Wait till you see what I dug up about the Mets’ best draft year – total lightbulb moment. Started simple, got messy, then boom, patterns popped like crazy. Here’s how it all went down:
What I Actually Wanted to Find Out
Honestly? Just wanted to see why that 2018 draft class worked so damn well for the Mets. Everyone talks about Alvarez and Peterson now, but what made that whole batch click? Felt like a good Sunday project.
The Messy, Annoying Start
First step? Get names. Sounds easy, right? Nope. Mets website had the picks, but scattered across pages. Baseball Reference was better, but still just a list. Had to click through like ten different sections for signing bonuses, positions, stats later. Found so many names I’d never heard of – like who even is Nick Meyer? Grabbed my coffee and got comfortable, ’cause this felt like homework.
Spreading Out the Chaos (My Desk)
Printed the full draft list. Yeah, actually printed it – messy scratch notes work better for me. Took over the kitchen table. Big notebook, free Mets pen they gave out at Citi Field last year. Started grouping:
- The Big Names (Alvarez, Peterson – obviously)
- Lower Picks That Actually Made It (Adam Hill? Seriously?)
- The “Who?” Guys (Sorry, sixth-rounders)
Drew circles around guys who signed, big X’s on the ones who didn’t. Table looked like a crime scene.
My Crappy Laptop Saves the Day
Handwriting sucks. Made an Excel sheet on my old laptop – seriously, it groans when I open more than three tabs. Headers: Round, Pick Number, Name, Position, Signed? (Yes/No), Bonus $$$. Typed it all in manually. Took forever. Why do baseball players have such long names? Stared at the screen so long my eyes watered. Hated every second of data entry.
Google Became My Best Friend (And Worst Enemy)
Then came the rabbit hole. For each guy who signed, Googled:
“[Player Name] minor league stats” then “[Player Name] MLB stats”. Switched between Baseball Reference, MLB site, Fangraphs. So. Many. Tabs. Tried tracking:
- When did they finally get to the majors?
- How long did they stick?
- Did they actually do anything?
Realized half these guys I’d researched were traded or released years ago. Got so tired of scrolling through stat lines.
The “Ohhhhh” Moment Hiding in Plain Sight
Almost missed it. Was color-coding cells in Excel like a kid with crayons (green for MLB players, yellow for minors, red for gone). Zoomed out… and the first ten rounds lit up like a Christmas tree. Alvarez, Vientos, Peterson, Palmer, Mazeika… all within picks 1-10. Checked bonuses later rounds – total peanuts compared to the top guys. Found the pattern: they threw serious cash at the top ten selections. Paid overslot deals to get guys who fell (like Alvarez). Penny-pinched the rest. That was their secret sauce.
Why 2018 Blew the Others Away
Compared it to their 2019 and 2020 drafts on my crappy spreadsheet. Disaster. 2019 first-round pick? Never got out of A-ball. Top 10-round picks? Barely any MLB impact. Saw it immediately: 2018 worked because their front office nailed those first few critical choices AND paid big to lock them down. Later picks were just lottery tickets. Simple, brutal math.
Wrapping Up My Kitchen Table Disaster Zone
Cleared the coffee cups and crumpled papers. Stared at that messy Excel sheet full of colors and stats. Felt weirdly proud. That 2018 success wasn’t magic – it was risky cash splashed on the right kids early, then hoping for luck later. My takeaway? Teams that nail the top of the draft (and pay for it) eat everyone else’s lunch years later. Learned more with printed lists and a whiny laptop than any fancy report.