MLB Draft Deep Dive: New York Mets

In order to satisfy my innate curiosity as it pertains to the MLB Draft, I have taken a comprehensive look at the 2018 draft for each of the 30 MLB organizations. But I also wanted to get an idea of what each of the teams had done for the 20 years prior so that is included as a prelude to the 2018 information. I'll be looking first at each team in each division, starting with the National League East, and then I'll follow up with a an overall look at both the historical draft results to date and the early 2018 results.

My goal is to get a better idea of the big picture as to how the systems compare in terms of draft results, as well as how a good or bad draft class affects a system, the overall impact of the draft on the baseball talent pool and the circuitous ways in which draft picks are used to bolster a system for which they may never even play. This project is just a first step. I intend to expand on this information over time (including a later revisit of the 2018 class and the addition of the 2019 class next offseason) and I will share my findings as I do so.

NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST

NEW YORK METS

Historical Draft Results from 1998 through 2017 (TO DATE)
Drafted 931 | Signed 605 | Pitchers Signed 312 | Position Players Signed 293
Total WAR 251.5
Total Players to MLB 95

Note: The following players are listed at the position at which they were originally drafted.

1998 | 7 to MLB | WAR 5.2 | High WAR 2.8, SS Ty Wigginton, 17th rd
1999 | 5 to MLB | WAR 13.7 | High WAR 17.2, OF Angel Pagan, 4th rd
2000 | 4 to MLB | WAR (1.4) | High WAR 0.2, RHP Bobby Keppel, 1st rd
2001 | 5 to MLB | WAR 50.9 | High WAR 50.4, 3B David Wright, 1st rd
2002 | 2 to MLB | WAR 27.4 | High WAR 22.8, LHP Scott Kazmir, 1st rd
2003 | 4 to MLB | WAR 5.4 | High WAR 5.0, RHP Brian Bannister, 7th rd
2004 | 3 to MLB | WAR 4.0 | High WAR 1.6, 1B Mike Carp, 9th rd
2005 | 5 to MLB | WAR 10.3 | High WAR 8.4, LHP Jon Niese, 7th rd
2006 | 6 to MLB | WAR 31.3 | High WAR 18.8, 3B Daniel Murphy, 13th rd
2007 | 6 to MLB | WAR 12.4 | High WAR 8.0, 1B Lucas Duda, 7th rd
2008 | 6 to MLB | WAR 16.4 | High WAR 8.9, RHP Collin McHugh, 18th rd
2009 | 2 to MLB | WAR 5.8 | High WAR 5.4, LHP Steven Matz, 2nd rd
2010 | 7 to MLB | WAR 42.4 | High WAR 27.2, RHP Jacob deGrom, 9th rd
2011 | 13 to MLB | WAR 19.3 | High WAR 9.5, RHP Michael Fulmer, 1st rd
2012 | 11 to MLB | WAR (1.0) | High WAR 2.8, C Kevin Plawecki, 1st rd
2013 | 5 to MLB | WAR 0.4 | High WAR 2.4, SS Jeff McNeil, 12th rd
2014 | 2 to MLB | WAR 9.3 | High WAR 9.1, OF Michael Conforto, 1st rd
2015 | 2 to MLB | WAR (0.3) | High WAR (0.1), OF Kevin Kaczmarski, 9th rd
2016 | 0 to MLB | WAR 0.0 | High WAR N/A
2017 | 0 to MLB | WAR 0.0 | High WAR N/A

The high total WAR is from 2001 and is almost exclusively fueled by the highest individual WAR, that of 3B David Wright (2001, 1st round). Wright has played exclusively for the Mets, earning two Silver Sluggers, two Gold Gloves and seven All-Star nods in his 14 seasons with that team. Sidetracked by injuries, he last played a full season in 2014. The Mets released Wright in January 2019, and he will be joining the Mets front office.

