Would Giants Add to Shortstop Pipeline with Prep Star in MLB Draft?

The San Francisco Giants have done well with their past few first-round picks in the MLB draft.

Last year they selected outfielder James Tibbs III out of Florida State. The power hitting outfielder has a profile that could make him a future star.

In 2023, San Francisco went with Bryce Eldridge, a prep first baseman out of Vienna, Va. He has quickly shot up the minor league ladder. He is the Giants’ No.1 prospect, a Top 100 prospect in baseball and is sees as the franchise’s first baseman of the future.

The Giants hope to strike gold for a third straight season with the No. 13 overall pick this July. To do so, they’ll have to be conscious of what they already have on their roster.

Recently, MLB Pipeline re-ranked its MLB draft board. In doing so, it noted 10 draft prospects that are on the rise in the eyes of scouts and general managers.

That board led to a change in the No. 13 overall player in the rankings, which, theoretically, would be the player the Giants would take — if they were going by the Pipeline board.

In this case, that would be shortstop Steele Hall, who plays for Hewitt-Trussville High School in Alabama.

Incredibly, Steele wasn’t even ranked in Pipeline’s last board. There’s a good reason for that. The prep recruit opted to reclassify for the 2025 MLB draft in November. In other words, Hall is planning to get out of high school this year as opposed to 2026.

The Pipeline staff says this draft is heavy with pitchers and shortstops, so Hall is joining a large group of well-regarded shortstops by reclassifying. He may have to grow as a hitter, but he already has highly respected skills in other areas.

“He's a 70-to-80 runner, and he's a really good defensive shortstop,” per MLB Pipeline.

That, naturally, presents a bit of a problem for his long-term development. The Giants have committed seven years to Willy Adames, the All-Star shortstop they signed in the offseason.

Scouts say that shortstop is his most likely position in the Majors, given his profile. Moving him means a change to third base, where the Giants are committed to Matt Chapman long-term, or second base, where San Francisco has Tyler Fitzgerald.

But that’s a down-the-road problem. A prep player like Hall is unlikely to adopt a track similar to Eldridge. He’ll likely need three or four years in the minor league system before he’s ready to be considered for a call-up.

But for now, that’s where the overall rankings would land Hall — with the Giants.

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