The easiest thing in the world to do is to say you knew something was going to happen, after it happens. Everyone’s an expert after the fact.

What I want to do here is have everyone weigh in on what they thought at the time about the Mets’ most recent top picks. There’s no sense going back to 2011 but it’s realistic to do, say, the last three picks. Here are my thoughts:

Desmond Lindsay, 2015 – Was dismayed that they forfeited their top pick to sign Michael Cuddyer (https://mets360.com/?p=23641). I liked the Lindsay pick when it was made.

Justin Dunn, 2016 – Dunn played in one of the top two conferences and got better as the season went along. I like the pick. It’s an upside pick, as he has such little experience as a SP. (https://mets360.com/?p=29559)

David Peterson, 2017 – Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it. No complaints about the pick – like, boy, I wish they would have picked X instead! At the same time, I’m not saying we got a steal, either. Solid. For what it’s worth, this is how I felt about the Dominic Smith pick at the time.

Please use the comments section to offer your thoughts on these picks, preferably at the time they were made. Bonus points if you can link to a source where you said that at the time, especially if you’re going to say you didn’t want Lindsay because you were worried about injuries.

20 comments on “Asking readers to chime in on the Mets’ last three top picks

  • Hobie

    Can’t believe nobody hos posted…here goes:

    2015-Was hoping Mike Cameron’s kid (Daz?) would still be around, but he wasn’t and I was fine with Lindsay who seemed pretty Cameron-like to me.

    2016-Wanted Will Craig (3B/P) or Carter Keiboom (SS/ambidextrous P!) over Dunn, but was delighted with Kay

    2017-Wanted to roll the dice with Houston badboy Seth Romero, but sorta knew the Mets wouldn’t (Bleeping Nats did). Was fine with Peterson.

    Can’t say I went crazy over leaving Sieger on the board for Cecchini, though I shoud have, I suppose. Did go nuts at the choice of Harvey over Chris Sale though.

    • Brian Joura

      Thanks Hobie!

      Bookmark this thread and link to it whenever Romero dominates the Mets.

  • TexasGusCC

    2015: Didn’t have a problem with the Lindsey pick under the circumstances.

    2016: Wasn’t a huge fan of Dunn. While his numbers looked good, he was in their bullpen for a reason. Wanted Delvin Perez who had supposed character issues that have mysteriously disappeared.

    2017: Very, very disappointed. When a top ten talent falls, you have to take him. Jaren Kendall was that talent. Unforgivable.

    The Mets penchant for being conservative (scared) in an aggressive New York media market handicaps this team endlessly. The Yankees have never had this problem. But then again, the one constant (The Coupons) keeps things constant.

    With Perez and Kendall the Mets could have really infused some high-end offensive talent, but as usual our GM had his head in the sand and goes after a pitcher, when pitchers are the most difficult position to keep on the field and all the best teams have offensive talent not spectacular pitching. Mets continuously keep with their ridiculous outdated thinking in hope that it someday works.

    • Brian Joura

      Thanks Gus!

      You have the right to boast about Kendall from now on.

      • TexasGusCC

        And Perez is already the #2 prospect in the Cardinals system.

        As people here know, I’m a raw talent/athleticism guy over the “projectable” en vogue term Sandy loves to throw around, but I closely look at the level competition a player is up against. Even if these players don’t make it, it’s the mindset that matters. How is our system going to improve offensively if we avoid top talents?

  • Hunter Shelton

    This is the first year that I really followed the draft. I was excited that Peterson fell to the Mets.

    • Brian Joura

      Thanks Hunter!

      Hope you’ll be a regular here from now on.

  • Mets6986

    Mets have a history of not selecting all that well in drafts but it is often a crapshoot to see who can make the long road to the big team. For the younger readers here research who the Mets left on the table when they chose Steve Chillcot many years ago. Nice article!

    • Hobie

      The Chilcott over Reggie is a firmly entrenched Met faux pas, yet at the time Steve was hyped (what hype there was pre-internet) to be a Berra/Campy Class backstop, a much rarer commodity than an all-star OF. Never recovered from a torn up shoulder, so we’ll never know.

