Report: Mets 11th Pick to be Protected

There is a report that the Mets 11th pick in the June Amateur Draft would be protected if they sign Michael Bourn.

Jim Bowden of ESPN and SiriusXM tweeted on Thursday:

According to a league source if the Mets were able to sign Michael Bourn it is likely through negotiations w/union pick would be protected.

According to source the intent on both sides were to protect teams with 10 worst records rather than the first 10 picks in language.

If this is the eventual ruling, it seems fair. The Mets should not be penalized because the Pirates failed to sign their pick last year.

This could be great news. The Mets need an outfielder, obviously, but they also need their first round pick to continue to rebuild the franchise.

However, I am not too happy with another of Bowden’s tweets:

According to a team source that has been involved in Bourn negotiations deal more likely to end up with AAV $14-15m range than $11-12m range.

If Bourn gets that much, it means the Mets will have far less flexibility going forward to sign or trade for another big-name player. I wouldn’t go any further than three years, $36 million for Bourn. And even at that level, he might be slightly overpaid.

I would still be surprised if Michael Bourn ends up with he Mets, but at least something interesting is happening.