10
2013
2013 Mock Draft: TTF Has Mets Taking 3B Colin Moran
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Through The Fence Baseball posted their updated 2013 Mock Draft yesterday. The first round of the 2013 MLB draft keeps shrinking they say. When the Los Angeles Angels signed free agent Josh Hamilton a couple of weeks ago, they lost their first-round pick. They became the second team to lose their first-round pick, joining the Atlanta Braves, who lost theirs when they signed B.J. Upton in November. There may be more shrinking depending on what happens to Kyle Lohse and Michael Bourn. Anyway, lets check out the landscape and see who they have the Mets pegged for.
1. Houston Astros — Austin Meadows, OF, Grayson HS (GA)
I see a lot of other mock drafts have Mark Appel going as first pick. The Astros passed on him last year, however, so why wouldn’t they do it again? Some say because Carlos Correa was too special of a talent to pass up. Well, so is Meadows. At 6’-4” and 200 pounds, the left-hander already has a major league body and he is one of the youngest players in the draft. He has a plus arm, plus speed and great bat speed. A five-tool player with as much potential as anyone in this draft.
2. Chicago Cubs — Sean Manaea, LHP, Indiana State
3. Colorado Rockies — Clint Frazier, OF, Loganville HS (GA)
4. Minnesota Twins — Ryne Stanek, RHP, Arkansas
5. Cleveland Indians — Mark Appel, RHP, Stanford
6. Miami Marlins — Kris Bryant, 3B/OF, San Diego
7. Boston Red Sox — Bobby Wahl, RHP, Ole Miss
8. Kansas City Royals — Austin Wilson, OF, Stanford
9. Pittsburgh Pirates* — Kohl Stewart, RHP, St. Pius X HS (TX)
10. Toronto Blue Jays — Reese McGuire, C, Kentwood HS, (WA)
11. New York Mets — Colin Moran, 3B/1B, North Carolina
Moran is one of the better college bats in the draft and was impressive at the Cape Cod League, hitting .314 over 39 games with eight doubles, six home runs and led the league with 42 RBI. As a sophomore at UNC, he hit .365 with 11 doubles, three home runs, 35 RBI and struck out just 24 times, showing a solid approach at the plate. At 6’-3” and 200 pounds, the power is going to come fast.
* * * * * * * *
A couple of days ago, me and Sean were talking about Stanford’s Austin Wilson, we both love the kid’s makeup and power potential plus he has a lot of polish. Trouble is that as I told Sean, there was no way Wilson doesn’t go within the first seven picks, long before the Mets make their selection. TTF has Kansas City taking him in the No. 8 spot. I don’t even think he’ll be there for them.
As for Moran, I think if the Mets go into this yet again without addressing an organizational need, a lot of fans are going to really get frustrated. This system of ours, is still hanging back in the bottom half of all 30 MLB systems and needs quality outfield bats. They need quality left-handed starters. They have more infield prospects and righthanders than you can can shake a stick at. I was shocked that a couple of those surplus pieces didn’t go toward getting the Mets an outfielder. What’s the good of having all that surplus if you can’t use it to address other significant needs?
Every time I hear someone say “Mets in 2014″, I look at our current outfield, then I look at what we have in the minors, and then I say, “yeah, right”.
About the only thing that appeals to me about Moran is that he plays for North Carolina, who always pumps out a stream of solid players and is one of the top baseball programs in the country. That’s where Omar Minaya picked up Matt Harvey from.
You can read the entire mock draft here.
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.
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It’s so early it’s hard to even get into this. How many times are pred. in January on the draft actually right?
Yeah. If I am not mistaken, do these guys have an entire season to play before the draft?
Yeah, but I am sure those things are at this point almost secondary. Most teams I am betting have their boards done and little change is made based on this years results. That being said, I don’t think you can predict this far out. Something, even one thing, changing could throw off all of it.
Injury being the biggest factor.
Yup.
Wait, the mock draft has the mets picking a 3rd baseman when, didn’t we just lock a guy up for 8 more years????
