The Biggest MLB Draft Busts in Mets' History

While the NFL and NBA drafts are often viewed with a ton of hype from fans hoping to see the next stars emerge quickly, baseball is a bit different. Most drafted players don't see the majors for years, if they even make it there, as the sport's long developmental ladder is designed to separate the wheat from the chaff.

The Mets enter the 2026 draft with the 27th pick in the first round, one of just two top 100 selections in the process. The lack of picks could lead David Stearns to sell at the trade deadline to restock a farm system that has graduated some of its top young players, but not every move Stearns has made has been successful.

Stearns' first few draft picks have shown promise, with Carson Benge emerging as a cornerstone piece as a rookie. The Mets will have to hope that nobody Stearns takes this year joins the list of the biggest draft busts in franchise history.

5. Kumar Rocker

One of the most notable Mets' draft whiffs in the past decade came in 2022, when the Mets took Kumar Rocker with the 10th overall pick in the 2021 draft. Owner Steve Cohen was absolutely delighted that Rocker, a perceived top prospect in the class, fell to them at 10, and Mets fans were dreaming of him joining Jacob deGrom at the top of the rotation in a few years.

A look at Rocker's medicals frightened the Mets, who drastically cut their offer to him and couldn't agree to terms on a contract, essentially forfeiting a first-round pick in a talented class that produced big leaguers like Jackson Merrill and Colson Montgomery. Rocker has gone on to crack the Texas Rangers' rotation after being picked by them in 2022, while the Mets used the compensatory pick they got for failing to sign Rocker on Kevin Parada, who has not developed at all, turning the situation into a true double whammy.

4. Gavin Cecchini

The early years of Sandy Alderson's tenure saw the Mets do a good job at drafting, as Brandon Nimmo, Dominic Smith, Michael Fulmer, Kevin Plawecki, and Michael Conforto all went on to have solid major league careers. The exception was Cecchini, Alderson's first-round pick in 2012, a high school shortstop who never fully reached the potential he had as an amateur.

The Mets only saw Cecchini play in 36 career games, 32 of which came in the back half of the lost 2017 season, and he hit a combined .217 with one home run and nine RBI in 83 at-bats. Cecchini left the organization after the 2019 season and never appeared in another major league game, which looks worse when you rewind this draft class and see the Los Angeles Dodgers selected Corey Seager six picks later.

3. Shawn Abner

The top pick in the draft is usually a boon for most franchises. The Mets are not one of them; they have hit on that slot once with Darryl Strawberry and whiffed on two other occasions, including in 1984 when they tabbed Shawn Abner with the top selection.

Abner got the highest signing bonus ($150,500) in baseball history at the time of his draft. But he never developed into a star, with the Mets sending him to San Diego in December of 1986 in a deal that brought Kevin McReynolds to Flushing. The Padres got middling results from Abner over a few years, letting him go to the Angels and White Sox before a serious knee injury ended his career in 1993. Abner finished with a lifetime .227 batting average, 11 home runs and 71 RBI in 392 games, a woeful showing for a top overall pick.

2. Reese Havens

The 2008 draft was an intriguing one for the Mets, who had three first-round selections that year. The first turned into Ike Davis, who had a solid big-league stint, and the second was Reese Havens, a shortstop who looked like a gem coming out of South Carolina. The problem, however, was that Havens could never stay healthy.

The Mets saw Havens move very slowly through the minor leagues, never standing out at any level before peaking at AAA Las Vegas in 2013, where he hit just .237. Havens retired after that year without ever appearing in a big-league game, a bitter pill for the Mets to swallow since they had an opening at shortstop after Jose Reyes departed in free agency following the 2011 campaign.

1. Steve Chilcott

There have been many famous draft mistakes in Mets' history, but it will take a lot to top Chilcott. The Mets took him with the first overall pick in 1966 out of high school, but Chilcott suffered a serious shoulder injury while playing minor league ball in 1967, which short-circuited his career.

Chilcott was released by the Mets in 1971 and tried to revive his career across town, but retired in 1972 having never advanced higher than AAA, making him one of just three top overall picks to never reach the majors. The bitter pill comes on the heels of the Mets passing on future Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson, who was taken second by the A's in that draft, in favor of Chilcott.