Since the Rule 4 draft was instituted in 1965, 33 of the 54 players selected with the 12th overall pick have gone on to make a major league debut. Of those players, twenty-four produced positive value for their team. Many of those players went on to have outstanding careers, most notably Nomar Garciaparra, Kirk Gibson, Jered Weaver, Billy Wagner, and Jay Bruce, among others.
Thanks to their 77-85 record in 2011, the Mets had the twelfth overall selection in the 2012 MLB Draft. With their pick, they selected Gavin Cecchini, a shortstop from Alfred M.