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Baseball America has issued their 2007 National League Draft Report Card (subscriber only), with evaluations of each team’s crop from June’s Amateur Player Draft.
Among other categories, they rank best ‘pro debut,’ ‘athlete,’ ‘hitter,’ and ‘fastball,’ as well as ‘closest to the major leagues.’
BA gives specific attention to 21–year-old Mets RHP Dylan Owen, who was drafted in the 20th round out of Francis Marion University.
Owens was 9-1 with a 1.49 ERA in 14 games (13 starts) for Single-A Brooklyn, while walking 12 and fanning 69 in 72.1 innings.
The report also predicts that Mets RHP Eddie Kunz will compete for a big league job this spring.
On the draft class as a whole, BA writes:
“The Mets were pleased to get plenty of power arms, though most of them project to be relievers. The organization clearly could bring its revenue to bear in the draft like the Red Sox, Tigers and Yankees, but apparently has not found the right match of player, pick and bonus since signing Mike Pelfrey in 2005.”
…with the graduation of a number of the Mets top prospects, they need a serious infusion of life into the farm system…while not littered with big names, this draft class seems solid…owen, as well as Scott Moviel and Brant Rustich, two big second round arms, and 1B-OF Lucas Duda, drafted out of USC, all had solid pro debuts, and there are some good young power arms to be found throughout…
…mix the draft class in with an intriguing Caribbean crop at the Gulf Coast League this year, along with a larger than normal Latin signing class this summer, and you’ve got at least a promising foundation for a new wave of prospects…
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Some nice, young power arms would be a nice chane of pace. maybe one of them can replace heath Bell next year! I’m holding out hope that Kunz is going to be ready. He seems to have the “stuff”, and pitched in a high-level program so he shouldn’t be too overwhelmed (hopefully).
Now, if a few more of those guys get on the fast track, we may get out of the Mota era soon!
Anywya, if you look at what most people seem to want back, there are really only 3 spots open in the pen (out of 7)
Wagner, Heilmann, Feliciano – in
Sele, out
Mota, Schoenweis, – hope they go!
Sosa – maybe back
So, if El Duque hits the pen, you could be looking at Wags, Hellman, Feliciano, Duque, Schoe as the front 5.
That leaves 2 spots for Sosa, Smith, Kunz, Mota (ugh), Duaner, and any other new live bodies they come up with. Pull one Jaba or that Japanese guy on the Red Sox out of Omar’s butt, and that could be one heck of a pen.
Especially if the SP can get through the 7th inning on occasion!
i am still on the padilla bandwagon! he ruled in ‘05 and his one spring training inning last year!
Exactly who has “graduated” lately? Millz, Joe Smith. The days of speaking about Reyes and Wright coming up as an example of a solid farm system are over. There is minimal talent at all levels for the Mets. they need to rethink their scouting system. Who is the big prospect? Please don’t say Gomez and Martinez. Gomez showed next to nothing and is years away and FMart is just a kid who should be playing in brooklyn. How ’bout just one surprise, a pitcher who blooms, a hitter who comes out of nowhere. Not likely.
It’s still too soon to say, but Mulvey was very undervalued by scouts and has been very impressive in AA so far.
I’m with you. This farm system looks dreadful to me. Just bereft of any talent worthy of excitement. Even Martinez could be the next Alex Escobar!
you know, it would be nice if the mets got some real power pitchers….then they can unload them, a la kazmir, ryan, lindstrom, and owens. none of that flame throwing arounfdhere! :)
Jordan, did they actually give an overall grade for each team’s draft? If so, what was the Mets’ grade and how did it compare to other teams he graded in the article?
did pelfrey graduate? gomez? if they did that really doesnt say much. wright and reyes are fantastic homegrown talents and we’re incredibly fortunate that they have both come up and blossomed together, but other than them what else have we produced. i like milledge and i hope he blossoms as well but even he cant qualify as a graduate from prospect to mlb player.
