Pour Me a Draft

[Edgy MD]

With the College World Series concluding with a Tennessee win (congratulations, R.A. Dickey, Mike Difelice, Greg McMichael, Bubba Trammell, and Rich Rodriguez!), and the combine behind us (combines? meh ...), the final draft mockeroonies are coming in. The name I've seen linked most to the Mets (picking 19th) is slugging UNC outfielder Vance Honeycutt.

Vance has a prodigious power/speed combo (with 28 homers and 28 steals). A lot of folks are concerned with his swing-and-missiness but a .318 / .410 / .714 // 1.124 line in the ACC ain't whistling "Dixie." He may be an all-or-nothing bat, but if so, that should make him right at home in the contemporary big leagues. And while most such animals are leftfielder/DH/Kyle Schwarber types on defense, Captain UnderVance is expected to provide some elite-level centerfield defense.



Speaking of the ACC, Wake Forest has a thirdbaseman/outfielder named Seaver King expected to go a few slots before the Mets pick, but if he's still available when they choose, I expect them to pounce all over that guy and carry him home on their shoulders. Who needs scouts when you can draft by name?



Another intriguing name that was popping up in Mets reports going into the CWS was Jurrangelo Cijintje of Mississippi State. "Jurrangelo Cijintje" is an intriguing name under any conditions, but he gets extra points because he's an ambidextrous pitcher. The speculation is that he could reach the majors as a righty starter (where he hits 97 and sits 95 with his fastball) and come out of the pen as a lefty reliever with a 93-mph fastball but from a sharper angle.



My plan would be to let him alternate batter-by-batter, but then when he blows out one elbow, he can keep pitching with one arm while he rehabs the other. It's like an insurance-out-of redundancy!

The other guy I'm hearing a lot of buzz about is Somebody Else. I bet the Mets draft that guy.

[Benjamin Grimm]

When is the draft anyway? June is almost over.

[MFS62]

The more I read the Honeycutt comparisons, the more I think of Rob Deer. I guess, as you said, that is becoming more and more like the profile of many current players.
Later

[Edgy MD]

When is the draft anyway? June is almost over.

MLB no longer does the June draft in June, pushing it back to the All-Star Break to (a) let the CWS complete and players to rest a few weeks, (b) complement the publicity of the All-Star Game, and (c) give baseball writers something to write about during the All-Star Break.

It's almost like they like my idea of a mid-season Baseball Week, but are only halfway there.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Kinda like how Madison Square Garden is no longer at Madison Square, huh?

[Edgy MD]

Some guy at Bleacher Report has Seaver King going to the Mets! So I'm taking that as a promise and fact!!

[Frayed Knot]

Round 1: Sunday 7PM
NYM Picks: #19, 46, 82, 111, 144, and then every 30 picks after that.
Subsequent picks on Monday 2 PM and Tuesday 2 PM

[Frayed Knot]

mlb.com's final mock has the Mets narrowed down to college OF (UNC) Vance Honeycutt or HS OF Slade Caldwell.

So it'll be one of those two... unless it's someone else.

[ashie62]

Rob Manfred the clown at the podium

[nymr83]

Hard to find myself caring about this. It's not like basketball/football where you can be excited* to see your first round pick take the field next year. Whoever they take will maybe suck or get traded in a few years and maybe just maybe will be a productive player in New York 3-5 years from now.

*Or fearful, I am a Jets fan after all

[Frayed Knot]

#1 overall to the Guardians is Australian born 2B Travis Bazzana! Not just born there but grew up and learned the game there. Was offered a pro contract in Oz as a 16 y/o but turned it down to go the American college route instead. His gamble played out well.

[Edgy MD]

Hard to find myself caring about this. It's not like basketball/football where you can be excited* to see your first round pick take the field next year.

The Mets might end up with a guy named Seaver King or possibly an ambidextrous freak named Jurrangelo Cijintje. I don't see how I can be anything BUT excited.

