MLB Draft 2020: Giants pick No. 13, here's everything you need to know

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For years, the Giants have gone through the same routine a few weeks or months after the MLB draft. After their first-round pick officially signs, he is flown to Oracle Park with his parents and siblings. He tours the clubhouse and meets with the media for the biggest press availability of his life, which tends to remain the case until he gets called up years later. 

The player takes photos with team executives and spends a few minutes talking with Bruce Bochy. He has a smile on his face the entire time as he walks out to the cage and watches Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt, all homegrown contributors, take batting practice. He sits in the owners' seats during the game, gets interviewed on the TV broadcast, and receives a standing ovation when shown on the scoreboard. 

This year, it's all going to be different. 

Our whole society is different, of course, and that extends to MLB's annual draft. It is shorter and will involve less money. It is also the first MLB event on the calendar in three months, and that won't change until late July at the earliest. 

Tonight, we've got some version of a baseball-related event. Here's everything you need to know about it ...

When is the draft?

Tonight! And tomorrow. 

The first round (plus Competitive Balance Round A) airs Wednesday on MLB Network and ESPN at 4 p.m. PST. The next four rounds will air Thursday on MLB Network and ESPN2 at 2 p.m. 

MLB has sent 23 top prospects a phone so that they can take part in the broadcast via video chat and reps from all 30 teams will appear remotely. Farhan Zaidi will represent the Giants.

(Farhan, if you're reading this, make sure you remember that Baseball Twitter will absolutely roast any lame Zoom backgrounds and celebrate interesting ones ...)

Why is this year different?

You might have heard that MLB and the MLBPA don't see eye to eye right now, but back in March they did come to an agreement that allowed, in part, for the draft to be cut from 40 rounds to five. This was a short-sighted cost-cutting measure that will save teams some drops in the bucket this year but that they might regret in three or four years when they wonder where all their sleeper prospects went. 

On the other hand, MLB tried last offseason to cut dozens of minor league affiliates, so it's not all that surprising that they took the opportunity to seriously alter the look of the draft and the low minors. 

There will be just 160 players drafted this season. Undrafted players who still wish to play professionally can sign with any team for up to $20,000, which is about 13 percent of the slot value for a 10th-round pick last season. It's a brutal break for guys who expected to go in the top half of the draft, but not the top five rounds. 

The Giants expect to be particularly busy in trying to convince those $20,000 players to pick them. They plan to be active with Northern California's undrafted players, most of whom grew up wearing orange and black. 

[GIANTS INSIDER PODCAST: Listen to the latest episode]

Why are the Giants in a good spot?

Zaidi, Scott Harris and the rest of the front office are building from the ground up, and the farm system is back in the top 10 overall according to most accounts. They're surely annoyed that they can't use their skills to try and unearth gems throughout a 40-round draft and begin developing those players, but they're still sitting pretty. 

Remember how frustrated you might have been last August when the Giants held on to Madison Bumgarner and Will Smith at the deadline and then promptly watched that July magic dissipate? Well, Bumgarner signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks (sorry for the reminder) and Smith with the Atlanta Braves, and as compensation the Giants got the 67th and 68th picks in this year's draft. They have seven picks overall -- tied with the Cardinals for the most -- and four in the first 68. 

Nobody knows how this draft will play out, but the Giants have a pool of $9,231,800 and a creative front office that knows how to pounce on unexpected breaks. If a riskier top 10 talent slips to No. 13, could they jump in and then go safer with their next six picks? Could they scoop a hard-to-sign first-round talent with one of those comp picks? 

We'll see, but it's clear that the Giants, picking at 13, 49, 67 and 68 before the draft even hits the third round, have a golden opportunity to add impact talent to a farm system that has the potential to be elite by this time next year. 

Yeah, but who will the Giants take?

It is just about impossible to accurately project picks once you get past the first handful, but many national writers have in recent weeks connected the Giants to Turlock's Tyler Soderstrom, whose father was once a Giants pick. Here's what you need to know about the younger Soderstrom.

Soderstrom would fit the mold of recent Giants picks, as the front office has gone heavy on bats to try and make up for years of offensive issues at the big league leve. The Giants are, however, a bit short on high-upside arms. There are plenty to choose from if they go that direction.

What if I want to eat one of Oracle Park's crab sandwiches during the draft? 

No baseball means no more Alex Eats videos, but we've filled that gap with cooking videos. It is considerably harder than simply eating, but still fun. Here's an attempt at the crab sandwich, and here's a look at how to make Oracle Park's garlic fries at home. 

[RELATED: Images show Giants' new bullpens at Oracle almost done]

What does the 13th pick generally lead to? 

Manny Ramirez, Chris Sale and Paul Konerko are some of the most successful No. 13 picks of allmtime. Since Sale was picked in 2010, only three No. 13 picks -- Brandon Nimmo, Hunter Renfroe and Trea Turner -- have made the big leagues. 

Who will go first overall?

You might have forgotten since the 2019 season happened six years ago, but the Detroit Tigers were far and away the worst team in the league, and they're expected to draft Spencer Torkelson, a first baseman from Arizona State. He was teammates with Hunter Bishop there, and as a freshman he broke Barry Bonds' freshman record by hitting 25 homers. 

Torkelson is from Petaluma and attended Casa Grande High. In his early years, he made some of Northern California's 12-year-old pitchers absolutely miserable:

What if I'm tired of reading and want to just listen?

I can't blame you. We have a draft preview podcast that you can stream right below or download to your phone here. We'll have plenty more coming over the next few days, too. 

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