“mock draft ”
A lot of times this mock drafts don’t even consider team needs. They are just ranking the players.
You have to remember, the MLB draft is a completely different animal than the NFL draft. It makes no sense to draft based on current organizational need, because whomever is drafted is going to need at least three years before making the big leagues, and a lot can happen in three years.
It’s always good to draft the best available talent in order to stock up the farm system. Perhaps the Mets won’t need a third baseman for the next decade, but say they draft this kid and he turns out to be a legit prospect in two years — there’s going to be a team that’s looking to rebuild, and if they happen to want a promising young third baseman in return for an All-Star caliber player, the Mets would have the piece they’re looking for.
actually, in his profile, it says 3B/1B. So he is not just “blocked” by Wright.
Plus, traditionally, plenty of 3B/1B types end up as corner OFs.
so yeah, draft the best impact/upside bat available, and sort out any psitional logjam later. having too many studs piling up at a position is actually a good problem to have!
now, when you get down a few rounds and are sorting through the flawed/toolsy projection types (glorified filler?), then you likely have a lot of toss up choices, and can fill in gaps, such as drafting a few extra catchers if you have none at the lower levels. Or a couple of polished college seniors with little upsade, as organzational types (unless you get real lucky!)
‘It’s always good to draft the best available talent in order to stock up the farm system. ‘
This is my understanding as well. You draft the best available.
Well, Sandy and his goons have brought us nimmo, cecchinni and plawecki… Were those the best availlable players at the draft? No, yet they did… Now go ahead and defend them as to why they drafted them instead of what seem to be the best kids in the draft??
Can you please explain Courtney Hawkins ?
explain what? Based on all the facotrs (stats, scouting, postiion/defense, signability) they liked DC better. how that decision works out is years down the road to be decided.
and it is not revisionist. At the time, both guys were ranked in about the same (roughly mid-teens) area.
but they certainly did not make the pick based on organzational need.
MOCK DRAFT
New York Mets: Gavin Cecchini, SS, Barbe HS (La.)
Although this prediction is based upon the Pirates over-drafting Marrero, I’ve heard that the Mets are leaning towards a toolsy position prospect, with shortstop being a priority.
They could also go after Hawkins—if he’s still there—or David Dahl. However, there will also be a slew of college right-handers to pick from, including Michael Wacha and Chris Stratton.
=========
sounds like it was a positional pick…
Maybe his color was a distraction. Oh yea Jackie Robinson.
I apologize for the race card but it sure seems that way. I would love to have a Stanton, Heywood in our OF. Its the Kevin Mitchell and Lastings Millege syndrome.
Just_Da_Damaja wouldve be crucified by the Rocky Balboa crowd for saying this
BBLB and Justa
I went to the Fight of the Century.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight_of_the_Century
I rooted for the White Man’s Hope.
No comment
Wellthe whole point should be based on the guys running the draft, let’s not forget that is depodesta running it, a guy who’s greatest acquisition has been blake dewitt, so go figure…
I wonder if DePodesta tweaked his AMATEUR DRAFT COMPUTER FORMULA….SMH….LMAO
You always draft BPA (best player available) in the early rounds of a draft and not draft for need. Sure, if you value a couple of players similarly, might as well go with the organizational need. However, I´d rather draft the next Matt Harvey and trade him for an impact outfielder eventually if that´s the need instead of drafting the next Kirk Nieuwenhuis instead, just because I have a need there.
As for the Mets´ system, according to Baseball Prospectus it´s “easily a top 15 in Baseball” system and according to John Sickels´ grades an easy “top 10 in Baseball system”. A bunch of other prospect outlets have labeled the Mets´ system as much improved and quite deep at the lower levels.
Baseball America isn´t as high on the Mets´ system due to the supposed lack of upper level talent beyond explicitly Zach Wheeler and now Travis D´Arnaud.
