It’s finally here! The day of new Mets, as the first day for prospective players are drafted and new baseball careers for those whose names are called. After the abysmal year in 2017, the Mets have been given the No. 6 pick in the draft to choose a player who could possibly help their team and provide real impact.
The No. 6 pick is the highest they have had since 2004, when they picked Philip Humber, who was selected third overall. This event starts tonight at 7:00, where the first 43 picks, first round and Competitive Balance Round A are aired on MLB Network.
The subsequent 35 including second round and Competitive Balance B will be aired on MLB.com. Then on Tuesday, teams will pick from rounds third to 10th, starting at 1:00 p.m. The draft will then conclude on Wednesday with teams selecting the 11th to 40th picks starting at noon, again on MLB.com.
Major League Baseball is unlike any other sport when it comes to assessing players. A baseball player, no matter what round selected, will be part of an arduous process that can start at rookie-ball or short season, and traverse 5-7 levels to get to Major Leagues.
At the time of the draft, a team can look at a player and see how they can work with them and only hope that this player will realize the potential the team has for them. During that time, other things can happen that are not foreseeable, such as injuries, behavioral issues, vision problems, team chemistry issues. Between now and the finish, the variables that happen to a player are too great to predict the future of the player an organization selects, and this happens to any organization, not just yours.
The draft also plays out a strategy. Each team is allotted a certain number of money that the team is allowed to give to players. The amount of money is recommended to be given from the top pick to the tenth rounder in declining figures, pick by pick.
After the tenth round, there is a $125,000 slot, unless there is leftover slot due to some picks not getting the recommended amount. The extra money from the pool can be applied to later round picks that have a bonus in excess of $125k, however, giving under the $125k slot in later rounds does not reserve more money to other picks. If the team does not sign a player that was in their top ten picks, they will forfeit the money that was in that recommended slot range and cannot use it to sign other picks outside the top ten.
While some would not allow the gamble of giving money to picks not considered for rounds 1-10, keep in mind that several later rounders such as Seth Lugo (34th round), Daniel Murphy (13th round), and Collin McHugh(18th round) can be useful as well. The Mets bonus pool this year is $9,580,900.
The pick’s slot values are set up like this:
- Pick #6, $5,525,00
- Pick #48, $1,485,100
- Pick #83, $703,300
- Pick #110, $507,800
- Pick #140, $379,400
- Pick #170, $285,200
- Pick #200, $222,300
- Pick #230, $176,700
- Pick #260, $152,100
- Pick #290, $141,800
Currently at No. 6, the Mets are tied to several players. From what we had heard, Omar Minaya has taken the reins for the top two picks for the Mets this year before giving the other 38 to the scouting director, Marc Traumuta. Knowing what Omar has said in the past about his preferences, the Mets will be looking at athletes, and we’ve cover some of the options with the sixth overall pick here, here, here, and here.