I think the Mets have to get a new draft strategy. They have to stop… well essentially being cheap.
Thier old strategy was “toosly outfielders!” and guys that project to be backup catchers at age 20, not good. And if that wasn’t the strategy, it sure as hell seemed that way because that’s what you saw alot of.
Now, the strategy seems to be to sign middle relivers. It makes sense, save money on inter-changable middle relief pitchers rather than experienced mediocrities during free agency, BUT it hasn’t really worked out well, I don’t like it. They’re not going after best talent available in my opinion.
And Achilles400, relax regarding Gomez, sure he showed nothing this year but he was one of the yougnest players in the entire MLB. I mean Justin Upton was the starting RF for the DBacks he didn’t do too hot but he still played there almost everyday. He’s going to be nasty and you can tell but unfortunately I get the feeling that if he were on the Mets he’d be considered a dissapointed because of the lack of patience.
I tend to agree. I guess the philosophy here is that they’re getting their “big” prospects from international. As they’ve been drafting middle relievers in the state, they’ve picked up Martinez, Guerra, Pena, ect. But yeah, I don’t get how the Yanks are finding Joba at the back-end of the first round, and we’re getting Kunz….
Yanks found a gem in Joba simple as that. The difference between Joba and Kunz was the fact that Kunz was supposed to be drafted in rounds 2-4 while Joba had the talent to be drafted in the first 10 picks. Joba dropped because of injury concerns and because his lack of a track record so he was really a top ten talent that the yankees got as a steal.
I defintly agree with the fact that the Mets need to rethink their draft strategy. I think they have done an awesome job of signing international free agents but a very poor job drafting players since Omar has taken over.
I think the lack of first round picks has really hurt us though and hopefully this year we can keep that first round pick and take a high upside player, a pitcher preferably. A guy like a Quinton Miller or Alex Meyer would be a great choice
Who are the great international free agents they’ve signed in recent years? Where are our Fastos Carmonas and Ubaldo Jimenezes?
The international free Agents are guys like Jose Reyes, young players like Deolis Guerra, Tony Pena, Carlos Gomez, and Fernando Martinez…..
Reyes was here before Omar got here but he is still an example of how our franchise has done in the internaitonal market.
As for the rest of the guys they are very young, but very talented. Guerra has a ton of upside and has the potential to be #2 starter in the bigs one day, Gomez has all the tools he just needs to put them together, whether he does or not is yet to be seen.
Pena is our best catching prospect and Fernando is a Top level prospect..in a couple of years he may be one of the top 10 prospects in all of baseball, potential to be number 1..so those guys are coming
P.S.- The Mets biggest free agent signing this year is a 16 yr old middle infielder named Wilmer Flores and he is a very talent young player..so we have to see how he develops over the years
Carlos Gomez predated Omar too. So what you have are three prospects (Pena, Guerra, and Martinez) who have yet to have any impact for the ML club.
Which is sort of OK because it does take time to develop younger players. But I’d have more confidence in the front office’s ability to identify, grow and nurture homegrown players if they hadn’t traded Bannister and lost Flores last winter.
Also, these players are so young and a lot can happen on their way to age 22-23. So I don’t think they should neglect the amateur draft in the U.S. in the hopes they can fill most of their needs internationally. They have to do a better job of retaining their draft picks and choosing better when they do.
Minaya was also Asst GM here during the Late 90s success all the way to 2002. He had a huge part in signing people like Reyes and Gomez I’d think.
When they signed Gomez in July of 2002, Omar had been out of the organization for about 1/2 a year already. And the way I heard it, Eddie Toledo identified and pushed for the signing of Reyes.
