Many might wonder what new president of baseball operations David Stearns has in store for his first Draft in Queens, particularly how he might approach it because how you draft defines the type of team you want to build. According to a report from The Athletic‘s Will Sammon, several industry members believe the Mets might shift their draft philosophy with Stearns and VP of amateur scouting Kris Gross at the helm. In addition, the belief is the Mets might do a mixture of what the Brewers and Astros have done in the past and sign “explosive athletes with big tools and pitchers with raw electric stuff.”

Stearns and Gross’ Draft Success Rate

It’s no shock Stearns didn’t have the best luck in the draft during his time in Milwaukee, but he has used this approach in signing players wherever he goes. Gross meanwhile oversaw five Drafts during his time in Houston, having success in both the early and late rounds with players cracking the big club roster. He was responsible for the signings of SS Jeremy Peña (3rd round), Korey Lee (1st round), RHP Hunter Brown (5th round), C Garrett Stubbs (8th round), LHP Patrick Sandoval (11th round) and OF Jake Meyers (13th round).

Since 2012, when Gross joined the Astros organization, the club has a league-high 64 players they drafted and signed to either appear in the Majors with the team or another MLB team.

Jett Williams, Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Mets Recent Drafts

In recent years, the Mets have drafted the likes of SS Colin Houck, C Kevin Parada, INF Jett Williams, P Kumar Rocker, OF Pete Crow-Armstrong, 3B Brett Baty and OF Jarred Kelenic in the first round alone. The results are a mixed bag at best, looking at these players. Baty has struggled during his MLB time but continues to mash in Syracuse.

Williams looks prized to be one of the best grabs in quite some time and might debut in Queens as soon as 2025, with Houck looking like he can shape into a solid everyday player. Parada has struggled mightily at times but has also shown strides of promise. Armstrong and Kelenic are no longer with the club, and Rocker never even signed a contract.

2024 Draft Projections

While Draft standouts like Travis Bazzana and Jac Caglianone won’t see the light of day after the fifth pick, the Mets still have plenty of options for their first pick at No. 19.

ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, who also reports that the Mets are looking to target “big tools and outstanding athletic types,” has the Mets drafting RHP Brody Brecht from the University of Iowa. Brecht is MLB’s No. 21 ranked prospect in the Draft, with his fastball and slider comparable to Pirates’ ace Paul Skenes when Brecht is dialed in. McDaniel also notes the Mets could take RHP William Schmidt (No. 16), LHP Kash Mayfield (No. 30), or RHP Dax Whitney (No. 56) on the pitching side, and OF Vance Honeycutt (N0. 22), SS Griff O’Ferrall (No. 38), OF Dakota Jordan (No. 34) or SS Tyson Lewis (No. 39) on the position player side. (Lewis or Whitney might even spill over to the second round).

In Baseball America’s latest mock Draft, the Mets select Seaver King, an OF/SS (No. 17) out of Wake Forest. With a name like Seaver, it must be fate, right? Carlos Collazo doesn’t believe King will make it this far but has heard the Mets connected to OF Carson Benge (No. 18) and power bats like 3B Tommy White (No. 20), 3B Billy Amick (No. 32) and the previously mentioned Jordan and Honeycutt. However, King is another name that fits right into Stearns’ plans — he’s a versatile player with high upside.

Final Thoughts

When the Mets brought in David Stearns, it signaled a new dawn in Flushing for the ball club. We got to see him take an immediate impact in the offseason and see how it played out almost halfway into the season. Now, it’s time to see him put his mark on the farm system, an aspect of the Mets that has continued to trend in the right direction over the past couple of years.

The post Mets, Stearns Likely To ‘Shift Draft Philosophy’ For 2024 appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Photo Credit: Perfect Game

Good morning, Mets fans!

Former Mets first-round pick and current Texas Rangers prospect Kumar Rocker is going to have Tommy John surgery later this week, according to Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News, after suffering an ‘acute’ injury.

Rocker, who was last pitching in Single-A ball in Hickory, suffered the elbow injury resulting in the surgery on May 11. Texas Rangers General Manager Chris Young said Rocker is expected to be out until the second half of 2024.

The Mets could not get a deal with Rocker after selecting him 10th overall in 2021 when medical reports came back iffy. Rocker had shoulder surgery later that year that stemmed from a high school football injury, according to Rocker’s agent Scott Boras. The following year, the Rangers selected Rocker with the third overall pick.

