Mack – FWIW

1.    Through The Fence  published their latest Mock Draft (v2.0), This one was for 20 picks, which included the Mets at #19.

Their pick is:

         

          19. New York Mets: Heston Kjerstad, OF, Arkansas

I do not think Kjerstad will go here. But I do think if he is here the Mets will surely take him. Losing Jarred Kelenic this past season, really hurt the Mets’ farm. If they get Kjerstad here, they fill a hole. Kjerstad is a better hitter than Arkansas teammate Casey Martin and the numbers in 2019 prove it. The real question here is if Kjerstad has peaked or if there is more in his game to prove a higher ceiling.

       2.    MLB Pipeline had one Met prospect on their Arizona Fall League starting lineup:

SS: Andres Gimenez (Mets’ No. 3)

After slashing only .125/.250/.292 over 19 games in last year’s Fall League, the 21-year-old Gimenez returned to the desert and led the circuit in both batting (.371) and OPS (.999) while posting 10 multihit performances in 18 games for Scottsdale. He also drove in 15 runs and racked up nine extra-base hits, including a pair of home runs.

    3.      24/7 Sports also recently had a mock draft that this was their choice for the Mets picking at #19:

19 New York Mets Pete Crow-Armstong, OF, Harvard Westlake HS (CA)

Sleeper Drew Romo, C, Woodlands HS (TX)

The Mets fought tooth and claw and ended up with the second-best record of any team who did not make the playoffs. Their minors are barren, but they have a lot of interesting players on the major league roster. A year ago, they went with a handful of high ceiling, high-cost prep talent. They eschewed the traditional model and made three players their entire day one and two of their draft. They might go with a different approach this year when their scouting department as a full season to scout. For a system that was lacking depth, it was an interesting move. The Mets minors are extremely bottom-heavy right now with no help in the pipe for years to come. If they continue with this approach, then Pete Crow-Armstrong makes the most sense due to his mix of athletic tools and high-level performance over the years. It might be painful to mention, but he is a bit reminiscent of Jared Kelenic who the Mets trade away a year ago. Romo could make sense as we say the Mets very aggressively trying to find not just the catcher of now, but of the future as well.

    4.    Baseball America (sub-site only) posted their projected Mets starting lineup in… 2023.

It was:

          C – Francisco Alvarez

          1B – Peter Alonso

          2B – Jeff McNeil

          SS – Amed Rosario

          3B – Ronny Mauricio

          LF – Brett Baty

          CF – Brandon Nimmo

          RF – Michael Conforto

          SP – deGrom, Syndergaard, Stroman, Matz, Matt Allen

          CL – Edwin Diaz

                   Interesting.

                   A few things…

A list like this does not include anyone a team will trade for in the next three years.

The Mets would have to resign Conforto, Syndergaard, and Matz to achieve this

Love the idea of Baty in left.

Hate the idea that I don’t see either Andres Gimenez’ name here or a new player he would have been traded for.

    5.       And lastly… an ole Mets minor league friend of mine, 2B Kevin Taylor, hung up the cleats and moved on from baseball. 

     He wrote on Facebook:

I never thought this day would come but I am finally hanging up the cleats for good. I did not reach my ultimate goal of playing in the Major Leagues but I would not trade the experiences for anything. Unfortunately I have a lot of “what if’s” during my career and it started with not taking my education seriously. Luckily I was blessed with numerous people that provided me with second chances and allowed me to further pursue chasing my dream. In the middle of all this I met my best friend (my wife) and we now get to raise children of our own. I will definitely use my experiences to help them avoid making the same mistakes that I did. That to me is more important than anything. Anyways, if you are reading this and you have a favorite baseball memory that we shared please comment on this post. Thank you!

Kevin never did anything wrong.

He was drafted in the God awful 36^th round (Dodgers) in 2011 and joined the Mets in 2016, where he hit .288 for St. Lucie.

He hit .292 for Binghamton in 2017 and .263 in 2018.

What did that get him in 2019?

Indy ball.

He did hit .305 this past season for Sioux Falls but he deserved more than this.

From the Mets.

I left a message for Kevin on our Facebook friend connection and he answered this way:

         

Mack Ade   -  Best of everything Kevin to you and your family.

Kevin Taylor - Mack Ade thank you! Always liked reading your write ups

                   The best to you and your family Kevin.

                    You should be proud of what you accomplished as a Met.