Apparently BA doesn´t like Wilmer Flores, Jeurys Familia, Cory Mazzoni, Wilfredo Tovar or Matt Den Dekker too much for example and doesn´t think anyone from the current upper minors will really help in New York over the next two years than the two top prospects.
They do acknowledge the upside & depth of talent at the lower levels but feel it´s still too far away to be weighed so high. Considering that a bunch of the A-ball arms seem pretty advanced for their ages and could arrive pretty quickly, I believe BA is short-selling the Mets´ system right now.
Of course, the upper levels are indeed quite thin due to the recent graduations of Matt Harvey, Jenry Mejia, Josh Edgin, Jordany Valdespin or Kirk Nieuwenhuis who all lost rookie status in 2012.
In any case, opinions about the quality of the Mets´ system seem to vary quite a bit right now. More than with most other organizations. Still, positional need should not matter regarding the decision who to draft in Round 1.
It´s also why the Kevin Plawecki pick last year isn´t any better or worse due to the trade for D´Arnaud. You worry about the “problem” once it happens. The Jays had the luxury of having both a quality young regular catcher in the majors and a top prospect C in their system and just added a CY Young award winner…
Joe, even though they have not yet converted some excess into filling another need (and I agree 100% that they will have to do that), the key is, that excess is still there, and hopefully moving up another level this season. meaning they will be even more valuable as trade chips. If a young pitcher looks exciting in A+, if they can step up and dominate in AA their trade value should really jump.
With the price of outfield bats, the mets couldn’t just give up a few prospects to get someone who’d be good enough to actually impact the ML team. It would cost at least two top prospects.
Now, even after the RA trade, their system is still ranked in the bottom 15 in the game. That means, they don’t just have spare parts sitting in the minors that could easily be replaced. You can look at the outfield all you want and wonder why they don’t just trade for a quality bat. The reason is simple, it’s because they are only rich in pitching prospects and just one trade would diminish that surplus dramatically while also not improving the 2013 club enough to make it worth it.
But, next season, when they have almost fifty million coming off the books, their assets will be more then enough to field a competitive team. I still don’t see why that’s so difficult to fathom…
I will say that the Mets’ draft strategy the past two years has left me extremely frustrated and I certainly hope they get the best possible outfield bat at their disposal when their pick comes up. The Cecchini pick, with Hawkings and McCullers still on the board, to me, was the worst pick they’ve made in the last ten years. They need offense in their system. Offense that won’t take 5/6 years to develop.
I was hoping, that their strategy the past two seasons was to pick players that would be ready around 2015. Then, with these next few drafts pick players that had a chance to come quicker. Hopefully, making then all ready around the same time.
I also believe that money played a huge part in last years draft. Especially the Cechinni pick and the loss off Teddy S, out 2nd rounder, they let walk. I believe they just didn’t have the cash at the time. Hopefully, they’ll have the entire allotment available this year since they’re not spending money on the ML team.
the difference in price between the 2 guys was 200K…
the difference in production is alot more
thats not a money issue…thats a Depo issue
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1256029-mlb-draft-signings-2012-tracking-latest-prospect-deals-contracts-and-bonuses
and just b/c u have money “available”, it doesnt mean that the players u need are available at the time..i agree with sandy’s philosophy in that u dont spend to spend…
HOWEVER
we do need outfielders…
and there were more than a few available this off-season….
if u look at the 2013 off-season, how many top free-agent OF are there?
Curtis Granderson? LMAO …he’s 32, hitting in a hitters ballpark
Ellsbury? injury-prone, hitting age 30…game based on legs
Beltran? LMAO…36…would still be the best player on this club…
Suzuki? 46…
How about 2014?
as the amount of free-agents dwindle each year…it turns into a players market…
i almost think Sandy is tanking the team on purpose to get the WIlpons to sell…
Joe, Sandy will not trade excess arms in the future, he doesn’t trade prospects period. It’s going to be a long time until we see a star caliber outfielder come through the Mets system. Nimmo is the only hope and he’s far from a sure thing. You’re best hope is that he can finally draft some outfield talent or sign a 3 year stop gap like Bourn until things change.
