Mets Nailed The 2026 MLB Draft | Straight Outta Flushing

This is Straight Outta Flushing, brought to you by your local Ford stores. Ford F-150 is the official truck of the New York Mets. Welcome back to Straight Outta Flushing, it's your boy Dexter Henry. We have a special episode today. You can see all the way to my left is my guy, Tyler Ward, aka Wardy. And in the middle, joining us, Joe DiMeo of the Mets pod from S&Y with us now. And why Joe is here, Joe knows why he's here. It's because we're going to talk about what the Mets did at the 2026 MLB Draft. Joe, how are you doing? I'm doing great, Dex. Appreciate you guys having me. Aw, man, it's good. Wardy, how are you doing? You don't look as sunburned as you did last weekend. So after last weekend... Yeah, I know. We'll have to change that sometime soon, right, Dex? Maybe during the little All-Star break going. I'm doing great. You know, this is a couple hours removed before I head to Philly for the All-Star break. So it'll be really entertaining to see how the home run derby and the All-Star game go over the next day or two. But the MLB Draft just happened, and it's always a fun time of year. And I feel like a lot of times with the draft as well, unless you're like really a prospects buff like Joe is and some others in the community, it really kind of gets brushed under the rug. You know, the MLB Draft isn't as, you know, much of a spectacle versus other major sports here in the U.S. So I like the layout that they did. And I really am excited to deep dive all that transpired in this one, because I think out of all the negatives that have been happening for Mets fans this year, this is yet another positive, which is a good thing, because there haven't been too many, I would say, to this point. Did you just say a positive for the Mets, Wardy? I know, Dex, I know you might need to clear out your ears right now. I haven't heard. Joe and I were talking before we started recording. We were talking some positive things, but I haven't heard positive with the Mets in quite some time. But here we are. Joe, before we get into this with the draft, Wardy kind of just brought that up. The MLB Draft is different to others. It's not the NFL. It's not the NBA. It doesn't have all the fanfare around it. How do you feel about the MLB Draft and the way it's presented? Do you enjoy it? I know you're somebody who's very deep in the weeds on this stuff with prospects, but do you enjoy the MLB Draft and the way we are seeing it presented to fans? It's one of my favorite things. I've been into the MLB Draft since... The first draft that I remember really, really caring about was when the Mets took Phil Umber in the top three. That was 2004? Yeah. 03 or 04. I can't remember. One of those two. And I'll tell you, it's getting better in some ways and worse in some ways. I think it's getting better that they're increasing the popularity of it and the event is becoming a bigger thing. It was on NBC broadcast television this year. At least only the first 10 picks, but at least it was something. But this year, you have a switch between NBC and Peacock and MLB.com. They made it kind of difficult for fans to follow and be able to keep watching it. But I think it's getting better and better. And they need to improve, I think, the TV product of it. Not anything about the people that are on talk about it, because they're all fantastic. But the way they present it, I think, is a little more complicated for fans to be able to keep up with, how do I watch this thing? And this year was a little more confusing than ever. But all in all, the MLB Draft is one of my favorite things. I obviously cover prospects for SNY. So I love seeing these guys that, from the day they're drafted, following their journey all the way through the minors to the majors. Like Zach Thornton. I remember when the Mets drafted him in the fifth round of Grand Canyon University. Pitch ability, lefty, throws a bunch of strikes. And now here, he's at the Mets and threw a fantastic game on Sunday. Didn't get the win, thanks to some defense and such behind him. That's what this is all about, is these kids getting an opportunity. And a lot of people will get after it, where it's, oh, with the draft, these guys are years away. And in some cases, that's obviously the case. And in some others, it's not. Carson Benj only had one minor league season before he made his major league debut. So I think you're seeing, especially college players, move at a quicker pace than ever before. I'm glad you brought up that point, because I always feel like that's kind of the disconnect for some fans. They think sometimes they won't see these guys as soon. Right, Joe? They think that won't be that. But when you look at this draft for the Mets and what they did, 12 pitchers, 7 position players. What does it tell you about the type of organization that the Mets are trying to be, or trying to become, through the draft? The Mets, organizationally, from the player development standpoint, are a pitching-first team. And I know that if you look down in the minors, Jonah Tong took a step back. Jack Wenninger hasn't taken the step forward that I think the Mets thought that he would. A guy like Jonathan Santucci is taking that step forward. But I think there's a misconception out there now that the Mets' player development is an issue because they're having a down year in 2026. But I would just say, look at the big league rotation right now. Nolan McClain is a product of this player development system. Zach Thorne, who we just talked about, a product of this player development system. Christian Scott, an example of this player development system. And on the pitching side, headed by Eric Jaegers, they're still considered to be one of the best pitching development organizations in the sport. I think it's just been a weird year on the minor league side. And I think going heavy on pitchers, which we'll talk about some of them as we go through this show, I think going heavy on pitchers just plays to what the organizational strength is. Wardy, we've talked about this a lot this season. Where are you on what the Mets did in this draft? And what did I tell you personally, as