The New York Mets have officially completed all 20 rounds of the 2024 MLB Draft.
Host Ryan Finkelstein breaks down the final 10 picks from round three of the draft and spotlights his top five favorite picks the Mets made over the last three days.
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It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. On this bonus edition of Lockdown Mets, I will break down the final 10 picks of the Draft for the Mets as well as my top 5 favorite picks from the 2024 class. You are Lockdown Mets, your daily New York Mets Podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all you amazing Mets fans, you're listening to Lockdown Mets, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Thank you for making Lockdown Mets your first listen every day, Lockdown Mets is free and available on all platforms including YouTube. Today we're talking about the rest of the Mets Draft here in the first segment, I'll break down the final 10 picks they made in day 3 of the Draft. Then in the second segment, I want to talk a little bit about slot value, what that means and also, I'll give you my 5 favorite picks for the Mets 2024 Draft class. Before we attend even though, I'm your host Ryan Fickelstein, if you want to find any of my work follow me on X, Fickelstein Ryan, you can also find some of my writing at just baseball.com where I work as the managing editor. This is a two part episode of the show today, this being part 2, part 1 is a trade deadline primer, I break down 10 bats the Mets could pursue at the deadline, so make sure you check out that show after this one if you have not already. Alright, let's go through the rest of the Mets Draft. Yesterday, I talked about picks 3 through 10, today the final day of the Draft we had 11 through 20, that will be draft is now only 20 rounds. So the 11th round pick for the Mets was Nick Roselli from Binghamton University, you think there was any chance the Mets had some scouts, they were able to check him out across his collegiate career, but it was right down the road from the double A affiliate of the New York Mets. Sure, there's some guys that are familiar with that area and essentially what you're looking out through Sally is a utility type player, a guy that brings a lot of energy from the small videos that I was able to find on him. He hit 338 with a 492 on base and a 738 slug in 21 games this year with 8 home runs and 12 doubles grew up in New York, so you have a local kid could transfer to a bigger program try to get drafted higher if you really wanted to, but it feels like you'll probably sound with the Mets and just a guy that you'll keep your eye on, you never know if you can turn into something but a utility type player, a very lot of energy, maybe hit for a high average. We'll see if that slug can transfer over, it's not like the Binghamton University is one of the bigger conferences that they're playing, it's a smaller D1 program, but definitely an interesting pick. Round 12, you have Ethan Lanthier from Kansas, a 21-year-old reliever who had a 454 ERA across 37 and 2/3 innings pitched at Kansas this year, 42 strikeouts, 6 foot 5, probably likely to stay in the pen, but the Mets definitely stocked a lot of those types, big right-handers to potentially be able to develop their own relievers, maybe David Stern's feeling that a little bit this year with the lack of relief options in the farm system, so maybe that was a point of priority, just a way to spend some of those picks a little bit further down the draft. All right, speaking of round 13, another pitcher, right-handed, 22-year-old spent three seasons at Oregon. He made 17 starts this year, pitched to a 513 ERA, so more of a starting pitcher project. I'm imagining more of a depth guy than someone that would be expected to be some top prospect one day, but you never really know what's going to happen. The Mets, clearly like his arsenal too, have picked him up despite having less than great success throughout his collegiate career, but a guy that has, you know, made 17 starts this past season, so he can build him up potentially quickly, see how he does once he starts hitting professional baseball and how they can maybe develop them. In 14, this is the most interesting pick of day three of the draft, Tanner Witt from Texas. He was once considered a first round talent from high school, then also after his freshman season at Texas, where he pitched to a sub-32 ERA, also had a sub-32 ERA playing in the cape that year. So he was on this trajectory all the way up to being a top draft pick once his name was eventually called, and then he needed Tommy John surgery in 2022, then he needed a follow-up procedure in 2024. So this is a big gamble when it comes to the health of this pitcher. That's why he fell to the 14th round, but I love taking a shot on upside this deep into the draft. Only pitched nine and a third innings this year, allowed six runs. You can't even really take what he's done since his Tommy John, but you have a guy that was once a first round talent. I don't know if they're going to look at him and just say, all right, with the armrest, we're just going to keep