The 2008 draft was an okay year for the Mets but expectations were high, given that they had 3 picks in the first 33 overall. I go over the full draft below but the snap-shot is that the Mets addressed the revolving door at first base that had gone from John Olerud to Todd Zeile to Mo Vaughn to Jason Phillips to Mike Piazza (and Todd Zeile) to Doug Mientkiewicz to Carlos Delgado. Ike Davis was the first pick for the Mets in the draft and it proved to be a solid pick considering it was 18th overall.

Winners:
• Ike Davis (Starting MLB 1B)
Kirk Nieuwenhuis (MLB 4th OF)
Josh Satin (MLB Bench Bat)
• Eric Campbell (Future Utility Super-Sub)
Collin McHugh (Back-end Rotation Candidate)
Chris Schwinden (Emergency Starter)

Losers:
• Reese Havens (Longshot for starting 2B of the future)
• Brad Holt
• Javier Rodriguez
• Sean Ratliff
• Dock Doyle
• Michael Hebert

It wasn’t too long ago that this draft looked even better, back when people still had higher hopes for Reese Havens, Brad Holt and Javier Rodriguez. While Havens still has a shot at making it to the majors the rest of the losers on the list are basically shot. If not for the happy emergence of some obscure pitchers the Mets would be looking at a barely passing grade. Thanks to bargains in the 18th and 22nd rounds the Mets are looking at a B+. If the likes of Campbell, Havens, McHugh and Schwinden prove to be useful MLB players then the Mets are looking at one of their best drafts in recent memory. Wondering what the perfect draft might have been like?

A+ Perfect Draft:
• Ike Davis
Lonnie Chisenhall
Lance Lynn
Danny Espinosa
Vance Worley
Alex Avila
Eric Surkamp
Eric Thames
Andy Dirks
• Eric Campbell
Tommy Milone
Nathan Eovaldi

Other teams managed good drafts too but notably, the Phillies did very well. The Phillies traded their top two picks for Aces and still managed to draft 3-4 additional pitchers who look to be MLB caliber. Compare that to the awful draft the Marlins managed and the Phillies and Mets made out very well.

Notable Draftees From The NL East:

• Atlanta Braves: Grade – C-
o Craig Kimbrel (Round 3)
o Anthony Rendon (Round 27) – Unsigned

• Florida Marlins: Grade – F
o Mike Mahtook (Round 39) – Unsigned

• Philadelphia Phillies: Grade – A-
o Anthony Gose (Round 2) – Traded For Roy Halladay
o Jason Knapp (Round 2) – Traded For Cliff Lee
o Vance Worley (Round 3)
o Jonathan Pettibone (Round S3)
o Tyler Cloyd (Round 18)
o Jarred Cosart (Round 38)

• Washington Nationals: Grade – B
o Aaron Crow (Round 1) – Unsigned
o Danny Espinosa (Round 3)
o Tommy Milone (Round 10)
o Tyler Moore (Round 16)
o Cory Mazzoni (Round 26) – Unsigned

Hope you enjoyed the review of the 2008 draft. I’ll review the 2009 draft next week and 2010, 2011 and 2012 after that. I’ll also try to see if I can dig up some time capsules on other notable Mets. Below is a listing of the Met picks from Round 1 to Round 50.

