Tom Brennan: DRAFT DUDS - 2011

Tom Brennan: DRAFT DUDS - 2011

Continuing on with my DRAFT DUDS series, looking for patterns in why the Mets currently have a minor league system envied by pretty much no one except - give me a minute here, will ya?

OK, let me get back to you on that...just not a good system right now.

Who in the 2011 draft's Mets top 10 picks were DUDS, and which were DUDES (that is, guys who aren't duds, basically):

2nd round RHP Cory Mazzoni has been a disappointment, but not quite a dud.  But he is more dud than dude, so for this article, DUD.

Simply, his minor league numbers have been quite solid - but the majors?  Oh, boy.  2017 was a doozie, in which in rehab stints and AAA he threw 30 innings, allowed 2 earned runs, walked 3, and fanned 48.  Sweet.  Then gets a September call up and gets obliterated: 8 innings, 17 hits, 16 runs.  Matt Harvey was in shock that someone could be worse than him! 

Cory's lifetime in the majors has sure been productive, for his opponents, that is: 16.2 IP, 40 hits, 38 runs, 4 walks, just 12 Ks.  Jekyll and Hyde BP numbers on steroids.  He no longer fills up at BP gas stations, hoping something will change.  He's no longer a Met organization guy, so enough on him.  Except to say it seemed like an OK pick that just did not work out.

3rd round RHP Logan Verrett: another guy who is more dud than dude, given his being the 101st overall pick.

Extremely HR prone, allowing a remarkable (for the minors) home run every 9 innings, he has gone 6-10 in 150 major league innings with 114 Ks and a homer every 6 innings.  

He was solid enough with the Mets in 2016 over 14 appearances and 4 starts, and surprisingly (to me, at least) Verrett had a brilliant April 2016 (3-0, including back to back 6 shutout inning efforts and no HRs and just 1 earned run in 17 innings), but he lost his last 8 decisions in 2016 as his ERA ballooned to 5.20, and as he allowed an unsurprising 16 HRs over his last 74 innings.  He went 2-0 in limited action in 2017 with the Orioles.   Not a flamethrower, which is largely why he is homer prone, a career-limiting defect, and which is why, despite his MLB experience, he is a DUD.

4th round RHP Tyler Pill: yet another guy who is more dud than dude because of low velocity.  He has largely been solid up to AA, but in AAA, he has gone 5-7, 5.57 in 195 innings.  Getting a surprising opportunity in early 2017 due to his good AAA pitching this season and a slew of Mets pitching injuries, Pill failed to capitalize, going 0-3, 5.22 in 20+ innings.  Nice bat, but if I were drafting in the 4th round, I would (not to sound repetitious) have taken a power arm. 

5th round LHRP Jack Leathersich - to me, he was a good pick, a DUDE: wild, lots and lots of Ks, and just when he was showing he might be a Mets bullpen guy, he blows his arm out and misses a season plus.  Nonetheless, the Cubs took him in Rule 5, figuring he'd be rehabbing most of the year and thus not tie up a spot all season on their 25 man roster.  

This season, he was lethal in AAA for the last few months, got traded to Pittsburgh and was impressive in relief in September.  So, for a 5th rounder, it has been a winding road, but I put him as slightly more dude than dud.  I'd take him back if I were Sandy.  John Travolta, though, says NAH!

6th round OF Joe Tuschak - DUD, DUD, DUD.  Played in 305 minor league games and hit a paltry .218/.298/.311.  Power bat?  Nope.  Bad pick.

7th round 1B/3B Cole Frenzel - the Mets did all right once with a 7th round first base pick, but not this time...he hit .237/.324/.345, with just 16 homers in 299 games.  Not enough power, so it was a DUD pick.  I just wonder if Frenzel knows Denzel, then I'd really like the pick instead.

9th pick RHP Alex Panteliodis - why they picked him is all Greek to me.  The lefty had a 1.51 career WHIP and just 189 Ks in 300 IP, clearly far from major league caliber stuff - a wasted DUD pick, when they instead should have grabbed a power arm.  He was minor league filler, a waste of a 9th pick.  But they made Zorba the Greek very happy.  OPA!!

10th rounder P Matt Budgell - DUD - a very short career, spanning 36 IP, with just 26 Ks in rookie ball - a power arm, again, would have been better.  No available power arms? Then pick a power bat.

This draft was nonetheless quite interesting for the Metsies, as Brandon Nimmo has not yet, but may still one day, prove to be the real deal and worthy of being a first round pick; 2nd rounder Michael Fulmer has been special ever since the Mets traded him; Danny Muno has performed as expected for an 8th round pick, even if his was not a dazzling pick; picks 13, 14, and 15 were nice, too, as the Mets nabbed Rob Gsellman, AAA catcher Xorge Carillo, and an IF with MLB potential in Phil Evans. 

Travis Taijeron was a nice enough power bat pick in round 18, even if his career stalls; John Gant a fine pick for a 20th round pitcher; and Seth Lugo and Chase Bradford being surprisingly good for 34th and 35th round picks.

So, overall, it was a pretty good draft, but sullied by there being 5 DUD pitching picks and 2 DUD hitting picks in the first 10 rounds.  Too many duds due to not drafting power arms and bats whenever and wherever possible.