him in the pen. I think there's a chance that they try to make him a starting pitcher, and he's an absolute project. But if you develop in the right way, there is a chance that this could be a lottery ticket. So I love taking a shot like this, definitely one of my favorite picks, or probably the favorite pick of day three of the draft. Round 15, Owen Woodward, a reliever who spent one season in Lubbock Christian, then two in Houston, Woodward pitched to a 5-4-0 ERA this year, so that doesn't jump out. But he had a strikeout per nine, almost at 14, which is really good. Walk per nine at 1.5, so a lot of strikeouts, not a lot of walks. Strikeout to walk ratio was nine to one this past season. He also, there's a video that circulated on him at one point. I don't know exactly. You don't see the beginning of the homerun shot in the video, but there was a guy that hit a homerun off of him, I think it was a couple years ago. And as he's rounding third, Woodward full-on clotheslines him with a tackle. So maybe there was some football in his past, but definitely an interesting name, probably relief pitcher. But again, strikeout to walks really good. Round 16, Josh Blum from USC, loved this pick because he was a closer at USC, had a 1-8-70 spray, 10 saves and 33-2-3 innings pitch, had a whip of 0.86, struck out 12 batters per nine. So again, another potential relief pitcher, the Mets drafted a lot of that in this draft. Round 17, Jacobi Long out of Miami, four-year college bat hit over 300 in his last two years. So that's pretty good, maybe a solid feel for the hit tool. Not a lot of power though, probably looking at more of a fourth-out fielder type if everything breaks right. Round 18, Jase Hampson, this was the second high schooler the Mets drafted. So now here's the interesting thing about Hampson. He was the top-ranked third base prospect out of the state of Washington. That was among high schoolers, obviously, sixth-ranked player overall. With that said, the Mets listed him as a right-handed pitcher. So it seems like they're drafting him to pitch. I don't know if they're going to be able to sign him. He's committed to Oregon, but he touched 94 on the fastball. This might be a guy that gets a little bit extra of the bonus pool money. I'm actually going to explain that a little bit more in the next segment here, how that all works. So I had to read up on it myself today. So we'll talk about that later, but it's interesting that he was ranked so highly as a position player, yet was drafted as a right-handed pitcher, according to the Mets release. So let's see what happens. There will learn a lot more if they actually do sign him, but the high schoolers, especially with the NIL I talked about this yesterday, chance to maybe make something in college. It seems like there's less and less getting drafted and getting them to sign just becomes a little bit harder. So we'll see if they're able to get Hampson to sign. 19th-round pick, Frank Ellis-Salt, Nova Southeastern University. That is where my wife is actually getting her masters and also where she works. So I like Ellis-Salt already. So JD Martinez, alum of NSU, Ellis-Salt threw 51 innings in 2024, struck out 62 and walked 17, 3-7-1 ERA, topped out at 94 in the fastball. So an interesting arm made for starts this year, should be a guide the Mets are able to sign. 20th-round, the final pick, Adam Hight, I think that's how you say it, H-A-I-G-H-T. He is a high schooler from Washington, actually the number one ranked shortstop in Washington State, third ranked player overall. Now they draft him, was that four rounds later, then, excuse me, two rounds later. Then Jay's Hampson, both out of the same state. So the Mets clearly have an area that's got there that likes what he's seeing. But here's the thing, he played all over the field. So he could be a utility guy, but might be able to stick a shortstop. There was some thought that he could be a top 100 pick throughout this process and then he fell all the way to pick 593. That tells you he's probably going to college, committed to Oregon State. So I don't necessarily expect the Mets to end up having him once the August 1st deadline comes. But what I will say is he could be tied in some respects to Trey Snyder, who the Mets drafted on day two. So I want to talk about the over slot, under slot process, how that all works, as well as my top five favorite picks. We'll get to all that in just a minute first, though, a word from our sponsors. Today's episode's brought to you by Supply House. 