a fan, about where you think they are trying to go forward? Are you positive with what they did here in the draft? Or are you kind of like, I gotta wait and see? Yeah, I mean, you always have to wait and see to a degree when it comes to draft results. Because unless it's kind of like a Carson Bench product, where he makes his major league debut two years after being drafted, a lot of these guys, we're not going to see them for a little bit. But just on paper, from what we saw, I thought the Mets had a really strong draft. I know Joe can attest to this. That we'll get into, especially being as pitcher-heavy as they were. Because the Mets have been operating more in a pitcher-heavy fashion over the past couple of years, especially under Stearns and with Chris Gross there in VP of Scouting. But especially when we look at, as Joe was emphasizing, the difference over the past calendar year. You know, last year, the Mets had so many high risers in the minor leagues on the pitching front that were, you know, scratching the surface of the major league level, with Noah McClain being the biggest standout of them all. We fast forward this year, he talked about Jonathan Santucci. I actually thought heading into the season that Santucci had a greater opportunity to be that next lefty up in this rotation. Lo and behold, it's Zach Thornton coming out off of a season where he was injured since last June. And he's just been absolutely dominant for the most part. You know, you look at who has been able to take that next step. Everyone in the rotation versus who maybe is kind of teetering or taking a step back in the minor leagues. The Mets haven't had a lot of things go right in player development this year. But it doesn't mean it's going to stay that way as we move forward for the second half or into next year. But emphasis on pitching is needed. The Mets can never have enough pitching. And it feels like every single time we have this conversation of, oh, the Mets are actually in a comfortable spot with their pitching, whether it's their farm or their actual organization at the MLB level. That's never the case. So more pitchers, the merrier. And we know when it comes to position players, if the Mets can't properly player develop them, then we know that they're going to at least attempt to buy them. So I think pitching is really a great thing that the Mets were able to lean into, as has been the case for them over the past couple of years. So we talked about the numbers with the pitching, right? 12 pitchers selected here in this draft. And we got to start with the first pick that they had in this draft. And that was taking Carson Wiggins. Now, Joe, this looks like a very interesting prospect. 102 on the gun is what this guy can hit. Didn't have that many competitive innings above high school. So the Mets really seem like they're betting on the fact that, look, we like his stuff. We like his upside. He did have an injury, did deal with surgery, Tommy John surgery. But do you look at this move as a home run swing to keep a baseball term here for the Mets, Joe? Or did they just simply say, hey, we really like this guy's projection and where we think he can go with the 27th pick? What did you make of the move of drafting Carson Wiggins? Maybe both of those things. And I wrote about Carson Wiggins that you could read at smy.tv. And I actually called it a home run swing of a pick. So I have to be consistent. I think it's a home run swing of a pick. And as you mentioned, from a pure stuff standpoint, Carson Wiggins has as good stuff as anybody in this entire draft class. It's a elite fastball that'll average 99 miles an hour. As you mentioned, touch 102. He had a wipeout slider in the mid to upper 80s that got a 74% swing and miss rate on in college. Curveball, he shows the ability to really spin it. It's a little inconsistent, but he's got the natural feel to spin it. And a changeup is a pitch that he hardly threw and kind of lags behind. As you mentioned, just 14 innings at Arkansas underwent Tommy John surgery with the internal brace. But he is fully healthy right now. He threw at the MLB Draft Combine last month and he wasn't going full bore really in that bullpen session, but he was up to 97 miles an hour. And he said in his post-draft availability that he is ready to pitch right now. Rehab's over. He would get on a mound tomorrow if the Mets wanted him to. So I think they're drafting a healthy player. There's obviously some risk given the injury. Control and command are certainly things that need to take a step forward if he is to fulfill what is his ultimate potential. As Chris Gross, who Wardy astutely pointed out earlier, the VP of amateur and international scouting, he said he could be a frontline starter, and I agree. But there is that high risk that he could end up a reliever if the control and command can't get to the level that you need it to be to sustain as a starter. So that in itself makes it a home run swing because you take a big swing, you might hit a fly ball to left field or you might hit 450 feet to dead center. Wardy, do you like the team taking a swing here? I know some people are different when it comes to drafts in all sports. Some people might say, how do you go with safe pick with your first pick? Do you like that the Mets made, to take Joe's term again, a home run swing here with their first pick in the 2026 MLB draft? I think what the Mets were able to do following that first pick is what makes me like this pick so much more, transparently. Because when we look at the slot bonus for him, he was right around, I believe, close to three and a half million and the Mets got him around two. So the Mets were able to get him at an appropriate value as well as bringing in someone who, as Joe alluded to, has the pure stuff. You're not looking at the innings with someone like this. I understand, even going back to my younger self, not being as versed with the draft and the buildup and what you're looking for in young, talented players. It's not nearly as much necessarily about the amount of actual playing time they had, especially in the case of a pitcher, as it is the stuff. All you need to know is that if you have your