9
2012
Will Mets Sign Any More Picks As Deadline Looms?
An article by 
Teddy Stankiewicz: 75th Overall Pick
With the deadline for signing this year’s draft picks drawing steadily closer, the question is do the Mets have any money left to sign a few more of their draft picks from the 2012 MLB Draft? And even if they do have some money, which one’s are the players they should target? With their first round sandwich pick that they used to select catcher Kevin Plawecki, and their extra second-round pick, the Mets had 42 total choices in the 2012 draft. Of those, only 21 have signed contracts to play for the Mets so far.
The good news is they have signed 15 of their first 16 picks, including their top three choices. Actually, of their first 22 selections, they have signed 18 of them. But with the deadline for signing unsigned draft picks coming this Friday, July 13th at 5:00 pm EST, which remaining players if any, are the Mets going to sign?
UNSIGNED PICKS
Rounds 1 – 20
2nd round – Teddy Stankiewicz (RHP) taken 75th overall by the Mets with their second 2nd round pick, the first being Matt Reynolds. Stankiewicz was drafted out of high school by the Mets, but they must first convince the 6’4″ right-hander to turn pro rather than pursue his commitment to attend the University of Arkansas next year. The pool slot for where Stankiewicz was chosen is $680,400 so he won’t come cheap. With a three-quarter arm-slot, a projectable curveball, and a fastball already sitting at 90-92 with the potential for increased velocity down the road, let’s hope the Mets have enough dough-rei-mi to lure this big righty to Queens.
15th round – Nicholas Grant (RHP) is another high school hurler who the Mets are hoping will decide to sign with them and turn pro. This 6’2″ right-hander has a fastball that sits at 88-91 mph.
16th round – Myles Smith (RHP) another righty that throws his fastball in the low 90′s. Smith stands 6’1″ and is presently enrolled at Miami-Dade Junior College.
18th round – Paul Paez (LHP) this college left-hander is 5’9″ and has finished his sophomore season at San Diego State University. His fastball sits in the 88-91 range also. With two years of college eligibility remaining he still has some leverage, and may prove to be a tough sign.
Rounds 21 – 40
Only three of the final 20 picks have signed as of this writing. They are: 24th rounder Andrew Massie (RHP), 32nd rounder Jon Leroux (1B), and 38th rounder Jeff Reynolds (3B).
Of the 17 players yet unsigned from the last 20 rounds, 15 of them are high school players that the Mets will have to compete with colleges for. The two unsigned college players from the draft’s last half are: Gary Ward (LHP) from Bethel College in Tennessee who was taken in the 21st round, and Florida community college hurler, Brad Markey (RHP) who was drafted in the 35th round.
Here’s the breakdown on the 15 unsigned high school players taken in the last 20 picks, and the rounds they were drafted in:
Catchers: Zach Arnold (27), Austin Barr (29), Benny Distefano (37)
First Base: Chris Shaw (26)
Second Base: Patrick Ervin (39)
Shortstop: Leon Byrd (25), Vance Vizcaino (31), Donovan Walton (36)
Outfield: Mikey White (34)
Right-handers: Tejay Antone (22), Conner Baits (23), Jake Marks (28), Dustin Cook (30), Jared Price (33), David Gonzalez (40)
Hopefully the Mets will have the wherewithal to sign some of these players before Friday’s deadline. In recent years they have signed between 26 and 32 players each year, so to only have 21 under contract from this year so far is definitely a low figure.
One indication that there may be some player procurement funds available is the fact that the Mets signed three International Free Agents this week, just days after they became eligible to sign:
Franklin Correa – A 16-year-old second-baseman from the Dominican Republic.
German Rosario – A 16-year-old shortstop from the Dominican Republic.
Miguel Patino – A 16-year-old shortstop from Venezuela.
Now it all comes down to how good is our amateur scouting?
LGM!
