Mets Draft 2 Players From New York In First Round of MLB Draft

The MLB Draft is one of the oddest mechanisms in sports. Yes you're building the future of your team, but you're often investing in players that you HOPE can produce for your team in 3-5 years. It's not a short term investment. And it changes with every player. For example, Michael Conforto for the Mets was drafted in the first round of the 2014 draft and made his debut just a year later, while a pitcher the Mets just played against, Jameson Taillon, was drafted with the second overall pick in 2010 and JUST made his major league debut with the Pirates last week. And Jameson is a year older than Michael and was sent back down to Triple A.

So! Hope springs eternal! The Mets had 2 picks in the first round yesterday, thanks to the Nationals signing Daniel Murphy after the Mets had offered him an Qualifying Offer. The Mets had spent A LOT of pitching capital to make some moves last season (most notably Cespedes for Fulmer) and they had already drafted a lot of depth with last years draft. However, it's not surprise that they're trying to restock the shelves a bit.

Something that IS a bit of a surprise is where the picks came from.

Pick#1: Justin Dunn. From Freeport Long Island, he quickly turned into a flamethrower for Boston College. A righty that can hit upper 90's on the radar gun, with a very good slider and a strong change-up. He was mocked to go anywhere from 8-12 in the draft, so the Mets got some great value at #19.

From everything I've read, the sky is the limit for Justin. He just needs some time to really refine the craft of pitching. I wouldn't expect to see him before 2018.

Pick #2: Anthony Kay. A lefty who was the ace of the staff at UConn this past season, he's from Steven Matz's high school on Long Island in Stony Brook. Hits 95 on the radar gun and broke the all time UConn strikeout record that was held by Matt Barnes (he's got a 2.93 ERA for the Red Sox this season, I'd take that).

Anthony is more of a finished product than Justin. I'm not saying he's not a good prospect; I'm more saying that Justin has a higher ceiling AND a lower floor than Anthony. I don't want to make comparisons to Matz because that dude can be simply FILTHY and was drafted as a high school player. Regardless, I think he's got a great chance to be a #2 - #3 on a pitching staff, and with a righty ahead of him can really do some damage.

*By the way, you can check out the Mets first round pick Justin Dunn on ESPNU today at 5pm.*