      Compounding the whole affair was that in the following year, franchise backstop secured, our NYM pass on Johnny Bench. Oh well.

  • Chris F

    Can’t tell on any of those, as I’m not enough informed.

    Gus, the Alderson era has reduced baseball to two things: power arms and power bats. Nothing else matters. I think they have a better feeling about being able to see the pitchers – 97+ plays in their mind (in fact we know that’s naive). Power is harder to develop in young kids and hard to know if it ever comes in the Bigs. I think the FO believes it can buy its way to power Ces, Bruce – whoever. Power bats are a dine a dozen!

    • TexasGusCC

      Chris, what we have seen through their free agents, drafts, and roster composition is a lack of ability to evaluate offensive talent. We aren’t looking to pick apart every move that hasn’t worked because that indeed is hindsight. The two moves I’m referring to were obvious from the get-go.

      If power bats are a dime a dozen, those that play good defense as well are not. Look at the whooping the Dodgers gave the Mets this year. Look at the Nationals. Look at how the Brewers and Cubs are built.

      And look at the Mets: flawed. They don’t have many complete players, and their leadership is a disgrace. But the Mets have no problem with this, so… just don’t forget to buy tickets!

      • Chris F

        I’m with you. I’m just saying the sabr gods have dictated defense Ks speed are worthless. All that matters is power pitching and HR!

        • TexasGusCC

          Chris, I tried three times in different ways to post a link to an article Tom Brennan wrote today on Mack’s Mets but it won’t post. Go check it out it’s hilarious.

  • Jimmy P

    Like 99% of baseball fans out there, I am in no position to judge if the Mets took the best player available in any draft. I mean, I can read a few reports and maybe fixate on a touted name or two, but I’ve never seen any of these guys play. I certainly can’t compare them against each other.

    On Lindsay, I liked the idea of this pick. The type of player. An outfielder with speed and athleticism. An attempt to address an overall weakness in the organization. Not only the athleticism, but a position player.

    On Dunn, who knows. A little bit of a red flag was his overall lack of experience on the mound, the absence of a body of work, which indicates that the Mets might have been clever here, rolling the dice, trying to out-think the system rather than take the obvious pick. He’s undersized but throws hard, maybe they drafted an 8th-inning guy. I had no opinion on whether he’s good or not.

    On Peterson, again, who knows. Big guy, lefty, throws hard. Maybe a little disappointed they didn’t go after a position player here — the draft was very pitching-centric — but at this point the organization has needs pretty much across the board. Shortstop looks solid with a couple of interesting guys behind Rosario. First base seems hopeful with Alonso. You always need pitching.

    To my mind, none of these picks were obviously “wrong” or weird. Nimmo was picked because he was a looker without huge upside, so that was troubling at the time. Cecchini was also a looker, but had the genetics on his side, but did not seem like a good pick to me. One concern was that the organization seemed to be seeking “good guys,” bloodless professionals who take the right intellectual approach to the game rather than, say, raw talent. I very much liked that Conforto was reportedly a hitter, and the best hitter available in the draft, who wasn’t that far away from the majors. That he seems to be able to play CF is a complete shock to me. On Smith, I have no idea and really haven’t said boo about that pick, as a pick, from Day One.

    You can only look at results. How these players turn out over time. The scouts, the people who draft, that’s their challenging assignment: gaze into that crystal ball and try to get more right than wrong. Is it hard? Yes. But that’s the job and that’s how they must be judged: Overall, how are the players? Have they infused the system with top-tier talent?

    Every organization is going to produce ML players. Guys are going to be promoted whether they earn it or not, simply because they are next in line. For every team. What is a failure is when a minor league system has no fringy live arms in the pipeline when the bullpen gets stretched thin, not a whisper of an outfielder who can remotely play, not a dangerous bat in sight. Sandy was hired in 2010; this is his system, his players, entirely. This year the Mets had 2 players listed in BA’s top 100. And the overall talent level is poor, evidenced by the team records. On a sunny day, you might call that mediocre. But it is clearly not an achievement or a roaring success. He’s no Frank Cashen, who built systems in Baltimore and New York.