entire pitching department advocating for this guy in the draft, then clearly there's a reason for it, as is the case with every other team in Major League Baseball. Knowing that he touches north of 102 and was sitting right around getting to 97, most recently coming off of injury. I also like the fact that the Mets actually are bringing in someone that just came off of a season-long injury because it's better for that to happen then than potentially for it to happen now. Not that it can't happen moving forward. We've seen guys, of course, get Tommy John twice or three times over like a DeGrom, for example, but it just feels like there might be a slight less likelihood of that happening. And if he can kind of take this by storm right away for the Mets and we see him on the mound sooner than later, then that's gonna be a great thing for them. So to be determined exactly what the Mets are getting him, but absolute gas, I'm never complaining. I'm always complaining about a lot of things with the Mets, including not having proper flamethrowers. So I hope that this is a step in the right direction, both from the right side and then as we get into a little bit later, maybe some guys they brought in that are thrown from the left side. Yeah, no, we're gonna definitely get into that. I think his potential could be really good here. I mean, I was looking at some of the video too and even the session that he had at the draft combine. And yes, you're right, Joe. He wasn't going full board, but you could see the stuff was there. His mechanics looked pretty good. So hopefully the development, he stays healthy. We gotta all knock on wood for that. Hopefully he stays healthy. That'll be fine. Now the Mets with their next pick, Aiden Robbins. Very interesting for me guys, because MLB Pipeline had him ranked as the number 29 prospect in the class. The Mets, they get him at 92, right? So Joe, when you look at this move, the Mets get him at 92. Was that the best value that they could have gotten? Did they get him at great value considering how highly ranked he was? And then he get him at 92. Did you look at this as a good value pick for the Mets? I thought it was the best value pick that they had in the draft. And you mentioned the public rankings. That's been a big piece of discourse over the last couple of days because MLB Pipeline said Carson Wiggins was the 88th best player in the class. And Baseball America said he was the 109th best player, but they both had Aiden Robbins inside the top 30. So if Mets fans, if you want to just feel better about yourself, just pretend they took Aiden Robbins. Just pretend they took Aiden Robbins first and they took Carson Wiggins second. And they just got perfect value. And when it comes to Wiggins, I'll talk about Robbins here. But when it comes to Wiggins, something that I want to point out, I spoke to scouts after the draft, or after the first day. And like, were you surprised that Wiggins was the pick at 27? And these are scouts not with the Mets organization. They were like, eh, not really. And I was like, well, he was ranked much lower on some of these public things. And the public rankings don't always line up with what the actual industry believes. I was told across the board, this was a guy that was going to go in the top 40 to 50 picks. Because as one scout told me, 102 with a wipeout slider don't grow on trees. So this wasn't a guy that was going to last to the third round. Aiden Robbins, the Mets felt fortunate that he did. He was a guy that was in the conversation, I would say, for their first round pick at number 27. But they obviously go with Wiggins and Robbins at 92. This is a unique player that his college career is almost a tale of two separate players entirely. His first two years, he was at Seton Hall. He was a hit over power guy, only hit 12 home runs combined in his two years at Seton Hall. Hit 422 as a sophomore. So just a pure hit guy. And then he goes to the Cape Cod League, which is with a wood bat, which is one of the biggest indicators for scouts. Can a guy hit with wood? Because obviously the huge difference between aluminum and wood bats. He leads the Cape Cod League in batting average, slugging percentage, and OPS. Transfers to Texas, one of the biggest schools in the biggest conference in college baseball in the SEC. And becomes a power over hit guy. Hits 24 home runs, doubling his career high from Seton Hall in one season at Texas. The strikeouts took a step forward. I should say step backwards. His strikeouts rose in the SEC. And there are some questions about him being able to handle breaking stuff at the next level. But when it comes to fastballs, he absolutely decimated fastballs this year. Hit over 450 against them. And a quote that he had when he was asked for a scouting report on himself, he refused to give it. But what he said is, throw me a heater and find out. So I think this is a guy. I like that confidence. I like that. Yeah. So he's confident and we know he crushes fastballs. Defensively, unclear kind of where in the outfield he fits best. It might be more of a left field profile than a center or a right field profile, which I guess works fine for the Mets if he fulfills his potential. But at 92, you get a guy with above average power and a history of showing a hit tool. I think that's excellent value. So when I was looking at all the stuff with him, it's kind of what you brought up, Joe. For me, it was the jump from the Big East to the Cape Cod lead to the SEC. And he doubles his home run total. His OPS was like 1.122, which is great. And I was like, okay, this guy, he's really hitting. I was glad you answered. What I was gonna ask you was, where does he fit positionally in the outfield? But it seems like he's more projected to be a corner outfielder here. The Mets right now, and this is where I'm gonna ask Wardy, right now, at this time, we don't know what the Mets are still gonna do by the deadline. Outfield is one of the places Mets fans feel pretty good right now with AJU and with Carson Benj and with Juan Soto, obviously. What did you make, Wardy, of the Mets taking another outfielder here? And did you think this was the right move for them to