• Round 1:
o Pick 18 – Ike Davis, 1B
 Second Guess – Hard to argue that the Mets should have gone after Andrew Cashner, Joshua Fields or Ryan Perry instead.
o Pick 22 – Reese Havens, SS:
 Second Guess – Ignoring Gerrit Cole. Lonnie Chisenhall and Casey Kelly would both hold more value… although if he were only healthier, we might be singing the praises of this pick.
• Round S1:
o Pick 33 – Bradley Holt, RHP
 Second Guess – Without question, Michael Lance Lynn would have been the better choice.
• Round 2:
o Pick 68 – Javier Rodriguez, OF
 Second Guess – Pretty sure the Mets would have preferred to have Danny Espinosa or Craig Kimbrel on the team
• Round 3:
o Pick 100 – Kirk Nieuwenhuis, CF
 Second Guess – Vance Worley is a thought as is Brandon Crawford.
• Round 4:
o Pick 134 – Sean Ratliff, OF
 Second Guess – This one is hard to swallow… Could have had Jason Kipnis (he didn’t sign) or Alex Avila (he did).
• Round 5:
o Pick 164 – Dock Doyle, C
 Second Guess – Eric Surkamp would be far more useful these days.
• Round 6:
o Pick 194 – Josh Satin, 2B/OF
 Second Guess – Could have had Ryan Lavarnway or Eric Thames instead.
• Round 7:
o Pick 224 – Mike Herbert, RHP:
 Second Guess – Not hard to beat this player but, Andy Dirks…
• Round 8:
o Pick 254 – Eric Campbell, 3B/SS/1B
• Round 9:
o Pick 284 – Eric Beaulac, RHP
 Second Guess – Raise your hand if you wouldn’t prefer Tommy Milone.
• Round 10:
o Pick 314 – Brian Valenzuela, LHP
 Second Guess – Danny Hultzen didn’t sign but Nathan Eovaldi did.
• Round 11:
o Pick 344 – Jeff Kaplan, RHP
• Round 12:
o Pick 374 – Mark Cohoon, LHP
• Round 13:
o Pick 404 – Scott Shaw, RHP
• Round 14:
o Pick 434 – Brandon Moore, RHP
 Second Guess – Yankees snapped up David Phelps.
• Round 15:
o Pick 464 – Jamie Bruno, 1B: AWOL
 Second Guess – Tyler Moore is in AAA but I’ll take a powerful right-handed 1B/OF.
• Round 16:
o Pick 494 – Travis Babin, RHP
• Round 17:
o Pick 524 – Mitchell Houck, LHP
• Round 18:
o Pick 554 – Collin McHugh, RHP
 Second Guess – If you want to split hairs, you could ask for Tyler Cloyd instead.
• Round 19:
o Pick 584 – Zachary Rosenbaum, RHP: AWOL
 Second Guess – Can’t complain that we wound up with Luis Mateo anyway.
• Round 20:
o Pick 614 – Michael Moras, C
• Round 21:
o Pick 644 – James Fuller, LHP
• Round 22:
o Pick 674 – Chris Schwinden, RHP
 Interesting – Chase Huchingson was drafted by the Astros.
• Round 23:
o Pick 704 – Evan LeBlanc, OF
• Round 24:
o Pick 734 – Kyle Allen, RHP
 Second Guess – Taylor Jungmann was drafted but didn’t sign. He was Milwaukee’s 1st round pick in 2011.
• Round 25:
o Pick 764 – Erik Turgeon, RHP
 Interesting – Cory Mazzoni was drafted by the Nationals.
• Round 26:
o Pick 794 – John Servidio, OF
 Second Guess – The Braves tried to get Anthony Rendon but he went 6th overall in 2011 instead.
• Round 27:
o Pick 824 – Jeff Flagg, 1B
• Round 28:
o Pick 854 – Jimmy Johnson, LHP
• Round 29:
o Pick 884 – Michael Giuffre, 2B: AWOL
• Round 30:
o Pick 914 – Mike Lynn, RHP
• Round 31:
o Pick 944 – Michael Powers, RHP
• Round 32:
o Pick 974 – Mark Grbavac, RHP: AWOL
• Round 33:
o Pick 1004 – Neil Medchill, OF: Medchill didn’t sign with the Mets in 2008 and instead was drafted by the Yankees in the 11th round of the 2009 draft. (Currently 25 and in AA)
• Round 34:
o Pick 1034 – Justin Garber, OF
• Round 35:
o Pick 1064 – Kyle Suire, 2B
• Round 36:
o Pick 1094 – Jacob Goldberg, RHP: AWOL
• Round 37:
o Pick 1124 – Tim Erickson, LHP
• Round 38:
o Pick 1154 – Chris Hilliard, LHP
 Second Guess – The Phillies snuck in Jarred Cosart who still looks to be a pretty solid pitching prospect. Mike Mahtook was selected but didn’t sign, he was the Jay’s 1st rounder in 2011.
 Interesting – Tyler Pill was taken by the Rockies.
• Round 39:
o Pick 1184 – Charlie Hinojosa, C
• Round 40:
o Pick 1214 – Seth Williams, OF
• Round 41:
o Pick 1244 – Tyler Howe, C
 Second Guess – Stephen Pryor didn’t sign but would sign until 2010. He looks like a solid RP these days.
• Round 42:
o Pick 1274 – Tim Smith, RHP
 Second Guess – Cody Eppley is still productive as a AAA reliever.
• Round 43:
o Pick 1304 – Mark McGonigle, OF
• Round 44:
o Pick 1334 – Jean-Francois Ricard, LHP: AWOL
• Round 45:
o Pick 1362 – David Phillips, 1B: Never signed with the Mets but did reach the Independent League.
• Round 46:
o Pick 1389 – Brian Gump, OF: Signed with the Phillies in the 26th round of the 2009 draft.
• Round 47:
o Pick 1416 – Matthew Bischoff, RHP: Signed with the Mariners in the 20th round of the 2010 draft.
• Round 48:
o Pick 1443 – Tyler Baisley, OF: AWOL
• Round 49:
o Pick 1470 – Douglas McNulty, 1B
• Round 50:
o Pick 1497 – Kameron Brunty, OF: AWOL

