As time has transpired so far,
this draft has proved to be the best for the Mets in the decade (which is hard
to say since 2008 and 2009 draftees are still very young). In a draft, when you
get one player who can play at the major league level either as a bench player
or platoon (or more) its considered an average draft. When you get one who is a
starter, it is considered an good draft. When you get an All-Star, it is
considered a great draft. When you get a player who is consistently an All-Star
and a leader, it is considered an amazing draft. By now you figured out who the
Mets drafted in 2001, David Wright. The Mets over all had 5 members of their
2001 draft class play in the majors. Overall for the Mets, this was a very
solid draft class that produced three solid major league players.
Aaron Heilman: A player who has a lot of history with Mets fans,
especially after the 2006 and 2007 seasons was drafted 18 overall by the
Amazin’s. Despite his struggles at the end of his tenure with the Mets, he was
a good selection by the Mets. Originally slated to be a starter, he ended up
being a set-up man who went through highs, and recently lows. His last
contribution to the Mets was when he was traded as part of the three way trade
that brought JJ Putz to New York.
David Wright: Selected as the supplemental pick for losing Hampton,
Wright has quickly become the face of the franchise for the New York Mets.
There is not much to say here about Wright as his successes are pretty well.
The future of the team depends on Wright and he is the type of player that not
only makes the 2001 draft but makes up for a decade worth of drafts.
Lenny DiNardo: Drafted in the third round by the Mets, DiNardo was
originally drafted in 1998 but didn’t sign. He was then drafted by the Red Sox
in 2003 in the Rule Five draft and debuted with the Red Sox in 2004. He has
played in every season since then playing for the Red Sox until 2006, Oakland
in 2007-2008, and the Royals last season. His best season was in 2007 where he
posted a 4.11 ERA over 131.1 innings pitched.
Denny Garcia: Garcia was drafted in the fifth round and played for
the Mets in 2003 and 2004 before being released (and being signed by two other
teams, and not making the majors with either team). In 2003 Garcia batted .214
for the Mets and batted .232 in 2004.
Joe Hietpas: The 16th
round pick for the Mets in 2001. His inclusion on this list at this point is
just a formality because he made the majors, but he didn’t even have an AB in
his debut in 2004.
