mets vie for top draft pick next year

if the mets lose their last 15 games they will end up with 99 losses.

i thought you'd be interested in this post. click on the link for howard megdal, and check out matt cerrone at metsblog.

Draft Pennant Race Heating Up For Mets

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By Howard Megdal ~ September 16th, 2009. Filed under: Howard Megdal.

As Matt Cerrone pointed out on Metsblog today, the Mets would have the sixth overall pick if the season ended prior to Wednesday’s games.

Unfortunately, that’s why they play the games, Matt. You simply can’t celebrate the pick just yet- the Mets have 17 games left to play, and we all know how much damage the Mets can do to their future in 17 games. This is a worse jinx than those commercials saying “Your playoff season has come.” For shame, Matt, for shame.

I kid, but the pennant race to the bottom the Mets find themselves in is no joke. Let’s take a look at the remaining schedules for those involved.

Thanks to Esmerling Vazquez and old Mets farmhand Yusmeiro Petit, the Diamondbacks jumped back ahead of the Mets for that sixth pick earlier today with a come-from-ahead 6-5 loss to the Padres.

Arizona has a favorable remaining schedule: Colorado at home and the Giants at home, both with something to play for. Unfortunately, losing to San Diego three more times, not to mention at Wrigley Field to end the season (where many of the Cubs are already bringing golf clubs to the plate) may make a truly horrific finish difficult.

(Incidentally, the win pushes San Diego even further behind the Mets. The play of Adrian Gonzalez in September makes it seems as if he doesn’t even want any help in the draft.)

The Indians are playing like seasoned draft experts, putting up a 3-12 record so far in September. They have four at Oakland, a homestand against Detroit, Baltimore and the White Sox, before finishing with four in Fenway against a Boston team that probably will have little motivation. Still, with Adrubal Cabrera injured, Grady Sizemore done for the season, and the rest of the team playing particularly poorly, you get the feeling the Indians could lose to anybody right now.

The Orioles, meanwhile, are taking the classic Baltimore approach of short-term thinking, winning a series from the Yankees this past weekend. They have six left against Tampa, three home, three away, and six against Toronto distributed the same way. With another three at Cleveland and three hosting Boston- the latter coming up this weekend, with the Red Sox still holding out slim hopes of catching the Yankees and in need of finishing off the Rangers- the schedule seems to favor the Orioles, but they may have just enough September call-up talent for the Mets to catch and pass them.

Obviously, the injuries to Fernando Martinez and Jon Niese, two talents who might have made losing far more difficult for the Mets, is immensely helpful in pursuit of the highest possible draft pick. I don’t know about you, but I’ll be scoreboard watching, with each run the Mets give up allowing me to dream of Bud Selig colorlessly walking toward a podium. Truly, this is the best part of the season.

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Speaking of prospects, in a post to NY Baseball Digest, Mike Silva looks at the Mets quest for the best draft-pick possible.