The Mets are in love with second-round pick Desmond Lindsay

There’s a mixed bag of reactions after the Mets selected outfielder Desmond Lindsay with the 53rd overall pick in the MLB Draft last night. The Mets were in a tough situation with no first round pick after signing Michael Cuddyer last winter, and only a limited amount of money to spend signing this year's picks, the pool of impact players that the Mets could draft was small.

Some think that the Mets may have reached for Lindsay in the second round, but those within the Mets organization are thrilled with the potential of the high schooler from the Out-Of-Door Academy in Sarasota, Florida. Paul Depodesta, vice president of amateur scouting and player development, believes that the Mets didn’t reach down for Lindsay. Instead, he was a possible first rounder that they were able to snag.

"Without the hamstring injury this spring, we don't think there would be any way that he would have lasted to the 53rd pick in this Draft. There's just too much talent there, and a combination of power and speed that's just very difficult to find. So we felt like it was an opportunity for us, in a year when we didn't have a first-round pick, to maybe reach up and get a first-round talent."

This was an aggressive move by the Mets, to take somebody like Lindsay on almost strictly potential. Many scouts wouldn’t agree with the Mets taking the young outfielder where they did, as neither Baseball America nor MLB.com had Lindsay ranked among their top 100 prospects. That didn’t stop the Mets though, as according to scouting director Tommy Tanous, his top shelf speed and power was too much to pass up.

"This is an athlete that probably has a plus-plus run tool for us. He's one of the faster kids in the Draft. Although he's a fairly strong kid, this is a kid that can run."

Some are comparing this pick to when the Mets selected Brandon Nimmo with the 13th overall pick back in 2011. Nimmo, growing up in Wyoming, had never played high school baseball and was considered a long-term prospect. While Nimmo is currently on the DL with Double-A Binghamton, that project is coming along very nicely for the Mets.

Lindsay is committed to Matt Harvey’s alma mater to play college baseball for the North Carolina Tar Heels, but those inside the Mets organization are confident that he’s going to sign with New York. Tanous said bluntly "Desmond will be a Met, I don't think there's much of an issue there."