MLB Draft, 2021

[bmfc1]

The Mets drafted HS players in Rounds 2 and 3 so perhaps that's how they plan on recouping the over-slot $ they paid to Rocker.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Three pitchers in three rounds, two of them at college graduation age.

Make that 3 out of 4, as the Mets get another big, college righty, this time a reliever. Christian Scott is 6'4" and K'd 51 in 54 innings for the Florida Gators. Um, he's below slot (sorry, Edgy) and that's all I got.

[smg58]

Not that I'm complaining about how things worked out for the Mets, but what message are teams sending to their fans if they're too cheap to draft the best player available?

[Edgy MD]

It's far more interesting to me what message we send by allowing the league to get away with having a bonus pool limit at all. It's utter garbage.

[Edgy MD]

UCLA shortstop Kevin Kendall becomes the sixth four-year collegian in seven rounds selected by the Mets.

No known relation to Jason. Admires Derek Jeter and Tom Brady.

Conclusion: total fucking dork.



Interesting in that the only other non-pitcher the team has selected so far is firstbaseman J.T. Schwartz, also from UCLA.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Yeah the slot system is shitty. I'm the sure the Mets had "below slot" offers to all these college guys and told them if they didn't accept, they'd draft someone else.

And latest giant, college righty to say yes is Carson Seymour from Kansas State. 6'6" and coming off a season where he posted a 6.19 ERA, I'm guessing he's "toolsy". If this baseball thing doesn't out, he looks like he could sell you a reliable insurance policy.

[A Boy Named Seo]

These rounds are flying, aren't they.

The Mets draft... wait for it... a 6'6" junior righty Mike Vasil from Virginia. Seems like there's gonna be lots of older, less heralded, giant-sized prospects entering the system.

[Edgy MD]

2021 was JT Schwartz' redshirt sophomore season, and it was some kind of breakout year, slashing a .396 / .514 / .628 // 1.142 comet of a season. And he slashed that shit in the PAC-12 — one of the four conferences in Division I that is a league apart from the rest of the division. That batting average is seventh- and the on-base percentage second-best in Bruin history.

Favorite athletes include Nolan Arenado, Chase Utley, and Kyrie Irving, which makes him a lot better than his ... wait a minute? Did he fucking say "Utley"?



Don't let that photo fool you. He bats lefty.

[MFS62]

Interesting in that the only other non-pitcher the team has selected so far is firstbaseman J.T. Schwartz, also from UCLA.

Bingo! I really did laugh out loud at that.
Later

[nymr83]

No relation to John, I hope?

This is the hilarious part of the MLB draft process. Unlike the NFL and NBA where guys like Trevor Lawrence and Zion Williamson were household names a year before they were pro players, nobody knows any of these guys.

Kumar is not invited to John Rocker's white hooded family reunions.

[nymr83]

Not that I'm complaining about how things worked out for the Mets, but what message are teams sending to their fans if they're too cheap to draft the best player available?

"that guy wanted too much money above slot and we'd rather have a different guy plus a better second, third, and fourth rounder rather than pay that guy and then have to make 'senior signs'" is pretty much the message.

[nymr83]

It's far more interesting to me what message we send by allowing the league to get away with having a bonus pool limit at all. It's utter garbage.

management and the labor union have the same interests here so it will likely never change.

[Edgy MD]

No, they don't. Not really.

Beyond that, there are other interests that matter, that count, and that have legal representation.

[nymr83]

No, they don't. Not really.

Beyond that, there are other interests that matter, that count, and that have legal representation.

Yes, they do. Even if its not dollar for dollar, which unless your owner is Freddie Coupon it probably isn't, money spent on amateurs is less money spent on union members.

Unions in all walks of life negotiate the benefits of future members, but in most of these cases those future members become members on Day 1 of employment. Not so in baseball, where 75%+ of draftees never do and so are beholden to an agreement between management and a union they'll never be a part of. This is in contrast to say an auto-workers union that negotiates lower benefits for future workers - but those workers immediately gain a vote when they are hired and could look to overturn union management.

The union has a clear conflict of interest.

What other interests are you referring to that "have legal representation"? what recourse do you suggest high school kids being drafted have against a league with anti trust exemption?

[Edgy MD]

1) The players and union each have an interest in ripping off amateurs, but it is not the same interest.

2) "High-school kids" is not an accurate description of the draft pool.

