Tom Brennan - Retrospective on Mets’ Drafts of Years Past: 2008

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 beyond round 5 as well, which of those tardy draftees actually 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.

Today?  

The Mets' 2008 Draft.

This could have been a great draft, were it not for injuries.

Round 1 - Ike Davis - great career start, but a bizarre ankle injury and Valley Fever short-circuited the big 1B.

Round 1, second selection - Reese Havens was hitting well in the minors, then needed a rib surgically removed, and was never the same afterwards - and never made it.  Sad.

Comp Round - Brad Holt was spitting fire, high heat, in Brooklyn, 5-3, 1.87 with 96 Ks in 72 innings in his debut year, then got hurt, and fizzled thereafter as a pitcher.  Nada.

Round 2 - Javier Rodriguez - was no Javier Baez. Or Julian Javier for that matter.  Made it to low A, hit .245, that was it. Actually, the Red Sox had a lefty some years later with the same name who was an undrafted international - in a 2 years lower minors stretch, went 10-0 with an ERA below 2!  

But then got stateside and found out it was a whole different deal, and went 0-5 and goodbye.  Transitioning with that name can be tough!

Round 3 - Kirk Nieuwenhuis - 3 HRs in a Mets game once, but fanned too much for anything more than a marginal MLB career.  But, still, a decent 3rd round pick.

Round 4 - Sean Ratliff - hit well in the minors, .298/.353/.505 in 2010, but a foul liner to his eye socket messed up his vision.  And sadly his career.  Has coached in the Mets’ minors since.

Round 5 - Dock Doyle…Popeye Doyle did better.  Only kidding.  Doyle did well enough as a catcher, but his career ended in High A despite a .271 career average and .355 OBP. Puzzling.

6th rounder Josh Satin got a little time in the show. Actually, 243 at bats, in which he hit .243 with a .346 OBP.  Not a bad pick.

8th rounder Eric Campbell had some brief Mets success, before fading. .223 in 449 at bats, quite similar in output to Satin.

The Mets let 18th rounder Collin McHugh get away, and he’s had a fine career.  First two seasons, 0-8, including 0-5 as a Met.  Since then a superb 64-36, including an amazing 6-1, 1.55 ERA year in 2021. 

As a side note, one guy who never made it: 38th rounder Eric Hilliard was 18-7, 3.30 in the Mets minors. Then they released him.  Geesh!  What does a guy have to do??

Coulda been a great 2008 draft, but injuries are part of the game.  And they let McHugh escape.

Next up?  2009.