ability: It's Gillaspie's best tool. He's a very good hitter who has a good idea of what he's doing at the plate.
Power: He doesn't have much and doesn't profile to have much. He's a base-hit machine.
Running Speed: He's got below-average speed.
Base running: Despite not being fleet footed, he's an excellent base runner and uses his smarts to steal some bases.
Arm Strength: He's got an average arm at third.
Fielding: He'll make for an adequate third baseman.
Range: His range is a little limited, but it's OK.
Physical Description: Gillaspie is a left-handed hitting third baseman in a Bill Mueller-type mold.
Medical Update: A small back issue kept him out of action for a little while, but he appears fine now.
Strengths: Pure hitting ability.
Weaknesses: Lack of power keeps him from having a true profile position.
Summary: After a strong Cape season, Gillaspie has followed up with an excellent junior campaign. He's a terrific hitter and has been over .400 for most of the year. His lack of power makes it hard to profile him anywhere other than as a Bill Mueller-type third baseman. There are worse things to be, of course, and a team that values what Gillaspie can do will surely take him.

I will gladly take another Bill Mueller. Great draft so far for the Giants as they are drafting needs instead of wants. Sabean might not be so washed as we think.

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Here are the other picks the Giants made:

#82 pick-Roger Kieschnick, RF. Kieschnick is a potential five-tool corner outfielder who could hit for power and steal a few bases. He plays a fearless outfield, getting to plenty of balls and showing off a good arm at times. The one knock is an issue with his mechanics at the plate that concerns some about his hitting ability at the next level. Still, an aggressive college outfielder -- in a weak class of outfielders -- who has those tools should get plenty of interest.

#117-Brandon Crawford, SS. After his first two seasons at UCLA, Crawford seemed poised to be one of the top collegiate middle infielders in the class. But a rough Cape season appears to have carried over and he's lost some confidence in his game, both at the plate and in the field. Some added thickness to his lower half has taken away a little of his quickness, though he's still a solid shortstop. If he can right himself, he's the kind of player who usually sees himself go off the board within the first couple of rounds.

The rest you can find her.
The Official Site of Major League Baseball: Events: Draft: 2008 DraftTracker

The Giants took six left handed pitchers in all but was happy as hell they took position players with their first picks. Keith Law of ESPN.com says the Giants had the best draft of anyone.