Mack On: The Mets Draft

I understand the Mets won a game in Houston Monday night.



Ya see, that’s not important to me. What is whether Eric Beaulac had a good outing in St. Lucie or if Matt den Dekker keeps hitting well in Savannah or whether or not the Mets signed Drew Martinez.


You see, as my friends over at NYFS say, I’m a minor league weenie.


Monday night was particularly interesting because it put to end the signing of all 2010 draft picks by all the teams in baseball. Now I can add names like Matt Harvey and Greg Peavey to my “Keepers” list. All this makes for a pretty decent future for the Mets… oh… in about three or four years. Until then, you’re on your own, homes.


All us weenies are pretty happy about all the home grown kids playing in Queens now. You can actually build a starting lineup with (Davis, Tejada, Reyes, Wright, Thole, Niese or Pelfrey, Pagan, and Martinez) eight players that were either drafted or came up through the Latin teams. That’s a lot for any team but it’s huge for a big-market team.


Here’s the problem… it’s one thing to have eight home-growns in your lineup. It’s more important to make sure the eight of them have enough talent to score at least three runs a game.


The addition of Harvey and Peavey should make the 2010 draft class a pretty successful one. The Mets are already getting bennies from guys like OF Cory Vaughn, SP A.J. Pinera, OF  den Dekker, and 3B Brian Harrison. Add to that the early success of OF Darrell Ceciliani and SP John Church, that’s six guys that definitely look like they are heading to the majors.


Now, don’t get excited. It’s still early and we’ve learned through many an A-ball starter that working your way through the levels does take a ton of talent. We’ve also learned not to throw away a player too early, especially if he had an ass freshman season. Remember, Ceciliani basically sucked last year, and Ike Davis bit the big one in his professional season.


No, baseball math is a lot different from what you learn in school. There are 50 draft picks a year. There were 100 kids drafted in 2009 and 2010. We’ve highlighted six names. Six out of 100 doesn’t sound that good, but in baseball math, it is. Remember… there are only 25 players on the err… 25-man roster. Six represents almost 25% of the total roster. That’s huge for a two-year period of the draft.


As I’ve said before… nine minor league teams… 25 players per team… 50 more inactive or on the DL… that totals 275 players… 25-man squad looking for two or three draftees and/or international kids a year…


IMO, right now:


2011: SP Jenrry Mejia, OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis


2012: 2B Jordany Valedespin,


2013: RP Jeurys Famila, SP Armondo Rodriquez, IF/RF Wilmer Flores


2014: SP Yohan Almonte, 3B Aderlin Rodriquez, OF Javier Rodriquez