For your information Alex, the Mets Ike Davis disagrees with you. He says he and David Wright are currently the Mets power hitters. And when Lucas Duda relaxes, according to Ike, the Mets will have three power hitters.

Part of this is due to the NFL limiting draft picks to College kids not High School kids which the MLB seems to favor these days due to some Cieling that is percieved and that after 4 years of training they will still be young.

College players don’t need that much time in the Minors and thats why they get through the MiLs quickly.

Also the College system in Football is a much more professional type of a league than College Baseball or Minor Leagues are.

So it’s really apples and oranges comparing first round NFL success with MLB Success…
NFL does it the right way. Their players are smarter and more ready to play (College educated) They don’t hold onto picks for 3-4 years the way Baseball does. They throw them into the NFL and maybe will wean them into the game (ala QBs and CBs) but they get the learning and have to succeed against the NFL players not some trainee in waiting who may never get to the MLB to show they are worth playing for the pro team.

Are the Mets willing to wait that long instead of filling a gaping hole?

This is Why I get on people rating players based on cielings…

Having a high cieling is usually just saying the kid is already pretty good and doesn’t need a lot of coaching and how young he is at the time he is taken…

And mostly because you can’t really tell how good a kid could be or predict how he will respond to coaching nor how he will grow into his frame.

It is assumed that a guy who needs less coaching will have a higher performance AFTER coaching than some other player who is rough around the edges will…
But thats hardly the case.
Sometimes you are already as good as your going to get or know what it is you need to know (see a Harvey or Wheeler) Sure you can try and tweak and perfect what they know but thats just a minor increase compared to a guy who didn’t know it got picked later and then learned what he needed to become a star (See Ryan Howard)

How many 1st Round picks become a player LIKE Bourne?
Whats the ratio there?

You weight the draft pick based on what is in it and what you might get against the player who will cost you the pick.

It’s a much tougher decision with the 11th pick than it was when people complained about Omar giving away mid to late 1st rounders to get what he got instead….

He gives the team a Gold Glove fielder in CF that I can imagine will turn a lot of singles into doubles and doubles into triples in Citi Field who is familiar with the NL East along with settling the Mets question of who will bat leadoff. I can envision a Bourn, Tejada 1,2 combo atop of the order.

Looking at it like this I can see why the Mets would consider giving up the pick in an effort to sign him. Though I still have to wonder if going with a Nieuwenhuis or Den Dekker option might not be the better alternative as well.

Then though it comes down to what it would take to sign Bourn and that may make any attempt moot.

That is rarely, if ever true. Even in weak draft classes, there are some very obvious tiers.

How? Are the Mets really better for having Jason Bay? What did he bring that any of the guys we currently have on the 40 man don’t?

While you might consider BOTH to be a fail….
One Fail gives you nothing while the other gives you WAY more than the other because at least he is good enough to stay in the MLB!

What happens when a free agent busts? …they stay around…

Were the Mets in a better position to compete with the big club, I’d be more enthusiastic about the free agent market. But free agents are a patch. You can’t build on them. Not if yo uare making a sustainable winner.

If you value an UNKNOWN UNPROVEN 1st round pick that won’t be a factor for another 4 years MORE than a KNOWN PERFORMER who will help win games now and for the next 4 years or beyond…

You got bigger problems than just some rule in the CBA….

I agree completely with your takes. I like that we now a philosophy in place that preaches development. I’m tired of the long list of OFers and the lack star home grown talent. Call it what you want, we are in a rebuilding mode. Bourne, for as gifted as he is will not turn us into a contender. That is why I only want him short term and only if it doesn’t cost the pick.