Latest Mets News

While the Mets came home after splitting a series with the Washington Nationals, the last place team in the NL East, the Mets came home to play the AL East leading Tampa Bay Rays. With Justin Verlander making his first Citi Field start as a member of the Mets, he gave up six runs in five innings of work that lead to the Mets 8-5 loss to open the series. The Mets’ home run drought did end off the bats of Brett Baty, Pete Alonso and Eduardo Escobar.

Mets manager Buck Showalter gave updates to injured Mets José Quintana and Omar Narváez. Quintana will have a “huge” CT scan on Friday that will determine if the pitcher can ramp up activity that would get him on the mound faster. Narvaez is expected to be playing rehab games by next week.

Buck Showalter says that José Quintana has a "huge" CT scan on Friday that could allow him to be cleared to ramp up activity.

Omar Narváez is expected to be playing in rehab games next week. pic.twitter.com/iilzMiRklI

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 16, 2023

The Mets have released minor leaguers Brad Malm and Justin Guerrera, according to MetsMinors.net.

Latest MLB News

Latest on MMO

On This Date in Mets History

Birthdays: Dick Smith (84)

The post Morning Briefing: Kumar Rocker to Undergo Tommy John Surgery appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Kevin Parada, Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

With the 11th overall pick, the New York Mets take Kevin Parada, a catcher out of Georgia Tech. This is the Mets’ pick as a result of not signing Kumar Rocker, who went third overall to the Texas Rangers tonight, in last year’s MLB Draft. Parada is definitely an offense-first catcher with some questions about his defense. Regardless of that, Parada is a consensus Top-5 prospect in the draft.

His sophomore year with Georgia Tech he slashed /361/.453/.709 and totaled 26 home runs and 88 RBI. He only struck out 32 times in 258 at-bats. He was ranked fourth by Kiley McDaniels’ of ESPN and seventh by Keith Law of the Athletic.

Parada was the recipient of the Johnny Bench Award. He was ranked

Mets take Kevin Parada of @GTBaseball throwback to that time this season where he hit 5 bombs in a week

pic.twitter.com/E6EZK8QlWQ

— Stephen Schoch (@bigdonkey47) July 18, 2022

Here is what MLB Pipeline wrote about Parada:

“Parada doesn’t try to do too much at the plate, keeping his right-handed swing under control and lashing line drives all over the park. He has good feel for the barrel, makes repeated hard contact against all types of pitching and he’s showing increased power to all fields this year. He projects as a potential .280-.300 hitter with 20-25 homers per season who could fit into the middle of a big league batting order.”

Kevin Parada mashing a home run to deep center field. #Mets pic.twitter.com/5jgipIhZkn

— Mathew Brownstein (@MBrownstein89) July 18, 2022

Keith Law of The Athletic wrote the following about him:

“His plate discipline and pitch recognition are both advanced for an amateur and he’s shown some ability to make adjustments in-season already. Behind the plate, he’s adequate as a receiver with fringy arm strength, good enough to stay there because he hits so well.”

Baseball America had this to say about Parada:

“Between his contact ability, newfound power and production in a strong conference, Parada’s offensive package is as complete and proven as anyone’s in the 2022 class. Defensively, it’s less glowing, though Parada has made strides to improve as a receiver and thrower this spring. He’s a good athlete and runner for a catcher, but could improve his lateral mobility and blocking, as well as his arm strength, which is cited as fringe-average currently.”

The post Mets Select Kevin Parada With 11th Overall Pick appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Brock Porter, Photo by Lansing State Journal

Sunday, July 12, 2022 • 7:00 P.M.
Los Angeles, CA
ESPN • MLB Network

Today is the big day. Not only will several lives change, but the trajectory of some teams can as well. The MLB Draft is officially upon us.

Day one of the draft is tonight, beginning at 7:00 P.M. ET, and is compromised of the first two rounds. Meanwhile, day two (rounds 3-10) and day three (rounds 11-20) will follow in the coming days. Day one can be viewed on both ESPN and MLB Network, while the following days can streamed via MLB.com.

The Mets, themselves, will have arguably the most assets of any team in the draft. New York owns four picks in the top 75. The Mets will also have the third-largest bonus pool available: $13,955,700.

Luckily, on this all important day for the New York Mets’ franchise, the Mets have an extremely strong track record of drafting success recently. You can read all about that right here.

Mets’ Day One Picks

• #11 overall (comp. for not signing Kumar Rocker) – $4,778,200 slot bonus
• #14 overall – $4,241,600 slot bonus
• #52 overall – $1,474,400 slot bonus
• #75 overall (comp. for Noah Syndergaard) – $873,300 slot bonus

Potential Mets’ Targets

With selections number 11 and 14, below are some prospects that have been mocked to the Mets over the past few weeks:

• Jett Williams, SS/OF, Rockwall-Heath High School in Texas
• Brock Porter, RHP, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s High School in Michigan
• Jace Jung, 2B/3B, Texas Tech
• Daniel Susac, C, Arizona
• Justin Crawford, CF, Bishop Gorman High School in Nevada

Note, for a more in-depth preview of the Mets’ impending draft night, check out this article.

