A lot of you out there are thinking, “who the heck is Clint Everts?” He was the fifth overall pick in the 2002 MLB draft by the Montreal Expos, in what ended up being a terrible top 5. The rest of the first round was amazing. Unfortunately for the Expos at the time is they were owned by major league baseball and had to pass up on better players.
The 6th and 7th picks in the draft were Zach Greinke and Prince Fielder. This was also the draft of Jeff Francis, Scott Kazmir, Nick Swisher, Cole Hamels, James Loney, Denard Span, Joe Blanton, and Matt Cain. This tells you just how good the reports were of Clint coming out of high school. He was another Texas fireballer coming out of the Houston area.
At 19 he was considered a top 100 prospect in the minors (#58). He was coming off a pretty decent season in low and high A when he went a combined 9-5/2.45/1.03 with a robust 10 strikeouts/9 innings. He was poised to start in AA and a possible trip to the majors in 2006. Then he career stalled, starting with an injury which made him completely have to start all over again with his career. He spent the next three seasons trying to get back into pre-injury mode.
The Nationals then gave up on him as a starter and moved him to the bullpen two years ago. He was excellent as a middle reliever, last season he went from A to AAA and posted a combined 8-1/1.65/1.25 with 6 saves. He also posted a 10.2 strikeout/9 inning ratio. After his contract with the Nationals he was signed by the Mets and was supposed to bolster the Mets bullpen. Out of Spring Training he didn’t make the squad and dropped him down to AA Binghamton. So now he is trying to grind it out to get up to the majors. Although his continues to strikeout hitters at a high clip, he has a problem walking hitters and regaining his focus.
His cards are cheap on eBay, most of his autographed cards run between $1 – 2 The one below recently sold for $1.50. As a former first rounder it’s always worth picking up his card. I hope he does well this season and eventually cracks the Mets bullpen. He needs to focus a bit more and don’t get rattled, and he could be a top flight setup guy. At 25, he is still young enough to make it, so keep your fingers crossed. He deserves a shot.
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Yeah, exactly what the Mets need. Another Oliver Perez.
I’m always willing to pay $1.00 for a first rounder that’s still active. I’m still sitting on a 10 card lot of 2003 Bowman’s Best Mike Hinckley autos that I got for $9.00 on ebay in ’04. He and Everts used to be top prospects for the Expos. Appreciate the update on him.