The fact that the players may be years away is half the fun! The myth is almost always better than the reality.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Nationals got Seaver King and the Mariners took the ambidextrous guy.

Mets get OF-P Carson Benge from Oklahoma State

[nymr83]

Hard to find myself caring about this. It's not like basketball/football where you can be excited* to see your first round pick take the field next year.

The Mets might end up with a guy named Seaver King or possibly an ambidextrous freak named Jurrangelo Cijintje. I don't see how I can be anything BUT excited.

The fact that the players may be years away is half the fun! The myth is almost always better than the reality.

Seaver King is a great name. I sure hope they don't take Cijitewhatever unless he has an absolutely amazing nickname that we can permanently use instead of spelling that.

[Edgy MD]

Nationals got Seaver King and the Mariners took the ambidextrous guy.

I hear that Seaver King is going to have his contract voided for prematurely hiring an agent, and the Mets can still enter a lottery for him.

Mets get OF-P Carson Benge from Oklahoma State

!!

[nymr83]

Is that how it is pronounced? I was thinking

[Edgy MD]

Is that how it is pronounced?

That's how it is pronounced ... by me. I'm telling you, go with the myth.

MLB has other thoughts, though.



It's funny how the analyst is pronouncing his weakness as hitting the inside pitch and his strength as going to the opposite field — as if he's McNeil Jr. — while they show highlights of him pulling inside pitches over and over.

[G-Fafif]

[nymr83]

Is that how it is pronounced?

That's how it is pronounced ... by me. I'm telling you, go with the myth.

MLB has other thoughts, though.

It's funny how the analyst is pronouncing his weakness as hitting the inside pitch and his strength as going to the opposite field — as if he's McNeil Jr. — while they show highlights of him pulling inside pitches over and over.

Just watched the clip, the commish has nowhere near the stage presence of a Goodell or Silver announcing picks.

[Benjamin Grimm]

That's how I assumed it would be pronounced, to rhyme with "henge" as in Stonehenge.

[MFS62]

If you're going to build a henge, you might as well make it out of stone.
The ESPN analysts showed him hitting homers over the left centerfield wall.

I'm gonna' start Benge drinking.
Later

[Edgy MD]

Please send telegrams of congratulations to Nate Dohm and Eli Serrano, righthanded pitcher and lefty swinging outfielder, respectively.

Nate, a fourth-year junior out of Mississippi State, stacked high at 6'4" / 210, comes to the Mets in the third round. He missed time due to injuries which allowed Jurrangelo Cijntje (and how delightful it is to work his name into another post) to pass him on the depth chart, but he was an ace and a half this year when he could get on the mound, going 4-0 with a 1.23 ERA, striking out 37 and walking but four in 29 1/3 innings.




Eli (don't call him Marrero) Serrano is actually "Eli Serrano III" so maybe we have some Michael Harris-eclipsing jersey fun coming up. He's a fourth-year NC State sophomore, so you can see a pattern already of the Mets selecting some older dudes. While he's even taller than Dohm, coming in at 6'5" / 201, that hasn't yet translated into a ton of power. But he brings an evil mustache to the table which had to bump him up on a lot of teams' cards.

Supposedly a terrific defender in center.

[MFS62]

Another sometimes injured pitcher?
This is a write-up I saw about Santucci on a Duke U site:

However, the highly touted arm struggled with injury troubles during the past two seasons. In 2023, he only made it seven games before suffering an injury that forced him to miss the rest of the regular season, depriving head coach Chris Pollard of an elite option to trot out during the postseason. This year, the injury luck was not as bad, but Santucci still missed three weeks with a rib injury, causing him to miss the ACC tournament and return on a pitch count for the NCAA tournament.

That Serrano 'stache gives off a John Candelaria vibe.

Later

[Benjamin Grimm]

Nate Dohm looks like he's 45 years old in that photo.

[MFS62]

Nate Dohm looks like he's 45 years old in that photo.

Since you posted that I've been trying to remember who he reminds me of. You're right.
He looks like later pictures of Cal Ripken Jr.

Later