2003 Draft
In
part three of this series, we look at the 2003 draft and more memories of this
decade begin to emerge as we get a chance to remember our fun times with the
first round pick, Lastings Milledge. Overall, the Mets drafted three players in
2003 that would eventually play in the majors and several players that would
later lead to trades to get more major league talent.
Lastings Milledge: We all remember Lastings. He was a big, big deal
when he came up. He was also the first of a series of highly touted outfielders
from the Farm System. His reputation as a lose cannon was cemented early on as
he high fived fans after a home run and released a rap album with some
questionable lyrics. He had a short temper and later was traded to the
Nationals. He was traded for Schneider and Church in a trade that many opposed
at first. After some short success in Washington, Lastings tailed off, as
Church played well in New York. Milledge was then traded to the Pirates,
Schneider has signed with the Phillies and Church has been traded for
Francoeur. In some respect, the Mets turned Milledge into Francouer.
Brian Bannister: Bannister had a pretty good first stint in the
majors as he pitched a 4.48 ERA over 38.0 innings. In a bad trade for the Mets,
they sent this starter from the 2003 draft over to the Royals where has had
success. The player the Mets received Burgos, has never really had success so
far with the Mets.
Carlos Muniz: Muniz has bounced between the minors and the majors
since his debuted in 2007. He didn’t impress much in 07 but he was better in
2008. He doesn’t factor to be a major part of the Mets plans in the near
future.
Bonus: The Mets fifth round pick Corey Coles has played a role for
the Mets in the last few years as the Mets traded him to the Cubs in 2007 and
received Angel Pagan in return. Coles has yet to make the Majors, but his trade
to the Cubs led to a very exciting player for our team. One would have to
imagine though, that the way injuries to the outfield core went 07-09, if Coles
was still in the system, he probably would have played.
