With the calendar flipping to July and the Giants sitting fourth in the NL West with a 36-50 record, some attention has shifted to the 2026 MLB Draft, which will begin on July 11.

San Francisco holds two of the first 29 selections (No. 4 and 29 – the latter due to compensation for its trade of catcher Patrick Bailey earlier this season).

Now, the decision comes to what type of player the team should pick. Do the Giants believe they should take a position that’s viewed as a weakness?

Giants general manager Zack Minasian joined Murph and Markus on KNBR on Thursday and discussed how the team is making its decision.

“I think we lean best player available,” Minasian said. “When you sit here and you hope Bryce Eldridge and Rafael Devers are here for a long time as first base types. To sit here and say, ‘Oh, we should take a first baseman in the first round’ doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for us.

“I remember hearing this line about need being the worst evaluator. The draft is very difficult, so if you’re going to limit your talent pool, you’re just going to make it harder on yourself. So, we want to go into it with a completely open mind and then go from there.”

Minasian also noted that the struggles of the major league franchise don’t necessarily affect how the team ranks its potential selections, given the time it takes for a draft pick to reach the big leagues.

“In this sport, there is significant time spent in the minor leagues, so if you’re trying to address a Major League need in this year’s draft, then you’re in trouble,” said Minasian.

San Francisco drafted Gavin Kilen, a shortstop, with their first-round selection last year and has only drafted the same position in back-to-back drafts once in recent memory – 2022 and 2023 when they took Reggie Crawford and Bryce Eldridge, respectively, whose primary positions were first base.

However, Minasian says if their decision comes down to two players ranked similarly, position could be a factor.

“There’s going to be players that we evaluate as being very, very close to each other in terms of their impact at the Major League level,” Minasian said. “What we believe that to be so you might see need win out in those types of conversations, but I don’t know if you push any particular player way up the board because they play a certain position.”

With less than two weeks to go before the draft, the Giants have plenty of question marks as well as an array of positions in need of upgrades moving forward.

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