About the Author: Peter Shapiro
The first time I went to Shea was not for a Mets game, it was for the Beatles concert there in August of '66. My first Met game was '67, a guy named Salty Parker was the interim-manager then. My first pennant race was 1969. As a 12 year-old that summer and fall, I managed to get to the park for 3 games. The first was the beginning of the Miracle which actually started on Tuesday July 8, 1969 with a day game against the Cubs. I was there a lot in '73. I saw games 3 & 5 of the 1973 NL Playoffs against the "Big Red Machine", from the upper deck behind home plate. It was from there that I witnessed the fight between Bud Harrelson and Pete Rose, and the mayhem that ensued. And that sweet victory in game 5! I saw a couple of WS games at Shea that year against that legendary Oakland A's club. I was there in 1985 for every single game Dr. K pitched including his two 16 strikeout performances, and the day he one-hit the Cubs on an infield single and the Mets won 1-0. I loved being a Met fan in those days. Hopefully we are once again preparing to emerge from the darkness.
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Key question here is how close are they to the Rookie Signing cap?
I’m betting it was thier plan all along to think they wouldn’t be able to sign them all and focused on the guys they took at the top first to be sure they stayed under and then will give take it or leave it offers to the lower picks who are left.
I know they’ve been low-balling players hoping they’ll sign. One such tactic that worked was with #10 pick Paul Sewald, presently pitching for the Cyclones. The pool amount for the 10th round slot is $125,000, but the Mets signed Sewald for $1,000 instead, saving $124,000 to be used to give low-ball offers to additional picks. They may have very well practiced this strategy up and down their draft list, and saved themselves a bunch of funds to use to sign additional picks this week. But even if they did and saved $, who knows if they’ll use the savings on draft picks, or perhaps use it on International Free Agents, which are in season now. I hope to see a few more of their high school picks signed by Friday, and perhaps one or both of the college lefties they still haven’t signed. It will be interesting to see what they do.
Well a plan I can actually get behind! LOL
One last question since I’m a bit hazy here…
On these HS kids, I see a lot have commitments to go to college noted as a signing issue, Is that a rule that if they sign they can’t go to college under contract or just us insisting that if we sign you you can’t play anywhere but in our system?
I understand the risks of doing what I proposed as if they get hurt we paid for nothing, Just wondering why we would be discouraging players from going to college or choosing baseball over their future.
I know if I were a HS kid as much as my dream of playing baseball would influence me, I know full well that baseball career is no guarantee and having that College degree will be important to me if I never made it to the MLB.
One of the reasons I like the NFL’s way od foing thing, they have to go to college before you can draft them!
This way these kids have some options to support themselves when thier career is done.
I am not to tuned into the draft that much and rely on you a a couple of the others on MMO for that info, but what you mentioned on Sewald is pretty surprising to me and I’m shocked Sewald accepted it.
The only light I can shed on his negotiating situation, is that he was a four-year college player. That means zero eligibility left, and zero negotiating leverage. Unless the player wants to go play in an independent league somewhere, he really isn’t in a position to make any demands.
Good question Metsie. As far as I know, it is Mets policy whenever they sign a high school player they negotiate a college scholarship into the deal so the prospect can get a degree when he retires, or during the off-season, but he can’t play any baseball for the college if he is still under contract to the big league club.
Thanks for clearing tha up for me Pete.
I suppose it makes business sense for them as they want to keep control on all of his Athletic activities and health and they couldn’t possibly do that in all the colleges these kids might go to.
I just wasn’t sure if it was an MLB thing.
I have followed this draft very closely and those of you who read my posts most likely realize this now. In my opinion, 2012 has been one of our best draft classes in quite a long time. We have already signed the guys who have the most upside (Cecchini, Kaupe, Welch, Flexen). The guys that are left would be nice to have, but if we don’t have the money, we dont really need to splurge much more. I believe we could have drafted better than Stankiewicz at that time anyways.
Hey you interested in doing a little writing for us? If you are email me at the website and I’ll get back in touch with you. GetMetsmerized@aol.com
I would LOVE to do some writing for MMO, but unfortunately I am taking summer classes among working and my social life off of the internet. Thank you for the opportunity and if I have some free time in the future, you will definitely be seeing an e-mail from me. However, I am sure you know of METS62FAN. He is my father and I am sure he would be equally or even more interested in writing for MMO as I am!
I think Stankovich holding out is crazy as well. and putting others into a proverbial waiting game. If he wants college, he needs to go, I dont think he will get more money at another time, most likely less.
And they signed none of them! YAY! Way to go Mets!!