MMO Exclusive: Mets Director of Amateur Scouting Marc Tramuta

The New York Mets added twenty new players to their organization after the completion of this year’s MLB Amateur Draft.

With their first round pick and tenth overall, the Mets selected one of the most talented and accomplished college pitchers of this year’s class;  Vanderbilt right-hander Kumar Rocker.

The Mets believe this is one of their deepest draft classes since Director of Amateur Scouting Marc Tramuta and Vice President of Amateur and International Scouting Tommy Tanous started running  the show in 2012.

Tanous and Tramuta previously worked together with Toronto Blue Jays organization before both came over to the Mets in the early 2010s.

The Mets have built two top-10 systems already under the two executives (2014-15, 2017-18), and appear to be on their way to a third.

Tramuta took the time to talk with me about the Mets’ draft, their farm system, the state of the team as a whole, and why the Mets front office is “all in” with “a lot of chips on the table”.

Please enjoy.

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Ramsey: Tommy Tanous said the team believes this is one of your deeper drafts. What about this year’s draft class makes it so deep for the Mets?

Tramuta: Not that we go into any draft focusing on the specific position, but we took 12 pitchers. I think that’s where we got deep, in terms of what we haven’t done before. We took a lot of arms that we feel have big tools. Obviously, some of the pitching has graduated, and the pitching at the upper levels is thin. We’ve signed a lot of independent ball guys, we’ve lost some guys through trades, and then Matt Allan goes down. We knew we needed pitching, but we didn’t go into the draft with the mindset of going pitching heavy.

It was in the back of my mind that we could add as many guys with big stuff as we could. I do feel it was a deep pitching draft, I mean you saw some teams take exclusively pitchers in all 20 rounds. I do think this year we were all a little skeptical of the college hitters because there was no summer leagues.  I am very happy with the length that we created with this draft. It’s just like when you’re putting together a lineup, when these arms are healthy we got some serious length from the draft.

Ramsey: Does the feeling that you need to replenish the upper level pitching depth lead to taking significantly more college arms than prep arms?

Tramuta: Yes and no. I think we just felt, that at a certain point some of the high school arms become un-signable… Like Hunter Barco a few years back. A lot of the high school pitchers we liked at the top were taken, but we took Ziegler and we liked where we took him, but I just feel like we need to add pitting depth to our system. It had thinned out so much, I had no issue taking as many arms as we did. We haven’t done it in that fashion in the past, we’ve been more focused on some bats and high school pitching. To start out with Kumar was a nice start, then you shift back to the high school arm, and then go on a run of collegiate arms. Sometimes you just take what the draft gives you, and this was just how it shook out.

Ramsey: Some people are already calling Kumar Rocker the steal of the draft. When did you begin to get the indication that he might be available at the number 10 position?

Tramuta: When you go through the spring, whether just from going to games or through “airport talk”, I got the sense that the teams in front of us might not take him, and I had heard in April that maybe most of the teams in front of us wanted to take a hitter. Same as all college pitchers, there were speed bumps along the way. I truly believe it’s because he didn’t throw a full season last year, and they didn’t throw in the summertime. I had started to hear that he might be sliding and I told our guys “listen, there might be a chance that he’s there and I know it sounds crazy, but if he gets by this team or that team, we need to be prepared.”

I went and saw him in the SEC tournament. Between me and the cross trackers, I watched at least 3 to 4 innings of every start. I saw him twice in person and the rest I saw on TV or video. I want to watch him as much as I could because you just never now. I probably put about a 40% chance on it, but then he got past number five. I kept on telling the guys that “If we get past number five or six, now we’re really close… now anything can happen” and I really did go into this thinking there was a 30 to 40% chance that he could be there for us. You just start to hear things when you travel, whether it’s scouts talking or coaches on the collegiate level. Did I believe it for sure? No. But I did think there was a small chance.

Ramsey: Aside from Rocker, were there any players that you were shocked were still on the board when you selected them?

Tramuta: The fourth rounder J.T. Schwartz, considering how well he performed. Obviously you have the first base tag, which  some teams shy away from unless the player shows huge power. He hit eight home runs this year, so it’s not like he’s just a slap hitter. I was impressed with the fact that he had more walks than strikeouts, and just the overall numbers he produced at a big school in a major conference. We really like the swing, and I really think he’s the sleeper pic in the top 10. He gets the ball in the air and rarely swings and misses.

In regards to swinging and missing, he was one of the best guys in the country against any pitch. He hit eight home runs this year in 200 plate appearances, and Michael Conforto only hit seven his junior year, and he’s either hit 30 or come close to 30 about four times. When I miss on hitters, I usually miss on not projecting enough power. You look back at a lot of factors, like his plate discipline, how often he gets the ball in the air, his exit velocity‘s, stuff like that, and you say to yourself “it would not surprise me if this guy hit 25 or 30 home runs”.

Ramsey: Kiley McDaniel of ESPN put out a recap of the 2021 Amateur Draft, and noted that some scouts told him that Virginia RHP Mike Vasil looked like a second round pick on his best days, and a fourth round on his worst. What lead to him falling to the eighth round?

