The missing NY Mets draft pick and who it could have been

Draft pick compensation is one of the areas the New York Mets have benefitted from over the years. In 2026 alone, we’ve seen the debuts of A.J. Ewing and Nick Morabito. Ewing came to the Mets as compensation for losing Jacob deGrom and Morabito when Noah Syndergaard left.

In that same 2022 draft where the Mets picked Morabito, they had a chance at another selection. Michael Conforto rejected the qualifying offer thus giving the Mets a chance to add another draft pick. An offseason injury during the lockout had Conforto sidelined for the entire 2022 season, a punishment to the Mets draft board as he had yet to even sign a deal when the news was announced.

Morabito was taken 75th overall due to the loss of Syndergaard and his choice to join the Los Angeles Angels. They would’ve also had the 76th selection from losing Conforto. Was there anyone worthwhile they could’ve taken?

There is one player we probably would have liked to see the Mets snag with this pick

The 79th pick is where your eyes might light up from this draft. Taken just a few spots after Morabito, the Boston Red Sox selected Roman Anthony. Regarded as the number two prospect in the sport at the start of 2025 according to Baseball American and MLB Pipeline as well as the top prospect per Baseball Prospectus, this is the draft pick we would have most liked to see the Mets take.

Boston gained that pick after the Detroit Tigers signed Eduardo Rodriguez away from them. A high school selection paid a $2.5 million signing bonus, it’s not as easy as saying something like “the Mets should have drafted him instead of Morabito.” Morabito had a $1 million signing bonus. The entire draft board would have needed to shake out differently in order to make this work.

Looking back at the 2022 draft picks by the Mets, we do see room available. if we're willing to change up a few players. Their first selection, Kevin Parada, got over $5 million to sign. Jett Williams was at $3.9 million. Then there’s Blade Tidwell at $1.85 million.

The Mets failed to sign Brandon Sproat upon this attempt to draft him. From there, some of the funds could have gone toward Anthony, if only they had that pick available to them.

Anthony was the Red Sox prize of the draft and the player to get the highest signing bonus. They took nothing but high schoolers with their first three picks, finishing it off with Anthony who could end up as a second-round steal in comparison to many of the 78 players who went before him.

MLB Drafts are funny because every team can second-guess at least one selection. For all we know, the Mets would have simply gone after Sproat earlier or taken the first pick in the third round, Nolan McLean, a year earlier than they ended up. Any number of the guys still toiling away in the minors could have been selected, too. We can't eliminate any scenario.

Regardless of who they could’ve landed, it’s a lost draft pick the Mets never gained. Even guys who never developed might have been able to do so with the Mets organization.

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