Wikipedia states:
A retrospective (from Latin retrospectare, "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past.
I thought it might be fun to look back and see who got drafted by the Mets in rounds 1 thru 5, how they panned out, and who, after the 5th round, ultimately made it to the dance.
Not to get too historical, I thought I’d start at 2005 and work forward towards 2021 from there, a year at a time. Look back in our articles list if you missed my articles on 2005-06.
Today?
The Mets' 2007 Draft.
Round 1 - Zip. Second straight season with no first rounder. Ahh, who needs those pesky first round picks, anyway.
2 Comp Picks - Eddie Kunz and Nathan Vineyard - lousy picks, as it turned out.
Big Eddie got a not so big 2.2 innings in with the Mets. Geesh!
Criticizing the Vineyard pick would be sour grapes. 0-5, 7.39 ERA in the lower minors. Also, just recently turned 33 - seems weird to be so young, having been drafted 14 years ago.
Round 2 - Scott Moviel and Brant Rustich - duds.
Moviel flickered out in St Lucie. Rustich was pretty decent in the lower minors, then got hurt. Done.
Round 3 - Eric Nielsen and Stephen Clyne - dud picks.
The latter made it to St Lucie, and was done - a common theme.
Round 4 - Richard Lucas - dud. A weak hitting 3B.
Round 5 - Zach Lutz - a decent 3B talent, but blocked by David Wright. Hit .226 in 31 MLB at bats. One has to wonder what might have happened for Zach if Wright, for a while the Mets' Lou Gehrig, was not playing in his position.
Later rounds - the Mets picked very nicely in round # 7, nabbing the “Big Lebowski”, Lucas Duda, who compiled 156 HRs in his big league career. A few years earlier, as noted a few days ago, Jon Niese was a 7th rounder, too.
Robert Carson in round 14 got a handful of big league innings in, but not nearly as many as the next fella:
Excellent 21st rounder Dillon Gee, who went 51-48, 4.09 in a very nice, high/overachieving career.
Lastly, in round 32, C Juan Centeno made it to the bigs, as a non-Met, hitting .223 in 341 MLB at bats.
Duda and Gee salvaged this draft for the Mets. Lots of early picks, even without a first rounder, with nothing whatsoever to show for it in the first 5 rounds.
Next up? 2008.
19 comments:
Jordan Zimmerman and Giancarlo Stanton were both picked after Kunz and Vineyard. Not the best moves.
These types of articles make me chuckle at the folks who are afraid of foreign ballplayers because ALL of the domestic and Latin American players head straight to the All Star Game, right? :)
Kaz Matsui left a lot of Mets fans gun shy to pursue Japanese players. Maybe Ohtani will change that and we will wind up with Suzuki.
Funny, Kaz Matsui wasn’t great but hit .256 as a Met.
Had the Mets followed my mantra of draft power arms and power bats, they might well have drafted Zimmerman and Stanton.
Kunz had all the talent but the Mets pitching coaches tried to change how he pitched. I was there to witness it.
Gee and Rustich became close associated of mine. Both still follow me.
Nice, Mack. Shame with Kunz
So, Mack, what happened with Rustich? He did not make it very high ( hence my use of the term dud), yet he pitched decently. Was it arm problems, the bane of the pitching cohort?
How great would it be to actually sign Suzuki and not lose a pick AND get a coveted player other teams want and when was the last time that happened? Having a "Suzuki Samurai" in our lineup has a nice ring to it. I'm going back a few years but I so remember when we got Beltran how excited I was until I read that he would have signed for less with the Yanks and it really took the air out of the balloon. Stevie PLEASE DON'T LET THAT HAPPEN AGAIN because with all the talk of going for it it's up to you to make it happen.
One more thing that has to change is that thing about being burned on the Matsui trade and then being afraid to go there again. It never stops the Evil empire as they just move on and we have to too.
Part 1: The Drafting
Evidently some of the local teams, possibly here the Mets, Jets, Knicks, NY Giants (when Parcells/George Young were not involved) could probably be made better at this. Every sports team could be really. But it isn't as simple as it looks to us fans. There are many factors involved with drafting the right players for your organization.
Drafting the right guys can make "a world" of difference. You do not want to have to rely on mainly outside acquisitions to make your team whole each year. It is more of a negative symptom than a positive one, although some sports teams rely too heavily on this. In baseball, having a healthy crop of MiLB AAA players available each season can make your team not only younger, but better as well, while somewhat preserving the spending budget. It also allows a team to potentially "retool" at the trade deadline also with available spending ability for that "one thing missing from the current equation". Very few MLB teams leave ST player set in concrete determinations because it isn't a perfect science really, and things can arise once the season begins. Like for instance (here) key injuries. OMG
That's why I say here, give players like M. Vientos, F. Alvares, R. Mauricio, A. Oller, J. Walker, and K. Lee...a serious ST invite and see what you have at this point with them. Then establish a AAA team that could conceivably be ready to go for the next season. Once accomplished, the whole things move more smoothly.
It's good a practice.
The current "Rule 5" Mets players protected this off season are quite interesting ones, and each could/should have decent careers once up to this parent ball club. But still, even here, there is no sure thing nor magic formulas to follow. But having decent numbers of such talented players can be a blessing.