2018 DRAFT
40 Drafted | 31 Signed | 16 Pitchers | 15 Position Players
26 College | 24 Signed | 11 Pitchers | 13 Position Players
2 JC/CC | 0 Signed | 0 Pitchers | 0 Position Players
12 HS/NS | 7 Signed | 5 Pitchers | 2 Position Players

Notable: The Mets signed all but one of their top 31 picks with the lone holdout being 20th round junior college LHP Brooks Warren. They have since traded three players from their 2018 Draft class. 1st round OF Jarred Kelenic (Waukesha West HS, MI) was included in a December 2018 trade with Seattle for 2B Robinson Cano and RHP Edwin Diaz. 4th round RHP Adam Hill (University of South Carolina) was included in the OF Keon Broxton trade (Milwaukee) in January 2019. And 12th round OF Ross Adolph (University of Toledo) was included in a January 2019 to Houston for 3B J.D. Davis and 2B Cody Bohanek.

PITCHERS
Of the 16 pitchers signed (13 RHP, 3 LHP), all but one (9th round college RHP Bryce Montes de Oca) logged at least some playing time. None of these pitchers received playing time above the Short Season A* level. One of these pitchers debuted on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Prospect list for the Mets. One has since been traded.

Top Prospects

RHP Simeon Woods-Richardson, 2nd round, Kempner HS (TX), Rk
17.1 IP | 7 G / 4 GS | 1.56 ERA | 1.096 WHIP | 4 BB : 26 K

Noteworthy Debut

LHP Kevin Smith, 7th round, University of Georgia, SSA
23.2 IP | 12 G / 3 GS | 0.76 ERA | 0.761 WHIP | 6 BB : 28 K

In total, the Mets 2018 Draft pitchers combined for a 2.81 ERA and a 1.295 WHIP (but logged only 246.1 innings) as compared to the 3.67 ERA and 1.299 WHIP (average of 376.2 innings per affiliate) compiled by the total 2018 Draft class in 2018.

POSITION PLAYERS
All of the 15 position players signed (1B, 2B, 3 3B, 2 SS, 4 OF, 4 C) logged at least some playing time in 2018. Two players were promoted beyond the Short Season A* level, both to Full Season A. None of the position players are currently on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Prospect list for the Mets, however Jarred Kelenic (see below) is currently in the Mariners Top 10 list after being included in a December 2018 trade to that system. Two position players from this draft class have since been traded.

Noteworthy Debut

OF Jarred Kelenic (L/L), 1st round, Waukesha West HS (WI), Rk
56 G | .286/.371/.468/.839 | 26 BB : 50 K | 15 SB : 1 CS | 10 2B / 6 3B / 6 HR

Kelenic was sent to the Mariners in a seven-player trade in December 2018.

OF Ross Adolph (L/R), 12th round, University of Toledo, SSA
61 G | .276/.348/.509/.857 | 21 BB : 52 K | 14 SB : 3 CS | 9 2B / 12 3B / 7 HR

Adolph was sent to Houston as part of a five-player trade in January 2019.

In total, the Mets 2018 Draft position players combined to hit .252/.338/.375/.713 as compared to .261/.349/.386/.735 batting line compiled by the total 2018 Draft class in 2018.

*Notes on players include the highest level achieved for the 2018 season using the following abbreviations:
Rk = Rookie
SSA = Short Season A
A = Full Season A
A+ = Full Season A Advanced

GENERAL NOTES: Information was obtained from Baseball-Reference and the MLB Draft History site. The occasional discrepancy in historical information was resolved to the best of my ability by delving into the player information available on B-R. On the historical information, the player position in the totals reflects the position at which the player was drafted (and not any subsequent change of position). On the 2018 information, the player position reflects the primary position played in 2018 for all players who were signed and the position at which the player was drafted for those who did not sign. Prospect listings on MLB Pipeline were as of late December and may not reflect any subsequent changes to that site.

Previously:
NL EAST
Atlanta Braves
Miami Marlins

Coming Next:
Philadelphia Phillies