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The Historic 3rd Round Mets Picks

By Former Writers

January 14, 2014 No comments


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The Mets have selected 47 players in third round of the June amateur draft. Of these 47 players, 15 of them have made it to the Major Leagues. That’s a 31% rate.

What kind of success have these 15 men had in the bigs?

1965 – Joe Moock – Joe made to the bigs in 1967 with the Mets and appeared in 13 late season games, starting 10 at Third Base, batting .225 with 0 HR and 7 RBI.

1972 – Craig Swan – Craig played 12 seasons in the Majors (1973-84) and played all but the final two games of his MLB career with the Mets. He pitched 231 games (185 starts) with a record of 59-72 and an ERA of 3.74 and 2 saves in 1,235.2 innings. In 1978, he led the NL in ERA with a 2.43 and won a career high 15 games in 1979 when he also threw a career high 253.1 innings. He finished his MLB career with two appearances with the California Angels after being released by the Mets in May 1984.

1978 – Brian Giles – Brian played 6 seasons in the bigs (1981-83, 1986-86, 1990) with the Mets (1981-83), Brewers, White Sox, and Mariners. He played more than half of his 287 MLB games in 1983 when he hit .245 with 2 HR and 27 RBI in 145 games. He was a career .228 hitter with 10 HR and 50 RBI.

1982 – Roger McDowell – Roger pitched 12 years in the majors (1985-96) with the Mets (1985-89), Phillies, Dodgers, Rangers, and Orioles. He was traded with Lenny Dykstra in the 1989 trade that brought Juan Samuel to the Mets. Roger pitched in 723 games with a 70-70 record and an ERA of 3.30 and 159 saves in 1,050 innings. He is among franchise leaders in games pitched (280 -13th all time) and saves (6th – 84).

1983 – Rick Aguilera – Rick pitched 16 years in the majors (1985-2000) with the Mets (1985-89), Twins, Red Sox, and Cubs. Rick pitched in 732 games (89 starts) with a 86-81 record and a 3.57 ERA and 318 saves (17th all time in MLB history) in 1,291.1 innings. He also struck out 1,030 batters and was a three time All-Star with the Twins (1991, 1992, 1993). Rick was part of the July 31, 1989 trade that brought Frank Viola to the Mets.

1988 – Doug Saunders – Doug appeared in 28 games with the Mets in two stints with the team in 1993. He hit .209 with 0 HR and 0 RBI.

1989 – Brook Fordyce – Brook played 10 seasons in the majors (1995-2004) with the Mets (3 games in 1995), Reds, White Sox, Orioles, and Devil Rays. He appeared in 623 games and hit .258 with 41 HR and 188 RBI.

1990. Micah Franklin – Micah appeared in 17 games for the Cardinals in 1997, hitting .324 with 2 HR and 2 RBI. He hit his second and final MLB Home Run off John Smoltz on May 17th, 1997.

1993 – Mike Welch – Mike pitched in 10 games (2 starts) for the Phillies in 1998. He had a career record of 0-2 with an ERA of 8.27. He made his MLB debut against the Mets on July 17, 1998 where he allowed a home run to Brian McRae. He appeared in his second MLB game on July 19th, also against the Mets when he allowed a home run to John Olerud.

1996 – Ed Yarnall – Ed pitched in 7 games with the Yankees (1999-2000) and made 3 starts. He had a career record of 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA in 20 career innings. He was one of the players along with Preston Wilson and Geoff Goetz that were traded to the Marlins for Mike Piazza.

1997 – Cesar Crespo – Cesar appeared in 132 games over three seasons (2001-02, 2004) with the Padres and Red Sox. He was a career .192 hitter with 4 HR and 14 RBI.

1999 – Jeremy Griffiths – Jeremy pitched in 10 MLB games with the Mets (2003) and Astros (2004). 9 of those 10 appearances came with the Mets and he had a career record of 1-4 with an ERA of 7.20 in 45.1 innings. His lone career victory was on August 3, 2003 where he started against the Cardinals at Shea where he went 7 innings.

2001 – Lenny DiNardo – Lenny pitched 6 seasons in the Majors (2004-09) with the Red Sox, A’s, and Royals. He appeared in 94 games (34 starts) with a record of 10-18 and an ERA of 5.36 in 257 innings.

2006 – Joe Smith – Joe has pitched 7 MLB seasons (2007-present) with the Mets (2007-08) and Indians. He has appeared in 439 games with a record of 27-16 and an ERA of 2.97 and three saves in 378.2 innings. Joe signed this offseason with the Angels on a 3 year, $15.75 million contract.

2008 – Kirk Nieuwenhuis – Kirk has played two seasons with the Mets (2012-13) and is a career .236 hitter at the MLB level with 10 HR and 42 RBI in 138 games.

(Photo Credit: Chris Trotman, Getty Images)

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