Giants Looking to Draft Position Player

For most of my career as a Giants fan, I never paid very much attention to the amateur draft. Turns out Giants' management didn't pay much attention either. Sure, there was a Matt Cain here and a Tim Lincecum there, but the during Peter Magowan's tenure, the best position player developed by the team was Bill Mueller. It appears things are starting to change. The Giants have the fifth overall pick, and according to Magowan, the team will look to draft a position player.

Who the Giants pick will depend very much on the four teams in front of them: Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, and Baltimore. There is no consensus number one pick like David Price last year. Among the top players in the draft are high-school shortstop Tim Beckham, Florida State catcher Buster Posey, Vanderbilt third baseman Pedro Alvarez, and San Diego pitcher Brian Matusz. One name being linked to the Giants a lot is South Carolina first baseman Justin Smoak. The scouting report on Smoak is that he's a switch-hitter with good power from both sides. I would be delighted if the Giants selected Smoak. The only problem is that the Giants recently moved their top prospect, Angel Villalona, across the diamond to first base, leading to a logjam at the position. But Villalona is still only 17 years old, and will not likely be ready until at least 2011. Smoak could be a regular by 2010. The Giants should go ahead and draft the best player available, regardless of position. Hopefully one of them can move to the outfield, or have good trade value.