New York Mets: Amazins pick game-changing power Bat(y) in first round

The 2019 Major League Baseball draft began Monday in New York City. The New York Mets selected longball hitting Brett Baty with the 12th overall pick.

Unlike professional football and basketball, players drafted in Major League Baseball don’t make immediate impacts. It takes years for players to develop into big league-ready contributors. Brett Baty, the New York Mets first-round draft pick in 2019 (12th overall) will be worth the wait.

Until David Wright made it to the Big Apple in 2004, the job of third baseman for New York’s National League team was a revolving door. New York Mets luminaries such as Tucker Ashford, Pumpsie Green, and Chico Walker all saw time at the hot corner. As a matter of fact, Wright ranks second in Mets history for WAR, the only other player in the top 25 who was primarily a third baseman is Howard Johnson and he played a good deal of shortstop.

The New York Mets hope that Baty can be the next Wright in terms of holding down the position for years to come. However, at the plate, Baty may be more like current Amazins star Pete Alonso than Wright. The 6-3, 210-pound slugger leads all high school players in the nation this year with 19 home runs over 37 games.

As far as defense goes, it remains to be seen how he handles professional baseball, but one of the things the Mets like about their first round pick is his athleticism. They do know that the Austin, TX area native has a gun from the right side of the infield. In addition to playing third base at Lake Travis High School, Baty was the team’s closer for most of the season. His fastball gets up to the low-mid 90’s. This Friday, he will start for the Cavaliers in the Texas 6A (state’s highest classification) semifinals.

According Mets.com beat writer Anthony DiComo, Baty seemed destined to play for the Amazins. As an eight-year-old, he was dubbed “Brett the Met” by his tee ball teammates.

This year’s 12th overall pick is slotted to make $4.27M. Mets head amateur scout Tommy Tanous doesn’t think the team will have any issues signing their top pick. If the deal happens quickly, he’ll likely head to Port St. Lucie to work with the Mets minor league staff. From there he’ll probably move on to one of their rookie league teams (either in St. Lucie or Kingsport, TN).

Sometime either later this season or early next, New York Mets fans who can’t wait for the strapping Texan to make the majors should get a sneak peek at Baty with the Brooklyn Cyclones.

One advantage Baty will have that Wright never did is that the latter is still a part of the organization. He can help guide the 19-year-old throughout the development process.