9 comments on “Mets Minors: 2008 Draft time capsule (Ike Davis & Reese Havens)

  • Name

    Ah, gotta love the coulda/woulda/shoulda articles.

    Looking at your draft, it seems pretty weak to me in terms of top talent, but i guess with it only being 4 years removed from the draft, many of these guys have only scratched the surface of their potential and we should see at least a few of these guys becoming stars.

    • 7rain

      In the interest of full disclosure the Braves 7th and 8th round draft choices (Paul Clemens and Brett Oberholtzer)in 2008 got them Michael Bourne and their 10th rounder (JJ Hoover 2.04 ERA in 2012) got them Juan Francisco from Cinn.

      Their 2nd rounder RHP Zeke Spruill was 22 in the southern League (AA) and looking like he may do something worthwhile and their first two draft choices were spent on HS LHP which statistically have the highest bust rates but are great pieces when they do develop. Atlanta also gave up their first rounder for Tommy Glavine.

      Philly also has high school kids Zack Collier and Trevor May on track for the Majors at about age 24.

      Washington also drafted but did not sign Louis Coleman now closing for KC and Steve Lombardozi.

      Miami took a lot of high school players in 2008 most of whom are in AA at 22 years of age right now so it’s difficult to judge their results just 4 years down the road. One of their 22 year old RH hitting OFer’s in AA, Daniel Pertusati had a .300/.387/.483 triple slash. One of their college draftees Dan Jennings had a 1.89 ERA in 2012 in 22 appearances out of the Miami pen. Overall it would be hard to grade out a draft high on HS kids in 2008 let alone 2009, 2010 or 2011. Perhaps working backward would be more illuminating.

      Miami, Philly, Atlanta and Washington have a lot of HS kids still in the minors from their 2008 draft many of them in AA or AAA at 21 or 22. Our HS kids from that draft have all busted so it’s tough to really compare results at the moment.

      2007 – Marlins Mike Stanton and Steve Cishek 2.57 ERA 116 appearances over 3 years out of the pen.

      2007 – Braves Jason Heyward, Freddie Freeman

      2007 – Nats Ross Detwiler, Jordan Zimmerman, Derek Norris (Gio)

      2007 – Phillies Travis d’Anaurd (Halliday), Michael Taylor

      2007 – Mets Lutz, Duda, Carson, Gee.

