So i ask..where we all those first round picks he had? He had only 1 by my count…he had two supplamental picks this year and took a potential closer with very good stuff, and solid lefty with good control and a mix of three pitches…all this without being allowed to go overslot…

“My point was how come the Red Sox can build a winning team, sign free agents, and maintain their own draft picks?”

The things is..how many teams can do that? Only a handful of teams can consistantly do all three of those, Mets havent been able to yet…but you cant blame them for the signings of Pedro, Beltran, Wagner, or Alou..those were all pretty good moves so its tough to keep draft picks with that.

As for the Red Sox losing their picks…they lost it last year for Lugo, Drew actually did not cost them any picks (must have not been offered arbitration after he opted out) and Clement was only a class B free agent and the sox lost only a 3rd round pick for him…they gained extra picks that year from other teams signings of Pedro, Cabrera, and Lowe so they had several picks.

I think that Omar has had one bad and one good year with the trades so i definitly agree with you that this is a big year for him. As for the internation market im assuming u mean at the major league level because the Mets have done a superior job in finding young talent. But remember, the Mets were second in bidding for Dice-K and Okajima was a complete surprise to everyone, including the Red Sox. How many teams get lucky with international free agents at the major league level…not all that many (dont see braves, phillies, marlins or nationals with any)

Comparing it to a team like the Red Sox probably isnt the best thing…considering they are the model franchise in baseball right now. Even comparing them to the Yankees is difficult because Omar has not been allowed to go over slot like Cashman has… As Omar said in the BA article, they are reconsidering their draft formula…and hopefully you start seeing some money thrown around to those guys that fall in the draft

I’d love to have another Bannister anyway.

Because of the better peripherals, seems to me Bannister had more upside. So what is the difference?

In addition to later round picks, Omar has had quite a few first round picks since he’s been the Mets GM. Now I concede that he deserves at least 1 more year to see if some of these picks will pan out, but I think by the end of next season if not much comes of them you can start to question his judgment.

As for the yankees and red sox, they have gained many early round picks because of the signing of their own class A free agents

I know. That’s part of my point. Which is why do the Mets have so few ‘class A free agents? I think part of the reason is the Mets’ tendency to sign so many lesser players or older players that either retire or fade to the point that they are no longer Class A free agents (Valentin, for example).

My point was how come the Red Sox can build a winning team, sign free agents, and maintain their own draft picks? I don’t really agree that they don’t sign Class A free agents. What about Lugo, Drew, Clement? Maybe they sign fewer than the Mets, but then that begs the question how can they meet so many of their needs through trades, international free agents, and non-tendered free agents like David Ortiz? Why aren’t the Mets doing the same?

And the Mets got a high draft pick for Bradford. They got a 1st round sandwich pick. Most of Boston’s young homegrown players were gotten with picks at the same point in the draft or later. There’s no excuse

As I said, Omar deserves another year to see if some of that talent he’s acquired pans out, but after that it’s fair game to question him as GM if the farm remains empty.

This is what I think:

1. Fernando Martinez A- (The young outfielder is 19 years old, and scorches line drives. He has a sweet swing, probably will strike out a bit, but has 30 HR pop, with the ability to hit .300. Has an average glove, speed and arm. Injuries held his season a little short, he struggled a bit in AA)

2. Kevin Mulvey B+ (4 pitch pitcher, zoomed through the organization with no trouble. Has the ability to keep the ball down, throws in the low 90s and strikes out a decent amount of hitters. Very young, only 22, has potential to be #2 starter.)

3. Deolis Guerra B (Great, young, talented left hander with a nice fastball-changeup combo. He still needs to get more command of his pitches, and strike out a few more guys. Haven’t seen a whole lot of him or his breaking stuff. Although young, was already a Futures Game selection. The guy is 18 years old, 6′5″. Will take him 2-3 years to develop.)

4. Carlos Gomez B (Great glove, amazing speed. has the ability to make some good contact. Has bad hitting habits that need to be solved in AAA. Gomez still needs to prove his power.)

5. Jon Niese B (Nice lefty, 21 years old, has some good velocity, a nice curveball and a good change. Not a big home run pitcher, and his biggest enemy is the walk. He has the ability to be very dominant MLB pitcher, but needs to prove so in AA)

6. Philip Humber B- (His curveball is pretty slick, has some decent velocity on the fastball. He has yet to pitch 4 innings in one game. This is a crucial year for him to prove himself. It is very possible that he will either be a reliever or simply traded away. He is 25 years old)

7. Robert Parnell B- (Throws pretty hard, has some nice breaking stuff. He has improved on his command this year. Parnell has yet to put it all together, but has potential to be extremely dominant. He is 22 years old.)

8. Eddie Kunz C+ (Extremely raw of talent for someone who went to college. He definitely has potential, and electric stuff. Probably will be a very dominant closer. He has been struggling the the Arizona Fall League, and also put up a 6.75 ERA in Brooklyn.)

9. Nick Carr C+ (Currently a starter, probably will be a reliever in the majors. Just 20 years old, throws gas, successful in Brooklyn and Hawaii)

10. Anderson Hernandez C (Still technically a rookie, Hernandez has some decent wheels, an amazing glove, and can hit minor league pitchers. But is he just a AAAA hitter?)

I haven’t seen enough of Duda….

As for the yankees and red sox, they have gained many early round picks because of the signing of their own class A free agents….Red sox got picks for guys like Damon, Pedro, Mueller, Lowe, Cabrera and the Yankees for guys like T. Gordon and Lieber,

They lose picks too its just that they get picks back because other teams sign their class A free agents. They havent signed the typoe of class A free agents over the years that the Mets have and when they have, teams have taken their class A free agents which gave them a first round pick. Teams who have taken the Mets picks have been protected (1st 15 picks).. thats what happened with a guy like chad bradford..

Yankees and Sox have also acquired a lot of their top players from trades too….Beckett, Abreu, Arod, Lowell, Schilling, etc.

Beato was drafted by the Mets in the 17th round, for christsakes!. He was asking for $800,000. AFAIK, no one who was drafted in that round got that money. So the Wilpons are cheap????

If you’re going to go around deflecting blame for the draft at least make a sound case for your opinion. Accusations are cheap.

And it’s not just the fact they got gems from later rounds. But why is it that they and the Yankees are not losing all their 1st round draft picks but the Mets are??

They’re signing just as many free agents as the Mets.

Huh? I’d like to know.

I’ll be interested to know if anyone will answer that honestly instead of just being vague so they can defend him 3-4 years from now if nothing crops up.