The Mets found themselves in a similar position to the Yankees in that they had their first pick moved back ten spots due to salary overages then lost their second round pick after signing Juan Soto. While the Yankees elected to splurge a little on their first pick then play the rest of the draft conservatively, the Mets went in the opposite direction. They immediately saved over a million dollars in bonus pool space with their first two picks, both bats, then spread those savings around into several over slot deals on young pitchers they found interesting. I'm personally intrigued by their work here and I think this could become a sneaky good class when all is said and done despite severe bonus pool limitations.
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Note that the number before a player's name indicates their draft position. For example, "2-50" would indicate that a player was taken in the second round with the fiftieth overall pick.
1-38: 2B Mitch Voit, Michigan
Slot value: $2.57 million. Signing bonus: $1.75 million ($819,400 below slot value).
My rank: #67. MLB Pipeline: #63. Baseball America: #149.
It's not the loudest pick the Mets could make to start of the draft, but Mitch Voit does a lot of things well with a quietly complete profile and more upside than you might expect. A two-way player during his first two seasons in Ann Arbor, he pitched nearly one hundred innings with a 4.67 ERA while also seeing significant time at first base, second base, third base, and the outfield. Focusing on hitting only in 2025, the decision paid off as he put up a career year at the plate with 14 home runs and a .346/.471/.668 slash line in 56 games. A disciplined hitter, he walked (15.3%) more than he struck out (13.0%) in 2025 while showing average bat to ball skills, helping him project as a potential above average hitter at the next level. His tight right handed swing helps him shoot the ball to all fields with authority, and while he's not the biggest guy on the field at an even six feet tall, he shows average power that he taps in games. As a potential .270 hitter with high on-base percentages and 15-20 home run upside, it's a really well-rounded offensive profile. He's also a plus runner and a strong athlete, adding to his upside. Voit hasn't settled into one primary position just yet, though the Mets drafted him as a second baseman and he has the actions and speed to be at least average there. Having reached 92 on the mound, he also has plenty of arm to slide over to third base if needed. Lastly, the Milwaukee-area product is extremely young for the class, not turning 21 until the end of the season, and could continue to see his broad toolset tick upwards. Honestly, I feel that I under-ranked him a bit and that he should have been closer to the top fifty on my board. Voit did make headlines back in March for pretending to do a line of cocaine off the third base line as a celebration for hitting a triple, which is extremely funny but also understandably problematic. His $1.75 million bonus is more than $800,000 below slot value and saved the Mets a ton of money to go after other expensive prospects later in the draft, which was especially helpful given their lack of a second round pick.
3-102: SS Antonio Jimenez, Central Florida
Slot value: $752,000. Signing bonus: $564,000 ($188,000 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #172. Baseball America: #406.
This is a really interesting pick, with the Mets picking up a talent that probably fits better here at his draft position than he did back where most public boards had him ranked. Antonio Jimenez began his career at Miami, then spent the summer in the Cape Cod League hitting a nondescript .203/.322/.383 with a 25% strikeout rate. He transferred to UCF for his sophomore season and exploded as Drew Faurot's replacement at shortstop, rocketing up draft boards. There is a ton of talent here. Listed at 6'1", Jimenez shows sneaky plus raw power that shows up more in scorching line drives than regular home run power, but he did knock five on the Cape and eleven in Orlando and figures to produce upwards of twenty or more annually at the big league level if he can get his swing right. The power plays better to his pull side, but the ball jumps off his bat. He can get a bit aggressive at the plate, but he mashes inside the strike zone with above average pure bat to ball ability. If Jimenez can stay within himself at the plate, swing at good pitches, and trust his power, he has the ingredients to be a real offensive contributor in Flushing. The Miami-area native also brings value on the defensive side of the ball. His athleticism and body control help him make all the plays at shortstop, while his plus-plus arm strength helps him throw out runners on all kinds of plays in the hole or on the run. It remains to be seen whether he'll be steady enough with the glove to stick at shortstop long term, but the fallback is as an above average defensive third baseman with a cannon arm. Jimenez did not get enough love before the draft, including from myself as I did not get around to researching him, and makes for a sneaky good pick here in the back of the third round for the Mets. As a draft-eligible sophomore, he'll be relatively young coming in and only turned 21 in June.
4-133: RHP Peter Kussow, Arrowhead Union HS [WI]
Slot value: $555,800. Signing bonus: $897,500 ($341,700 above slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #201. Baseball America: unranked.
After saving over a million dollars on their first two picks, the Mets began to unload those savings here by giving Peter Kussow close to the slot value of the #88 pick here at #133, steering him away from a Louisville commitment. You'll be hard pressed to find many prep pitchers with a better combination of size, projection, and physicality in this class. Kussow is listed at 6'5", 205 pounds, already looking the part of a big league arm with room to fill out even further. He presently sits in the low 90's and touches 97 with a running, riding fastball that could be a plus pitch as he continues to add velocity. His slider has diced up prep hitters in bunches this spring. It can be inconsistent and probably grades out at above average because of that, but he can rip through some nasty ones that dive late at the plate and give him plus projections. He mainly pitches off those two pitches, but there is a changeup in there as well. Kussow has a long arm swing and his command comes and goes, so the Mets will look to streamline his delivery a little bit and get him more consistent with everything, both from a stuff and command perspective. There is a chance he ends up a fastball/slider reliever, but the Mets see the upside of a potential mid-rotation starter here.
7-223: RHP Cam Tilly, Auburn
Slot value: $254,000. Signing bonus: $397,500 ($143,500 above slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #229.
