I’ve always believed that pitching makes a winner, and though the Mets currently look to have three top prospects develop in the next couple of years, we said the same thing about Generation K, didn’t we?
I have nothing against any of the players chosen. I just question the direction the team went on opening day. I had Brandon Nimmo as the 36th pick overall, or the 3rd pick in the Supp-1 round. I still consider him a risk, but he does project out as a Bryce Harper without proper training.
Still, it’s going to take me awhile to realize that the Mets had available to them, and passed on either LHP Jed Bradley, RHP Matt Barnes, or RHP Sonny Gray in the 1st round.
Nothing makes sense in major league baseball without a proper rotation and this was a chance to draft and sign someone that could make the 2013 rotation along with the likes of Matt Harvey, Jeurys Familia, and Jenrry Mejia. Add a pitcher like Bradley to that list, plus a top prospect in either a trade for Carlos Beltran or Jose Reyes, and you have a projected rotation that could put the Mets in the driving seat for many years to come.
But this was not going to be another Omar & Company draft, nor, as it turns out, did most of the teams follow the predictions of us so-called experts. Jonathan Mayo was even embarrassed on MLB.com about how far off his mock draft was.
No, this is possibly the last year that baseball won’t have a hard slot, which means there will be literally no negotiation by the players drafted to ask for hefty signing bonuses above the round they were drafted in. Teams seem to send the word out on Monday and Tuesday that they were going to draft the prep players that reek with tools and give them their last opportunity to grab the big bucks instead of going to college.
The Mets flooded their draft with prep players, many of which show great promise, but not much more. The lion share of high school players that dominate their division play the majority of their games against inferior competition. Their body is still growing, their game is still developing, and most need three years in college to separate the stars from the rest.
You read the scouting reports on prep kids and they’re full of statements like “power to come”, “has projectable body” or “raw tools”. Simply put, this translates to an 18-year old 6-1 RHP who has a fastball that hits 91. Only God knows at this point if he will be 6-4 and throwing 96 in two years.
I have been very impressed with some of the names that have crossed my computer on day two, but I’m not going to act or react until I see how many of these high-tools preppies are signed. I then have to literally give them three more years in the Mets system to see if they can stand out from rookie ball through AA. We’re now talking 2015 or 2016.
We’ve all heard about this so-called letter than Nimmo sent out to all the teams that he wasn’t going to sign with anyone without a $3mil check in his pocket. Is this true, or was it something he wrote after already agreeing to terms with the Mets before the draft? I mean, if I’m the Mets scout that has attended ALL of his games played this year in the American Legion league, I’d know this kid (and his father) well enough to have already thrown a number out at him. Let’s say it’s $2mil. I’d then tell the kid, look, you want an option? Fine, write the rest of the teams and tell them it takes three mil to sign you. If someone drafts you before we get to pick 13, you’re a mil richer. Otherwise, you agree now for the $2mil from us. Is this legal? Is it done every day?
I know no one wants to draft badly, but it’s the scouts that win or lose on this one. I wonder if the guy that signed Nathan Vineyard is still with the team? I bet ya the one that signed Cory Vaughn is.
3 comments:
Listen, I kinda like the idea of grabbing what could hopefully be some future first rounders before they're actually able to become first rounders later on in college. But like you've said, it'll take three years to find out if we've drafted stars or junk. Even first rounders are semi-busts(Dykstra), and I would have to assume that a bunch of these boys will command some big bucks. Otherwise, whats stopping them from just attendeding their already choosen college of choice, where they already have athletic scholarships and gambling on themselves that in 2 or 3 years, they'll be bonafide 1 thru 4 round picks. Now, here's hoping that these kids just wanna get going and start their careers a little early, but if I was their parents, without a very comfortable saftey net, one that will pay for any future college should this not work out for them, I'd have to insist on them not limiting themselves and attending school before jumping right into the shark tank. Tell you what though, at numer twenty I believe, that player named Mason Something seems like one of those kids that might just be a late round gem. Fingers crossed.
Mason Robbins is a perfect example. A stud projectable "A" prospect...
which, as you pointed out, so was Allan Dykstra at that point in his career.
I had Robbins as the 24th outfielder to be drafted at the
125th pick, in the 4th round
Only one problem here... the only chance the Mets have in signing him is to convince him that this is the most he will ever be offerred...
Mack, couldn't agree more with your analysis. Very well put.
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