The system has produced so little for the last decade! Wright and Kazmir are the only draft picks of note, really, maybe Bannister, and Reyes is all they have to show for international scouting efforts. Look at the young talent on the Dodgers, the Diamondbacks, The Rockies, The Devil Rays, The Indians. Why can we never produce that talent? Here’s why… because when we suck, we sign free agents to get out of the hole and lose draft picks, and when those free agents get us to second place, or even first, we drop way down in the draft order. Frankly, they would be wise to be a big money team that is also a strong farm team. Rather than signing FAs, build that farm, sign those developing players to good contracts (like Wright and Reyes) and then restock through the farm or by trading from the farm. The notion that a team can be saved through free agency has long since been disproven. It all starts on the farm, and from there the foundation is built. If we could draft like Cleveland, we’d be in great shape, because when our Mannys or CCs became FAs, we’d have the big market money to resign them rather than watch them walk. There is no reason a big market team can’t take a page out of the small market play book. Boston is a prime example, and now (uh-oh) the Yankees seem to be doing it.
Again, it’s worth repeating that a lot of those big farm-heavy teams were a lengthy work in progress with prospects that took 3,4,5 years to develop. That’s not to say our system has been perfect, but before we throw the current administration under the bus, it would be nice to recognize that the current regime has only been at the helm for three years. Their first major amateur signing was Pelfrey, who may or may not be ready to contribute soon (or at least serve as a trade bait). It’s completely unfair to compare the international signings under Minaya when the other teams you’re comparing us to got 2 years head start on us.
Tidewater, I agree. The farm system over the last 10 years has generally been disappointing. And most recenty, part of the problem has been a series of rash moves by Omar. For example, Jesus Flores if protected would have started in AA this year and could have been brought up as a replacement instead of Alomar and DiFelice. In addition, the bullpen could have been helped out by a Lindstrom or Bannister, who might have also been a big help in the rotation instead of Lawrence and Park. So part of the problem is not believing in your own players enough and not having the patience to see if they can develop with the big club. They need to give these kids opportunities throughout the year instead of continually signing the Ricky Ledees, the Chan Ho Parks, and the Brian Lawrences.
Another problem are the expectations of many NY fans who want big free agent signings and big names in the lineup. Many don’t care about rooting simply for laundry, just as long as the team wins. The problem is free agent signings or big acquisitions aren’t always the ticket to winning as you point out. And free agents or acquired vets are more likely to get “bored” and play that way. As a fan I’d rather have a team that plays with more heart and passion, especially if they’re not going to make the postsason anyway.
Boston and the Yankees are good examples of big market teams trying a blended approach. The problem with trying to follow the Yankees model is that it is only applicable to a team that can sign a lot of pricey free agents and then when they don’t perform, they are not afraid to cut their losses, hide their mistakes in the minors, or throw more money at the problem to try to fix it. But this at least allows them to still give their kids a chance while at the same time appeasing the fans.
Regardless, it takes a firm commitment from the entire organization in order to build from within, especially if you are a larger market team. The GM has to be especially committed, and both Cashman and Theo have gone to war over this issue with their bosses in recent years to ensure the agenda was put in place.
All I was insinuating was Gomez is no where near major league ready. Maybe he’ll be a good major league player, but corner outfielders don’t make a living bunting for singles 3 out of 4 at bats, generelly speaking. I wouldn’t shed alot of tears if he went in a trade. As they say, you can’t steal first.
I wouldn’t shed any tears either, I really like Carlos Gomez, but I have fear of him failing. I would certainly pick Milledge over Gomez and trade Gomez.
But you MUST put things into perspective and I’ll just mention it again, he was one of the youngest players in the entire MLB!
And another thing to remember is that Gomez has skipped a couple of minor league levels, he’s been rushed. When he should have been in the GCL he was in low Single A and when he should have been in Single A he was in Double A!! He skipped a whole level and instead of repeating Double A he played about 30 games in Triple A before being promoted.
Talk about rushing a prospect…
And Constanza regarding the international players, its a risky way to think because you can not gaurantee signing those guys. The Yankees, Braves, Red Sox, and Indians have been involved in and have been signing some of those players so any one of those teams and the other 24 teams can swoop them away.
