A Boy Named Seo

Kevin McGowan 6'6", 215 pounds. Bet he's projectable.

Jeff McNeil, Long Beach St. Started every game and struck out only 11 times in 221 AB's. Played 4 positions and was pretty good apparently... named first team all conference as utility player.

Tyler Bashlor: MLB.com calls him a 'sturdy right hander'. This is Tyler's FB cover photo. His pet deer looks really sleepy.

5 picks so far today, 5 college players. 326 - Tyler Bashlor, RHP South Georgia College 356 - Jeff McNeil, SS Cal St. Long Beach 386 - Kevin McGowan, RHP Franklin Pierce University 416 - JD Leckenby, RHP Washington St. 446 - Colton Plaia, C Loyola Marymount University

Round 10, pick 296, Mets grab shortshop Luis Guillorme from Coral Springs Charter High School in Florida. MLB.com bros say he's all glove and even dropped the name 'Omar Vizquel'.

Round 9, 266 Mets go college outfielder again and take Patrick Biondi, from U. of Michigan. "Tremendous pick" sez MLB.com guy.

I think signability is part of the reason Denny slipped so much, though.

MLB is telling me round 8 (pick 236) is actually Ricky Knapp, pitcher from Florida Gulf Coast University. His old man, Rick, is a pitching coordinator for the Dodgers.

Frayed Knot wrote: Ceetar wrote: Benjamin Grimm wrote: I don't know if it's coincidence or design, but they're drafting older players in the later rounds. The first four guys were all born in 1994 or 1995, but the next four were 1990, 1991, 1992, 1991. the 'trick' last year at least was to draft college seniors in the 7-10th round or so because they have zero leverage and will sign for whatever you tell them. You then take that money and give it to the high rounders, or a gamble pick at 11-15 to entice someone away from going to college. Right. It's a by-product of the new (as of last year) 'Overall Cap' system. There's no limit on what you can spend on any one player but there is on the cumulative total of your first (I think it's Ten) rounds. So, like Ceetar said, by going under the recommended 'slot' on some players you can maybe shift what you save over to a tougher sign. Exactly what the Astros did last year. Another great Grantland piece.

ABNS still bored on a quiet day at work and bringing you exciting draft news you can easily find ANYWHERE ELSE ON THE INTERNET... Round 7, pick 206, and your New York Mets take... Matt Oberste, first baseman, University of Oklahoma. BA's Jim Callis 'really likes this guy'. Here he is wearing a whack-ass helmet:

"Pitchability" is the stupidest scout term I've heard said like 8 billion fuckin times today.

Round 6, pick 176 - Mets draft the 'toolsy' and excellently named Champ Stuart from Brevard College. Champ's a native of the Bahamas.

This is pretty funny. Kid who hates the Yankees gets drafted by the Yankees. In his interview, he looks like he's just been told he has AIDS, but should live a really long time.

Round 5, pick 146, Mets go with their second college kid, Jared King, a switch hitting outfielder from Kansas State. Bro on MLB.tv sez, 'tremendous value, not sure how he lasted 5 rounds.'

Hey, smart guys, I'm telling 'Fresh Prince' jokes here. Round 4, pick 116, Mets take Lee Mazzilli!! LJ Mazzilli, second baseman, UCONN. r0jh71l4Pxg "Hey, LJ, your shirt's all wrinkled." LJ: "No problem."

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Ivan Wilson. That's one ugly cap he's wearing. Signability may be an issue with this kid. He's from a wealthy family in Bel-Air (his father Phil is a successful judge) and he's rumored to be on his way to Princeton. Has a famous cousin, Will, from Philadelphia.

Mets take 6'7" right-handed pitcher Casey Meisner from Texas. Here's Casey yall:

Ha. Up again here in 2 more picks.

6'3", 220. Big feller. http://www.baseballfactory.com/AllAmerica/alumni/2012/American/Ivan-Wilson

Mets take a high school kid from Louisiana named Ivan Wilson.

Mets pick twice in the first eleven picks as this thing gets going again in less than an hour - starts with pick #74, Mets pick 76 & 84 Baseball America says that these guys (with BA's pre-draft ranks for them) are the best ones who went undrafted yesterday - for whatever that's worth 25. Jon Denney, c, Yukon (Okla.) HS 34. Connor Jones, rhp, Great Bridge HS, Chesapeake, Va. 35. Kyle Serrano, rhp, Farragut (Tenn.) HS 37. Bobby Wahl, rhp, Mississippi 42. Cord Sandberg, of, Manatee HS, Bradenton, Fla. 48. Rowdy Tellez, 1b, Elk Grove (Calif.) HS 49. Trey Masek RHP 4YR Texas Tech 50. Andrew Mitchell RHP 4YR Texas Christian 58. Ryan Boldt OF HS Red Wing (Minn.) HS 61. Kent Emanuel LHP 4YR North Carolina 63. Tyler O�Neill C HS Garibaldi SS, Maple Ridge, B.C. 65. Dom Nunez C HS Elk Grove (Calif.) HS 66. Garrett Williams LHP HS Calvary Baptist HS, Shreveport, La. 67. Cavan Biggio 2B HS St. Thomas HS, Houston 68. Jared King OF 4YR Kansas State 70. Chandler Eden RHP HS Yuba City (Calif.) HS 72. Chris Okey C HS Eustis, Fla., HS 73. Tyler Skulina RHP/1B 4YR Kent State 75. Jacoby Jones 2B 4YR Louisiana State 78. A.J. Vanegas RHP 4YR Stanford 79. Michael O�Neill OF 4YR Michigan 80. Jake Brentz LHP HS Parkway South HS, Manchester, Mo.. 81. Trey Michalczewski 3B HS Jenks (Okla.) HS 84. Garrett Hampson SS HS Reno (Nev.) HS 85. A.J. Puk LHP HS Washington HS, Cedar Rapids, Iowa Astros take the dude in bold. Cubs up, Mets next. Edit: Cubs take a kid from BYU just back from his Mormon mission. YOUR NEW YORK METS ON THE CLOCK... #rowdyorbust