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Discover automatically doubles the cashback you've earned on your credit card at the end of your first year with cashback match. That means with Discover you could turn $150 cashback to $300. That's right, you could put it towards some memorabilia you've had your eye on or treat yourself to a premium sports network. You earn and discover doubles. See terms at Discover.com/creditcard. If you're an everyday listener of the show, make sure you become a locked on Mets insider. This is our text and service where you can send me a message anytime you have a question and I can send you insider information like I was sending over information on each of these draft picks as they came in throughout these last couple days and I had a really good note for an insider. I actually wasn't able to respond to the text because I just looked at it and it was one o'clock in the morning so I didn't want to text somebody that late, but I was mistaken through one of the texts that sent the insiders where I talked about the slot value on a -- on Jacobi Long, the pick in the 17th, and I said easy under slot because I just in my mind was like, oh, four-year college bet, but I was reminded from the insider, I hope you are listening to the show today, that the top ten picks of the draft are slotted. And by the way, if you want to be locked on Mets insider, finally, can be up to the description with a subtext.com/lock.net. But the top ten picks have a slot value attached to it. So number one pick has a set slot value. I think it's over 10 million and it goes all the way down throughout. And so that is your pool money that you have to sign all your draft picks. Now you can use some of that on a pick that's after the 10th round. But from the 11th round on, you can pay any of those guys up to $150,000, okay? So then it's just a numbers game. So Jacobi Long might not get $150,000 because he's either going to sign with the Mets or he's not going to sign now. We'll see what that is if it's even released at whatever point. But let's just say the Mets are trying to sign Jay's Hamson or Adam Hot from their high school commitments, they might give them over slot money even as a pick that's outside of the top 10. Ryan Clifford was an 11th round pick by the Astros that got over slot money. So he got well more than $150,000 to sign with the Astros. So that's sort of how this works. And that brings me to my top five favorite picks. And we're going to start with an honorable mention. So it's kind of a top six. But I need him signed first before I can include him and that's Trey Snyder. So this was the draft pick that Mets had the fifth round pick, lone high school pick in the top 10 for the Mets, Missouri high school gator player of the year had a 391 average hit seven home runs, 36 RBI, 22 stolen bases and OPS over 1100 during a senior season. Great athlete who is regarded for his defense. So they'll be able to stick at shortstop at some of the best exit velocities among the potential high school draft picks. So if they can get him to sign this will shoot into my top five and he's going to get over a slot, I would imagine to be able to sign away from his commitment to Tennessee. But the reason why you draft someone like Adam Hot as your last pick, a guy that potentially had top 100 value, but is going to be a hard sign is let's just say you're not getting in anywhere with Snyder. Maybe you take that money and you put it over to Hot's way and maybe you get him to sign. So that's sort of the game that the Mets are going to play here. They have until August 1st to get these guys signed and as we get to that deadline at some point I will do a show sort of breaking down who didn't get signed and the notable ones that did who got over slot, all that good stuff. But let's now get to my top five favorite picks. So we're not including Snyder because I don't know if the Mets going to be able to sign him, although I lean more towards yes. That's why he got drafted fifth round and I'm hot was the 20th round. My number one favorite pick Carson Bench, how are you not going to take the first overall or not first overall, but the first round pick that the Mets made as the most exciting one because he does have a lot of intrigue to him. He's talked about on the last two shows, a guy that was as five tool potential could be a two way guy, but probably an outfielder, really good bats of all skills really good play discipline. An ability to tap into more power has already started to do that needs to continue to lift more. He talked about it himself. He wants to go to turn on the inside pitch a little bit better. A guy that is the West teammates in college with Noel McLean, those guys are really good friends might join up in the minor leagues next year at some point because McLean might take some more time to develop as a lone pitching prospect now no longer a two way guy. I love to pick a Carson bench. I think by the end of this season, when we're going into next year, he's going to be a top 10 prospect in this system. I could see him jumping over someone like Colin Hauck, who was a high school first round pick last year that still has a lot of developing to do bench as a college back coming in. I think he can probably find his way at the back end of the Matt's top 10 if not somewhere comfortable between 10 and 15 when those new updated farm system rankings come out. Number two, I'm just going to be boring and I'm going to go right back to the second round pick Jonathan Santucci because he's the only lefty at the Matt's guy and there's hope that he can stick as a starter and they do not have a prize left handed pitching prospect in this system right now. Comes from Duke University, I think Santucci was a really interesting pick got a ton