I generally agree Benny. As I said, other big market, free spending teams are finding ways to get big-time talent in the sandwich rounds, or late first or second rounds but the Mets seem to struggle in that department.
It’s hard to pick up Blue Chip prospects when we haven’t had a First Round pick either of the last 2 years due to our activity in Free Agency. It’s not going to be easy to pick up blue-chip prospects like that without the top draft picks.
I think they try and make up for it by signing First Round talent players overseas with guys like Fernando Martinez and Deolis Guerra, and it’s hard to argue with that philosophy but those guys are still a couple years away.
But still, this draft seems to be showing a suprising amount of promise so far. I’ve been suprised with Owen, Rustich, and Duda and while I’m not sold on Kunz yet, Baseball America seems to know something that I don’t. So I’ll take their word for it as they know better then I do.
The “report” is for the 2007 draft class. Of which, it is said to be “solid”. They can’t freaking draft ALL the players, believe it or not, other teams get to draft too. I’m pretty certain the Mets are drafting according to a set plan, and scouting reports they have. Personally, I think you’d have to give it a couple years with Omar at the helm before you can judge his drafting strategy. The guys coming up now (Reyes, Wright, Milledge) are from Steve Phillips are they not? From my understanding, the Farm System seems to be getting stronger, starting at the lower levels. I’m not COMPLETELY certain how it all works, but it seems to me that, building a strong farm system, you’d start at the bottom. As the players get better, they filter up through the system, thus making the ENTIRE farm good.
Reyes was signed under the Phillips regime, although I believe it had alot to do with Minaya’s (Who was Asst. GM at the time) connections.
Wright was a Phillips draft pick (Comp. Pick for Hampton)
Milledge was drafted during the 03 draft, which Phillips was fired midseason. I’m not sure technically who drafted him, weather it was Phillips or Duquette.
Carlos Gomez was signed in 2002, so that was a Phillips move.
Phil Humber was drafted in 2004, so that was a Duquette pick.
But Pelfrey was a Minaya draft pick. Mulvey and Joe Smith were draft picks by Minaya. Fernando Martinez and Deolis Guerra were signed internationally by Minaya. He’s
Our draft stunk. Our farm system stinks. Omar is terribly overrated but he’s done nothing for the farm system but live off the fluke decent picks the guys before him made.
Mulvey? Eh. Kunz- he’ll be as mediocre as Joe Smith. Woopee. Fernando Martinez? Who knows, but he has a better chance of flaming out than he does making it big. Guerra? Carp?
Garbage all. None of them will make it.
Where’s our Fausto Carmona? Our Pedroia? Our Ellsbury?
Our best grown players are a guy who can’t throw to 1st, a SS who drinks and parties as much as he pops up, and a HR-prone middle reliever.
The farm system needs an infusion of life? Gawddamn it, the farm system needs an enema.
Hey, why are you pooh-poohing the player who was #1 in the NL in wins shares this year? That’s nothing to sneeze at. It’s not being a homer to say he deserves MVP consideration.
However, I’m not going to give the Mets full credit for Wright since if it wasn’t for Ricciardi, he’d be a Blue Jay today.
True, true. They wanted to trade him for Jose Cruz Jr.! In 2002, when it’s not like Jose Cruz Jr. would even have made them contenders! That’s what’s so amazing about that non-trade. It’s the greatest non-trade in history.
It’s kinda ironic that you mention Carmona.
In 74 innings in 2006, he put up a 5.42 ERA and a 1-10 record. He works mainly off of a Fastball and a Sinker to get groundballs. For someone with great stuff, he doesn’t strike out as many batters as we think he should. Sound like someone we know?
(Cough)Mike Pelfrey(Cough).
All I’m saying is give these guys some time to work themselves into the Major League roster. Guys like Pelfrey and Humber still have worlds of talent.
Agree on the time factor, though I would feel better about Pelfrey if he was throwing as hard as he did when he was drafted. It’s easier to pitch to contact when you have a 97 mph sinker.
