The San Francisco Giants have never selected first overall in a Major League Baseball Draft, but next summer, the franchise will choose a player with the second overall pick for the second time in franchise history.
More than 30 years after the Giants tabbed Mississippi State star Will Clark with the second choice in the 1985 draft, San Francisco will have the opportunity to choose one of the most coveted prospects in the sport.
On Tuesday evening, MLB.com released its first 2018 mock draft and both of the site’s analysts linked the Giants to high school prospects. Jim Callis has San Francisco taking right-handed pitcher Ethan Hankins out of Forsyth Central High in Georgia, while Jonathan Mayo believes the Giants have their eyes on shortstop Nander de Sedas out of Montverde Academy in Florida.
Hankins is a 6-foot-6 righty with a fastball that’s been clocked in the mid-to-high 90s, while de Sedas is the latest high-profile shortstop coming out of Montverde Academy, following Cleveland Indians’ star Francisco Lindor. Both players are considered top five prospects by several different outlets, and if the Giants are willing to take a chance on a high school player near the top of the draft, both Hankins and de Sedas should remain in the conversation throughout the first half of 2018.
Though San Francisco doesn’t have a long history of drafting in the top five, all four players the franchise has selected with a top five pick have become All-Stars at the Major League level. After selecting Clark second in 1985, the Giants drafted Matt Williams third in 1986. The franchise didn’t have a top five pick again until 1997, when they selected pitcher Jason Grilli.
In 2008, the Giants used the fifth overall pick in the draft to take catcher Buster Posey out of Florida State.
