Carlos Collazo tied the Giants to several high school shortstop prospects in his latest mock draft.
The San Francisco Giants predictions 2025 MLB Draft . While Keith Law speculated that they would struggle to pass on UC Santa Barbara right-handed starting pitcher Tyler Bremner, Carlos Collazo of Baseball America tied the Giants to a different group of players in his latest mock draft.
“I’ve been hearing a lot of prep shortstops here with the Giants, who, like the Rangers, could also be looking for a bat,” Collazo wrote. “[Daniel] Pierce, Steele Hall, Kayson Cunningham and Gavin Kilen are the top high school shortstops available. There’s some uncertainty about which of those shortstops are the next up, and I don’t think there’s any real consensus—it seems to vary more from team to team.”
Daniel Pierce, who Collazo has the Giants selecting in his mock, is a Georgia-native who has a chance to be an above-average defensive shortstop alongside a carrying hit tool and speed. Cunningham is considered less likely to stick at shortstop, but has elite barrel control and plus speed. Hall has the most exceptional tool of the group, truly elite speed and athleticism that gives him true Gold Glove defensive potential. That said, there are more questions about Hall’s ability to enough offensively.
Kilen is incorrectly listed as a prep shortstop by Collazo. It seems more likely that Collazo simply included an extra name in his list. However, in case Kilen is tied to the Giants, he is an offense-first infielder. Kilen hit .357/.441/.671 with 15 home runs and more walks (30) than strikeouts (27) with Tennessee this season. Kilen split his time between second base and shortstop this past season, but is largely expected to be forced to stick at the keystone as a pro.
It’s possible that the Giants being tied to prep shortstops could signal a more complex strategy that involves trying to convince a prep shortstop to agree to an above-slot deal before the draft in attempt to fall to one of San Francisco’s later picks. For example, the Giants were tied to prep shortstop Walker Martin leading up to the 2023 draft, with many prognosticators predicting they would select him with their first-round pick.
Instead, the Giants had planned to take advantage of Martin’s injury history and limited experience against premium competition to float him to their second-round pick. They drafted Bryce Eldridge in the first round, agreeing to a below-slot deal, and then added Walker Martin in the second round, paying him a $3 million signing bonus in line with the slot for a late first-round pick.
However, the Giants lost their second and fifth-round picks as a result of signing shortstop Willy Adames last offseason. Not only does that take away San Francisco’s picks, it also gives them far less financial flexibility in the draft pool spending era.