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How the NY Mets blew two draft picks they received for losing one free agent

Neither one would ever make it to the majors with the Mets or put together a long and successful career.
ByTim Boyle|
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May 11, 2022; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; A detailed view of the New York Mets logo on a bat during the game between the Washington Nationals and the New York Mets at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Scott Taetsch-Imagn Images
May 11, 2022; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; A detailed view of the New York Mets logo on a bat during the game between the Washington Nationals and the New York Mets at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Scott Taetsch-Imagn Images | Scott Taetsch-Imagn Images

Major League Baseball is always changing its rules. Some go unseen. Others impact every pitch. In 2000, the New York Mets went into the draft with two first-round selections because they lost a single free agent. John Olerud leaving for the Seattle Mariners gave them the 16th overall pick plus an additional supplemental round selection with the 36th overall selection.

If they hadn’t signed Todd Zeile, the Mets would have had an additional third first-round pick. Signing Zeile lost them the 25th overall pick to the Texas Rangers the same way the 16th pick of the Mariners went to the Mets. Unfortunately with two tries, the Mets didn’t get it right on either move.

That time when the Mets whiffed on both draft picks they gained for losing John Olerud

With the 16th pick, the Mets took pitcher Billy Traber. He’d make it into only 96 big league games. His time with the Mets ended in December of 2001 when he was in the package sent to the Cleveland Indians for Roberto Alomar.

Injuries were a main part as to why Traber never worked out. After losing 111.2 innings for Cleveland in 2003, he was scratched from all major league action until 2006 when he re-emerged with the Washington Nationals.

The 36th overall pick wasn’t any better. Again, he never appeared in a major league game with the Mets. This was Bobby Keppel. Only 49 big league games, his time with the Mets ended when he was released in May of 2005.

Keppel found success overseas, pitching in Japan for parts of four seasons. A sign of the times, his 2011 season featured a 3.22 ERA and only a 3.7 K/9 rate while logging 162 innings.

The MLB Draft restructuring of this way of drafting didn’t change until 2018. Teams no longer gain another club’s draft pick because they lost a free agent, only the supplemental selections are available along with some other rules that’ll push a team backward. With two tries to make up for the loss of Olerud in the draft, the Mets came up short.

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