Tramuta: Honestly, I don’t know. I haven’t seen him in person since high school. But, Tommy saw him and we had a bunch of cross checkers see him. I had a college coach text me after we took him and and say “What world do we live in where Mike Vasil can make it to that pick?” I don’t know if its because some guys just had up-and-down years and that made their stock fluctuate, but he’s a guy with a 5% walk-rate this year, despite his strikeouts being down this year. We’ve always liked his stuff, we like his frame at 6’4″ 225, but a lot of guys had peaks and valleys this year and this might just be another one. But the eighth round has been good to us, especially if you look at Tylor Megill, so I’d call it a second sleeper pick for us. If we get this guy back to what he was in high school, and I think he showed flashes of it this year, its a great value pick for us in that round.

Ramsey: Did any Day 3 pick come with a tool that you and your team think went under-the-radar?

Tramuta: Rowdy Jordan is a plus runner, some would even say a double-plus runner. He has a winning pedigree from being at Mississippi State. He’s a guy that has a higher contact rate, and I think he hit about 10 home runs this year. it’s not like he’s a slap hitter, he had 22 doubles, 4 triples, and ten home runs, and his strikeout percentage was only 13%. He also stole 12 bases, so he’s a nice, well-rounded player. He has a plus tool with the run, and he’s always hit. He’s a guy that’s been a consistent performer for four years at college and those are usually attractive guys in this part of the draft.

Ramsey: When looking at collegiate players, how much does playoff experience and success factor in?

Tramuta: I think it’s a positive, certainly not a negative. When you come from winning programs and SEC programs where you’re playing in front of large crowds, you don’t get a culture shock right away. I think everybody would agree that that’s the best baseball conference in the country, and a lot of pitchers in that conference either were drafted or are going to be drafted in the coming years. He’s faced a lot of really good pitching in that conference and performed. It’s not a prerequisite, but it’s something that gives you comfort when you’re taking those types of players.

Ramsey: How different was the approach from a 40 round draft to a 20 round draft?

Tramuta: Honestly, not much. Aside from picking 20 less players due to the elimination of several minor-league teams per organization, I don’t think we looked at it any differently. It’s just 20 instead of 40, no real difference in strategy or anything like that. There weren’t as many high school “projection” arms that were taken later in the draft where are you knew there was a 99% chance they weren’t going to sign, but it still wasn’t too much of a factor this year.

Ramsey: Tommy Tanous noted in the spring that the Mets’ analytics and player development departments were more hands-on in the draft process under this new regime. What are the major changes that they have brought?

Tramuta: We brought in Ben Zauzmer who came from the Dodgers, and he heads up our analytics department. He put together, what most every team have by now, a model that is only in its first year with us, but it really helped us. There’s so much information now, and it’s tough to remember and adjust to all of it. Ben really helped guide a lot of the scouts. It helped us wear both a scouting lens and an analytics lens. It just really helped streamline all of the information and data that is out there and help line up the board. We’re talking between 900 and 1,000 players available, so there’s a lot of players that I don’t see. We only have one guy look at a lot of those players, so we turn to the analytics with things like TrackMan. It helped us through a rough draft.

So we take what we see from the scouts, and blend it with what the analytics say. I thought the structure that we had between the two departments and the two data points was the best we’ve had in a long time. We had Paul dePodesta when he was here, obviously everyone knows his background in analytics, but I just thought we did things and lined up the board in a cleaner fashion than we have in years prior.

Ramsey: How have the advances in baseball analytics, such as TrackMan, pitch shape, RPMs, etc., changed the approach to scouting and drafting?

Tramuta: See, I love all that stuff. I know there are certain sections of scouts that don’t and might feel threatened by it, but I love all the data. It’s another way to confirm what you see with your eyes and is another factor into the equation of evaluating a prospect. It is so prevalent in the big leagues now with exit velocities and RPM’s and spin rates.

When you look at certain trades, some teams are trading for guys who excel in that data so there’s value to having those guys in your organization. It’s a potential trade chip at the minimum. When you draft, you want to find guys with stuff that can play in the big leagues, so why wouldn’t we look for that stuff in the draft? We take it and then project from that standpoint. I like taking all the data they give me, and we have guys that are experts on this stuff.

I’ve gained a really good understanding of what the numbers mean and how we can project from that. For example, we take a guy with high spin rates in the draft, hand it off to our player development, and they make a development plan with him and go from there. All of that goes into it for us and our department. I want that data because I think it helps you project instead of just using your eyes. Whenever I watch a pitcher, I go back and look at the data to see if what I saw at the stadium is confirmed by the numbers. I go to the data and say “Yeah, I see the spin and the shape” and then go back. We as scouts get snapshots in person, and now we have programs that make it so we’re not prisoners to the, sometimes as little as one, in person moment we have. It helps us separate players in a more efficient way.