3) The idea that the teams are at their maximum spending limit is baseless. If they were, they wouldn't have a draft or a bonus cap. They install these things not because they have to, but because they want to, so no, it isn't true at all that "money spent on amateurs is less money spent on union members." Scarce commodities drive up prices.

4) Draftees have solidarity on their side.

5) Minor league unionization has momentum.

6) Agents are another party that is being ripped off. They are savvy professionals.

7) The anti-trust exemption is not guaranteed into perpetuity. Another party that has an interest in removing artificial constraints on the labor market is America.

8) If you're going to play the "Freddie Coupon" card, I'm not sure what else to say.

[nymr83]

8) If you're going to play the "Freddie Coupon" card, I'm not sure what else to say.

my meaning there was that there is only a 1:1 link in spending if the cheap owner creates one.


The Mets, by the way, drafted only 4th year college players in rounds 3-10, presumably to lowball them and pay Rocker

[Edgy MD]

I know. I noted that early.

I guess my point is that I have a Milagro Beanfield War view of economics and justice. While exploitation is a constant in the macro, the individual mechanisms of exploitation in the micro are very much unsustainable and terminal.

[MFS62]

In case you're wondering why they drafted so many pitchers, this might be a clue:
Here are the scheduled starters for their minor league teams tonight:
Syracuse: TBD
Binghamton: Rennie 1-4 8.77 ERA
Brooklyn: Vilera 1-5 9.36 ERA
St. Lucie: Moreno 2-1 5.90 ERA

Hold the fort down there guys. Help is on the way.

Later

[Frayed Knot]

The current rotation in your minor league system is NOT a reason to draft pitchers.

[MFS62]

The current rotation in your minor league system is NOT a reason to draft pitchers.

I agree. A minor league team is just a life support system for your real prospects - giving them games in which to develop their skills.
But an organization still should have some pitchers who will one day be able to help out the major league club. And this organization is lacking many of those. Not to beat up on them (I only used them as an example), but when the minors had more teams / leagues, I'm guessing the guys I mentioned would have been one (or two) levels lower, being given more time to develop whatever abilities they have.

I was putting a positive spin on their draft selections. If you take what I wrote as something more than that, you could say it was an implied shot at BVW and his staff for leaving the organization in a situation where Rennie and Velera are in the starting rotation for their teams at their levels. This draft is the start of rectifying that problem.

Later

[Frayed Knot]

But you also don't draft for immediate need at the major league level either and you keep making references to handedness and/or positions based on a snapshot of the ML club as it exists at the moment.
But only a small percentage of these picks (all teams) are ever going to play in the majors and those who do are usually one to four seasons away when the makeup/mgmt/philosophy of the club could be
very different the way it is now. Additionally, a good chunk of those who do make it will play only fleetingly and often for neither the organization that drafts them nor at the position they currently play.

The best way to go about things it to take the best overall player available with your top pick then repeat that as often as possible. Any resulting issues will sort themselves out over time.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Just going through the rest of the college boys the Mets drafted. Here's where we currently are:

9th round - Levi David - 6'5", 220 lbs, 4-year college senior Northwestern State U.


10th round - Keyshawn Askew - 6'4" 190 lbs. junior from Clemson. Described as: "Lefthander who has seen action as both a starter and reliever … has an unorthodox throwing motion". Keshawn gets two pictures cause his big, lefty leg kick and side-arm delivery remind me a little of D-Train.



11th round - Rowdey Jordan - 5'10" 190 lbs, senior from Mississippi St. Fun fact: He is named after the character "Rowdey" from the movie Days of Thunder


12th round - Jack-Thomas Wold - just your average 5'10, 220 lbs, senior from UNLV


13th round - Matt Rudick - 5'9" 170 lbs. junior out of San Diego State. He may be kinda small, but he hit .410 and reached base in every game he appeared in so suck on that, haters

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

I like that Clemson lefty. He's the kinda guy Omar would have drafted 1st and debuted the next week.

Also digging Rowsdey's hot pants

[A Boy Named Seo]

Round 14:

Nathan Lavender - 6'2", 210 lbs junior out of Univ of Illinois - Champagne. Starting pitcher, but looks a little like Billy Wagner with his arm cocked like that. Needs to fix those floppy pant legs. You're a pro now, son.

[Edgy MD]

How are those two shots of Askew even the same pitcher?

You see a big kick like that and you expect it to be coming from over the top, a la Gooden. Dontrelle had a massive kick, but he came from three quarters.