NY Mets history rewritten: Drafting one of the most hated rivals in 2000

The 2000 MLB Draft wasn’t memorable for the New York Mets. Despite having two first-round picks, neither ended up actually playing a big league game for the Mets.

Bobby Keppel with his 0.2 bWAR ended up as the most successful pick in the draft. Only four players taken actually made it to the major leagues. No wonder the draft was reduced from 50 rounds to 20. The majority didn’t even sign with the Mets. 

New York’s first selection was 16th overall with a pitcher named Billy Traber. Eventually traded to the Cleveland Indians for Roberto Alomar, we have to look just one pick higher to create a much different history. Taken 15th overall by the Philadelphia Phillies, Chase Utley.

Rewriting history with Chase Utley drafted by the Mets

The Mets paid Traber only a $400K signing bonus because of health concerns. It was the lowest of any player who signed out of the first round despite him going so high. Had the Phillies been the ones to take him instead, it would have given the Mets a chance to draft Utley with the pick they moved up with after losing John Olerud to the Seattle Mariners in free agency.

Utley debuted in 2003 with the Phillies. It took him until 2005 before he became a real thorn for the Mets. An All-Star every year from 2006-2010 with a strong 2005 campaign, he would have blended right in with a Mets team that was missing a little something.

Imagine this: a 2006-2008 Mets infielder with Utley at second base, David Wright at third base, and Jose Reyes at shortstop. There’s definitely no collapsing to Philadelphia in back-to-back years simply because we’ve taken one of their primary players. As important to some Mets fans, it also means no Luis Castillo.

Moving Utley’s career from Philly to New York guarantees nothing other than he joins the Mets record book rather than the Phillies. Considering his personality, he would have been beloved if things went well in Queens or revered as one of those guys who failed to embrace New York. Something about Utley does come across as hateable even if he was on your team. We can’t tell if he would have been one of those Phillies players who demanded a trade. Things went too well for them during his tenure.

The most memorable Utley-Mets moment from the 2015 playoffs probably gets wiped off the map. That’s not to say he wouldn’t have committed the same ugly slide against a former team. He doesn’t end up with the Los Angeles Dodgers when he did. The Phillies traded him there in the middle of 2015. 

Past MLB Drafts create a whole new team history. One pick away and the name Utley might mean something entirely different to this fanbase.

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