I'm not sure exactly what Church's story is, but what I do know is really strange: 3 high schools in 4 years, without pitching for one of their teams since freshman year. Yeah, kinda strange story with this kid. Amazin Avenue has some details and also says he's got '#2 ceiling'. Shoot for the stars, son.

Rany Jazayerli at Grantland sez: 'Abolish the draft!' and points to the current system for international free agents as a workable replacement model. I'm with him all the way, but Bud would never blow up his TV draft day. Very good read.

Hot, steamy, draft action right on your computer!! http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/draft/y2013/draftlive_app.jsp

Oddly, even though the Mets were willing to pay through the nose for free agents such as Wagner, K-Rod and Jason Bay, they were among a group of teams that included the White Sox, Padres and Astros that were notorious for their unwillingness to spend big on the draft. For whatever reason -- most assumed it was the Wilpon�s cozy relationship with Bud Selig -- the club frequently refused to significantly exceed MLB�s bonus recommendations. This often meant missing out on blue-chip talent at the top of the draft as well as players who may have slid due to bonus demands. A perfect example is 2004, when the Mets had the No. 3 overall pick. That year, Jered Weaver and Stephen Drew were both seen as two of the top talents in the draft, but both were advised by Scott Boras and were demanding big bonuses. Many clubs were scared off by their demands -- this is how the Padres ended up taking Matt Bush at No. 1 overall -- and the Mets were no different. Weaver fell to the Angels at No. 12 and Drew to the Diamondbacks at No. 15 and held out for almost a year before signing just ahead of the 2005 draft for $4 million each. Philip Humber, whom the Mets took at No. 3, signed for $3 million. That�s a difference of $1 million, or roughly 1/16 of what the Mets are paying Jason Bay not to play for them this year. Per wins above replacement, Weaver and Drew are the second- and third-most valuable players in that class, trailing only Justin Verlander, the No. 2 overall pick. This argument has come to be a favorite of writers over recent years. Problem is it's only partially true to begin with and usually not in the way they think. In the "often meant missing out on blue-chip talent at the top of the draft" quote I like how the word "often" is followed by ONE example which isn't surprising really since it's the only one and even that was is largely hindsight. Weaver was coming off a terrific season in college but there was NOT a consensus that he was the best pitcher in the draft that year with many touting Rice University's 'Big Three' (Humber, Niemann & Wade Townsend who went 3rd, 4th, & 8th ) as better bets in the long run. That it didn't happen that way isn't the same thing as saying it was obvious at the time. It also ignores the fact that the Mets have dealt with Boras in the past (both for amateurs & ML talent) and have gone "over-slot" for some of those picks (Pelfrey for one). Touting Drew & Weaver as clear better choices who were only passed over for money reasons is classic after-the-fact "proof" backed with nine years of hindsight. Where the Mets did show a propensity to "cheap-out" on the draft was by not reaching in later rounds for athletic HS-types who could be good some day but could command more money than their draft slot indicated due to having college scholarship in their back pocket (often for football or basketball as well as baseball). Draft money isn't always based on talent, bargaining power through other options plays a role as well so who got more money doesn't necessarily prove who was considered the better talent. Players like those miss more often than they hit and more often than the "safe" but lower-ceiling college picks they might take instead but at least it gives a club a shot at getting what could be upper-round talent in a later draft (one the kid has several years of college) at what turns out to be a bargain rate. The Yanx got Austin Jackson (who they later flipped for Granderson) that way in something like the 7th round after paying big bucks to forego his hoops scholarship. The BoSox tried to do the same with Pedro Alvarez but he turned down their million dollar offer to go to Vanderbilt and wound up three drafts later going to Pittsburgh as the 2nd overall choice and a $6mil bonus. Eh, I kinda remember differently. Weaver was a fucking man-child, and Boras and the rumors of his Mark Prior, pre-slot, demand $$ definitely scared teams off. The Mets (and 12 other teams before the Angels) really shoulda jumped at him. Edit: that Verlander guy turned out OK, though.