just add to their outfield arsenal? I wanna start by giving a big shout out to a friend of mine by the name of Mike. He runs an awesome YouTube channel called Star Craving Sports that you guys may have seen before. Huge Mets fan. And he texted me right at the start of the draft and said, you know, Aiden Robbins or death, basically, you know? So for him to land with the New York Mets- Well, good thing they took Aiden Robbins. Yeah. I know, I know. I didn't hear from him for at least an hour. It was concerning. So I texted him the pic and he's like, no way, get out. So yeah, that was an early indicator that the Mets did well here because he's very versed, especially when it comes to everything college ball. And after doing my own homework, it's a great pick for the Mets because not only do you get someone who, again, was kind of universally valued to be a top first round pick, but also the Mets have done really well when it comes to their outfield over the years, when it comes to their in-house products. Again, say what you will, but everything that's went awry with this team. But for a number of years, when it comes to drafting, the Mets have really done a strong job on the outfield front. Even if we go all the way back to different regimes of like PCA to now obviously what they've done more recently. And I'm even thinking of, you know, the Nick Morbido's. I know he's had a fluctuating year, but I still believe in Eli Serrano to a degree. The Mets have pieces there that they've been doing really well over the past couple of years in their player development. AJ Ewing being that pick, thanks to Jacob DeGrom, which is crazy. Carson Benz being the first pick for David Stearns. And I see Robbins, someone who does not strike me as someone that is going to take overly long to get to the major league level. He feels like a player that as long as he trends the way that he has, should be up in the bigs within the next two, two and a half years, depending on what the Mets team need is at the time, maybe for their outfield. By that time is Soto gonna be more, not that we want him to be a standalone DH for the dollars that he's making, but one does have to wonder how many more reps is he gonna get there in the coming years. And in the meantime, Robbins, he comes off really scrappy. I know a lot of Mets fans are excited because he's a Seton Hall product initially as well. So there's some familiarity there. So yeah, just an exciting pick for the Mets. And that really made me look at that and Wiggins and say, okay, this all makes sense now. I don't know how or why Robbins kind of fell into the Mets lap to be determined on that front. Joe, is there anything that you would like to add on that as to maybe, was there anything that you heard from respective scouts? Was there a criticism out there or a level of worry as to why he kind of fell where he did? Yeah, I think, like I mentioned, the question about hitting the breaking stuff and if he's gonna be able to do that at the next level consistently. And that's something he's gonna have to prove. And I thought even with that flaw, there was enough pros that he probably should have gone in the second round at some point. But these things happen. And one of the things with the MLB draft is a lot of this is about signability. And it's very different than the NFL draft, the NHL draft, the NBA draft, where you're picking number 17, you're gonna try to get whoever the best player is that's available regardless. MLB, you're taking the best player available that is signable for the amount that you wanna pay for that pick because for better or worse in the current system, which could change in the next CBA, but in the current system, the draft has become just as much almost a math equation as it's become talent acquisition because it all has to fit within the bonus pool that you're allotted. And the Mets were not allotted a particularly big bonus pool this year. Obviously their first pick dropped 10 spots due to how much they spend on the big league roster. And they lost their second and fifth highest selection when they signed Beau Bichette who had a qualifying offer attached. So being down picks, they lost, in my estimates, a little over $3 million in bonus pool space between those couple of factors. So that limits some of your flexibility, but I think they navigated it well considering where they were at. Yeah, and that's what you wanna do. Final things, X, I just wanna sweep this in. On the fastball emphasis, the first thing I thought of was actually the scouting report for when the Mets first brought in Tyrone Taylor because there was a lot of similarity there. Not a guy that was gonna be able to necessarily hit off-speed or breaking well. Fastball-hungry outfielder. It's kind of ironic considering that Robbins may very well be stepping in those shoes within the next couple of years for someone like Tyrone because I can't imagine he'll be here too much longer. Nothing personal, TT. I'm just evaluating what's happening with the club right now. But yeah, Dex, back to you, my friend. No, no, no. That quote that Joe gave is really gonna stick with me right now. Throw a fastball and find out. I just like that confidence. I love that confidence. If he's gonna have that confidence. Now, he's gotta hit the breaking stuff too, right? You gotta see what his discipline is at the plate overall. But I do like the confidence that we're hearing from the young man there. Now, the last pick the Mets made on day one. Shane Sudeo. Very interesting, Joe. Another pitcher who had Tommy John surgery. Now, when you look at the numbers, doesn't look great, right? Then you look at the counting numbers, right? ERA was over seven. Gave up a bunch of homers here too. But it sounds like the Mets still like his stuff. This is a guy who can get in the upper 90s on the gun. What do you make of Sudeo? And how do you think the Mets see him and what he can do? Because I think if fans just look at the numbers, they're like, why'd they pick this guy here? The numbers weren't that great. What do you make of Sudeo, Joe? It's very important to point out in the MLB draft, especially when you get into the fourth and beyond rounds, these