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| photo by Allan Greene |
6. OF Brandon
Nimmo
6-6-11: - Nimmo
lives in Wyoming, a state that has no high school baseball. You would undertand
this ff you ever have gone to Wyoming in April. Instead, Nimmo hit in his
backyard against a pitching machine. He always wanted to play baseball and
signed up for the USA Baseball TOS last August. He went 2-4, with a triple,
2-runs scored, 2-RBI, and was named MVP for the American team. At this point,
he still hadn’t been recruited by any college because how do you scout a kid
hitting in their backyard (I’m not making this shit up, guys). I’m not sure how
successful his high school career could have been because he had knee surgery
in 2009 after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee playing
wide receiver on the football team in September 2009. Thus, if there was a
baseball team (again, there isn’t) there would have been no 2010 season anyway.
Oh yeah, did I mention he has tendinitis in the same knee now? He did play
American Legion ball in 2011 (.448, 84-RBI, 15-HR, 34-SB, 70-G) but not against
any quality pitching. Reports from the Mets War Room tonight is they think they
will have no problem signing him. You think? Observation: I have no idea what
to say at this point. I said last year’s 2nd round pick, Cory Vaughn, sucked,
and I was wrong about this. How do you give a grade to someone that doesn’t
play baseball? And the picture won't even post on the site. Grade: INC
6-6-11: - David
Rubin on Mack’s Mets: - Well, you HAVE to hand it to Paul DePodesta and the new
Mets scouting/drafting regime- they certainly know how to ZAG when everyone
else pegs them to ZIG!! Taking 18-year-old Wyoming OF Brandon Nimmo with their
first pick in a draft laden with top-pitching talent is certainly, for lack of
a better word, ballsy. He wasn't one of the top 5-ranked outfielders prior to
the draft, mostly due to the fact that he was a high school kid who didn't play
high school ball- NOT because he wouldn't, but because there IS no high school
team where he is from in Wyoming!!! Noted draft expert, Jonathan Mayo, was
excited because he feels the Mets are finally drafting for ceiling, and by all
accounts, the sky is the limit with Nimmo. We've already heard comparisons to
both Paul O'Neill and Andy Van Slyke- quite frankly, if there was a way to
guarantee that, we'd ALL be ecstatic to see that kind of production in
right-field or center at CitiField for the next 14 years. I truly hope this
ends up being a pick that we don't regret, and the fact that pitchers like Matt
Barnes were NOT drafted right after the Mets passed has to make you feel like
the Mets are finally "in the know" this year...I mean, they HAVE to
know something about this kid, right? Right??? Bueller??? Bueller???...
6-6-11: - Jack
Flynn on Mack’s Mets: - The cynics are going to have a field day with this one.
The Mets took Brandon Nimmo with their first-round pick tonight (13th overall),
and if you were scanning mock drafts for information about the Wyoming
schoolboy you needed to look down at the players listed in the 30 to 40 range,
where most experts were projecting him to be picked. The question, of course, is a simple one -
why? Why did the Mets take a toolsy high school outfielder with very limited
amateur experience? Why did New York's scouting department consider him a mid-first
round pick when media experts had him tabbed as a high supplemental pick? The cynic will certainly have some theories.
The cynic will tell you that Nimmo is signable, first and foremost, and that
the Mets are simply continuing their trend of pinching pennies with their draft
picks. Most big-market clubs have figured out how to game the first-year player
draft - swoop in and grab the players that scared off the smaller-market teams
that cannot or will not give in to their signing bonus demands. The Mets
continue to be behind the curve in that respect, operating as though they
played in the smallest market in baseball instead of the largest. Even though
highly-rated outfielders like Josh Bell and Mike Mahtook were still on the
board when they made their pick, past history and current financial concerns
suggest that the Mets reacted like the rest of the minnows, swimming away from
the larger bonus demands of the better bets. It's not going to cost the Mets a
lot of money to get Nimmo into the farm system - and that's just how they
wanted it. Nimmo's commitment to play college baseball at Arkansas reportedly
predicated on whether or not a professional team offered him a signing bonus on
par with a first-round pick. The Mets, clearly reaching for their man at #13,
should easily overcome Nimmo's college commitment by simply offering slot
money. It's frustrating and it's infuriating, but it's just a fact of life in
the dying days of the Wilpon regime. Now, none of this is to say that Nimmo
doesn't have the potential to succeed at the major league level. He is a
tremendous risk, of course, but just about every high school player in the
amateur draft is a risk. What's especially worrisome about Nimmo, however, is
that lack of experience and a pre-existing knee condition from surgery two
years ago. The knee injury was suffered playing high school football and is
probably not as much of a concern, in the grand scheme of things. What is of
greater concern is that Nimmo is from Wyoming and therefore has never played
high school baseball. (Apparently, there is no high school baseball throughout
the state of Wyoming, and as a result I am struggling to believe that Wyoming
is located in the United States of America.) Scouts have had to use his
American Legion experience and private workouts to draw their impressions.
Nimmo is obviously raw, and it will be up to the Mets' development system to
mold him into a professional player. Even if he rockets through their farm
system, Nimmo is almost certainly at least four years away from being
major-league ready. Mets fans would be better off going to sleep tonight not
dreaming about the likes of Nimmo donning the orange and blue one day. It's way
too far in the future and it's probably never going to happen anyway. Rather,
they will be happier dreaming of the day when the Wilpons have been run out of
town and a new ownership group will prioritize winning over slot
recommendations. When that day finally comes, Mets fans will look back at
first-round picks like Brandon Nimmo and wonder how they stood by their team
through nights like this.
8-21-11: - Stock
Up – CF Brandon Nimmo – Well, you knew it was only a matter of time before we’d
be writing about Nimmo’s first professional multi-hit games. He went 2-5 today
for the GCL Mets, which raised him embryonic batting average to .273. It’s just
great to have him in uniform and playing.
10-18-11 Keeps
Update - #6 - I’m personally still not sold on this
mega-pick, but everybody says I’m wrong. Scouts tell me he has “Harper-like”
projection… wouldn’t that be something…
2-29-12 – It was
good to see Nimmo break his silence and start representing himself to the Mets
press. He contacted me and asked to become a Facebook friend, which I welcomed.
It looks like he’s coming to Savannah and I look forward to following his
progress throughout the 2012 season. Everyone tells me he’s a good kid that
wants to be a Met for a long time. I hope they don’t rush him here like they
did last year with Cory Vaughn.
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