2017 Draft Recap

As we head towards the 2020 MLB Draft, we are going to detail the last ten years of Mets drafts.  Today, we look at 2017.

The story of the 2017 draft is still to be told.  So far, only a few have made the Majors.  The #9 overall pick, Keston Hiura of the Milwaukee Brewers, has seen the most significant MLB time with 314 at-bats last year.  The Angels took Jo Adell at number 10 overall and he was expected to play this year in the Majors had it been a normal year. 

With the #20 overall pick, the Mets took David Peterson. 

David had an uneven season in 2019, 3W-6L, 4.19 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, striking out 122 in 116 innings with 119 hits and 37 walks. He did finish the season better over his last 4-5 games and then followed up his season in Binghamton with a 0-1 3.46, mark over 4 starts and 13 innings in Arizona.  However, in his first three Arizona starts Dave gave up no earned runs but had a tough outing his last time out going 2.2 innings and giving up 5 runs.  He is 6’6” 240 pounds.  Per Baseball savant: “Peterson's fastball is average in terms of velocity, as he'll sit at 89-91 mph and touch 93, but few starters in the Minors can sink and command it as well as he does.”

This was to be the year that David advanced to AAA.  SNY.TV saw him as possible 2020 rotation option.  He could still make it as part of the discussed expanded rosters…if we have a season.  He may also pitch in the discussed expanded Arizona Fall League.

In the second round the Mets took Mark Vientos, 3B.  Mark Played the full 2019 season at Columbia.  In 111 games, 416 at-bats Mark slashed .255 BA/.300 OBP/.411 SLG, 12 HR, 62 RBI, 27 Doubles.  His best year was at Kingsport in 2018 where in 60 games he hit 11 HR, 52 RBIs, .287 BA/.389 OBP/.489 SLG. His power has been compared to Pete Alonso. Pete went the college route first and hit 36 HR as a 23 year old in his third minor league season.  Mark played his third minor league season last year as a 20 year old so he has time to develop. 

The Mets took Quinn Brodey in the Round 3.  He also probably would have wound up in AAA this year.  Last year Quinn played 130 games split between St. Lucie and Binghamton 10 HR, 62 RBI, .266/.323/.403.

The Mets Round 4 pick was Tony Dibrell - In 2019, Tony went 8-4, 2.39 ERA, 90.1 innings for St. Lucie but 0-9, 9.31 ERA for Binghamton.  I pegged him as a big bounce back candidate in Binghamton this year with the possibility of moving to Syracuse later in the year similar to how Harol Gonzalez did last year.

In the 10^th Round the Mets took side arming relief pitcher Stephen Villines.  Stephen did great in Binghamton but struggled when he was called to Syracuse.  In Binghamton, he pitched to a 2-1 record with a 1.20 ERA, 42 Ks, 45 innings in 28 games.  In Syracuse, he had a 6.75 ERA in 13 games, 16 innings.  Also had him pegged for the Syracuse Bullpen this year.  He could also be an outside option in the expanded roster scenario. 

The last notable player the Mets took in 2017 was in the 28^th round, Jeremy Vasquez at first – 5 HR, 61 RBI; .273/.357/.369 (.716 OPS) in 2019 spilt between AA and A ball that was one.  Compared to a number of players drafted before Jeremy that are no longer in baseball, Jeremy was a great pick. 

The full Mets list is below. 

Here are some other notable MLB 2017 picks:

Round 1: #1 Royce Lewis, Twins, SS; #2  Hunter Greene, Reds, Pitcher; #3 MacKenzie Gore, Padres, Pitcher; # 4 Brendan McKay, Rays, 1B;

Round 4: #111, Will Toffey, A’s, 3B. Later traded to the Mets for Jeurys Familia; 5 HR, 27 RBI, .219/.347/.349; last year in Binghamton in a season shirtened by injury. 

Round 30: #902 Jake Mangum, Yankees, OF (did not sign).

Here were the Mets 2017 picks from Baseball Reference:

Round	Pick #	Name	Pos
1	20	David Peterson	LHP
2	59	Mark Vientos	3B
3	97	Quinn Brodey	RF
4	127	Tony Dibrell	RHP
5	157	Matt Winaker	OF
6	187	Marcel Renteria	RHP
7	217	Conner O'Neil	RHP
8	247	Trey Cobb	RHP
9	277	Cannon Chadwick	RHP
10	307	Stephen Villines	RHP
11	337	Jack Schneider	CF
12	367	Bryce Hutchinson	RHP
13	397	Nate Peden	RHP
14	427	Matt Duce	C
15	457	Dylan Snypes	SS
16	487	Raphael Gladu	LF
17	517	A.J. Labas	RHP
18	547	Carl Stajduhar	3B
19	577	CJ Van Eyk	RHP
20	607	Yadiel Flores	RHP
21	637	Aaron Ford	LHP
22	667	Joshua Payne	RHP
23	697	Julian Sierra	LHP
24	727	Joe Cavallaro	RHP
25	757	Laine Huffman	SS
26	787	Gavin Garay	SS
27	817	Billy Oxford	RHP
28	847	Jeremy Vasquez	1B
29	877	Liam McCall	RHP
30	907	Ian McWilliams	RHP
31	937	Ryan Selmer	RHP
32	967	Kaylor Chafin	LHP
33	997	Mac Lozer	RHP
34	1027	Jake Eder	LHP
35	1057	Kyle Wilson	RHP
36	1087	Robby Kidwell	C
37	1117	Josh Walker	LHP
38	1147	Daniel Alfonzo	3B
39	1177	Noah Nunez	RHP
40	1207	Ronnie Taylor	RHP