teams are drafting traits and tools. They're not drafting off of baseball reference pages. So I completely understand. But with Shane Sudeo, did I tell you Sudeo helped you out there? Yep. No, you're good. Honestly, I had to double check when they were drafted that I was saying it right. It's not the easiest name out there. But Sudeo had a huge 2024 at Texas A&M and there was thoughts heading into the 2025 draft that he was a first or second round type of pick. And then as you mentioned, underwent Tommy John surgery, missed the 2025 season and comes back here in 2026. And the performance wasn't there. ERA, just over seven, struggled on the mound statistically. But as the spring wore on, you saw him just becoming more and more of himself as a pitcher. As you mentioned, it's a fastball that'll get up to 97 miles an hour. It's a five pitch mix that he can really control. So unlike Carson Wiggins, who you have to navigate some control and some command questions, I have little question that Shane Sudeo is going to throw strikes at the next level. And the Mets believe too that there's more in the tank for him from maybe a velocity standpoint as he's listed at 6'3", 185. And they think there's an opportunity to add maybe 10, 15 pounds of muscle there. So I think there's still some more projectability on there. So I think there's more to come from Sudeo and the slider is his best secondary pitch. It's a well above average offering. But this is in a way, I guess to give some perspective to Mets fans, it's almost in a way like Zach Thornton, but throws harder. Like where it's not supreme stuff, but it's pretty good stuff and he can locate a wide arsenal of pitches. So I look at Sudeo, who also like Wiggins is currently healthy. He pitched this season. So as far as we know, the Tommy John and everything is behind him. And now he'll be in his second year post Tommy John. I think this is a guy that looks like a high probability starter. Maybe it's more on the back end type of the rotation. But as I mentioned, there's still some projectability left. So maybe there is more in the tank here. I will see if there's more in the tank there. We kind of touched on this a little bit already, guys. But we talked about the Mets took 12 pitchers in this draft of their 19 selections. We know that as Wardy said earlier, the Mets could always use some more pitchers. We know that. But Joe, for you, why do you think they focused on that in this draft? Were they just looking at what they have in the farm system and maybe some of the slight regression they saw this year from certain pitchers and said, hey, we need to stock up more there? Why do you think they took so many pitchers in this draft? I think on average, pitchers do dominate the MLB draft, not just the Mets, just across the landscape. At the end of the day, every single game that's played at every single minor leaguer, there needs to be somebody standing on the rubber, throwing the baseball to a catcher. So you need a bunch of pitchers to get through the minor league season. And obviously, nowadays, there's just so much data and information on pitchers that you could get excited about guys that aren't even high draft picks, that just have some super good stuff. So I think it's one of those things that you just always draft a lot of pitchers. Honestly, I thought the Mets were going to draft more pitchers than they did. It was 12 pitchers, seven position players. I thought that might be more 13 or 14 on the pitcher side. But yeah, I think it's just one of those things. They like a lot of pitchers. They trust their pitching development system. And there's just always a need for pitchers, not just eventually at the major league level, but to play minor league baseball games. Yeah, gonna need those pitchers there too. Now, this is one of my favorite things when it comes to talking about drafts. I need to know, who are your sleepers? Who do you like that maybe the fans are not talking about, particularly on day two? Because day one is going to get all the headlines. The Mets made three picks on day one, but the rest of the drafting was done on day two. This is for both Wardy, you and Joe. Do you have any sleepers that you like that the Mets selected on day two? Who do you have? I'll let Wardy go first. I want to hear his. So I don't want to copy him. All right, fair. One thing I'll say just to piggyback off of what Joe was saying for a second about being excited about picks that aren't necessarily the top ones on the front of pitchers. You know, Cedeo is actually my favorite pick out of everyone the Mets have drafted from a pitching standpoint. And it's because of everything that Joe just said. I think he's far more likely to be like a polished option as a starter, just from what we're currently seeing. I don't care about the numbers of what he did this past year, nearly as much. I look at the stuff and the Mets have literally little to no one in their farm currently that is a size of 6'3 or higher throwing from the left side and actually can touch 97. Like they don't really have much of that. You know, Zach Thornton is great, but he's more of a soft tosser. Could they tap into more velocity with him as he gets older? Sure, it's possible, but I don't know if that's necessarily going to be something that is going to be built around his game. So I'm just really excited about that. I'm glad that Joe leaned into all the key points on him because he's the one that I think out of everyone the Mets got from a pitching standpoint is one that we're going to claim more on to as the year goes on. But Marcus Ward, because I have to stick with my last name. So we're going to have that be my favorite selection of day two and just my sleeper one, especially because Marcus, what does he have in common with what I've been liking the trend of? It's outfield picks by the New York Mets. So there really isn't too much more to deep dive on it beyond that. He's obviously very young and raw. He's also someone that we've seen pitch as well because he's only in high school right now. So he's kind of playing all over the place to see what's going to get him adjusted more as he continues and really builds up rather