I think Pelfrey’s lack of a good breaking pitch two years in the minors is also alarming and the “Boaris-ization” comment some scout made a few months ago.
It depends on which Pelfrey we saw.
The only early in the year was throwing 92-94, the one later in the year was throwing 95-97. As for his breaking pitches, I like the potential of his slider…it’s very Carmona-like when it’s on. He just needs to get some consistancy with it and that will only come from work.
The problem I saw with Pelfrey’s veolcity was it came and went from game to game and inning to inning really. Obviously that start against Atlanta right now is his magnum opus. You wish you could just sit him down in front of a TV and make him watch that game until it sinks in.
In his last start of the year against Wash. he was throwing hard in the first inning, and then I noticed he dropped to 89-91 from that point on. Needless to say, he got whacked in what, the third inning?
The slider is an enigma to me. Personally I can get a lot higher on a guy like Humber who needs to work on command and location but has the pitches in his arsenal, than a guy l ike Pelfrey who is like ordering fine china and finding a couple of teacups and plates missing.
a-men
Wright, Reyes, Heilman, Kazmir, Milledge and Gomez were all drafted/signed and developed by Phillips. In three years of Omar, only Joe Smith has turned into a semi-regular contributer. Omar should take some heat for this, and in spite of his many other faults as a general manager, Phillips should get some props. If only he could have avoided avoid horrible trades and grotesque free-agent signings, he would have been alright.
And Essix Snead, I forgot about Essix Snead. Kudos to Phillips for that/
It takes years for players to work their way through the minors. Guys like Fernando Martinez, Deolis Guerra, ect will work their way through the system and improve the Minaya card in the next few years.
PS: Pelfrey was a Minaya pick too.
He tried to trade both Wright and Reyes. Should we really be giving props to Steve Phillips over them?
I’ll give him props for building a team that made a WS appearance. But that’s about it. I think his trade for Hampton was one of his better ones and was key to their 2000 season.
Hey, I never said he could make a trade. Maybe the Mets could give him a per diem and make him a scout.
And prospects take less and less time these days. With the way the Mats have been moving players through their system, Omar should have had at least one guy who could have helped out the bullpen down the stretch.
Eddie Toledo is the one who deserves credit for Reyes. I wouldn’t trust SP’s scouting instincts. He’ll have to do it for free if he wants that job, lol.
But I agree with you that the lack of any bullpen help from the farm system down the stretch was a glaring.weakness. They didn’t even call up Muniz until weeks after they were allowed to.
“Wright, Reyes, Heilman, Kazmir, Milledge and Gomez were all drafted/signed and developed by Phillips. In three years of Omar, only Joe Smith has turned into a semi-regular contributer.”
That is some of the most flawed reasoning I have seen in a long time, please tell me you are not actually a scientist… How many of those players you mentioned contributed while Phillips was still GM? Milledge and Gomez still haven’t been regular contributors and its been over 3 years since he has been fired. But yet somehow, Omar is supposed to instantaneously scout, draft, and develop a whole group of players. I’m sorry, there are arguments you can make both for and against Omar’s approach to young players but that is not one of them, that’s just not thinking before you speak.
I don’t have BA access but isn’t the bottom line of this article that the recent draft was a “solid” one by the Mets. A lot of the posts here seem exceptionally reactionary considering I’d rather see a “solid” draft than a “bad” one.
Think of the SI cover calling Omar “The Mix Master” from earlier this year, where he was surrounded by Wright and Reyes–two players he had no hand in acquiring. I was just noting that Phillips deserves some credit for the core of the team, credit that too often goes to Omar.
And yes, of course the jury is out on Omar’s ability to scout/develop. But so far, no young player he’s signed or drafted other than Smith and, for one start, Pelfrey, have had a positive impact on the club.