Prospects will be traded when a core is in place at the major league level. That core isn´t in place yet. Hopefully it will a year from now when Harvey, D´Arnaud and Wheeler are hopefully established in the majors. Maybe one of Mejia or Familia has emerged as well. Ike Davis has hopefully shown he´s more of a building block than a spare part to go with Wright & Niese.
Once that happens you a) shift focus from longterm to shorter term, b) spend money on free agents and c) start trading prospects for veteran major leaguers.
And a year or two from now, the deep talent pool, currently at the A-Ball or Short Season Ball level and thus not worth all that much in trades should have progressed towards the upper minors.
If pitchers such as Michael Fulmer, Domingo Tapia, Rafael Montero, Luis Mateo or Hansel Robles for example do well in 2013, they´ll probably finish 2013 at least in High A Ball if not Double A and have a lot more trade value than they have today.
It´s extremely unlikely to build a strong “all homegrown team” and I´m pretty sure that Sandy Alderson & Paul DePodesta realize that too. However, it doesn´t mean that you don´t want to lay the groundwork for a longterm winner first before making shortterm moves instead of just going for the quick fix (again).
“Every time I hear someone say “Mets in 2014″, I look at our current outfield, then I look at what we have in the minors, and then I say, “yeah, right”.
This is why a trade or free agent signing for a quality young MLB or MLB ready OF should be an essential component of this rebuilding process if they are serious about 2014.
The Mets will enter the 2013/2014 off-season with projected payroll obligations for the 2014 season of roughly 60 million $ or so (including Jason Bay´s deferral).
That should leave plenty of payroll space to add a couple of veteran outfielders. And actually, there will be a bunch of pretty good outfielders eligible for free agency next winter:
Shin Soo Choo
Jacoby Ellsbury
Hunter Pence
Corey Hart
Nelson Cruz
Chris Young jr. (barring the A´s picking up an 11.5 million $ option)
David Murphy
Curtis Granderson
Alex Rios
and others.
The Mets could easily sign any two of these with their financial flexibility and surround Kirk Nieuwenhuis (or Matt Den Dekker), batting 8th and playing CF with two free agents and suddenly have a pretty solid outfield.
And that´s not even looking at the option of making a trade for a younger outfielder such as Dexter Fowler, Carlos Gonzalez, Yoenis Cespedes or others by giving up some of the young talent depth from the system or major league roster.
The much bigger key going forward is “how good will Harvey / Wheeler / D´Arnaud and others that are already here be” instead of “who will be in outfield in 2014 or 2015″. Complementary players are a lot easier to buy than core players.
Joe, If you suspect that Moran will not be available at 11, who do you expect to be there?
And I do agree that the system needs more LHP.
I may have confused you, I do expect Moran to be there. I’m questioning the wisdom of taking another corner infielder when we are stocked at the position as well as blocked for the next 5 years at MLB level, and converting him into an outfielder.
You did. I read that sentence wrong about Wilson. My bad.
Is there another OF that projects close to that Draft Spot?
And honestly, if he’s the best available, I’d still take him. Maybe he can transition to the OF. Maybe Ike end’s up getting traded or decides to take his talents else where when his contract is up… I’d like to see LHP and some power bats taken in the upper rounds, regardless of position.
“Is there another OF that projects close to that Draft Spot?”
-Aaron Judge 6’7 230LBS RF (very Athletic for such a big man)Power hitting Righty…If he shows his Plus plus power in games this year in College ball he should be a top 10 pick
-Justin Williams 6’3 215LBS RF/3B Power hitting Lefty with
-Ryan Boldt 6’1 190LBS OF
-Michael Lorenzen
Keep your eye on LHP Rob Kaminsky out of St. Joseph HS. He’s my early prediction of the Mets 1st round pick.
I’d prefer a player out of college than HS.
Ryan Crowley
6’3 outfielder
6.7 60 speed
Great arm
Strong Bat
Quick Swing
Iona Prep