now. Hopefully what's going to be a prosperous pro career. But the Mets have had some success in recent years going after guys and later rounds in the outfield too. So I'm curious to see how Chris Gross fares this time around. What's someone rocking the best last name possible? So Joe, let's pan it to you. I thought you were going to say what you had in common with Marcus Ward is that you're incredibly fast because what is quick? That's true. That's a good one. I like that. Marcus Ward, just to give you a little bit on him. I mean, this is a plus runner. Should be able to handle center field at the next level. Offensively, there's not really much thumping that bad at all. It's kind of a slap line drive type of approach, trying to just play the balls into the gaps and run. So like you said, an interesting late pick with a really cool name. Give you that one, Wardy. But two picks on day two. I'm going to highlight for maybe two different reasons. In the fifth round, they took Luke McNeely, a right-handed pitcher of the University of Florida. This was a college reliever. It's a mid-80s slider as his primary offering. A fastball that'll get up to 99 miles an hour. Also mixes in a changeup, but throws it exclusively to left-handed hitters. Doesn't throw it at all to righties. So I think there's the potential here to increase his pitch repertoire. From my understanding, the Mets are going to look to convert him to a starting pitcher and see how that goes at the minor league level. And in a lot of ways, I'm not comparing the players, but in a lot of ways, the similarities are eerie to Christian Scott, who the Mets drafted in the fifth round out of Florida, who was a college reliever being turned into a pro starter, who was slider, fastball up to 98, occasional changeup, just freaky, like way too similar. But McNeely, I think, is a guy that I think has a chance to be a starter at the next level, and the Mets will give him every opportunity to do that. And then the fun one in the 11th round, they took an outfielder from Arkansas. The Mets actually took three Razorbacks in this draft. Carson Wiggins in the first, Kuhio Aloi in the 11th, and Cooper DeSette, a right-handed pitcher down in the 17th round. But Aloi is the younger brother of Wehiwa Aloi, who was the Orioles first-round pick last year. They both went to Arkansas together. Aloi, there's plenty of swing and miss in his game, but it is crazy raw power. In a game against Ole Miss this year, he was facing one of Ole Miss's relievers, takes a 97-mile-an-hour fastball up in the zone, out to left field, 117 off the bat, 469 feet. So it's crazy bat speed. There's power. Like I said, lots of swing and miss in the game. And then when I looked at his bio on Arkansas's website, one of the things that made me just incredibly jealous is he said he can hit a golf ball 400 yards. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He could impact the baseball. Just a matter of getting him to consistently make contact at the professional level. And I think in the 11th round, that's the exact time to take a shot on a guy that maybe the hit tool is a big question. But if you can get that hit tool to get closer to average, the power is really going to play at the next level. I almost wish you never read that on the bio, Joe, because the next time you hit the golf course, it's going to be in the back of your head and be like, man, I can't do that. I can't. I can't drive that far. I can't. I can't. I can't do that. This past weekend, I hit one of the better drives in my life. I popped it just over 270. Just think he was more than a football field further than me, which is stupid. That'll humble you, my friend. That'll humble you real quick. Joe, you kind of touched on this a little bit, too. With the limited draft capital that the Mets had in this draft, I didn't have a second round pick. First round pick went down a couple of slots. Do you feel like they maximized the limited draft capital they had in this draft? Not just how you feel about all the selections and players you can be excited about and sleepers we just talked about, but did they actually maximize the limited draft capital that they had here in the 2026 draft? I think they did about as good as they could do. There's only so much flexibility, like you'll see a team like the White Sox, for example. They had a bonus pool over 20 million dollars. The Mets bonus pool was under seven million dollars. So obviously a stark difference in what you're able to do. And that's why you saw the White Sox be able to pull off getting Landon Tomey and taking a couple other really high upside high school kids. What it comes down to is when you have a smaller bonus pool, it's much harder to manipulate it to sign those high upside high school kids early in the draft, because those guys are typically looking for first round money. And if you only have 6.8 million or so in your bonus pool, it's pretty hard to fit two first round bonuses in there and actually have a draft beyond that. So I think it limits their flexibility. But all things considered, I think they grabbed a bunch of guys with upside, which is not overly common on the collegiate side of things. More often than not, college players, the way it's described, they are what they are. You know what you're getting. Maybe you can make some small tweaks to make things a little bit better, but largely they are what they are. I think they drafted a bunch of pitchers, especially in the top 10 rounds that have untapped potential. We're talking about what Carson Wiggins could be. We talked about what Shane Sodejo could be. We talked about what Luke McNeely could be. They drafted a couple other power arms, Aiden Keenan from Stanford, Landon Koenig from Ole Miss. So they grabbed some guys that can pump mid to upper 90 stuff. Now it's just a matter of getting them into a player development system and refining everything and trying to put the whole package together. So I think they did about the best they could do. And maybe next year, the bonus pool will look a lot different because I think the Mets are certainly trending towards a very high draft pick, which will help out that bonus pool. Yeah, they