Today the Winter Meetings were wrapped up with the Rule 5 Draft and while the Mets found great success with Sean Gilmartin last year they decided to pass with the 24th pick this time around.

The Mets did lose one player in the Major League phase of the draft, starting pitcher Matthew Bowman to the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals will now have to keep the right-hander on their 25-man roster for the entire season and he must be active for a minimum of 90 days.

Bowman struggled in 2015 pitching for the AAA Las Vegas 51’s going 7 -16 with a 5.53 ERA and 1.679 WHIP. He pitched a career high 140 innings allowing 184 hits and striking out 77 compared to 51 walks. MLB Pipeline had him ranked as the Mets #19 prospect while I have him at #27 in my own.

He did have a strong year in 2014 though pitching to a 3.22 ERA while striking out 124 in 134 innings combined between the Binghamton Mets and 51’s. The former Ivy League pitcher has a delivery similar to Tim Lincecum and relies on his heavy sinker to get hitters out. He also features a slider and curveball but had trouble throwing strikes this year as evident by his career high 3.3 BB/9.

I think there is a good chance the Cardinals could stick Bowman in the bullpen as the long-man/spot starter type ala Carlos Torres and keep him for the whole season.

Possibly the best news for the Mets from the draft is that they didn’t lose prized outfield prospect Wuilmer Becerra who came over in the R.A. Dickey trade. The likelihood of someone taking Becerra straight from the Savannah Sand Gnats (low-A) was slim but not something the Mets could afford with a lack of depth in the minors in the outfield.

Becerra is coming off a strong year in which he hit .290/.342/.423 with 27 doubles, three triples, nine homeruns, and 16 stolen bases while playing his home games in pitcher friendly Grayson Stadium. He is currently the Mets #12 prospect according to MLB Pipeline and I have him at #6 on my won list.

Other Mets prospects who were available in the Major League portion and where thought to have a chance in being drafted included utility player T.J. Rivera and reliever Paul Sewald.

The Mets did lose two players in the Minor League portion of the draft, pitcher Octavio Acosta and infielder Alfredo Reyes. Acosta did no pitch in the Mets system in 2015 as he was on loan in the Mexican League where he was 1-1 with a 8.68 ERA 1.643 WHIP. He pitched for the Brooklyn Cyclones and Savannah Sand Gnats in the Mets system during the 2014 season.

Reyes spent the a majority of the 2015 season with the Brooklyn Cyclones (68 games) and got a cup of coffee with the St. Lucie Mets (3 games). He struggled hitting this year, hitting .226/.266/.280 while playing mostly shortstop and some second base.