New York Mets: top 5 players drafted that went unsigned

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The New York Mets have drafted some quality talent that they could not get signed. Let’s take a look at the best of these players.

Getting the player you want in the draft is only half the battle. Persuading a player to potentially give up a college scholarship or agree to a figure in a signing bonus is more difficult. The New York Mets have owned the rights to several players they could not sign who went on to get drafted again a different year and lead successful major league careers.

This happens year after year. Whether a kid is not offered enough money, or they have a college scholarship to fall back on. Or they could go back to college another year to try to raise their draft stock.

The New York Mets are not the only team who has seen a can’t miss prospect turn down their signing bonus to go back into the draft another year. They have had some great names turn up their noses though.

We looked at the draft from 1965 on and took players who were picked by the New York Mets but didn’t sign. Ultimately these players went back into the draft and were drafted by other teams. We ranked these players based on their overall WAR.

New York Mets: Top 5 Players Drafted That Went Unsigned

5. Matt Williams, 46.6 WAR

In the 27th round of the 1983 amateur draft, the Mets selected third baseman, Matt Williams, out of Carson City High School. Players drafted this low with division-one potential usually do not sign. Williams did not.

He chose to attend the University of Nevada Las Vegas where he would go on to play three years for the Runnin’ Rebels baseball program. While in Las Vegas, Williams batted .327 with 58 home runs and went from a lanky 175 pounds to a more firm 210 pounds. The added muscle turned Williams into a power hitter which intrigued Major League scouts.

Williams entered the draft in 1986 and the San Francisco Giants made him the third pick of the first round.

Williams would kickstart a career that saw him make the All-Star team five times and hit 378 home runs over the course of his seventeen seasons in the majors. Williams won a World Series with the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks and retired two years later.

From 1985-1993 the Mets had Howard Johnson manning third base and putting up solid power numbers, making it easier to forget Williams could have been at the hot corner in The Big Apple. Having Williams on the roster wouldn’t have hurt, however.

(Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /

New York Mets: Top 5 Players Drafted That Went Unsigned

4. Ron Cey, WAR 53.8

In 1966 the amateur draft as we know it was only two years old. The Mets did not have a good draft that year. The Mets drafted 52 players in ’66 and were only able to sign 28 of them. Only one of those 28 went on to play in the majors.

In the 19th round of that draft, they selected Ron Cey, out of high school in the state of Washington. Cey chose not to sign and instead attended college at Western Washington University.

Two years later Cey put his name back in the draft and was taken in the third round by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Cey would have a very productive career with the Dodgers, making six All-Star teams, and playing in four World Series. He was the MVP of the 1981 Series where the Dodgers finally won the ring, as they were losers in the other three Cey played in.

Ron Cey would play seventeen years in the majors for three teams and hit 316 home runs. In the eleven years Cey was in Los Angeles there were eight third basemen who took turns at the hot corner in New York with Wayne Garrett having the longest stay. I’m thinking the Mets would have rather had Ron Cey there.

The New York Mets finally got their man after he spurned them on draft day. /

New York Mets: Top 5 Players Drafted That Went Unsigned

3. John Olerud, 58.1 WAR

The Mets eventually got their guy, unfortunately, he came ten years after they originally drafted him. John Olerud was selected in the 27th round of the 1986 draft out of Interlake High School, in Bellevue, Washington. With Olerud and Cey both coming out of the Pacific Northwest, those scouts up there were really finding the diamonds.

Olerud chose not to sign as he was headed to Washington State to play baseball. Olerud became a legend for the Wildcats even being named College Athlete of the Year by Baseball America in 1988. As a pitcher that year Olerud was 15-0 and as a hitter, he cracked 23 home runs.

Olerud left after three years with the team where he hit .434 and was drafted in the 3rd round by the Toronto Blue Jays. In Toronto, he kept on hitting. He was a key member of the Blue Jays back-to-back World Series titles in ’92 and ’93. In ’93 he led the league with 54 doubles, .363 batting average, and 1.072 OPS.

In December of 1996, the New York Mets finally got there man. They acquired Olerud in a trade for pitcher Robert Person. Olerud spent three years with the Mets and did nothing but rake. He had a .315 average including .354 in ’98 and came close to driving in 100 runs all three years, eclipsing the total with 102 in ’97.

Rather than bring him back after the three years, they let him walk, and he signed with the Seattle Mariners. Olerud played seventeen seasons total and was a lifetime .295 hitter. The Mets caught a glimpse of his greatness, but they were wishing they would have had him right out of high school.

New York Mets: Top 5 Players Drafted That Went Unsigned

2. Rafael Palmeiro, 71.9 WAR

In the 8th round of the 1982 draft, the New York Mets selected Rafael Palmeiro, though Rafi was a strong commit to Mississippi State University and chose to go that route.

At MSU Palmeiro proceeded to set school and Southeastern Conference records as if it were his job. He left being the all-time home run leader of both as well as being the first player in SEC history to win the Triple Crown, which he accomplished in 1984.

After three years at State and nothing left to accomplish, Palmeiro entered the draft again and was selected with the 22nd pick in the first round by the Chicago Cubs (the Mets selected Gregg Jeffries two picks earlier).

Just as he had done in college, Palmeiro did in the majors. He played twenty seasons and reached a lot of offensive milestones. He’s a member of the 3000 hit club, 500 home run club and knocked in over 1800 ribbies in his time in professional baseball.

Aside from being a Silver Slugger, he was a Gold Glove first baseman. Yes, he was summoned to Capitol Hill to speak on steroids, which he adamantly denied taking, before failing a PED test later. The Mets would have traded that for his on-field production prior.

(Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images) /

New York Mets: Top 5 Players Drafted That Went Unsigned

1. Roger Clemens, 139.2 WAR

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In the 12th round of the 1981 draft, the New York Mets selected Roger Clemens out of Spring Woods High School, in Houston, Texas. The Rocket did not sign instead opting to pitch at a community college just outside Houston. He would later transfer to the University of Texas to pitch for the Longhorns.

In two years pitching with the Longhorns he was 25-7 and took the team to the College World Series both years. He was the winning pitcher in the ’83 CWS title game over Alabama. Clemens reentered the draft in ’83 and was taken in the 1st round, 19th overall, by the Boston Red Sox. The Mets selected fourth that year and took first baseman Eddie Williams.

Clemens put together 24-years of pitching magic between the four major league cities he made stops in. New York was one of them, but he was not pitching for the Mets. Clemens won 354 games with a lifetime earned run average of 3.12. He has seven Cy Young Awards, including the one he earned at age 41 with the Houston Astros.

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Clemens was an MVP in ’86 when he was 24-4 and took the Red Sox to the World Series, to lose to the Mets, and ranks third on the all-time strikeout list. He would bring a couple more rings back to New York later in his career, though as a member of the Yankees.

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