are. They are trending that way. Wardy, do you like what they did? Just same question to you too, just with the limited draft capital they had, not just how you feel about the players, but just considering the amount of bonus pool money they had, do you think they did a good job in hitting what they needed to do in this draft? I do. You know, I've been pretty steady on my belief of Chris Gross since he came in of scouting for the Mets a couple of years ago with David Stearns. And I really haven't had a reason for that to waiver. I understand that the Mets player development hasn't went as great as we would hope this year, but that's less on Chris. And I think just more on either individual player production or obviously everyone else that we have in those respective sectors. I really do believe that one takeaway that I had from the Mets doing what they did in this limited sample size is honestly starting to lean into more of what Joe's always raving about. And that's, you know, just being a big prospect guy in the sense of I kind of hope that there's a world in the somewhat near future over the next year or two that the Mets maybe spend less and are able to really maximize the draft a bit more. You know, the penalties that they have to deal with currently just because they're spending when it doesn't equate to results or success is crazy to me. You know, I would understand this rule 10 times more if you say spend this amount of dollars and oh yeah, because you had the amount of success that is what would warrant to maybe why your draft is impacted the way it is. But that's not how it works for the Mets. They just get penalized because they like to spend money. So I'm curious to see as the years go on and potentially the new structure of the CDA, how that positively versus negatively impacts the Mets and drafts moving forward. But for what they had going this time around, I can't complain and they did what I want them to do, which is just maximize pitching to the best of their ability. And they did that. They absolutely did that in this draft. I guess we could close here, guys. This is the major question with every draft. What would make this draft a success? When we look back in this draft, you got to give draft some time, right? You got to give it a couple of years for the three, four years down the road. Is it Carson Wiggins becoming a top end of the rotation starter? Is it Robbins becoming an everyday outfielder? Is it just a multiple of these guys, a couple of pitchers, three or four pitchers making it to the majors? What would make this 2026 draft a success in your eyes? Joe, I'll start with you on this one. Yeah, for me, it's major leaguers. Get multiple major leaguers. I know that the dream is, as you mentioned, Carson Wiggins filling his absolute ceiling. Like that's a dream, but that may not be the most realistic outcome. If Carson Wiggins ends up being a eighth inning reliever or closer type of guy, it may not be the optimal value pick in the first round, but that's not a bust of a pick. That's just not reaching his full potential. As you mentioned, could Aiden Robbins be an everyday outfielder? I think that's possible. Could Shane Sudeo be a long-term cog at the middle to back end of a rotation? I think that's a possibility. They drafted enough of those power arms within the top 10 rounds that I mentioned. Could one or two of them become major league relievers at the next level? And to me, I think what people that just generally don't follow the draft and don't follow the minor leagues, I get it. When these guys eventually get here, you have the expectation that they're going to be impact players. But the whole goal of the draft and player development is to produce major league baseball players. If you produce all-stars, that's awesome. That's a massive win and feather in your cap. But the whole objective here is to draft guys that are future major leaguers, either A, for the Mets, or B, used as pieces to help upgrade the Mets outside the organization, which we saw them do. And there's a reason why the Mets farm system is where it is right now. Baseball America ranked it number 24 in the sport, and I wouldn't really disagree with that. And it's a combination of this year, there hasn't been, as Wardy mentioned, many big success stories on the farm system. But also, you graduated three elite prospects in Nolan McClain, Carson Benjen, A.J. Ewing. Last deadline, they traded 10 prospects to try to win in the second half of 2025. This past winter, they traded two top 100 prospects to try to get Freddy Peralta to front this staff for 2026. It's tough to subtract that much high-level talent and also sustain a really big farm system. But this draft, I think, is the first step in replenishing that farm system. And I think sometime in the next three weeks or so, the Mets will be replenishing it a little bit more with some of their veterans on the big league roster. They better, Joe. They better. That's all I'm gonna say to that. They better do that. That better be the case. Wardy, what would make this draft a success in your eyes when you look back on it? I mean, going back to what Joe said, I keep beating the drum with Chris Gross, but it just becomes more and more relevant. Because when the Mets first hired him, one of the key standouts as to why they hired him was because of all teams in Major League Baseball, throughout Chris Gross' tenure in Houston, you know, north of a decade, he had the best turnaround of drafted product to actually get to the Major League level. The Astros were first in all Major League Baseball during his tenure there in scouting. The Mets were bottom last. So you could see why they quickly went and hired him. I'm excited to see what Gross can continue to do with the picks that he's made. And I really hope that the Mets can have a draft, you know, of somewhat similarity to what we saw in 2023. That was the final year of Billy Epler. And while the Mets didn't necessarily have a home run swing with their first pick, they most certainly did with multiple pitchers, whether it's guys like Brandon Sproat, who they used in the Freddie Peralta trade, or if it's Nolan McClain, or obviously if you go to