NEW YORK — For the first time in 50 years, the San Francisco Giants used each of their first seven picks in the MLB Draft to select position players.

The organization’s desire to add hitters to the farm system became increasingly obvious with each early round selection, but it also obscured another theme that emerged from the Giants’ first draft under new president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and scouting director Michael Holmes.

The Giants entered the week hoping to land local players with ties to the Bay Area. Starting with their first round pick, Hunter Bishop, the organization executed that plan.

“Since my first day here, we’ve talked about how great it would be to have a lot of local guys coming through our organization and being on the field here at Oracle,” Holmes said. “Those guys addressed that and it’s just kind of exciting that it may be the start of something.”

Bishop, a graduate of Serra High in San Mateo and a product of Arizona State, was the obvious headliner for the Giants’ 2019 class, but he’s not the only local product who ended up with the team he grew up cheering.

The Giants chose De La Salle (Concord) alumnus outfielder Armani Smith in the seventh round, Monterey High product Carter Aldrete in the 15th round, former Leigh High (Campbell) pitcher Kanoa Pagan in the 19th round and Bishop’s high school teammate at Serra, Nolan Dempsey, in the 33rd round.

Smith is one of the top power prospects the Giants added through the draft and the nephew of New York Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia. After two average seasons at UC Santa Barbara, the right-handed hitter altered his swing and launched 18 home runs this year.

“This year he really had a jump as far as performance,” Holme said. “He also improved his approach, his power started to play out, he’s a big, physical strong kid who profiles on the corner. We think he’s going to have power and we actually think there’s still some that’s untapped.”

Holmes said Smith was on his radar in high school when he worked in the A’s front office and noted that the outfielder is just 20 years old and could unlock more power in the professional ranks.

Like Smith, Aldrete has a strong baseball pedigree as his father Rich spent time in the Giants’ farm system while his uncle Mike made his major league debut with San Francisco in 1986. Mike Aldrete spent 10 seasons in the major leagues while Carter was scouted extensively by the Giants thanks to the fact he played on the same college team as Bishop at ASU.

“Carter brings a lot of great versatility to his game, he has the ability to play on the dirt, the ability to play in the outfield, he’s got strength with the bat, he finds the gaps and I still think there’s some power to come with him,” Holmes said.

The Giants had the chance to evaluate Pagan in person recently as they invited the 6-foot-2 right-hander to a draft showcase in San Francisco last week. Pagan played collegiately at Mission College in Santa Clara and was an All-Bay Area News Group honorable mention performer at Leigh High in 2017.

“He’s an athletic body, he’s got a really quick arm, he throws good strikes downhill and he’s got some velocity,” Holmes said. “He’s got a breaking ball that projects. The athleticism, the quickness of his arm, he can throw the ball over the plate, those were all intriguing characteristics for us.”

Dempsey was the final local player selected by the Giants, but he just finished off an impressive season at Fresno State. The second baseman hit .332 with eight home runs for a Bulldogs team that won 40 games this year.

As he discussed the Giants’ 2019 draft class, Holmes noted how the organization felt it was imperative to hitters toward the top of the draft because scouts viewed offense as the clear strength of this year’s crop of prospects. The Giants accomplished that mission, but in the same three-day stretch, they also managed to give several young players with local ties the chance to live out a dream.

“It never hurts to have a little local flavor in the organization,” Holmes said.