Tom Brennan - DRAFTING PAUL GOLDSCHMIDT

DRAFTING PAUL GOLDSCHMIDT is not a sequel to SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, let me make this clear....although if it came down to drafting one of those two guys, the Mets would have probably picked PRIVATE RYAN because of his international experience.  

And hoping the private, Matt Damon, would suddenly change into Jason Bourne in St Lucie and instantly become unbeatable, and great in any team brawls, too.  

And if Bourne could save the world, he might also as a bonus be able to one day save the Mets (asking too much, I know...that is a job for JACK REACHER).

And that's my intro.

I have been sounding the gong loudly about drafting power bats.  Another case in point: the great Paul Goldschmidt.

I do not wish to make the case that the D Backs have drafting brilliance, because their first rounder that year, a hitter, never made the majors.

Paul, though, was drafted in the 8th round.

Boy, has HE made it: 7 outstanding years, .299/.399/.532.  

Let's round off, for effect: .300/.400/.530.  

With 627 RBIs in 934 games.

And wow, 117 stolen bases in 145 tries.  Clearly NO TOOLS....at least the kind the Mets typically look for.

Who did the Mets draft instead in 2009?

1st round - lost the pick - happens. Coulda been Trout.

2nd round - Steve Matz - good pick

3rd round - IF Robbie Shields: more low power mediocrity.

4th round - Darrell Ceciliani - a decent 4th round pick if Goldschmidt was not available.

5th round - P Damien Magnifico - did not sign with the Mets: career in MLB isxunder 4 IP - not a hard thrower.

6th round - P David Buchanan - did not sign with the Mets - signed with Phils instead in 2010; 8-17, 5.01 in the majors, and not a power K-type pitcher.

7th round - Darin Gorski, the far-too-soft tossing lefty to ever realistically have a shot to make the majors.

Now, all the other teams also passed on Goldschmidt until round 8, so yep, lots of dummies out there.

BUT - if you are disinclined to draft weak Robbie Shields-type bats and weak Darin Gorski-type arms, and instead are on the outlook for POWER, Goldschmidt was certainly worth a flier with the 3rd thru 7th picks.  Instead, frankly, the Mets picked a bunch of mediocre crap (whoops, can you say crap on Macks Mets?), rather than gamble on drafting a potential power bat.

Sort of like how they passed in early rounds on powerful Rhys Hoskins, whom the Phils smartly nabbed in the 5th round.  Or Cody Bellinger.  Who needs guys like that when a Robbie Shields is available?

Question of the day: will the Mets never learn?  

WHEN YOU DRAFT POWER - YOU MAY JUST GET LUCKY.

JUST ASK THE DIAMONDBACKS - AND ASK PAUL GOLDSCHMIDT, WHO WOULD LOOK MIGHTY GOOD PLAYING 162 FOR THE TEAM IN QUEENS.

Or you can just draft another Private Ryan for delusional reasons, right, Robbie Shields?