NY Mets: What to expect from this year’s 10th overall draft pick

The New York Mets pick 10th in this year’s MLB Draft. Unsure of who they could possibly select in this spot, I thought it would be worth looking at some past selections to get an idea of the floor and ceiling.

Will the Mets end up with the next star member of the franchise or are they destined for a dud?

The Mets have drafted 10th overall before

Back in 2014, the Met shad the 10th overall draft pick. What did they do with it? They selected a guy named Michael Conforto. Needless to say, the selection worked out well.

Conforto rose to the major leagues quickly. By mid-2015, he was already a major league player.

Other guys taken in this spot haven’t had the same luck. No other 10th overall picks since Conforto have a positive WAR in the major leagues. Only Zack Collins and Jo Adell have even made their major league debuts. A few guys prior to Conforto, Corey Spangenberg (2011) and Drew Storen (2009) weren’t exactly stars.

Fortunately, despite a lack of superstar talent taken at this spot in the draft during recent seasons, we can find a couple of quality players earlier on.

Some of the other good 10th overall draft picks

Madison Bumgarner was the 10th overall pick by the San Francisco Giants in 2007. One year earlier, the Giants took Tim Lincecum in this same spot. It’s a pretty remarkable feat to draft a pair of awesome pitchers in back-to-back seasons in the same exact spot.

Just to note for the Mets fan’s sake, the 10th overall pick the year before Lincecum was Cameron Maybin. Although his time in Flushing didn’t look so great, he has the fourth highest WAR among the 10th overall draft picks since 2000.

We need to go back in time a little bit more to find some of the really good 10th overall picks. From 1996-1999, there were four guys who finished their careers with WARs ranging from 22.5-38.3. In order, they were Eric Chavez, Jon Garland, Carlos Pena, and Ben Sheets. All had very productive careers. To land a player like any of them in this year’s draft would help the Mets out immensely.

Other 10th overall picks you’ll know well as a Mets fan are Robin Ventura (1988), Charles Johnson (1989), and Carl Everett (1990). All would eventually spend some time with the Mets—Johnson never actually suiting up for them.

A little earlier, we can find Mark McGwire (1984) and Tim Wallach (1979) drafted 10th overall. The 1970s didn’t include many successful selections, but in 1967, the St. Louis Cardinals made Ted Simmons a professional athlete. Simmons, with a lifetime 50.3 WAR, is third to only McGwire (62.2) and Ventura (56.1) for a career.

Want your voice heard? Join the Rising Apple team!

Write for us!

The 10th overall pick guarantees absolutely nothing. However, there are more than enough examples of fantastic players who went in this spot of the draft. Simmons is the only Hall of Fame player, but between McGwire, Bumgarner, Lincecum, and many others, there’s a lot we can expect from the man the Mets take in this year’s draft.