Looking back at the 2018 MLB Draft, the Mets’ decision to take Jarred Kelenic sixth overall still holds up.
That pick has taken on extra meaning because Kelenic later became part of the trade package for Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz, a deal that was heavily debated at the time but ultimately worked out in the Mets’ favor. It also invites the obvious question: if New York had gone a different direction on draft day, who else was there that could have changed the franchise?
The short answer is not much.
Kelenic was the sixth overall pick, making him the second-highest draft selection the Mets have made since 2000. Only Phillip Humber, taken third overall in 2004, was drafted higher.
And the 2018 first round simply did not offer a ton of obvious franchise-altering options right behind him. Ryan Weathers went next, and while he is still developing into a credible big league pitcher, he does not exactly jump off the page as a player who would have dramatically altered the Mets’ course. He also might have ended up in a trade anyway.
After Weathers, the draft gets more interesting. Carter Stewart went to the Atlanta Braves, but he never signed because of a low-ball signing bonus offer.
He has spent several years pitching in Japan. The Braves then received a compensation pick the following year and used it on Shea Langeliers.
Even then, it is fair to ask whether the Mets would have made the same move in 2019 if Stewart had been their pick.
Kyler Murray went ninth overall to the Oakland Athletics and signed, but he chose the NFL over MLB, so there was no compensation. The names that followed - Travis Swaggerty, Grayson Rodriguez, Jordan Groshans and others - do not make it easy to argue the Mets missed out on a clear better path. Logan Gilbert, Brice Turang and Nico Hoerner were all taken 14th or later, and it would be a stretch to say the Mets should have been expected to land any of them.
That is the reality of second-guessing drafts years later. It is easy to build alternate histories after the fact, but in this case the chain of events that led to Diaz arriving in New York was the best outcome.
The Mets also used several players from that 2018 draft in trades as they tried to chase a championship. Second-rounder Simeon Woods-Richardson was sent to the Toronto Blue Jays for Marcus Stroman.
Fourth-rounder Adam Hill went to the Milwaukee Brewers for Keon Broxton. Seventh-rounder Kevin Smith was dealt to the Baltimore Orioles for Miguel Castro in a trade that worked out, even if it is often overlooked.
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