How good are Yankees, Mets at drafting, finding MLB talent?

I love looking at rosters. I know: Get a life.

I particularly like digging into where players come from in the draft or internationally and which teams are best at unearthing talent in these areas.

I keep an annual database on it. I know: Get a real hobby.

Among other items, it reminds me each year that there are different ways to construct a roster.

For example, the Astros’ Opening Day roster had 18 players they signed to their first pro contract (let’s call them “originals,” as a shorthand). No other team had that many of their originals. The Rays were tied for the fewest with six, a reflection of just how well they have done at trades and low-profile signings to stay yearly contenders.

There were 945 players on Opening Day rosters. That included 162 on the injured list and three on the inactive or restricted list (including the currently suspended Fernando Tatis Jr.).

Of the 945, there were 692 drafted players plus another 15 undrafted domestic free agents. There also were 238 who signed their first contracts as international players, including 105 from the Dominican Republic (keep in mind some players of Dominican heritage go to school in the U.S. and are part of the draft and thus not included in that tally).

For 3Up this week, I thought I would delve into the Yankees’ and Mets’ roster compositions, and then use the last item for what sticks out to me:

1. The Yankees annually conclude the season with among the most originals having appeared in the majors. Last year, they had 65. Only the Astros (66) had more.

But the Yankees begin most seasons in the upper middle of the pack — as they did this year with 35 originals, which was tied for 10th-most (the Astros had the most with 45).

This accentuates the Yankees’ general strength in player procurement — they are much better at quantity than at quality. The number of players they have each year who interest other organizations allows the Yankees to be active in the trade market, but they are hardly ever burned by the outcome beyond the thinning of their ranks making it more difficult to do the next deal.

The Yankees had a major league-high 33 originals from last year who were not on Opening Day rosters this year. That obviously has a ton to do with a lot of players being used during the long season last year. But it also says something about the kind of players. The Astros had 24 originals in the majors last year who were not on Opening Day rosters this year. The Cardinals, who had 62 originals last year, had just 20 of those players not appear on MLB rosters to begin this season.

To exemplify the quality being discussed, here is a list of the 33 Yankees originals who played in the majors last year who were not on season-opening rosters this year:

1. Almonte, Abraham
2. Andujar, Miguel
3. Banuelos, Manny
4. Cano, Robinson
5. Castillo, Diego A.
6. Clippard, Tyler
7. Diehl, Phillip
8. Espinal, Raynel
9. Ford, Mike
10. Gamel, Ben
11. Garcia, Dermis
12. Garcia, Rony
13. German, Frank
14. Greene, Shane
15. Junk, Janson
16. Katoh, Gosuke
17. Park, Hoy Jun
18. Payton, Mark
19. Peguero, Elvis
20. Peraza, Oswald
21. Phelps, David
22. Rogers, Josh
23. Romine, Austin
24. Sanchez, Gary
25. Sands, Donny
26. Severino, Anderson
27. Smith, Caleb
28. Solak, Nick
29. Vizcaino, Arodys
30. Wade, Tyler
31. Weissert, Greg
32. Widener, Taylor
33. Yajure, Miguel

These players fall into a variety of categories. Cano, Clippard, Greene, Phelps and Romine have either announced their retirements or very possibly are not going to play in the majors again. There are the once-touted prospects who have fallen and are still trying to get up, such as Andujar, Banuelos and Sanchez. Peraza and Weissert figure into the Yankees’ plans in 2023. And then there are those — such as Almonte, Ford, Gamel — who probably are looking at continuing careers of yo-yoing between the minors and, when a need arises, the majors.

The 2019 draft, in many ways, is explanatory for the Yankees. The organization has a severe limitation in the draft in that they have not picked higher than No. 16 since taking pitcher Matt Drews 13th overall in 1993. The last time they picked in the top 10 was the previous year, 1992, when they had the sixth pick and selected Derek Jeter.

The Yankees often are picking for the first time in the 20s or 30s. That has taken hundreds of the best domestic players off the draft board for them over the years. The Astros have become the Yankees’ greatest tormentors in part because they drafted players such as George Springer, Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker before the Yankees even had a selection.

In 2019, the Yankees did not have their first pick until No. 30, and took Anthony Volpe. There were 43 players from that draft who were on 2023 Opening Day rosters, and 13 of those were taken before the Yankees picked (think Adley Rutschman, Bobby Witt Jr., Corbin Carroll). Yet of those 43, the Yankees had four in the majors; only the Guardians (5) had more.

But the other three 2019 Yankees draft picks already have been traded: second-rounder Josh Smith to Texas (in the Joey Gallo deal), fifth-rounder Ken Waldichuk to Oakland (Frankie Montas deal) and sixth-rounder Hayden Wesneski to the Cubs (Scott Effross deal). None of those trades have worked out yet, plus the Yankees traded T.J. Sikkema, a competitive-balance-round pick (No. 38 overall) from the same draft, to the Royals as part of the Andrew Benintendi deal, which also included 2020 fourth-round pick Beck Way.

And remember: In the reduced five-round draft in 2020, the Yankees had just three picks, and in addition to Way, they have dealt third-round pick Trevor Hauver (also in the Gallo trade).

Of their 11 international originals (tied for sixth-most) who were on Opening Day rosters, the most recent of that group to sign — 2017 signing Ezequiel Duran — also was in the Gallo trade.

The second-most-recent to sign, Roansy Contreras (2016), was instrumental in the Yankees obtaining Jameson Taillon. And there were three members of their signing class of 2015 in the majors: Estevan Florial (who was designated for assignment shortly after Opening Day), Jhony Brito (who made a strong start and was then demoted to the minors) and Oswaldo Cabrera.