The one thing that I would personally like this organization to do, is to take another grading and look more closely to the targets for what is needed most in 2022 (like maybe two and not just one new top end starter because this team has lost not only Noah but Zach a season ago as well. Then a new right fielder (I like Starling Marte for this team), a catcher who can hit for a better, more consistent batting average, and finally maybe one more late inning reliever to go with what is in-place here now.
It might also be shrewd for this team also, to become more aggressive with these targeted players signings earlier on in the off season, and not wait for what the organization has targeted to fall over the course of the off season to lower contract requests. This is a major things because usually those targeted players you have your eyes on have been taken off the board by a more aggressive team, and your team then will have to resort to second, third, and even fourth best guys at your targeted positions you have outlined.
Why I like My Suggestions for the starting eight fielder/batters.
The top of the batting order has been the exceedingly consistent Brandon Nimmo in CF. But who else could be in the second spot, has not been resolved so far here. Francisco Lindor has qualities to suggest that he could be considered for this, but lacks batting average consistency. To me, he is a prototypical fifth batter in a good lineup. Lindor's power game suggests this.
The Mets very much need a two batter.
It's a must really. For this, I like Starling Marte for this role. Starling is perfect. Nimmo or Marte plays CF, the other RF. There is more than enough foot speed between these two for stolen bases, something that desperately needs to be added in from 2021. Plus, outfield range. And Marte and Nimmo hit for a high batting average. About .295 BA average between the two.
The two top end starters more, and not just one.
You have to have real insurance with deGrom now starting in 2022. He has seasonal arm barks. One top end starter added in here is not enough because if Jake goes down again for any considerable amount of time, your new two and three starter replacements may not be enough since just prior to Jake going down they were four and five. The other point here is that Carlos Carrasco is still a "rather large question mark" heading into 2022. As is, two top end starters need to be added in here this off season, and not just the one.
The catcher position.
It would make little sense to go out and get say another Johnny Bench for here. I concur. It is because Francisco Alvarez will be up here soon, possibly within another season more. What is here now is hard to trust in the hitting department. For these reasons, I would bring Francisco Alvarez to ST to see if he "could conceivably grow into" catching with the parent Mets in 2022. Otherwise, pick one between Nido and McCann to stay (trading the other), and then pick up a veteran catcher (from outside) with maybe 1-2 years left in the tank. No one leg weary though like Ramos appears to be.
One more late inning reliever.
A team "never" has enough late inning relievers because with each season normally comes someone a team was counting on in this role that either gets hurt or for some unpredictable and unworldly reason isn't as good as seasons prior. The Mets have the rest here now.
Third Base
The Mets have ample good third base candidates from within. Three actually, not counting Cano who I hope plays second base. Three. I like Mark Vientos for this starting role possibility. I think he is ready from the video that I have watched on him, and the Mets do need to infuse some youth into their starting eight. Mark's batting mechanics and power generation impressed me.
Left Field
From the choices I like JD Davis for this role, with Dominic Smith backing him up and also Pete Alonso on first base. Uniquely, JD has the power game preferred but also hits for a healthy average. Jeff McNeil did not impress me much in 2021, after Jake went down. To me, it was more about his own character than it was with any skill delineation. A true professional always finds a way to give 110%, no matter what. So it is Jeff that I would trade maybe for something like a later inning reliever I just mentioned above.
2022 NY Mets Possible (maybe) Staring Rotation
Just Theorizing really. But to me, it does make sense and could be optimal solution.
1. Jake deGrom (R)
2. Clayton Kershaw (L)
3. Taijuan Walker (R)
4. Carlos Rodon (L)
5. Tyler Megill (R)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
6. Carlos Carrasco (R) If team goes with a six-man rotation.
7. Adam Oller (R) Also Possibly Bullpen.
8. Josh Walker (L) Also Possibly Bullpen.
9. Drew Smith (R) Also Possibly Bullpen.
Don’t we wish we got those stats from well I can’t think of his name but the Oakland infielder who only had 10 at bats for 20 million
Mack how did I miss your article yesterday about the top 14 picks
Man after looking at that I am all for grabbing 2 OFers and locking up that pipeline
The jones brothers sound really good to me
And to see Andrew jones in a Mets hat to root for his son
Sign me up
Mack, that’s a real shame.
So, maybe the Mets screwed up a good pick, then.
Love the discussion
Honestly this year I wouldn’t trade anyone unless we are talking for a young starter like Castillo
Otherwise as many mentioned I don’t want to relive the Justin Turner saga
I agree with us needing to acquire 2 OFers
And 2 starter
Suszuki should be a must
High ceilings no draft compensation
Just money time for Cohen to prove he is willing to spend
I like marte as well there are a couple of other options that are interesting like canhu
But nimmo matte suski would look amazing until we develop internal candidates
I like the idea of sayin hey max 90 million 2 years
Turn that down… it’s alway about the money so make the highest offer abs let him say no
If it’s not him rondon gray and the 2 giant starter free agents are guys I would target
The free agent starters still on the market in order of preference (want two but three would be ideal):
1. Kershaw
2. Scherzer
3. Rodon
4. Gausman
5. Stroman
6. Gray
7. Matz
1-5, belong in the rotation. 6-7 are fighting for a spot.
JdG, Carrasco, Walker, Scherzer (although he won’t sign), Kershaw, Rodon, etc…
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