New York Mets MLB Draft History And Projections

As we approach the 2018 MLB Draft on June 4, we’ll break down each major league team’s recent draft history, picking out tendencies where applicable, highlighting the team’s 2018 draft pool and also touching on the organization’s most successful recent draft picks.

Additionally, each team is listed with potential draft targets. These players either fit the typical modus operandi of the organization or are players who have been specifically linked or rumored as fits with a team throughout the spring. Baseball America will continue to add and subtract players from the potential draft target section as we continue to gather information in the final weeks leading up to the draft. Players are listed with a line of skinny to get a quick idea of who they are, but our full scouting reports will give a more complete picture of a player.

It’s also worth pointing out that while in some cases a team might appear to have a clear tendency with certain demographics (i.e. high school pitchers or college hitters), the sample we are looking at is small enough that teams could simply be following a best player available strategy and the results are showing something that’s not an overarching scouting philosophy. It’s more likely that tendencies can be discovered at the extremes, rather than slight apparent preferences in the last five years.

Here is a breakdown of the recent draft history of the New York Mets:

General Manager: Sandy Alderson (Since 2010)
Scouting Director: Marc Tramuta (Since 2017)
2018 MLB Draft Bonus Pool (Rank): $9,580,900 (9th)

2018 MLB Draft Order:

1st Round: 6th

2nd Round: 48th

3rd Round: 83rd

4th-40: 6th in each round.

First Round Picks Since 2013:

2017: David Peterson (20th)

2016: Anthony Kay (31st)

2015: Justin Dunn (19th)

2014: Michael Conforto (10th)

2013: Dominic Smith (11th)

Best Recent Pick (2010-2017 Drafts):

RHP Jacob deGrom (ninth round, 2010) proved to be a late-round gem for the Mets, who also took righthander Matt Harvey in the 2010 draft with the No. 7 overall pick. However, it’s been the Stetson product who’s been more valuable for the Mets since deGrom’s major league debut in 2014, when he won the NL Rookie of the Year award. Since then, deGrom has been a consistent and effective member of the volatile Mets rotation, making the All-Star game in 2015 and getting top 10 Cy Young votes in 2015 and 2017.

Recent Tendencies (Last Five Years/Top Five Rounds):

While the Mets are known for their power pitching at the major league level, there’s been no team that has drafted a higher percentage of hitters in the top five rounds since 2013 than the Mets. With scouting directors Tom Tanous (2013-2016) and Marc Tramuta (2017) at the helm, New York has selected 64 percent hitters, taking position players with 16 of the team’s 25 picks.

The Mets have also been college-heavy, drafting players from a four-year university 60 percent of the time, which is the 9th-highest rate of all 30 clubs.

The college preference has held up in the first round, as the Mets have taken four college players in the first round since 2013 and just one high school player—Dominic Smith in 2013. At the same time, the Mets have taken pitchers with each of their last three first round picks.

Potential Draft Targets:

C Joey Bart — The top catcher in the class, Bart has an all-around game, including plus raw power and tantalizing defensive tools

3B Alec Bohm — A corner infielder with immense power in his bat, Bohm has a sound plan and approach in the batter’s box

3B Jonathan India — One of college baseball’s most impressive performers, India is solid across the board and is tapping into unprecedented power this spring

LHP Matthew Liberatore — A projectable lefthander who’s been up to 96 at times, Liberatore has three potential plus pitches and good feel for each

SS/2B Nick Madrigal — A speedy infielder with exceptional bat-to-ball skills, Madrigal has a long track record of hitting and plus defensive potential as well

LHP Shane McClanahan — An electrifying, albeit sporadic, lefthander with some of the best pure stuff in the class, McClanahan has a fastball that tickles 100 mph

RHP Brady Singer — A high-probability major leaguer with middle-of-the-rotation stuff and one of the longest track records in college