Zach Thornton, who's doing what he's doing now. A.J. Ewing was in that draft for the New York Mets. Cade Morris on the pitching end, who the Mets obviously dealt away since then, but he was an asset for them to utilize. The list goes on. So for me, I'm looking to see how much the Mets can actually get in these guys in a two to three and a half year interval to that Major League level. And especially in the pitching end, you know, I just listed three pitchers. Brandon Sproat, if he wasn't traded, would either be in this rotation or competing for rotation spot right now. So you can see that there has been that quick turnaround once they've been able to properly develop these guys. Once again, the organization here. So very much of similar ilk to what Joe was saying, is get these guys to the big. That's gonna be the best way to show that this is a way of things trending upward for the Mets in the draft versus in previous years, and especially in the Wilponsean regime, it was just a lot of times of night and day. It took a while to get guys to the big league level. And if they did get to the bigs, were they really making a difference? It certainly depended on the individual player that we're talking about, so. Yeah, I'd agree with both you guys on this. I think this is, it's gotta be about the Mets getting players to that level. And then when, hopefully, I'm gonna give some positivity here, people. When we see the next good Mets team, that there's a good amount of these guys that are part of it, or as Joe said, the ability to then trade some of these guys to either add pieces from other teams, other organizations that you wanna bring into the next good Mets team. Joe, I got one last thing for you before we get out of here, that is not exactly related to the draft. But you talked a little bit about it. We talked about progress. Progress isn't always linear. And so some people may look at the Mets farm system sometimes and say, okay, there's been a regression this year. And that can happen. That does happen from time to time. Are you, are there any prospects in the farm system right now that you still are high on, despite things maybe not going so well this year? Are there anybody that, you know, you think fans, you should say to them, hey, you guys should still keep the faith with this guy that he can come up and have an impact on a major league level for the Mets? I'll go down with the Jonah Tong ship. Until, until that ship sinks, I'm hanging on like it's the Titanic. I think, I think he's, I think the stuff is just too tantalizing. He's such a smart kid. He really gets this. And I think there is something there. I wonder if long-term he may end up a reliever. Like I think that's certainly a distinct possibility is he hasn't quite been able to round out his repertoire, maybe to the way he and the Mets hoped that he would. But I'll go down that Jonah Tong is going to be a useful, impactful major league player in one form or another. I think a guy like Jacob Reimer had a huge 2025, got off to a real slow start in 2026, started to pick it up and then he got injured. So when he comes back, if he could continue on kind of the path he was going, I think he'll regain some of that prospect value. And then guys that are doing well, Jonathan Santucci, as I mentioned earlier, having a really, really good year at AA. I got to imagine his call to AAA is not too far out. Elian Pena has had some ups and downs as an 18-year-old in full season ball, but he's one of the youngest players in the league. And you see some really good things there. Guy like Juan de Hacigan just made his debut professionally. He was the Mets' big international signing this past January. I think last week he made his debut. He was dealing with a hamstring injury. So there are still some guys I think to be excited about. But look, this is a system that it definitely needs an influx of talent. And we're going to see that between however many of these 19 draft picks that they're able to sign and get under contract. And then the trade deadline here in the next three weeks. Oh, trade deadline is coming up. We've been very positive. You guys have been very positive throughout the show. We'll see if we're that positive in three weeks. Joe, man, we appreciate you coming on and rocking with us and giving us some fantastic insight on all the picks that the Mets made and what's going on down in the farm system. Anything you want to let people know about what you got coming out or coming up soon? Let people know. For sure, yeah. Go to sny.tv. I wrote a profile on Carson Wiggins individually. And then it just came out on Sunday night, my complete draft recap. So if you want to hear, I broke down every pick in the top 10 rounds and then threw in a couple guys outside the top 10, including our guy Kuhio Aloy that we talked about. So I broke down the whole draft class. So make sure you go check that out. Also check out the Mets pod wherever you get your podcasts. You can watch on SNY's YouTube channel if you want to see this face and my normal co-host Connor with the much better looking face. It's a podcast that I think I would highly recommend everybody listening to. So appreciate you guys having me. Love talking ball with you guys. And I'll come back anytime. Just let me know. Oh, anytime, man. We also love the work that you and Connor do. Shout out to Connor. Great stuff. Connor's been on me many times before. Wardy and I appreciate it, man. Everybody, please go give Joe a follow. Go give the Mets pod a follow. Go check them out there. That is going to do it for this edition of Straight Out Flush. And please let us know in the comments, what did you think of the Mets draft? Did they nail it? Like Wardy said, Wardy thinks they nailed it. Joe was very high on what the Mets did. And listen, I'm going to say this to all the Mets fans out there. You've got to be at least positive about this draft. You have to be. What else do you have to be positive about this season until the trade deadline? So you want to be positive about something, get excited about the 2026 draft, what the Mets did. For Tyler Ward, I'm Dexter Henry. We'll catch you next time on Straight Out Flushing. Peace.