Meet My Newly Adopted Child, Ivan Wilson

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

He's going to make you treasure your 3rd round draft picks for the rest of your sorry lives.

Ivan is a large young man from Ruston, La. (between Shreveport and Monroe, doncha know). Six-three, 230 and just 18 years old. Bats right, throws right. Played center field last season for the Gulf Coast Mets, their rookiest team and held his own if unspectacularly with a .219 average and 22/66 BB/K in 160 PA. Led the team in steals and had 3 triples, 4 doubles and a homer.

Scouts and opponents rave about his power potential as well as his throwing arm, and it's exciting to get behind a guy who can kill the ball. You know, if he does kill the ball.

Ruston prep superstar Ivan Wilson was drafted by the New York Mets today in the third round of the MLB First-Year Player draft. Wilson was the 76th pick overall. "It feels good. This is a dream come true," Wilson said. Wilson is a 6-foot-3, 220-pound outfielder who bats and throws right and has significant power potential, good speed and a strong arm. He was widely projected to go in the fourth round or later, so the third-round selection is a boon for the Grambling commit. "I wasn’t going to be No. 1, but I knew I was going to go," Wilson said, before confirming that he planned to sign with the Mets sooner rather than later. “I'm pretty sure I'm going to sign," he said. "Yes, I am. It won't take long." Wilson is a five-tool center fielder who has the arm to play right field if required. He hit .383 in his senior season with eight homers and eight triples. More than half of his 41 hits were for extra bases. He also swiped 12 bases. In a second-round playoff loss in May against Sulphur, Wilson likely boosted his draft status by blasting three homers in a game against Sulphur’s LSU commit Kale Breaux, who tweeted after the game about Wilson, “dude is the real deal!” Assuming the Mets are able to sign him, Wilson will likely report to rookie ball. He was ranked No. 140 on the Baseball America Top 500 list that was published before the draft.

[Edgy MD]

It gets embarrassing when you call one Ivan and the other one answers.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Seems promising... but who the hell names their kid "Ivan?"

[nymr83]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Seems promising... but who the hell names their kid "Ivan?"

NY Post editors salivating at the thought of "Ivan the Terrible" on the backpage after an 0-4 debut

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Edgy MD wrote: It gets embarrassing when you call one Ivan and the other one answers.

Y'know what's really embarrassing? Posting a photo of Dominic Smith and saying it's Ivan Wilson.

Here's Ivan.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

[crossout:rgmghi8q]Ivan still struggling to find it in the Gulf Coast League: 219/321/300 with just 1 homer and 65 whiffs in 160 at-bats.[/crossout:rgmghi8q]

Actually those are last year's stats. Not sure where Ivan will be this season, perhaps doing GCL again at age 19 or maybe Kingsport.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Kingsport it is.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Two homers and a double in Kingsport's 1st 4 games. Playing center field. Pretending to be Stevie Wonder:

[Edgy MD]

Big gunzz on that teenager.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

He was built when bricks were cheap.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

188 at bats, 99 strikeouts, .196 BA.

At Kingsport.

Good news? 16 of his 33 hits were for extra bases including 11 dingers.

He has a long way to go still.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

If you recall, Ivan was considered a high-upside, lottery ticket type but one who could take a lot of time to develop.

So far that's the case.

Not sure why but he only recently began play this season, but 1-7 .222/.300/.444 // .744 through 9 games in the Gulf Coast League. Still whiffing in nearly half his ABs.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Promoted back up to Kingsport

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

En route to the playoffs with Kingsport & stepbrother Gabriel Llanes. Ivan got his average & OBP up this summer and cut down on his whiffs but his power is down.

Still a long way to go!

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Ivan has been assigned to the Columbia Fireflies this season, leading off and playing center field.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Check out the fast bat on this 20-year-old kid. Got his walks up a tick too so far.



Can go get it in CF:

[G-Fafif]

The Firefly goes out, according to MetsMinors.net.

In a bit of shocking news, Columbia Fireflies outfielder Ivan Wilson has decided to retire from baseball. The 21-year old was taken in the third round of the 2013 draft by the Mets. Wilson will forgo his baseball career to play football instead. The right-handed Wilson was hitting .197/.275/.352 with 15 doubles, six home runs and 22 RBI but had struck out 80 times in 64 games. Wilson had been praised for his ability to play a strong center field and his raw power. Coming into the 2016 season, Baseball American named him the best defensive outfielder in the Mets system. Overall, in his Mets career he slashed .209/.298/.356 in 223 games with 21 homers and 31 stolen bases.

D.J. Dozier wishes him well.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Oh well. Stupid kid.

[Edgy MD]

G-Fafif wrote: The Firefly goes out, according to MetsMinors.net. In a bit of shocking news, Columbia Fireflies outfielder Ivan Wilson has decided to retire from baseball. The 21-year old was taken in the third round of the 2013 draft by the Mets. Wilson will forgo his baseball career to play football instead. The right-handed Wilson was hitting .197/.275/.352 with 15 doubles, six home runs and 22 RBI but had struck out 80 times in 64 games. Wilson had been praised for his ability to play a strong center field and his raw power. Coming into the 2016 season, Baseball American named him the best defensive outfielder in the Mets system. Overall, in his Mets career he slashed .209/.298/.356 in 223 games with 21 homers and 31 stolen bases. D.J. Dozier wishes him well.

As far as I can tell, the Mets have retained the rights to Bradley Marquez while he goes about his dunderheaded NFL dalliance, even though he hasn't appeared since 2013 and never above the Appalachian League.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I guess he felt that baseball didn't offer enough opportunities to get concussions.