Brett Baty and other NY Mets third basemen drafted in the first round

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One of the most baffling storylines in New York Mets history is the constant search for a third baseman. For years it was a revolving door with management trying to solve the problem by sending promising players away simple to get washed-up has-beens or hopeful never would bes.

There would be a multitude of third basemen manning the position each and every season. As a matter of fact, Wayne Garrett would lead the Mets in games played at third base – 711 – and yet he was never given a vote of confidence to be handed the job on a full-time basis. Even when he stepped up and became the team’s lead-off hitter and hit 16 dingers in 1973.

There was always going to be someone better. And, yet, the Mets never thought it important enough to draft a third baseman in the first round of the Major League Baseball free agent draft until 1983. The Mets have only selected four third basemen in the first round in the team’s history.

The latest to be taken in the first round was Brett Baty in 2019 with the 12th selection out of Lake Travis High School in Austin, Texas.

Baty was having a phenomenal season at AA Binghamton (.312 BA, .406 OBP, 19 HR, 59 RBI) before being promoted last season to AAA Syracuse where he continued his success (.364 BA, .406 OBP in 22 AB). He started out slowly upon his call up to the parent club, hitting .184 with 2 HR and 5 RBI in 38 at bats.

Baty is now tearing it up in spring training with a .342 average and .468 OBP in 47 plate appearances.

But is he ready? And how does he compare to the other three third basemen who the Mets tabbed at first round draft picks?

Eddie Williams was the first third baseman selected in the first round by the New York Mets

Eddie Williams was taken with the 4th selection in 1983 – the highest selection of any third baseman in Mets history - out of Herbert Hoover High School in San Diego, California, the same school famous for producing some fairly well-known Major Leaguers like Ray Boone (father of Bob, grandfather of Brett and Aaron), Mike Davis (A’s and Dodgers), Mark Davis (Padres), and the immortal Ted Williams.

Williams, a right-handed power bat, would never play a game for the Mets, never get above A-ball with the organization. He was included as part of a three-player package for pitcher Bruce Berenyi from the Cincinnati Reds.

Although he wouldn’t make it to the Reds, Williams would have a somewhat lengthy stay in pro ball, spending parts of 10 seasons in the Majors with six different teams (Indians, White Sox, Padres, Tigers, Dodgers, and Pirates).

Williams best stretch in the Majors came with the Padres in 1994 and ’95 after having been out of the Big Leagues for three years, when he played in 49 and 97 games respectively, hitting .331 with 11 HR in ’94 and .260 with 12 HR in ’95.

Chris Donnels was plucked out of the same college as other New York Mets draft picks

Chris Donnels was taken in 1987 with the 24th selection out of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, the same school that produced former Mets first round pick Billy Traber, and current Mets right hander Tylor Megill.

Donnels, a lefty swinger, showed some pop on a couple of his stops up the Mets minor league chain. He made it to the Mets during the 1991 season. He could not have picked a worse time to join the team as the Mets were in the midst of bringing high-priced free agents who would wreak havoc for the next few seasons.

Donnels played in 37 games that first season and hit .225 with 0 HR and 5 RBI. It didn’t get much better the next season, in fact, it got worse. He hit .174 with 0 HR and 6 RBI.

He would move on to Houston for two seasons and Boston for one, where he became a serviceable utility player. He was out of Major League baseball for three seasons before returning for two seasons with the Dodgers and his last season with the Diamondbacks.

Donnels would play parts of eight seasons with five teams (Mets, Astros, Red Sox, Dodgers, and Diamondbacks) and hit .233 with 17 homers, none of them with the Mets.

David Wright would be the lowest selection of all the third basemen but would be the best draft pick in New York Mets history

David Wright was drafted in 2001 with the 38th selection out of Hickory High School in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Wright spent three seasons in the Mets minor leagues before his call up in 2004. He enjoyed success all along the way and had some pretty gaudy stats. He wasn’t rushed, yet he made it to the Mets to stay, and flourish, at the age of 21.

It’s safe to say that the Mets got great value with a late first round pick, and they were rewarded for remaining patient with Wright and he climbed the organization’s ladder.

Wright turned out to be everything you could have hoped for. Obviously his stats speak volumes - .296 BA, .376 OBP, 242 HR, 970 RBI, 196 SB, 949 Runs, 7 All-Star appearances, 2 Gold Gloves, and 2 Silver Slugger Awards– for a career derailed and cut short by a serious back injury. But he was more than that. He was a great teammate, a great team spokesperson, he was...the team captain…Captain America.

David Wright really had no one in front of him to impeded his ascent to the Big Leagues. And, the Mets were awful when he arrived. Brett Baty is competing to make a team that has a lot of talent already on the roster. So the Mets can ease him along like they did Wright before him. Still, it will be interesting to see how Baty ranks among his other first-round counterparts. Does he follow along with the success achieved by David Wright, or does his fade away like Eddie Williams and Chris Donnels?

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