of upside. So that is right there. And then I continue to sort of go chalk here with hydraph picks Eli Serrano is one that I would be really excited to see how he's going to develop from NC State. He could go back. He might not be a cut dry easy sign. He might get a little bit over his slot value because he does have the ability to go back and maybe play himself from a fourth round pick and it being a second round pick where his slot value is going to be that much better. I don't know if you have to pay him second round money, but maybe he meets somewhere in the middle. Serrano with teammates with Ryan Clifford back in high school at their prep academy needs to tap into some more power, but he can add on some muscle and do that he's six foot five really lanky was moved from first base to center field in NC State. So that says a lot about his athleticism. I like that pick a lot. So I'd say if you're looking at upside from this class, bench Serrano and Snyder are the three position players. You should really keep your eye on Corey Collins, good bat senior bat from Georgia, but I don't know exactly what is complete upside is also if he's limited to first base. The defensive part of it as a prospect is always going to hamper your values a little bit. All right, now we've got two arms. So to close out my top five favorite picks from this draft. We go with the guy that I discuss on yesterday's show, eighth round pick, Ryan Lambert out of Oklahoma, 21 year old really ever had a two five seven year right in his one season there at the transfer from Minnesota. But even more exciting, he pitched in what's now called the MLB draft league. So it's a 35 game league. I talked about this on yesterday's show 35 game season that takes place from June 4th to July 13th. So it's just priming guys for the draft. And you know, if you had a great college career, you're not going to compete in this. You have to take his numbers with a little bit of a grain of salt. But he pitched to 150 we are right in six innings in that league, 10 strikeouts, no walks, touched 102 on his fastball. I joke on yesterday's show, get him in the Matt's bullpen now, but he has a nasty fastball slider combination power pitcher. And those guys sometimes it doesn't really take much to develop them. He has good stuff. You can maybe hope that he can hone in on his control of a little bit command was an issue in college, but wasn't an issue in the MLB draft league. No walks with right over 30% on his fastball. So to me, Ryan Lambert for a team that can desperately use bullpen help, I'm not necessarily saying this year. I mean, they can use it. But I don't think for sure Lambert's going to be part of the equation. He could be up next year though. So I really love that pick. And then along the same lines as far as an upside play and an arm, but completely different as far as the road to get drafted here is Tanner Whit, who we just talked about here. The Mets get him in the 14th round, but at one point, potential first round talent. If they get anything from Tanner Whit or Matt Allen, it is a benefit. Matt Allen has gone through a lot more now, but these are guys that probably didn't have the best Tommy John surgery, right? Tanner Whit to have gotten TJ in 2022 and to not really be effective on the mound since then, obviously he probably wasn't going to pitch in 2023. But to have some sort of a follow up procedure in 24, there's risk here, of course, but to get him in the 14th round and the upside that he possesses, I think that was a fantastic pick, especially at the value that they're getting him at. And I imagine he's going to sign. I don't think you have to go over a slot or anything to sign him, and he could go back to school and try to pitch himself into being a higher draft pick. But with the health concern that he already has, you'd imagine he might want to just start his professional career and make his money on the back end if he can end up skyrocketing through prospect lists and make it to the show and have a good, big lead career. I think his sort of dream of getting a ton of money on a signing bonus probably out the window at this point. So really like that pick as well by the meant to get a lot of upside in the 14th round. That is my complete breakdown here of what the mess did in the draft. I hope you all enjoyed it. And like I said, as they start signing guys, I'll probably mention it throughout Friday of foreign ports. We will do a show once you get past the August 1st deadline, to sign all these guys where I will talk about who got signed, who didn't and all that good stuff. So if you want to make sure that you're not missing any of the prospect content we have here with lockdown. That you want to follow rate and review ever get your podcast. If you're watching on YouTube, hit that subscribe button goal to get to 10,000 subs by the end of the season. So I appreciate all of you who continue to subscribe. Follow me on exit. Finkelson Ryan, follow the show. Lockdown Mets. Thank you for making lockdown match. You're first listening to your first watch every day, not for your second watch. 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