Draft Order

1. Orioles
2. D-backs
3. Rangers
4. Pirates
5. Nationals
6. Marlins
7. Cubs
8. Twins
9. Royals
10. Rockies

Full order

The post MMO Draft Thread, 7:00 P.M. ET appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

Good morning, Mets’ fans!

You can breathe a little easier today; Max Scherzer’s hand is fine after the news of getting bit by his dog. He said it will not delay his recovery/rehab process.

In other news, the Mets finally got into the win column against the Dodgers Saturday night. The offense broke out against Walker Buehler as Pete Alonso homered twice in a 9-4 victory at Dodger Stadium. The win didn’t come without weirdness as Dave Roberts and the umpiring crew displayed confusion about the rules of bringing in position players to pitch.

Latest Mets News

As many saw on Saturday, Max Scherzer’s (non-throwing) hand was bit by a dog. He took to social media, including his Twitter profile, to clear up and explain the incident:

“Just clearing a few things up,” Scherzer wrote. “My dog Rafi hurt her leg on a run. She was howling in pain and I went to calm her down by putting my hands on her. When I did that she bit my right hand. Fortunately it wasn’t a bad bite. I took one day off from throwing and was able to toss the next day. This will have no effect on my rehab and this is literally a non story.”

Dominic Smith went 2-for-4 with a walk and a game-tying home run in the ninth inning that went 447 feet on Saturday for the Syracuse Mets. 

Latest MLB News

Per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, according to sources, Miguel Andujar hass requested a trade from the Yankees due to his lack of a consistent opportunity.

According to Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post, the Los Angeles Dodgers are set to pay a record tax bill with a $310 million payroll.

Per CBS Sports MLB, former Mets No. 10 draft pick in the 2021 MLB draft, Kumar Rocker, struck out six in his first start in the Independent League.

According to Jaosn Mackey of PGSportsNow, Travis Swaggerty, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 2018 first-round draft pick, was scratched from his scheduled Triple-A start. He is scheduled to fly to Pittsburgh Sunday morning for his MLB debut. 

Latest on MMO

Sam Klein recapped the Mets’ minor league affiliate games from Friday. This includes Dominic Smith going just 1-for-5.

Andrew Steele-Davis recapped Pete Alonso’s performance from Friday against the Dodgers.

John Sheridan discussed Michel Otanez‘s and Bryce Montes de Oca’s ability to “light up” a radar gun.

Brian Wright talked about the classics that link the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Mojo Hill recapped Jacob deGrom’s first bullpen session since spring training.

On This Date in Mets History

1999: Mets general manager Steve Phillips fired pitching coach Bob Apodaca, hitting coach Tom Robson, and bullpen coach Randy Niemann following losing a second straight loss to the New York Yankees.

Birthdays:

• Robinson Chirinos (38)
• Bill Spiers (46)
• Paul Siebert (69)

Let’s go Mets!

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David Stearns

Good morning, Mets fans!

According to multiple reports, the Mets are hoping that Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns is available next offseason to come to New York. The reports say the Mets are operating under the belief that Stearns contract runs out after the 2022 and that he would have serious interest in coming to the new he grew up rooting for.

The Mets have tried to lure Stearns away from the Brewers the last two offseason, but have been denied permission to talk to him by Milwaukee.

Now, let’s get into the morning briefing.

Latest Mets News

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported that Javier Baez‘s team had a meeting with the Mets today. The topic of the discussion was whether Javier Baez will commit to the Mets for the 2022 season and beyond.

Feinsand also speculated that “the market for Baez appears to be quite active in the early days of free agency.” Therefore, the Mets may have to outbid an unknown number of teams to secure Baez for the upcoming season. Matt Musico has more on this story.

Pete Alonso was named an All-MLB team finalist.

Kumar Rocker will re-enter the MLB draft, according to Scott Boras. Rocker was the Mets’ 2021 first-round draft pick, but didn’t end up signing.

Latest MLB News

The U.S. Mint and Negro Leagues Baseball Museum are collaborating to issue gold, silver and clad coins that commemorate the Negro Leagues and could help raise money for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City.

Chris Taylor is expected to reject his 18.4 million dollar qualifying offer due to there being a great market for him because of his versatility and strong performances recently.

