For this new series on the website, I will be looking at every Mets first round draft pick. I will be going over who they drafted, some players they missed out on, and who I believe they should’ve chosen. The series will go decade by decade, and we start with 2010-2019!

2019

Who They Drafted: Brett Baty

Who They Could Have Drafted: Kody Hoese, Keoni Cavaco, Bryson Stott

Who They Should Have Taken: Kody Hoese

Brett Baty has incredible potential. None of these players have broken the majors yet obviously, but I am very high on them. Kody Hoese is a very underrated player who I think is going to become a star. Obviously, this one is going based on guessing, and this is an educated guess.

2018

Who They Drafted: Jarred Kelenic

Who They Could Have Drafted: Triston Casas, Ryan Weathers, Travis Swaggerty

Who They Should Have Taken: Jarred Kelenic

Not much to say here. Kelenic is going to be a star.

2017

Who They Drafted: David Peterson

Who They Could Have Drafted: Luis Campusano

Who They Should Have Taken: David Peterson

As is the case with some of the more recent years, it is very difficult to project where some of the players drafted in 2017 would end up. Luis Campusano is someone who is highly regarded in the minors today, but I would rather stick with Peterson who has already played in the majors.

2016

Who They Drafted: Justin Dunn

Who They Could Have Drafted: Gavin Lux, Will Smith (C), Dylan Carlson, Dakota Hudson, CJ Chatham, Bo Bichette, Dustin May, Zac Gallen, Corbin Burnes, Bobby Dalbec, Shane Bieber, Cavan Biggio, Tony Gonsolin

Who They Should Have Taken: Shane Bieber

This was clearly a loaded draft. So many players were drafted this year that could have been picked by the Mets. At the time, Dunn was a great pick. He probably will turn out to be a very good player, but I doubt he will turn into Shane Bieber. It’s very interesting to see that the Mets could have had Bo Bichette at shortstop, or the possibility of Bieber as a starter in the same rotation as Jacob DeGrom. Unfortunately, as the case will be for most of these years, the Mets seemed to have missed out on a lot of talent.

2015

Who They Drafted: Desmond Lindsay

Who They Could Have Drafted: Brady Singer, Jahmai Jones, Tanner Rainey, AJ Minter, Brandon Lowe, Harrison Bader, Jordan Hicks, Paul De Jong, Willie Calhoun, David Fletcher, Chris Paddack

Who They Should Have Taken: AJ Minter

AJ Minter is a great bullpen arm. A top 10 reliever in baseball today, it would be a charm to have him in the Mets bullpen. There were so many good players in this draft that could’ve been taken by the Mets, but they didn’t. This was a tough year to swallow, considering that Desmond Lindsay may never be a major leaguer, but all the others here are great players. This one was difficult to choose, considering that some of these players have better potential than they’ve shown.

2014

Who They Drafted: Michael Conforto

Who They Could Have Drafted: Trea Turner, Matt Chapman, Jack Flaherty, Rhys Hoskins

Who They Should Have Taken: Matt Chapman

Wow. That’s really all I can say here. Michael Conforto is obviously an incredible player, and clearly has the ability to be the next Mets Captain. However, there is no question that Matt Chapman has had a better career that Conforto to this point. There were some very big names in this draft, some are going to be franchise faces some day. That being said, Matt Chapman already is a franchise face, and is going to be for a while.

2013

Who They Drafted: Dom Smith

Who They Could Have Drafted: Hunter Renfroe, JP Crawford, Tim Anderson, Aaron Judge, Corey Knebel, Devin Williams, Cody Bellinger,

Who They Should Have Taken: Uh, Cody Bellinger

Cody Bellinger was a fifth round pick in this draft. All 29 other teams had a chance to sign Bellinger, and didn’t. Why? I am not too sure. I highly doubt that Bellinger has magically improved to MVP status over just a few years in the MLB from a fifth-rounder. I think that Bellinger might’ve been overlooked. The guy has a weird stance, weird swing, and scouts probably thought he had great potential but wouldn’t last in the majors. Yet, here he is. The 2019 National League MVP was a fifth-round pick. Imagine the impact he could’ve had in a Mets lineup- Conforto, Nimmo, Bellinger. Oh wait, there’s more years to sift through.

2012

Who They Drafted: Gavin Cecchini

Who They Could Have Drafted: Lucas Giolito, Corey Seager, Marcus Stroman (that’s just the first round), Jose Berrios, Joey Gallo, Matt Olson, Edwin Diaz, Max Muncy (must I continue?)

Who They Should Have Taken: Corey Seager

First off, the Dodgers are brilliant drafters. That is something that you will see over the course of this series. The Dodgers have an incredible ability to draft elite players without having top 10 or even top 20 picks. Corey Seager is a top 3 shortstop in baseball today. Obviously, the other players here are incredible. The Mets were clearly looking for a shortstop, considering that they drafted Gavin Cecchini, a shortstop. I’m not sure who the scout was that looked at Cecchini and told the Mets that he was better than Corey Seager, but I would be surprised if he still works for the Mets. The Mets clearly saw something in Cecchini that never came to fruition, but I find it hard to believe that Seager was worse at the time.

2011

Who They Drafted: Brandon Nimmo

Who They Could Have Drafted: Jose Fernandez, Sonny Gray, Jackie Bradley Jr, Trevor Story, Blake Snell, James McCann (I think we’ve seen enough)

Who They Should Have Taken: Jose Fernandez

Not only was Jose Fernandez an elite pitcher while he was alive, this pick might’ve saved his life. If he was drafted by the Mets he probably would still be alive today. What if game aside (funny considering this entire article is a what if game), Jose Fernandez was an incredible pitcher. I will never forget the game he pitched against Jacob DeGrom. The two stars went toe-to-toe and pitched deep into a scoreless game. Crazy to think the two could have been pitching in the same rotation.

2010

Who They Drafted: Matt Harvey

Who They Could Have Drafted: Yasmani Grandal, Chris Sale, Christian Yelich, Noah Syndergaard, Nick Castellanos, JT Realmuto

Who They Should Have Taken: Chris Sale

I know I know, JT Realmuto makes more sense than Chris Sale. However, I am keeping in mind that Chris Sale is a starting pitcher and they drafted Matt Harvey, a starting pitcher. If the Mets had drafted a position player, the easy answer would be Realmuto. That being said, this was the most difficult year on this entire list. Another player it would be incredible to have seen pitch alongside Jacob DeGrom today.

The “Shoulda Been” drafts

2010: Chris Sale

2011: Jose Fernandez

2012: Corey Seager

2013: Cody Bellinger

2014: Matt Chapman

2015: AJ Minter

2016: Shane Bieber

2017: David Peterson

2018: Jarred Kelenic

2019: Kody Hoese

Moral of the story is, drafting is difficult. Finding players that are going to be great is even more difficult. Lastly, being a fan of the Mets and writing this article, was difficult. There were only two players out of the entire decade that I believe the Mets actually drafted correctly, and one of them was traded the season after.