I’m still excited about the 17 year old Dutch guy Omar signed, Titus von Vanderhoot or whatever his name is.
umm… while I think that article seems a bit silly in context of the Mets collapse, it’s worth noting that the front page photo contained Oliver Perez, El Duque, Endy Chavez, John Maine and Willie Randolph (with Joe Smith cut out of the bottom). All were/are clearly Omar acquisitions.
Got it, you’re right. Memory failing.
SI should have released an end-of-season update with him flanked by Rickey, Chan Ho Park, Brian Lawrence, et al.
Fair enough.
OK then.
We have here on this blog many of the Mets faithful.
What can and what can Omar & Co. not, do for 2008?
I’m asking for FA names and teams and players in trades.
What indeed, my friends, should be done to have a season of hope and excitment the likes of 2006?
As a Mets fan, right now, I’m feeling very late 70’s.
Please advise…
Well, they won 88 games last season, and had to have an incredible stretch of everything going wrong to avoid 90+ wins. They also will be returning 3 all star starters.
So, that part reminds me nothing of the lte 70s!
Although to digress, it was nice back then when you could decide on a beautiful Saturday afternooon to go to the game, get there at 12:30, and buy some good field box seasts! No traffic problems either!
Anyway, sure they have some holes to plug, but this is not a wreck of a team with no talent at all. They are perfectly capable (and even likely) to win 90 gaems +/1- in 2008
The only bright side (if there is one) to the collapse might be that it would be almost impossible to pull that off again! Might eb a once in a lifetime event.
They are perfectly capable (and even likely) to win 90 gaems +/1- in 2008
Based on what? They’re a bunch of choking losers who could just as easily crap out and go down to 82 wins.
I’ll say it again….they’re CHOKERS. Don’t you dare act like 90 wins is probable. Not without a massive offseason overhaul.
Even if they do act like men instead of chokers and win 90, it probably won’t be enough anyway.
Woopee.
Get a grip dude. Sure the team could win 82. Or 98. Who knows, since everyone is different.
And it is ridiculous to say they are all “chokers”, and assume they will lose every game down the stretch next year. The problems seemed to come mostly from some tired, innefectual pitching, mostly from a few guys. That, and injuries.
Choking implies that their lack of success was mental (that is, the pressure caused them to not perform as they otherwise would). Somehow, I don’t think that was the case with most of them. Feleciano was iffy for quite a while. Do he suddenly go from clutch to choker (all mental)?
Anyway, the team will have enough new players on it that it will stand on it’s own merits, and can be competitive even without a complete cutting of the roster (which if anything, will likely make them worse!)
As always, this is all IMHO, something to which you are also entitled!
And it is ridiculous to say they are all “chokers
I don’t throw that term around. I reserve it for teams that blow a 7 game lead with 17 to play.
They’re chokers, and anyone who actually counts on them to produce when it really counts is being foolish.
They choked in 2006 and really choked in 2007.
They deserve ZERO faith, sorry. I just go for the uniform now, this crop of players is useless.
are you the guy who killed his mom after the mets lost a game? get a grip. if they squeak into the playoffs by 1 game you wouldn’t be squawking about “chokers.”
Oh, as to your request, probably nothing from the FA pool. Maybe try to snag a closer in waiting (at high $) or take a flyer on Silva or one of the guys coming off injury. Maybe Torrealba to catch.
But in general, slim pickens.
Trades are impossible to predict, since I have no idea who is actually available. But conceptually, I would love to see a young 2B or C for the nucleus (Barfield?), or a youngish middle rotation veteran that can crank out some innings and pitch deep into games (someone from Pitt?)
If they have to trade a name guy, GOmez is the one I would like to see them move.
But having watched Omar for a couple of years, I expect he will trade people you didn’t expect, to get someone you never heard of, or wouldn’t think he could (or would) get!
Reyes … last I check, farm systems aren’t built overnight. It would be nicer to see more diversification in what’s getting drafted in the amateur rounds but at least some of these middle relievers are showing ability to contribute nearly right out of the shoot. I think the Sox are still waiting on Hansen and the Braves on Devine.
see sandgnats.com