MLB and the union are currently engaged in CBA talks. The expectation is that a resolution will not come quickly, as the December 1 deadline is fast approaching.

Japanese OF Seiya Suzuki is drawing interest from multiple MLB teams. Suzuki is a 4-time All-star for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp and was a part of the Japanese gold medal team during the Tokyo Olympics this past summer.

Reliever Joakim Soria is retiring after a 14-year, nine-team career. Soria has a career ERA of 3.11 in 763 innings pitched and two All-Star selections (2008, 2010). The news was announced yesterday by his agent, Oscar Suarez.

Latest on MMO

Nate Mendelson invites you to guess all 20 of the current POBO and GM candidates.

Nate Mendelson talks about Scott Boras’s bold comment regarding Michael Conforto (his client).

Joe D. breaks down Jacob deGrom‘s slider.

On This Date in Mets History

1998: Bobby Bonilla returned for his second stint as a New York Met after a trade with the Dodgers. Bonilla began the season as the starting right-fielder, but he was removed from the starting lineup by mid-May. A knee injury kept him out for most of the remainder of the season, but he did have some pinch-hit appearances in September of the 1998 season. The Mets decided to remove Bonilla from the roster after the conclusion of the season (his .160 batting average that season probably did not help his case to stay on the roster).

Birthdays: Mike Bacsik (45), Damion Easley (53), Roberto Hernandez (42), Dave Telgheder (56)

Let’s go Mets!

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Mandatory Credit: Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

Updated Report: August 1, 2021, 17:01

As reported by Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel on earlier in the day, and hinted at over multiple reports in weeks prior, the Mets did not come to terms with first-round pick Kumar Rocker before the 5 p.m. signing deadline on Sunday.

Passan reports that Rocker will not return to Vanderbilt and instead “begin his pro career,” presumably in independent leagues or overseas. He’ll enter the 2022 MLB Draft.

“This is clearly not the outcome we had hoped for and wish Kumar nothing but success moving forward,” Mets general manager Zack Scott said.

The disagreement from both sides reportedly came over the status of Rocker’s medicals, particularly around his elbow and shoulder.

Rocker’s agent, Scott Boras, refuted that worry in a statement to Bob Nightengale, saying Rocker had independent medical teams determine his MRIs after the 2021 season showed “no significant change” when compared to 2018 MRIs.

The team allegedly had a handshake agreement with Rocker to give him a $6 million signing bonus, but once they were able to bring him in for a physical, the team backed off that price. Rocker’s camp reportedly didn’t back off their asking price.

More details are sure to emerge in the coming days and hours.

Original Report: August 1, 2021, 13:32

Remember the Sunday before the All-Star Game in Denver? The Mets got their future deGrom in Vanderbilt ace Kumar Rocker and we all celebrated? It was a fun time. We all thought our rotation was set for the next decade. Well, then something went wrong.

Concerns about Rocker’s health soon arose, and now the Mets are trying to negotiate down from their agreed-upon deal, which included a $6 million signing bonus. Now, per ESPN‘s Jeff Passan, the Mets “do not plan to” sign their top draft pick before the 5 p.m. draft pick signing deadline Sunday, barring any change from the Mets side.

If the Mets do not sign Rocker, who is represented by agent Scott Boras, before the deadline, which multiple reports are saying may happen, the Mets would get the 11th pick overall in next year’s draft. In addition, Rocker would have a couple options: return to Vanderbilt (where he can make money under new name, image and likeness laws), pitch in an independent league or overseas, or simply wait until next draft to get picked.

Now could the Mets draft him again? Yes. Would they, though? After this debacle, I think Steve Cohen and the Mets management would be more careful and do their due diligence on potential draftees before making their decisions. Per reports, Rocker refused a pre-draft MRI, so there was no way fans and teams could’ve known about any potential injuries until after the draft.

The team also apparently agreed to the $6 million bonus for Rocker when they knew he’d fall to them, then drafted other players knowing they’d have a limited bonus pool for remaining draft picks.

Now while the possibility of an 11th hour signing remains in play, per Passan, it’s looking likely that the Mets may have been rocked by Kumar Rocker. And after trading away Pete Crow-Armstrong in the Javier Baez deal, the Mets will be without their top draft picks from the past two drafts. That is not the way to restock a farm system, which the front office has said is a priority.

The post Mets Fail To Sign First-Round Pick Kumar Rocker appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Good morning, Mets fans!

Nationals star Trea Turner was removed from Tuesday’s game after testing positive for COVID-19. Turned scored on a Josh Bell home run during the first inning, then he went immediately down the tunnel and was replaced by Gerardo Parra. After trade and injury speculation subsided, the team announced the shortstop’s diagnosis.

