In what has to be one of the deepest draft I’ve ever seen, feeling around Giants’ headquarters is that we made out pretty well. Despite the fact that I was out of the country for the first two rounds, the commish and CPU did an admirable job filling team needs.

Round one yielded a superb young real-life starter in Yovani Gallardo that Iron Mike, aka OOTP X, for some reason insists on calling a one-endurance middle reliever. Nevertheless, the 18-year old’s assortment of pitches, stuff, and real-life stats argue for an eventual place in the starting rotation. The kid has some cooking to do though before he fills out his lofty ratings and so starts in A ball.

Round two brought a solid 1B/LF/RF in the form of 22-year old Conor Jackson, who posted OPS in excess of .800 his first three full major league seasons in Arizona. In the SBSL, that translates into desirable 7/5/6 ratings. What’s more, he looks to have a bigger arm and be more developed than Ryan Spillborghs, who went one pick ahead of him, and guys like Kemp and Pence who went later in the round. That said, the team has a screaming need for middle IF, and there were a whole slew of them that went shortly after Jackson—Howie Kendrick, Kelly “Walks Like a Dog” Johnson, Willy Aybar, and others. Nevertheless, the dude will move immediately into the starting lineup in a platoon role with the recently acquired Ben Grieve to capitalize on Jackson’s penchant for hitting lefties.

All that depth in terms of infield spects lasted into the third round, when we grabbed Ryan Theriot. Statues have more range than this guy, but if it’s hit right at him he’ll make the play. Sounds like about how one of my little league coaches once assessed my ability–no arm or legs but at least you got soft hands. Clearly, it’s that suspect defense that explains why the dude lasted so long, because he can rake by middle IF standards, coming at you with 7/4/6 ratings and the added bonus that the dude does not strike out and also happens to be good on the basepaths. Incumbent shortstop Cody “Superputz” Ransom was traded immediately upon the conclusion of the draft to make room for this dude on the ML roster.

The fourth and fifth rounds brought viable relief spects—thanks to the commish’s use of our draft list—in the form of Todd Coffey and Ambiorix Burgos. Truth be told, I never heard of either of these dudes in my entire life, and I prolly make it to a dozen ball games a year. But no matter how lame they are in real life, their ratings are good enough that they could well contribute at the ML level this season. If one or both pan out, that would make for a pretty good draft in terms of both top-end talent and later-round value plays. Not bad considering I was on a different continent for large portions of the draft!!! Thanks again to the commish for keeping me on track, working with lists, etc.