2. The Mets had 31 originals on Opening Day rosters, which ranked 16th. In many ways, they are the opposite of the Yankees: They often produce quality over quantity.

For example, they have done a strong job over the years in finding gems beyond the first round, such as Jacob deGrom (ninth round, 2010), Seth Lugo (34th round, 2011), Luis Guillorme (10th round, 2013), Jeff McNeil (12th round, 2013) and Pete Alonso (second round, 2016).

But the lack of quantity hovers over the organization. Steve Cohen has said a lot of the motivation for building the largest payroll in history (by a lot) is to try to win in the majors while creating cover to allow the farm system to grow.

At last year’s trade deadline, the Mets made minor moves, but were not players for Juan Soto, never found a lefty reliever and refused to budge for more proven righty bats such as Willson Contreras and J.D. Martinez.

In the aftermath, Billy Eppler said he did not want to make impulsive decisions that would have long-term repercussions, and mentioned protecting the players who the Mets consider to be their 19 best prospects. I would think that even if your system is down, if your team has a chance to win, you need to perhaps protect your best 2-3 prospects and then try to win.

But Eppler’s philosophy underscored the macro issue. The Mets’ only draft picks from 2017 onward on Opening Day rosters were David Peterson (first, 2017), Jarred Kelenic (first, 2018) and Bryce Montes de Oca (ninth, 2018), who was on the injured list.

Amed Rosario was signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2012. The only two original Mets signed internationally since then who were on Opening Day rosters were Andres Gimenez (2015, Venezuela) and Kodai Senga, who signed a five-year, $75 million deal as a free agent during the offseason.

Now, this is a bit skewed. The injured Justin Verlander was technically on the Opening Day roster, but was quickly replaced by Trevor Megill (eighth, 2018). Francisco Alvarez (2018, Venezuela) was called up to replace the injured Omar Narvaez. Brett Baty, currently nursing an injured thumb, was the 12th pick in the same draft class (2019) as Volpe (who will have a better career?). Mark Vientos was a second-round pick in 2017. But it is looking as if Peterson and Vientos will be the only members of the Mets’ 40-pick 2017 draft class who will even reach the majors.

The Mets also used a lot of draft capital in trades predating Eppler’s administration. They had six first-round selections between 2016-20, and already have traded four: Justin Dunn, Anthony Kay, Kelenic and Pete Crow-Armstrong. They did not sign their 2021 first-round pick, Kumar Rocker. That led to them having two first-round picks last year, and under Eppler, they selected catcher Kevin Parada and Jett Williams.

But will Eppler draft well? He was the GM with the Angels for five drafts from 2016-20. Those draft picks essentially should be players in the majors now who are near or in their prime. These are the players drafted during Eppler’s Angels regime who were on Opening Day rosters: Matt Thaiss, Brandon Marsh, Chris Rodriguez (injured list), Griffin Canning (injured list), Kyle Bradish, Andrew Wantz, Davis Daniel (injured list) and Reid Detmers.

Only one international free agent signed during Eppler’s Angels regime was on a major league Opening Day roster: Shohei Ohtani.

3. Here are a few random related thoughts:

• The Astros have had the most originals in the majors the past few years, and did again to begin this season. But I do wonder whether they will sustain that excellence moving forward. There were a lot of complaints that the Astros were not punished enough for illegal sign stealing in 2017. But they did lose their first two draft picks in both 2020 and 2021, which are classes that would be graduating or close to graduating to the majors now. And a lot of the intellectual heft that procured and developed the champion Astros are gone from the team’s front office.

• The Dodgers and the Guardians in recent years have joined the Astros and Cardinals as the most consistent deliverers of original quantity and quality. The top five in quantity to open this season were: the Astros (45), Dodgers (44), Cardinals (43), Guardians and Padres (tied with 42).

• The team that is always at or near the bottom is Oakland. The A’s put a MLB-low 34 originals in the majors last year, and had a MLB-low 16 on Opening Day rosters this year, three fewer than any other team. The A’s have a lot of disadvantages in running a franchise, and it is exacerbated by trying to restock or trade with so little desirable talent rising in the system. With crafty trading, in particular, the A’s overachieved for years. But they appear in a significant down period now.

Oakland’s drafts have been poor, but the team’s procurement internationally has been far worse. How do you win in this moment without being able to produce talent out of the Dominican Republic and Venezuela? The A’s began this season with just one international original on an Opening Day roster: Shintaro Fujinami, a veteran Japanese pitcher they signed in the offseason.

The A’s had three originals signed out of the Dominican play in the majors last year, but none from recent classes: Michael Feliz (2010), Luis Barrera (2012) and Yairo Munoz (2012). From 2018-22, the only original signed out of Venezuela by the A’s to play in the majors was Renato Nunez (2010 class). 

• To rebuild, the Nationals will need to have done a terrific job in trading Max Scherzer, Trea Turner and Soto. They have done a poor job in procurement. They had just 19 originals in the majors to open this season (second-fewest). Of those originals, 14 were drafted, tied with the A’s for the fewest. And two of those were no-brainer No. 1 overall picks Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg, both of whom were on the injured list with Strasburg uncertain to pitch again.

Here are players drafted by the Nationals from 2014-present who were on Opening Day rosters: Taylor Hearn (fifth, 2015), Dane Dunning (first, 2016), Jesus Luzardo (third, 2016), Wil Crowe (second, 2017) and Cade Cavalli (first, 2020), who opened on the IL.