  • Eraff

    I’d evaluate beyond the top picks, and beyond the past 3 top picks. After 5 or so cycles, the young hitters are Conforto, plus the Vegas kids Rosario and Smith. After those guy, you go all the way to A+ Lucie to find a real hitting prospect, Alonzo.

    Between A+ and Bingo, beyond Alonzo, there isn’t even a “suspect”… I’ve always liked Urena, but he’s obviously in some sort of Stall/Fail cycle.

    Nimmo and Cheech “lead” a bunch of guys who are yearning for a 25th spot in 2-4 years….I won’t absolutely dismiss those two, but there is little reason to believe that they will emerge as every day guys.

    That brings us down to A Ball…3 years away, or so…Gimenez and Lindsay are Dreamers—young/talented/limited proof

    Regarding Offensive Players, it’s unimpressive.

  • IDRAFT

    Like the Mets, the Cubs and Astros were bad between 2010-2015, and turned the corner that year (2015.) The young talent those teams drafted and signed during that down period was substantial, as it needed to be. Not so the Mets. An overall lack of aggressiveness has been a problem all along. Safe boring picks, compounded by a confounding obsession of being just good enough in those years not to have a shot at many players created this mess. The annual race for third or fourth was not exciting, or profitable (I have many photos of the empty seats.)

    We have to hope that we can get enough pitching next year for one more run before this team is back in full collapse. The farm system is in shambles and it will take years to rebuild it. The “sustainable success” nonsense line we were fed by Metsblog and other Pravdaish outlets during the Alderson regime is being exposed.

    • Jimmy P

      Long.

      Slow.

      Clap.

    • TexasGusCC

      Th only pass I can give Alderson is to give him another year to win with a real manager, one that he wants, not an idiot the Coupons ha e in place to please their friends. Otherwise, I really don’t see much for Sandy to be proud of.

  • Eraff

    “Pravdaish Outlets” ha!

  • ChrisNCT

    Brian, I’m a lifetime Mets fan who is 53 years old. I started following the Mets in 1971. Outside of the Frank Cashen years and the early Joe McIlvaine years, I think the Mets drafting and organizational strategy have been quite flawed. As I went to MLB.com to look at the Mets drafts since 2010, I noticed a disturbing trend: the team consistently drafts pitching, pitching and more pitching and pays little attention to position players (okay, I know about Conforto, Dom Smith, Cecchini and Nimmo). Also, I know the old saying “Pitching wins”. But, if you go back and look at the drafts, you’ll notice that the majority the team’s high draft picks have had little impact on the team (read Cecchini, Plawecki, Matt Reynolds, Matt den Dekker). Matt Harvey and Michael Conforto (also David Wright) were Mets draft picks. This franchise seems to consistently draft players with high floors / low ceilings. As I went to Baseball America’s website to read what Matt Eddy had to say about the Mets top 10 prospects this year, he made what I thought was an astute observation about this franchise’s attitude towards player acquisition: he said “, I think the Alderson Mets take an everything-in-moderation stance on player acquisition. They haven’t busted the budget for international amateurs, true, but nor have they busted the budget for domestic draft picks or major league free agents. They spend in all areas, but don’t spend exorbitantly.” In fairness, Brian, I don’t know how much the Wilpons have to account for the Madoff fiasco, but it seems every draft, other teams are drafting much better than the Mets–look at the (cough, growl) Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, Cubs, the Astros (and I know both these last two teams tanked for a couple of years)–even the Rays!–they consistently seem to have a solid crop of young players available to play or trade for a key missing piece. I wish this franchise would zero in on a replacement for Alderson when he retires who is a great scout and has ability as a talent developer–who brings in a solid corps of proven scouts– and build a solid organization that isn’t one Tommy John surgery away from mediocrity, that has promising young positional players and a good degree of depth available. I know it’s a pipe dream–given the reluctance of this ownership–but I have to hope. After all, I’m a Mets fan!…

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