Last season was a pretty good year for the New York Mets. They ended up with a record of 87 wins and 75 losses as a result they currently sit at the number 20 overall position in the upcoming amateur draft. The Mets have mostly gone the prep route since Sandy Alderson took over as general manager in the winter of 2010, though the last couple of years they have gone with college level talent. Starting in 2011 with their first overall pick they have selected Brando Nimmo (high school), Gavin Cecchini (high school), Dominic Smith (high school), Michael Conforto (college), and Justin Dunn (college). They also selected Michael Fulmer (college), Kevin Plawecki (college), and Anthony Kay (college) with supplemental picks.
This year the team is probably looking for some players that can help them sooner rather than later, this leads me to believe that Alderson will continue his current trend of drafting collegian level players that can help them in the next couple of seasons rather than five years down the road.
A couple of areas of need throughout the organization are third base and catcher. With the recent uncertainty surrounding Travis D’Arnaud and Kevin Plawecki catcher is definitely an area of need the Mets could look to address through the first year amateur draft. J.J. Schwarz of Florida and K.J. Harrison of Oregon State are two first round catching possibilities for the Mets to take a look at. Schwarz has great hitting potential and hit 24 home runs and 127 RBI combined over the last two college seasons he also has a strong arm and has a good chance to stick behind home plate in the majors. Harrison is another potential first round backstop out of Oregon State. He doesn’t have quite the power potential as Schwarz but projects as a better contact hitter, scouts are shaky on his ability to remain a catcher once he enters the majors, but he should be a good enough hitter to be a regular first baseman if catching doesn’t pan out.
Third base is another area of concern with David Wright‘s spinal stenosis casting a shadow over the future of the Met’s captain. One player to look at is Jake Burger a Missouri State product, he had a monster year in 2016 with a .349 average 21 home runs and 72 RBI he could slot in nicely as the Mets third base man of the future. The team could also go the prep route with Jayson Gonzalez, he projects as a power hitting third base man with exit velocity of 105 MPH plus on his balls in play.
The team could fill any one of there needs through free agency or future trades between now and June. They could obviously go in many other directions when it comes to the upcoming draft, these are just a few of the key players to keep an eye on for the future.
In the NBA or NFL where drafted players go directly to the active roster, you have to consider needs. But in MLB where players begin in the minors and take several years to develop, I think you’re better served just taking the best available player. I think you can lean toward pitching or hitting depending on organizational needs but I would never zero in on a particular position.
I just felt that these were two areas the Mets are lacking organizational depth in and could concentrate on. I agree that if a great talent falls to them they should go for it.