With their final day one pick, the Mets selected Shane Sdao, a senior LHP from Texas A&M.
Sdao was an interesting high-volume relieve in his first two seasons at Texas A&M and was set to convert to the rotation in 2025. Unfortunately, he missed the entire year with Tommy John surgery and ultimately went undrafted despite rating as an interesting mid-round selection on Baseball America’s 2025 board. Back on the mound in 2026, Sdao went 4-4 with a 7.03 ERA, 783 strikeouts, and 21 walks in 71.2 innings this past season, with the majority of those innings coming as a starter.
At his best, Sdao can touch the upper 90s with above average extension while showing three breaking ball offerings. The best is a east-west slider, fitting with the Mets preference for horizontal breaking ball profiles. He’s also shown a curveball, cutter, and changeup, with the latter being the weakest offering by far. There’s some level of projection here as well despite Sdao’s age (he’s closer to 23 than 22) given his lean frame and recent return from injury. The vision for the Mets is presumably that they can take what is still a fairly unformed ball of clay and wring out significant improvements. BA had Sdao 91st on their top-500.
Selecting a senior sign this early (even if it is one of the better ones available this year) suggests the Mets are looking to save money for other picks. It’s possible that Carson Wiggins is closer to slot than we initially expected or that Aiden Robbins requires even more overslot, which would not help the already mediocre evaluation of those two picks. It’s also possible the Mets are looking to save more money to spread around in the later innings. We’ll see how the rest of the board develops on Day 2.