The Nationals’ game against the Phillies continued and they won 6-4.

Multiple teams, including the Mets and Phillies, still have not hit the 85 percent vaccination threshold set by Major League Baseball to allow them to ease COVID-19 restrictions. The restrictions have turned into more of a suggestion as of late, and there’s now been increasing spread within clubhouses like the Phillies and Yankees. There’s no word on any other positives stemming from the Nationals’ clubhouse.

Now let’s get into the morning briefing.

Latest Mets News

The Mets lost to the Braves 12-5 Tuesday night. The Mets had no starter lined up for the game for about a week, and Jerad Eickhoff was brought back to eat some innings the night after a doubleheader (one of which was a bullpen game). He gave up 10 runs in four innings. You can read the recap here.

Luis Rojas said Carlos Carrasco with most likely start Friday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds. They’ll be wearing the black jerseys for the first time this year.

Rojas also revealed Noah Syndergaard threw off a mound for the first time since he was shut down in May as he works his way back from Tommy John surgery. When he was shut down, the Mets gave Syndergaard an estimated September 1 return date.

Ken Davidoff of The New York Post reported the Mets’ deal with first-round pick Kumar Rocker may be “in jeopardy” due to medical issues, particularly with Rocker’s elbow. SNY’s Andy Martino reported, though, that it’s not expected that Rocker needs Tommy John surgery right now and the deal should still get done by the August 1 deadline.

Mets Minors’ Joseph Langan dropped an interview with intriguing Mets prospect Bryce Montes de Oca, detailing his years-long return from Tommy John surgery to now throwing 102 miles per hour in games.

Latest MLB News

The A’s started the trade party Tuesday when they acquired Andrew Chafin from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Greg Deichmann and Daniel Palencia.

The Phillies were in the process of trading for Pirates lefty Tyler Anderson. The two teams allegedly agreed to a deal Tuesday afternoon, but there were issues with the medicals of one of the two prospects the Phillies planned to send back — Cristian Hernandez and Abrahan Gutierrez.

Later Tuesday night, Jeff Passan reported that Anderson had been traded — but not to the Phillies. He was acquired by the Mariners, with the Phillies deal officially falling through.

It was reported earlier in the day the Mets were interested in Anderson.

The Mariners kept things going in the evening when they traded Kendall Graveman, who’s been one of the better relievers in the league, and Rafael Montero (former Met alert) to division rival Houston Astros in exchange for Abraham Toro and Joe Smith.

Then there was some late-night trade news, as the Yankees announced that they traded former Met Justin Wilson and Luis Cessa to the Reds for a player to be named later.

Jon Morosi reported the Giants are interested in Kris Bryant, and the Cubs are in turn looking at top catching prospect Joey Bart, though there is no way the Giants trade Bart for a rental like Bryant. (If you’ll remember, it was reported the Cubs were asking for the Mets’ Francisco Alvarez earlier in the season when talks around Bryant swirled.)

Morosi said Bart would only potentially be available if the deal included other players, presumably guys like Craig Kimbrel and/or Zach Davies.

The Nationals announced Stephen Strasburg will undergo neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome surgery to help solve a nerve issue in his neck, as The Athletic‘s Maria Torres points out. Strasburg has been out since June 2 with a neck injury, and after a setback, they discovered the need to perform surgery to solve the issue.

The Reds signed their 2021 first-round pick, shortstop Matt McClain, to a $4.625 signing bonus. It’s $1 million over slot.

Latest on MMO

John Flanigan gave Pete Alonso and Tylor Megill the team’s Players of the Week honors. He also went deep on Dominic Smith‘s hot July.

John Jackson looked into the Mets’ pitching efforts from Monday’s doubleheader.

This Day in Mets History

Happy 26th birthday to Tylor Megill, who is starting Wednesday against the Braves!

Given we’re close to the trade deadline, there have been a couple of significant trades on July 28 in Mets history.

Most significant was probably shipping off Carlos Beltran to San Francisco in 2011 for Zack Wheeler.

Next comes the acquisition of Marcus Stroman, whom the Mets traded Simeon Woods-Richardson and Anthony Kay for in 2019. Though he sat out the 2020 season, he’s been the team’s second-best starter this season while playing on a qualifying offer.

Then lastly, in 2000, the Mets traded Melvin Mora and a couple of other prospects to the Baltimore Orioles for Mike Bordick, whom they used on their World Series run. Bordick (whose birthday was last Tuesday) would leave in free agency that offseason and Mora would play 10 seasons with the Orioles.

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