Tom Brennan - DRAFT DUDS 2012

Tom Brennan - DRAFT DUDS 2012

2012's draft to me looked like a DUD, walked like a DUD, and quacked like a DUD.   It deserved a 17 DUD SALUTE.  

A far from ducky draft.

Let's look at the 12 guys they nabbed in Top 10 round -  

7 duds (far too many) and 5 others of modest potential:

DUDS:

Gavin Cecchini IF, pick # 12 round 1 - Cheech seems to lack to skill set to be a successful first-half-of-first-round round caliber - short on the 5 tools.  Perhaps he will still become a decent major leaguer, but...

Matt Reynolds IF, pick # 71 round 2 - Cheech II - need I elaborate?  Why pick low power, low speed CHEECHES?

Teddy Stankiewicz, P, picked # 75 round 2 - how you can pick a guy as high as # 75 and he does not sign with you is bewildering.  He signed the next season, drafted, yes, in the 2nd round, with the Red Sox (prefers the color red, I guess); he has been decidedly mediocre at every level since, and has not fanned a ton of guys (398 in 577 career innings). DUD. Stinky Stanky.

Matt Koch P, picked # 107 round 3 - Stinky Stanky II, also decidedly mediocre at every level since, and has not fanned a ton of guys (319 in 499 career minors innings). 

Branden Kaupe, a very short SS, picked # 140 round 4 - he was also very short in his ability to hit and hit for power - a mere 4 doubles and 6 triples in 600 plate appearances. Bewildering.

Brandon Welch, P picked # 170 round 5 - Stinky Stanky III, except his career spanned only 65 innings in the minors, with 43 Ks.

Richie Rodriguez, 3B, round 9 # 290 pick: classic Mets DUD pick - why draft a 5'9", 170 3B unless he exudes something special?  His .161/.226/.236 line in about 260 rookie ball plate appearances made him Kaupe II.

 

Then there are the 2012 top 10 round picks that may turn out to not be duds, or were good picks gone bad due to injury:

POTENTIAL DUDES:

Kevin Plawecki, C, pick # 35 Compensation Round A - 

his strong finish in 2017 with the Mets is a happily hopeful sign he may be a competent, frequently playing major league catcher.  Jury still out...

Jayce Boyd, IF/OF, round 6 # 200 - never seen as a power guy, his rib surgery messed up his throwing and hitting for a while.  He hit really well, and with power (.330/.400/.600), in his last 2+ months in AAA in 2017, so my take is if it had not been for his rib/shoulder, he might (hitting-wise) have been another Daniel Murphy. 

If he can't field in a big league caliber manner, though, his potential as a major leaguer is a long shot.

Cory Oswalt, RHSP, picked in round 7 # 230: slowed by injuries prior to 2017, he was stellar in 2017 and may well turn out to be an above-average pick.  Quite possibly a Mets 4/5 type starter as soon as at some point in 2018.

Tomas Nido, C, picked in round 8 # 260: fine defensive catcher, but the bat is still suspect - likely a back up major league catcher, possible starter if the bat can take a leap.

Paul Sewald, RHRP, picked in round 10 # 320: not a flame thrower, but a really fine minor league reliever who took advantage of a slew of injuries to crack the major league glass ceiling in 2017.  Pitched very well the majority of the time, but still managed to go 0-6.  He strikes out a lot of guys without raw firepower, and may still turn out to be a solid-average major league middle reliever.

Did the last 30 rounds of 2012 (11 thru 40) yield any gems?  

No.

Not really...decent or potentially decent major leaguers only appear to include righty reliever Matt Bowman and RHP Chris Flexen and 3 possibles: Logan Taylor, Tim Peterson, and the traded Rob Whalen.

2012 METS DRAFT SUMMARY:  

It is abundantly clear that the Mets did not go into the draft focusing on drafting power bats and power pitching.  

The non-power bats drafted collectively appear to have at best future modest helpfulness at the major league level. Grade D-.

The pitching, almost devoid of power arms, is likely to have at most modest success at the big league level.  Grade C.

I did not, for the sake of full disclosure, try to look at guys that other teams drafted in the same rounds that were available to the Mets - but even without doing that, the Mets sure could have done better by:

Focusing on POWER BATS AND ARMS.