As the 2025 MLB Draft quickly approaches, the Prospects Live team wants to make your life as easy as possible. In this series of articles, I'll be providing team-by-team analysis of their recent draft trends, their available draft capital for 2025, any areas of the draft they've heavily targeted, as well as a few names in this year's class that might fit into their historically preferred archetype.
Max Ellingsen
This analysis isn't sourced for the upcoming year, nor is it a guarantee the organization won't pivot from what they've done in the past. Simply put, this article aims to provide an in-depth look at teams and their recent draft classes to try and decipher trends that could help uncover players your favorite team might be targeting. It's far from a perfect science, but I've done my job if it makes things easier to follow on draft day.
San Francisco Giants
- 2025 Bonus Pool Value - $8,403,300 (25th)
- Top 100 selections - 13, 85
The Giants are in better shape than the Padres regarding draft capital, but only barely. Coming in with just two picks in the first one hundred and near the bottom in total bonus pool spending, the Giants are unlikely to make significant strides in this year’s draft. Forfeiting both their second and fifth-rounders this season (signing Willy Adames) hurts in a big way, particularly when you have no compensatory picks to your name.
2024 Draft Overview
The Giants were without a second and third-rounder in last year’s draft (signing Matt Chapman and Blake Snell), making adding a wide array of impact talent difficult.
Despite these constraints, they managed to select, polarizing OF Dakota Jordan out of Mississippi State with a deal worth $1,375,000 over the slot value in the fourth round. Jordan was considered a potential first-round talent leading up to draft week, but concerns about his strikeouts during the spring before the draft caused him to drop in position on draft day.
Nevertheless, he and first-rounder James Tibbs III ($520,000 under slot) accounted for most of their bonus pool. Landing Zander Darby (a player who should’ve comfortably gone on day two) on day three helps buoy the overall class.
However, comparing this to other classes across the league and even within their own division is tough. It was an incredibly top-heavy class that featured very little draft capital, potentially serving as a great example of what might happen in a similar scenario this year.
2023 Draft Overview
With more draft capital than usual, the San Francisco franchise decided to take a risk on a prep talent, which is not their typical route. They were particularly impressed by the exceptional skills of Bryce Eldridge, a highly physical two-way prep player, who signed for $330,000 under slot value.
Next, they selected Walker Martin, a high school shortstop from Colorado who was named the state's Gatorade Player of the Year. His senior season was remarkable, even considering the high altitude of Colorado. In 29 games, the left-handed hitter hit 20 home runs, drove in 75 runs, batted .633, and posted a stunning 1.632 slugging percentage. These two players were the franchise's first selections in the draft.
They were able to get Joe Whitman ($200,000 under slot) to commit to a below-market deal after sliding a round in the draft and landed two SEC shortstops in Maui Ahuna ($70,000 under slot) and Cole Foster ($75,000 under slot) to follow up. However, none of these players outside of Eldridge has performed all that well, which underscores the inherent risk of going with a splashy bonus at the top of a draft.
UDFA Bo Davidson and 13th-rounder Jose Ortiz were a nice boost to this class, but all things considered, I don't hate this draft class. Sometimes, players do not pan out or become as projected when selected.
2022 Draft Overview
The Giants again went big at the top of the draft with a pair of touted mid-major arms in freaky athletic TWP Reggie Crawford ($200,000 under slot) and Carson Whisenhunt ($820,000 over slot) in the second round.
On day two, the Bay Area landed Hayden Birdsong ($60,000 under slot) in the sixth round, which, in hindsight, obviously changed the complexion of this draft in a big way.
However, they’ve been consistent with their general draft strategy for the past several years and continue to take massive swings on the upside at the expense of their bonus pool. Landing players late in drafts is imperative for this strategy to work, and both Birdsong and ninth rounder Jack Choate ($66,000 under slot) fit that description. Regardless, a slightly higher hit rate would provide some much-needed health to this farm system.
Early Round Demographics
This is a team that tries to take one or two big swings at elite talent rather than try to diversify that talent across the bulk of their class. They’ve gone significantly over slot with their second pick in each of the last three seasons, attempting to land a pair of preseason first-round talents atop their class and filling in the rest as they can.
They’ve seemingly prioritized bat speed and power at the top of drafts, with hit tools coming as less of a concern when compared to other evaluators. The Giants took two legitimate TWP types in back-to-back first rounds, then dropped over triple Dakota Jordan’s slot value to land the outfielder with unrivaled power.
If it isn’t clear they like outlier traits, hopefully, it is now. Even guys like Maui Ahuna, Walker Martin, and Jakob Christian carry similar risk/reward profiles, albeit with a more limited ceiling.
Late Round Demographics
The Giants have had some nice hits on later rounds on draft day with guys like Zander Darby in last year’s draft. At the same time, Hayden Birdsong was a massive development from 2022, and their willingness to take what comes to them and not stay too rigid has definitely benefited them in years past.
They’re more position player-heavy in later rounds than the previously covered clubs and remain more willing to chase power over positional versatility. When they do look at arms later, the development hasn’t been off the charts, but there’s a solid mix of pitchability and power present in their classes.
Names to Know
Kruz Schoolcraft, HS TWP - Mentioned in the Padres' preview, Schoolcraft is once again a player that comes to mind considering his abnormal size and prowess on both sides of the ball, however he’s definitely more of an arm than Eldridge or Crawford was. Let’s stay fun and give you three completely new names.
Ike Irish, Auburn C/OF - I don’t absolutely love this fit, but Irish is not terribly dissimilar from James Tibbs III who they took last year. I’m not sure if he’s able to stick defensively behind the plate, but the lefty power numbers could be enough to make it worth it for them at 13.
Luke Stevenson, UNC C - Power-over-hit profile with excellent defensive traits at a premium position make Stevenson an attractive player for most any team, but particularly one that’s less concerned with iffy hit tools.
Wehiwa Aloy, Arkansas SS - Aloy plays a premium SS defensively and has plenty of power to tap into at the plate. There’s some whiff and chase to his game, but the tools are tantalizing.
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