The Mets went a bit over slot value to bring in Cam Tilly, an extremely talented arm who is yet to put it together at Auburn. Tilly was a well-known prep prospect that ranked #168 on my board in 2023, but made it to campus for the Tigers. He spent his first season and a half in college as a reliever, then earned six starts at the end of the 2025 season to middling results. The fastball sits low 90's and has reached as high as 97 in short stints, a solid pitch that won't jump off the page but gets the job done. He stands out most for his slider, a banger breaking ball with late two-plane break diving away from right handed hitters. Tilly can also work it into a curveball to give hitters a different look, while his splitter gives him another potential average or better pitch when he rips it right. The Evansville, Indiana-area product has a relatively simple delivery with nice extension down the mound, but strikes have been an issue as he works to get more consistently on line to the plate. Plenty physical, the 6'2" righty looks the part of a durable starting pitcher if he can tie things together. The four pitch arsenal goes a long way towards aiding in that projection, but he'll have to tie his command together better in order to get there.
8-253: RHP Camden Lohman, Ft. Zumwalt North HS [MO]
Slot value: $213,200. Signing bonus: $797,500 ($584,300 above slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #220. Baseball America: #490.
Taking much of the rest of their savings from Mitch Voit and Antonio Jimenez, New York spent over half a million above slot value to pry Camden Lohman away from an in-state Missouri commitment with a bonus about the slot value of the #96 pick. Like Peter Kussow, Lohman is a big, physical right hander from the Midwest. The 6'4" righty saw a velocity spike this spring, adding about three to four miles per hour to his fastball and reaching 97 in bullpen sessions, regularly touching 95 in starts and sitting low 90's. He adds a pair of solid breaking balls in a short slider and a more traditional curveball, while his changeup has come along this spring. With a simple, repeatable, over the top delivery, he shows good command for a high schooler. Lohman doesn't necessarily stand out in any individual way besides perhaps his height, but his combination of increased velocity, a deep arsenal, big league size, and a sound delivery makes him a higher probability starting pitcher than most prep arms. The Mets will look to continue to bring out sharper stuff as he matures.
9-283: SS Anthony Frobose, Lakeland HS [NY]
Slot value: $196,800. Signing bonus: $390,000 ($193,200 above slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked.
The Yankees went local in the ninth round, Yorktown Heights native Anthony Frobose out of Lakeland High School in extreme northern Westchester County, just under forty miles straight north of Flushing. This over slot signing was a bit more modest as a ninth rounder going for early sixth round money instead of heading to Rutgers. Frobose is more of an upside play than anything else. A two-way player, he's been up to 94 on the mound with a deep slider, but the Mets drafted him as a shortstop and it appears they'll keep him that way. He creates great leverage with an explosive, powerful right handed swing, giving him a shot at above average power in the future despite a slight 6'1", 170 pound frame. He was standing a bit more upright this spring and drifted into more deliberate load, something the Mets may want to smooth out. There is more conviction in the power than the hit tool for now, though New York believe he has what it takes to step up against pro pitching as he smooths out that right handed swing. Frobose's athleticism also shows at shortstop, where he has a plus arm and good body control to channel his arm strength on line towards first base. Having turned 18 shortly after the draft, he is on the younger side for the class and the Mets will likely move him more slowly than other prospects. There is considerable upside here for under $400K, but he is also pretty far away from that ceiling.
12-373: RHP Truman Pauley, Harvard
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $400,000 ($250,000 against bonus pool).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #435.
The largest bonus of the back half of the Mets' draft, Truman Pauley got early sixth round money to sign here in the twelfth round and cost a quarter of a million dollars against their bonus pool. Pauley is an interesting prospect. A native of Pacific Palisades in Southern California with an interest in model rocketry according to his player page, he travelled across the country to follow his grandfather and great grandfather to Harvard. A full year older than most of his graduating class, he reached Cambridge the age of a college sophomore and was therefore eligible and age appropriate after two years with the Crimson. His 2025 got off to a rough start with a 7.11 ERA and an 18.8% walk rate through his first seven outings, but he turned it around in a big way with a 2.56 ERA and a 53/21 strikeout to walk ratio (12.3% walk rate) over 38.2 innings to close out the season, including a thirteen strikeout complete game against Columbia in his final outing. Pauley gets it done with a huge fastball that sits in the low 90's and touches 96, but plays way above its velocity due to elite riding life. That pitch alone makes him a very interesting player development project for the Mets. Beyond that, he has a solid downer slider that misses bats as well as a curveball and changeup, though he primarily pitches off the first two. For now, the command is way behind everything else and will be the primary factor holding him back. The Mets will need to streamline his delivery and get him more comfortable at his newfound high velocity band, and from there he could develop in any number of directions. New York undoubtedly loves the trajectory he's on with the strong finish to the season, and while his post-season Cape Cod League numbers didn't pop off the page, he did run a respectable 9.7% walk rate in the smaller 15.1 inning sample.
16-493: RHP Zack Mack, Loyola Marymount
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $150,000.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked.
Hands down the best name in this Mets draft class, Zack Mack gives the Mets some sneaky upside near the back of the draft. A Houston-area native, he began his career at local powerhouse San Jacinto JC (Zack Mack at San Jac, say that five times fast) but missed his freshman season with Tommy John surgery. Over the next two seasons, he pitched his way into more attention, ultimately transferring west out to Loyola Marymount in Southern California. The result was a solid season for the Lions highlighted by a ten strikeout, no walk performance against San Francisco in April. Mack sits low 90's and touches 96 with a riding fastball, playing well at the top of the zone. He can drop in a big 12-6 curveball or tighten it up into a short, tight gyro slider, and both miss bats. There is also a splitter in there. The 6'5", 240 pound righty comes with plenty of size and while he was mostly a reliever at LMU, his size and arsenal point to a potential future in the rotation. The command was streaky but at one point he walked just one batter in a span of ten appearances (19.2 innings). A senior sign, Mack will turn 23 in October but could be an interesting piece going forward.
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