When all was said and done, maybe Lastings Milledge should have just kept jogging down the right field line that very firstpromising June afternoon, shaken everybody’s hand goodbye and then hit the road. For it seemed the moment he displayed a bit of verve and panache, he was on somebody’s list…and I don’t mean this extraordinarily memorable one.
There’s no telling how exciting or disappointing he will be as a Nat, but the Lastings farewell does ensconce Milledge (2003) among top Met draft picks who amounted to little as Mets, if they amounted to anything at all here other than trade bait. Among them in the past quarter-century:
Eddie Williams, Shawn Abner, Lee May, Chris Donnels, Dave Proctor, Alan Zinter, Al Shirley, Preston Wilson, Kirk Presley, Paul Wilson, Ryan Jaroncyk, Robert Stratton, Geoff Goetz, Jason Tyner, Billy Traber and Scott Kazmir.
FYI: None of the above, each picked No. 1 by the Mets (if not overall) in his respective draft, played in more than one season as a Met, except for Chris Donnels. If Chris Donnels is your rule’s exception, then your rule is pretty sad.
With the fortunes of Philip Humber and Mike Pelfrey pending, that leaves Lastings behind only Gregg Jefferies, Jeromy Burnitz and Aaron Heilman among No. 1 selections since 1983 who contributed even a touch here, even if his contribution was limited to 350 at-bats and a slew of fan-friendly high-fives.
Makes one wonder why we even bother drafting in the first round.
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