The Ones That Got Away

[Valadius]

Throughout Mets history, there have been a number of draft choices that we've made that chose not to sign with us. I've gone through the data courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and compiled a list of the best players that slipped through our fingers. Imagine what Mets history would have been like had we signed these players when we had the chance.

Ron Cey
Burt Hooton
John Tudor
Roger Clemens
Rafael Palmeiro
Matt Williams
John Wetteland
John Olerud
Scott Erickson
Todd Jones
Mark Grudzielanek
Darren Dreifort
Rick Helling
Darin Erstad
Billy Koch
Matt LeCroy
Scott Proctor
Aaron Rowand
Garrett Atkins
David DeJesus
Mickey Rivers
Bud Black
Marty Barrett
Kal Daniels

[Guest Edgy DC]

Its a two-way street, though. The best player we ever had was drafted --- and signed, and forfeited on a technicality --- initially by the Braves.

[Vic Sage]

I think we can break down that list a bit.

[u:a0e16c35f3]HOF-level[/u:a0e16c35f3]
Roger Clemens
Rafael Palmeiro

[u:a0e16c35f3]excellent[/u:a0e16c35f3]
John Olerud
Ron Cey
Matt Williams (on edit)

[u:a0e16c35f3]good[/u:a0e16c35f3]
John Tudor
Burt Hooton
Mickey Rivers (on edit)
John Wetteland

[u:a0e16c35f3]fair[/u:a0e16c35f3]
Todd Jones
Mark Grudzielanek
Darin Erstad
Bud Black
Marty Barrett

[u:a0e16c35f3]feh:[/u:a0e16c35f3]
Kal Daniels (on edit)
Scott Erickson
Darren Dreifort
Rick Helling
Billy Koch
Matt LeCroy
Scott Proctor

[u:a0e16c35f3]too soon to tell[/u:a0e16c35f3]
Aaron Rowand
Garrett Atkins
David DeJesus

[HahnSolo]

Kal Daniels probably goes in the feh category.

And I'd probably bump Matt Williams over Mickey Rivers.

[Vic Sage]

you're right on all counts.

With Kal Daniels, i was just thinking of somebody else.
With Williams, i'd forgotten how long he'd played. I remembered him as a great player whose career was cut short, but he actually played till he was 37. Certainly his peak value was greater than the ole gozzle head.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Is feh an official category? Will MLB hold an annual feh Game over the feh Break?

Will Topps release a special feh Collection of cards?

[MFS62]

Here's a different spin on this. I'm not sure whether it belongs in this thread, its own, or the Rico Brogna thread. At the end of each season, I used to come up with a roster of players who had been the property of the Mets and compare what they did with what the Mets did that year. Some years, the real team was better, some years it wasn't.

I hadn't done it in a while. After this season, I got the USA Today and there were the season's stats. So I did it again.
Caveats:
I did my calculations by hand - I was sitting in a Macdonalds at the time.
The stats may not have included the NL playoff game.
I wrote don the stats of one player (79 AB)but forgot to write down the player's name.
Fielding skill not included, just whether they played acertain position.
I suck at posting charts

Rules:
162 game decisions by the pitchers.
Similar IP and AB
I could cherry pick the players, not all were included. (Hey, its my game. I make the rules.)

Here is the roster I found:
SP
AJ Burnett
Kasmir
Byrd
Bannister
Traschel
MP
DiNardo (he pitched out of the bullpen as wel as started)
Bell
Bradford
Petit
Oliver
RP
Dotel
Owens
Ring
Isringhausen

C
Piazza
Flores

IF
Jacobs
Wigginton
Mora
Scuttaro
Keppinger
Kent
Matsui

OF
Bay
Cameron
Nady
Payton
T.Perez
Pagan


Here is the comparison:
Pitching:
W
Mets 88
ex-Mets 90

L
Mets 74
ex-Mets 72

IP
Mets 1452.1
ex-Mets 1446

sv
Mets 39
ex-Mets 41

H
Mets 1415
ex-Mets 1362

ER
Mets 687
ex-Mets 594

BB
Mets 570
ex-Mets 493

K
Mets 1134
ex-Mets 953

ERA
Mets 4.26
ex-Mets 3.69

Players:
AB
Mets 5605
ex-Mets 5403

R
Mets 804
ex-Mets 737

H
Mets 1543
ex-Mets 1455

2B
Mets 294
ex-Mets 295

3B
Mets 27
ex-Mets 26

HR
Mets 177
ex-Mets 178

RBI
Mets 761
ex-Mets 753

SB
Mets 200
ex-Mets 46

AVG
Mets .275
ex-Mets .269

Conclusion: Damn! It was close.

Later

[Gwreck]

I think Cameron and Nady are mutually exclusive.