      • 7rain

        *Michael Taylor also went to Toronto in the Halliday deal

        • 7train

          Incidentally Anthony Gose was traded for Roy Oswalt and then forwarded to Toronto for Brett Wallace.

          What these preliminary results seem to indicate is that our NL East competitors made several big trades of high school kids, or in the Braves case from Junior Colleges that returned some pretty big names and the one’s they kept look pretty good as well.

          After Ike I’m not sure what the rest of our winners (Kirk, Satin, Campbell, McHugh and Schwiden) might bring back. Satin and Schwinden I believe have already past through waivers and been returned.

          • 7train

            Phillies 38th rounder Jared Cosart was a big part of the Hunter Pence deal as well.

            Players our NL East division competitors drafted in 2008 helped acquire players such as Cliff, Lee, Michael Bourne, Hunter Pence, Juan Francisco, Roy Oswalt and Roy Halliday.

            Atlanta got a good year and a half out of Bourne and will now get a supplemental round pick for him. Philly got a decent year out of Pence and already cashed him in for a top 10 catching prospect (Tommy Joseph) who is 21 and already in AA.

            Campbell might fit in well for us as he he added 1B and LF to his resume and as a RH hitter would be able to spell Ike or Lucas against LHP as well as pitch in at 3B if needed but his last two years in AA splits against RHP are .258/.359/.339 and he’ll be 26 on opening day 2013, most likely in AAA.

            Kirk will be 26 next year and struck out 45% of the his AB’s against LHP and hit .180/.286/.230 against them. He didn’t display huge platoon splits in the minors so I would expect him to get better but it’s getting to the point where it’s now or never and we need at least one full time everyday OFer because you just can’t have a platoon mate for almost every position. There just aren’t enough roster spots to go around.

            McHugh really needs to be perfect location wise to be effective and the industry spoke to the value of Schwinden and Satin already.

            I really don’t believe we could have been talking to Cleveland, Toronto or Houston about Lee, Halliday, Bourne, Pence or Oswalt if these were the names coming from our end.

            • 7train

              Washington being unable to sign their first rounder Aaron Crow was a surprise since they have gone well over slot to procure the best possible talent in the draft numerous times.

              Not signing Crow in 2008 did get them an extra pick in 2009 which they used on Drew Storen so not a total loss for them.

              • 7train

                Lots of players still providing value for the teams that drafted them in 2008 down on the farm. Who knows, Havens, Kaplan, Cohoon or Kyle Allen could step up big for us but our NL East opponents prospects have a bit more time before reaching their full potential as many of them were drafted at 18 years old as opposed to 20 or 21 as most of ours were.

                The scary thing is that this might be the best draft class we’ve had in many a year and even so we lost ground to at least three of the four teams we share the Division with.

                Atlanta with Kimbrell, two pitchers who got them a year and a half of Bourn and now most likely a supplemental choice for him, Juan Francisco and how their top 3 picks, all HS pitchers develop or who they could get by trading them.

                Philly with all the guys they drafted and traded as well as the one’s still in their farm. Likely they will have drafted 9 pitchers who made the Majors and a couple more position players. Incredible draft.

                Washington with Espinosa, Milone, Moore, Lombardozzi’s versatility, the extra pick they got for not signing Aaron Crow getting them Drew Storen the following year and how Destin Hood and their other HS kids develop.

                Getting Ike was tremendous. He was one of the best picks in the 1st round and we were lucky to get the pick as most likely we wouldn’t have offered Glavine arbitration and in many years would have given up our own pick as well but if we’re losing ground to three of the four teams in our Division when we have one of our best drafts in recent years what does that say?

                • NormE

                  7train, “what does that say?” You’ve laid it out in a compelling way. Good post.
                  As my late mother would say…..”if you can’t say anything good, better you should say nothing at all.”

                • David Groveman

                  Great points!

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