A look back at the top NY Mets prospects from 20 years ago

Baseball was very different 20 years ago. Heading into 2005, Barry Bonds was coming off his fourth straight MVP, while Vlad Guerrero Sr. won his first and only MVP. Jason Bay and Bobby Crosby were the most recent Rookie of the Year winners, with Roger Clemens and then Minnesota Twin Johan Santana taking home Cy Young honors. The number one prospect in baseball, Joe Mauer, was starting what would end up being a Hall of Fame career.

While the New York Mets were coming off a poor 2004, where they only won 71 games, they had some young players they could build around. Youngsters David Wright and Jose Reyes had shown a ton of talent in ‘04. They also had a handful of top prospects ready to make their mark in the Major Leagues. Baseball America has released top 30 prospect lists for each team for decades now. So let’s go back in time to 2005 and look at some of the interesting prospects on the Mets’ 2005 top 30 prospects list, because there are some quite interesting stories from this list.

The (controversial) number one prospect

Baseball America’s number one Mets prospect in 2005 was the notorious Lastings Milledge. The Mets drafted Milledge 12th overall in the 2003 draft, but he was already in controversy before getting drafted. Milledge was allegedly involved in inappropriate activities with a minor, leading him to get expelled from St. Petersburg Northside Christian School.

Milledge got into even more hot water after the Mets drafted him. More sexual misconduct allegations arose, leading to the Mets conducting further investigations into the outfielder. While the Mets initally broke off negotiations with Milledge, they ultimately agreed to sign Milledge, however, to a signing bonus of just over $2 million. 

Despite his off-field trouble, Milledge quickly became a top prospect in baseball, with Baseball America ranking him as the ninth-best prospect in the sport heading into 2006. Milledge’s time with the Mets in the Major Leagues was not long, as he only appeared in 115 games across 2006 and 2007, posting only a .741 OPS and 91 OPS+.

However, Milledge would once again find himself in controversy. In his rookie year, he butted heads with manager Willie Randolph for a lack of hustle on a two-out double, as well as closer Billy Wagner, who left a note stating "Know your place, rook" after hitting a home run and giving fans high-fives afterwards. He also showed up late to practice. The was then prominently featured in a rap video that included very vulgar language with a childhood friend. The Mets’ general manager at the time, Omar Minaya, later would “disapprove of the content, language, and message of this recording, which does not represent the views of the New York Mets.”

After another tumultuous year, the Mets then traded Milledge to the Washington Nationals for Ryan Church and Brian Schnider in the 2007-2008 offseason. But he’d get traded once again at the 2009 trade deadline, alongside Joel Hanrahan, to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Nyjer Morgan and Sean Burnett.

While Milledge would be one of the Pirates’ primary outfielders in 2010, he would eventually get let go, and then sign with the Chicago White Sox, for whom he only appeared in two games for in 2011. The former first rounder would then spend his next four seasons with the NBP’s Yakult Swallows in Japan, before ending his professional career with the Atlantic League Lancaster Barnstormers in 2017.

To say that Milledge’s tenure with the Mets was ‘interesting’ would be an understatement. He was embroidered in controversy before the Mets drafted him and would still be involved in controversy in his final year with the organization. But it seems like he’s gotten his act together after his career. Milledge opened Manatee Intercity Baseball in Bradenton, Florida in 2018 to support underprivileged and minority kids play the game of baseball, and also operates 1st Round Training, another youth baseball facility.