Tom Brennan - Retrospective on Mets’ Drafts of Years Past: 2010

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:

1) who got drafted by the Mets in rounds 1 thru 5, how they panned out, and 

2) which of them (and those from rounds beyond round 5) 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' 2010 Draft

One of the best drafts ever for the Mets, from a pitching standpoint:

Round 1 - the Dark Knight, Matt Harvey.  

Had he avoided injury, he was heading towards being the next Max Scherzer. But to be the next Max Scherzer, you have to avoid injury.  Matt didn't avoid injury, so as it turned out, he avoided being the next Max.

Round 2 - none.  That's 2 bad. 2 many early round picks surrendered by your Metsies during these years.  

(Question for you readers: what pick did we lose when we signed Bay in Dec 2009?)

Round 3 - C Blake Forsythe - his good power (36 HRs in 409 games) was negated by his high Ks.  Career .226 in the minors.

The NY Post in 2020 wrote this about Forsythe specifically, and Mets' drafted catchers in general:

"But the Mets have taken few real shots through the draft. Since Piazza’s departure, Blake Forsythe and Kevin Plawecki are the only catchers drafted by the Mets in the first five rounds. Forsythe, a third-round selection in 2010, spent four seasons in the organization and never emerged as a serious major league prospect."

Round 4 -  OF Cory Vaughn - hit better than Forsythe, but not as good as his daddy Greg Vaughn, who had 3 seasons with 41 or more HRs, nor as good as his uncle and former Met Mo Vaughn (who once hit a 502 foot homer for the Mets).  Cory was good, but not quite good enough to reach the big leagues, topping out in AAA.  He did have 75 HRs, 300 RBIs, and 76 steals in the minors.  He just wasn't Greg or Mo.

Round 5 - Matt den Dekker - a good defensive OF who fanned too much. Ended up with 368 big league at bats, hitting .223, the same average as a previous year's 8th round draftee, Eric Campbell.  Matt had a big opportunity in spring 2013, when the Mets had a very weak outfield, and he had a starting job all-but-won, but then stumbled in the outfield and broke his wrist a week before spring training ended.  When golden opportunities arise, stumble not, as Johneshwy Fargas learned this past season.

But...

Round 9 was a gem…

Jacob deGrom. 

Drafting deGrom in the 9th round was like hitting 4 grand slams in a single game.  He received a $95,000 signing bonus.  He makes more these days.

What can one say, except in retrospect, he should have been the first overall pick.

Back when deGrom was drafted, Mack noted this in an article:

Not only was deGrom snapping wood, but his fastball was hitting between 92 and 94 mph on one scout's radar gun in the first two innings. 

His last outing before the draft certainly showed he's ready for the next level, especially pitching against hitters swinging wood bats.

The amazing deGrom sure sped up a lot.   May he win another Cy Young in 2022.  Moving on...

10th rounder Akeel Morris was only good enough to make the big leagues briefly.  He lacked enough control and another extreme velocity gear.  Turns out Akeel wasn't the real-enough deal.  

He actually returned to baseball after skipping 2019 and having 2020 skipped for him, and pitched solidly for another franchise in AA, going 6-0, but got rudely treated in PCL AAA (1-3, 10.23 in 22 innings).  He is just 29 next year, so maybe he gives it one more try.

11th rounder Adam Kolarek never pitched for the NY Mets, but in 155 subsequent MLB games?  The lefty reliever has gone 11-3, 3.65.  Whoops.  

24th rounder Eric Goeddel fought elbow issues to go 6-4, 3.69 in 141 games spanning 141 innings, with 153 Ks. Nice effort.

30th rounder Josh Edgin was 4-4, 3.49 in 177 games. Another sweet pick for such a low round.

All in all, a lackluster hitting draft, but a clearly tremendous one for pitching, producing Harvey, deGrom, Kolarek, Goeddel and Edgin.  That's half a staff right there.  Wow.

Next up?  2011.