No. 14 pick small in stature, big on confidence

NEW YORK -- Consider Mets first-rounder Jett Williams a New Yorker. Sort of.

The Williams family is Dallas-bred. Jett, a shortstop out of Rockwall-Heath High School, is easily identifiable by his Texas accent. But when Williams was two years old, his father moved the brood to Port Jefferson, Long Island, while he attended medical school at Stony Brook University. The Williamses stayed there until Jett was four, at which point his dad took a job as a physician’s assistant and moved everyone back to Texas.

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Lately, some of those old roots have begun resurfacing. Jett’s older brother, Jacob, recently became a graduate student on the Stony Brook lacrosse team. Then on Sunday, the Mets selected Jett with the 14th overall pick in the MLB Draft.

“I’m happy to come back home,” he said. “I can’t wait to get to work. It’s a pretty awesome moment.”

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If the Mets have it their way, Williams will become a cornerstone of the franchise for years to come, along with their three other selections from Day 1 of the Draft: No. 11 overall pick Kevin Parada, No. 52 pick Blade Tidwell and No. 75 pick Nick Morabito.

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A 5-foot-8 infielder out of Rockwall-Heath High School in Texas, Williams was one of the smallest early-round talents in the Draft, but he is a versatile infielder who has received rave reviews from scouts for his defense. Williams became the third Texas high schooler taken in the first round of the Draft since 2019, following Bobby Witt Jr. that year and Jordan Lawlar in 2021.

He also has plenty of talent with the bat, featuring what MLB.com’s Pipeline report described as “quick hands, feel for the barrel and a quality right-handed stroke” capable of producing at least 15 homers per season at the highest level.

“Jett was a player that we targeted as far back as August in the Area Code Games,” Mets scouting director Marc Tramuta said, noting that Williams can play second base, third base and center field in addition to shortstop. “We see him as a multi-tool athlete with present hittability, a chance to have better-than-average power.”

When asked about his stature, Williams mentioned José Altuve, Alex Bregman and Mookie Betts as three examples of how his own skillset can play at the highest level.

“You kind of get a knock right when you get into high school that you’re not physical enough, you’re too small,” said Williams, a Mississippi State recruit with a $4.24 million slot value on his pick. “That definitely put a little bit of a chip on my shoulder and made me want to work harder than everybody, just knowing that my ultimate goal was to make it to the Major Leagues and get drafted. Seeing them do it makes me have a lot of hope. I play with a lot of confidence, so I feel like I can be a bigtime player in New York.”

Tidwell, a pitcher ranked No. 27 on MLB Pipeline’s Draft board, fell to the Mets at 52 due to shoulder issues during his sophomore season, but he struck out 51 batters in 39 innings upon his return. Much as the Mets did with J.T. Ginn in 2020, the team looked past Tidwell’s injury history so that they could land a premium talent later than expected in the Draft.

Finally, the Mets selected speedy outfielder Nick Morabito from Gonzaga College High School in Washington, DC with the 75th overall pick, which they received as compensation for Noah Syndergaard rejecting a qualifying offer and signing with the Angels. New York’s two extra Day 1 picks -- from the Syndergaard deal and from last year’s top selection, Kumar Rocker, not signing -- gave them a chance to restock their farm system in a hurry.

“This is a chance to reenergize the organization, reenergize the farm system,” said Mets vice president of amateur scouting Tommy Tanous. “As a team that’s competitive, we make a lot of trades, so we have to keep refilling the system. I think this year kind of gives us a chance to get ahead.”