I thought it might be fun to get all retrospective and look back at:
1) How Mets kiddies drafted in rounds 1 thru 5 panned out, and
2) Which of all the Mets' picks actually made it to the dance.
I started this series at 2005 a year at a time towards 2021.
2005 thru 2020 have had articles done so far.
Today? The Finale - the Mets' 2021 Draft!
Boy you don't have to look back far to see the 2021 draft, now do you? I excerpted parts of this from an article I did in October.
We know the team's # 1 pick, Kumar Rocker, was not signed.
Remind me when he wins his 200th major league game, will ya?
Anyway, let's move on to the other fellas, the ones that actually took pen in hand and signed, shall we?
Rounds 2 thru 20? Yep, all of them signed.
A surprising number (6 of the 19) were assigned as high as low A St Lucie, and by and large did well there.
Challenge those who can be successfully challenged.
The Mets uncharacteristically did just that.
Let's get rolling:
2nd rounder, P Calvin Ziegler - the 18 year old righty did not pitch in pro games. He was the 46th overall pick and was # 123 in the MLB Pipeline rankings. Throws hard, but not super hard, at least at age 18. I do not mind a cautious approach with an 18 year old high value draftee.
I'd love to see him start out in low A next year, but that may be too aggressive. As you read on below, though, the Mets were putting just-drafted guys in low A, so one can hope he is ready for an aggressive 2022 placement.
3rd rounder, P Dominic Hamel - his pro debut was short, but very sweet. He threw 3 perfect innings in the rookie ball Florida Complex League (FCL), fanning 7. What's not to like?
4th rounder, 1B JT Schwartz - the lefty hitter only fanned 12 times in 25 St Lucie (Low A) Mets games, which is good, but hit just .195/.320/.296, which is not so good. But, a challenging Low A assignment - remember that Pete Alonso started his career one level lower. Schwartz can look forward to 2022, most likely starting out in St Lucie.
5th rounder, P Christian Scott - 22 year old 6'4" righty in the FCL fanned 1 in 3 IP, and allowed 1 run. How's that for dipping the toe in - 3 innings?
6th rounder, P Carson Seymour - 6'6" righty got his big toes wet in the FCL, walking 6 in 4.1 IP with 4 Ks and 1 run allowed.
7th rounder, SS Kevin Kendall - the lefty bat excelled for the St Lucie Mets, 113 at bats, .327/.421/.451, 8 of 10 in steals. Some fans do feel that the Mets need a SS. Realistically, the Lindor Wall stands in his way.
8th rounder, 6'5" lefty P Mike Vasil - FCL dazzler: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 10 Ks. Gotta love that.
10th rounder, lefty Keyshawn Askew - great FCL debut, 9 IP, 1.00 ERA, 14 Ks, 2-0. Keyshawn!!
11th rounder, S/H OF Jordan Rowdey - for St Lucie Mets, .229/.333/.294 in 109 ABs. Not a bad immediately-assigned-to-Low-A-ball pro debut.
12th rounder, OF Jack Wold - for St Lucie Mets, 86 ABs, 8 XBHs, .279/.315/.442, 17 Ks in 25 G. Very nice career kick off.
13th rounder, IF Matt Rudick - for the FCL squad, the 5'9" OF generated .303/.404/.447 in 76 at bats, 6 for 6 in steals. Nice!
14th rounder, P Nate Lavender - the 6'2" lefty in 4 FCL games, 6.2 IP, 1 run, 12 Ks. Excellent! My new favorite color? You guessed it.
15th rounder, 5'7" IF Wyatt Young - FCL darling, hitting a scintillating .370/.426/.478. A lot better than fellow former Hawaiian Mets draft bust Branden Kaupe, that's for sure.
17th rounder, lefty P Nick Zwack - FCL dazzler: 7.1 IP, 13 Ks, 0.00 ERA. Sweet! A Big Zwack Attack!
20th rounder, IF Justin Guerrera - the 5'9" IF started out strong in the FCL, got promoted to St Lucie and hit less there, but overall, a very solid season: .286/369/.495 in 30 games. Far better than the most likely washed up Greg Guerrero.
Overall, very fine debuts for many of the 19 draftees who signed and played, and started climbing the mountain.
So far, so good for the Class of 2021.
That concludes my 17 part draft retrospective series, spanning the years 2005 through 2021 (and spanning several weeks here, on this site).
I hope, in retrospect, that you enjoyed it. Let me know what ya thunk.
15 comments:
We need Mr. Rowdey to make it big, so we can someday have a Rowdey Night at Citifield.
LET'S GET ROWDEY!!
Love it Tom now how about starting in 65'. We picked Les (and Les is more doesn't apply here) Rohr #1 and the immortal Randolph Kohn #2 so you should have lots of fun assessing those earlier drafts. Somebody named Johnny Bench went in the second round.
Gary, no one caused the Shea crowd to roar less than Les Ruhr..
I am taking a draft break for a while after this, but no telling where my scattered mind may head next.
Draft picks are the ultimate crap shoots. Some folks even thought Danny Muno would be a solid player :)
Nice series.
Still feel that Vasil will be very successful going forward
Interestingly, MLB put out a prospects list for the 2022 draft listing Rocker #31; Prospects Live didn’t even list him in their Top 100. I read somewhere that there is an expectation that MLB will make an example of Rocker because teams will avoid him due to all sorts of issues, signability, health, sitting out a year.. Ultimately, I expect Boras to have Rocker do a very public physical and to plaster the results on every media outlet, along with a showcase and having Rocker speak and show that he is a choir boy that wasn’t treated well by the Mets. Any way it’s done, good luck with getting that $6MM signing bonus.
I still would laugh if the Mets took him in the second round and offered him slot money, at best!
Gus, they'd be off their rocker.
Mack, let's hope for Vasil to excel.
Reese, we have not heard the last of Danny Muno. If no one ever writes his name again, you can count on me :)
Gentlemen, I'd prefer a series on the Mets World Series to a draft series - but it would be a short series.
I wonder if the "aggressive" assignment(s) are an organizational change in philosophy?
I think the team's player development program was a bit lacking in the past, but perhaps this is a sign
of things that are starting to change for the better?
Not signing Rocker is unfortunate, but you wonder if something was seriously wrong with his arm? If they had signed him and he went on the shelf for an extended period shortly thereafter, it wouldn't be that different (developmentally) then getting a stud prospect in the 2022 draft with the replacement pick, right?
OK, so I am reaching a bit, but what's done is done and I hope we get a nice stockpile of prospects in the 2022 draft with all of the early picks we have in the war chest.
Should make for an interesting draft review article next year, Tom.
Good work on this series, by the way.
Great breakdown on the 2021 draft Tom.
Mike, I think the Mets looked at the gaping hole in their minors pitching and revved things up - may it remain permanent. I am fully in support of guys being challenged, rather than coddled.
Rockers are for Grandmas.
John, thanks. As always, I try to convey that failed picks are 1) a part of baseball and 2) management's fault, if they don't draft power arms and power bats.
Most major leaguers have skills involving power arms or power bats. So...draft accordingly.
BTW, I just saw this, and I'm sure Keith Hernandez saw the name and figured with 5 years of practice, he could pronounce it:
Mets signed OF Jaycey Benita, an 18-year-old international free agent from Curaçao.
His full name:
Miriojaycey-Rachidnycander Ray Jean Tadeo Benita
You can call me M J
Or you can call me...
Mack, I count 17 syllables there - but who's counting? :)
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