Draft week is upon us, and with that comes plenty of speculation about how the New York Mets will play their cards with the 11th and 14th overall picks. The Athletic’s Keith Law put out his MLB Mock Draft 3.0 on Monday, and he has the Mets selecting two college bats in Texas Tech’s Jace Jung and Arizona’s Daniel Susac.
Jace Jung, 2B/3B, Texas Tech
Law believes that the Mets will have a standard approach to this first round rather than trying to get fancy with over slot or under slot picks. That starts with the Mets selecting Texas Tech infielder Jace Jung with the 11th overall pick, the compensation pick the Mets received for failing to sign 2021 first-round pick Kumar Rocker.
Jung is the younger brother of 2019 first-round pick Josh Jung, and the brothers had strikingly similar numbers during their respective stints at Texas Tech.
The left-handed hitting Jung is regarded as a top 10 prospect in most rankings due to his mature approach at the plate and his remarkable ability to stay on the field. Jung was named the 2021 Big 12 Player of the Year as a freshman, leading the conference in just about every major statistical category.
While his sophomore year was not as prolific, he managed to draw 59 walks in 61 games for an absurd .481 OBP on the season. Jung has appeared in all 136 games for Texas Tech since his freshman season in 2020, compiling a career 1.116 OPS with 39 home runs and 147 RBI.
Jung’s draft stock is fueled entirely by his bat, as his defense leaves a lot to be desired. He has played predominantly at second base, but he has also seen time at third base and shortstop and will likely bounce around the infield if it means being able to keep his bat in the lineup.
Ultimately, it would be tough to pass up on a guy like Jung who could conceivably hit his way to the majors in just a few seasons of professional ball.
Daniel Susac, C, Arizona
Law has the Mets selecting Arizona catcher Daniel Susac with the 14th overall pick, another selection that would keep them right within the value of that pick. Like with Jung, Susac is the younger brother of a former high draft selection, as Andrew Susac was a second-round pick in the 2011 MLB Draft.
Daniel Susac has had an impressive two-year showing at Arizona. He earned freshman All-American honors and was named the Pac-12 Freshman Player of the Year in 2021, and he followed that up by becoming a unanimous All-American in 2022.
Susac entered college as a switch-hitter but has since moved to hitting right-handed, and his bat grades as one of the best among all collegiate backstops, as he has 24 home runs and a .999 OPS across 125 games at Arizona.
Susac’s defensive abilities are also highly regarded, as he is viewed as having a strong arm and above-average capabilities behind the dish.
Susac appears to be as well-rounded as catching prospects come, and given how the Mets draft the best player available, the presence of top prospect Francisco Álvarez would not be a factor in the Mets from drafting Susac.
One thing of note: this draft strategy of selecting within the perceived value of these picks is not a foregone conclusion for the Mets. The threat of the Mets flexing their financial muscle has loomed over the sport since Steve Cohen purchased the team back in 2020, and Joe Doyle of Prospects Live reports that there are at least some speculations about how that could play into the 2022 MLB Draft regarding top prospect Druw Jones.
Jones is at the top of just about every prospect ranking list, and the son of former major leaguer Andruw Jones seems to be a safe bet to be taken at the top of this draft. However, Doyle notes that some scouting executives believe it is possible the Mets will entice Jones by allocating nearly all of their draft capitol to select him at pick 11 and then go exceedingly under slot for pick 14. The amount of money that the Mets could offer Jones at pick 11 would be nearly identical to what the Orioles would be able to give him if they selected him first overall, so in this scenario it would come down to the market that Jones would want to play in.
This is all speculation of course, and Doyle himself notes that there have “hardly been any legitimate rumors regarding this situation in scouting circles.” Still, it is something to keep in mind as the draft nears, and it speaks to the ever-shifting narratives surrounding the spending power of the Mets.
The 2022 MLB Draft is set to kick off on Sunday, July 17th in Los Angeles and will be aired on MLB Network.