Ramsey: What should Mets fans expect from top prospects Mark Vientos and JT Ginn?

Tramuta: Mark is a very strong kid who has elite exit velocities. When he has been at his best, he is hitting the ball hard, far, and commanding the strike zone. When you look at his half-year in Kingsport, his walk and strikeout numbers were very similar. He’s the same age as these college juniors, he lost a year of development last year, and he’s playing very well in Double-A right now. He struggled early, but to the credit of the kid, the developmental staff, and the coaching staff in Binghamton, he has really turned it around since June. He’s cut his strikeout rate, and if he can keep control of the zone, I can see him hitting 30+ home runs. He ha that kind of power to all fields. I want to credit his makeup too. If you’re a 21 year-old struggling like he did early this year, you can easily pack it in and fall into a deep hole. He did not. He dug himself out of that, he got out of it, and I really hope he turned the corner. That is credit to the kid. He’s a great kid, I love him, he wants to be great, so I give him, his coaching staff with the Rumble Ponies, and the hitting coordinators all the credit. He has righted the ship and I’m really excited to see what the second half of the season brings for him.

As for Ginn, I just watched his most recent start on video. I was at the draft, and I couldn’t go watch. The only thing that hasn’t come back yet, and to be expected, is the high-end velocity. We’ve seen him throw as hard before as 96, 97, and 98. I think right now that he has been between 91 and 94, but I’m not at all concerned about that, he’s just working his way back from Tommy John. Hes’ still got the life on the fastball and man… I’ve seen some fastballs on video with just silly swings and misses. The check swings you’re getting on some fastballs because of the movement and the life are big league. He has a big league breaking ball, and for the changeup… I remember talking to Ricky Meinhold, our pitching coordinator, about the changeup before the season and he said “I can’t even teach the type of changeup that he throws”. The pitch is so good that it is that hard to teach it to other guys. He’s throwing strikes too. The one thing I was looking at was for him to just throw strikes for his first month or two, everything else will come back in time. I saw him in Spring Training, and he was throwing really good. He looked healthy, and I was encouraged to see him just letting it fly. I’m really encouraged and the fastball velocity will come back. He’s having success sitting 91-94, and when it gets back up to the 95/96/97 range, I think this kid has a chance to be really good.

Ramsey: What is it like seeing that most of the Mets current core is made up of homegrown players or players developed in the Mets’ system?

Tramuta: I’m excited, man. We’ve lost a lot of guys to trades the past few years, and whether or not that happens again is a call made by the front office guys and not me, but I trust those guys a lot. It’s exciting to be a part of a first place team with a mostly homegrown roster. It’s a lot of guys we either drafted or traded for and developed. I am really thrilled with the spot we’re in right now, and hopefully with this year‘s draft we added to an already strong core. We’ll just have to see where the trade deadline leads us.

Ramsey: What are the emotions of a scout like during the trading season when most of the top prospects in the Mets’ system are homegrown talent?

Tramuta: It’s tough. You get to know the players on a personal level. I was close with Jarred Kelenic and we only had him for six months. But obviously, you understand that that’s part of it and I think the players do too. When you draft a player, you hope you see them at Citi Field. But in the end, you understand that this is how baseball works, there are trades, and you still follow them religiously and hope to see them succeed wherever they go. Certain players, it just is what it is. It just is what it is. You want those guys to be the homegrown stars like we’re lucky to have currently, but it’s a business. There’s an initial aspect of disappointment, but then you realize that those players might just help you win a World Series, so you understand it from that aspect too. You build relationships with these kids leading up to the draft and through their minor-league careers, but all of us in the scouting department understand and we continue to do our best to bring in the best place possible.

Ramsey: What level of satisfaction do you take in seeing a playoff contending team made up of mostly homegrown players?

Tramuta: I can’t even begin to explain how satisfying it is. It makes me very proud to be part of the organization. A lot of us here have a lot of chips on the table. I want to see this through. I hope Tommy, our staff, and myself are here for another decade to see this through and we win multiple championships and build our farm system. When I was a national cross checker in Toronto, I was part of drafting Marcus Stroman and Noah Syndergaard, so I feel like I was a part of that from a Mets perspective. Even guys like Jeff McNeil and Tylor Megill, it’s very satisfying.

Hopefully it gets us a ring, but the staff goes way back. There are guys on our staff who were key in selecting Jacob deGrom. Tommy, our staff, and myself are all in. We have a lot of chips on the table. We’re all in. We are more all-in than any team he and I have ever worked for because of all the players that are at the big league level, guys at the big league level that we brought in and developed, and the guys that are getting close to the big league level. That is the most exciting part for us, we feel like we’re close to being a championship club and most of the players at the core of that fall under those categories. I keep saying it, but we have a lot of chips on the table and we are all in. We think this is a team that will have a chance to win a World Series.

Ramsey: Thank you for taking some time to answer a few questions for our readers. We appreciate it.

The post MMO Exclusive: Mets Director of Amateur Scouting Marc Tramuta first appeared on Metsmerized Online.