In the pre-video age we used to play board games. One such was “The Game of Life” or just “Life.” In this game you had the option to go to college or start working right away. The Mets have their own version of this quandary with Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto, two players born less than a month apart. Nimmo turned pro after high school while Conforto went to college.

Both were first-round picks, with the Mets selecting Nimmo 13th overall in the 2011 Draft and Conforto with the 10th pick of the 2014 Draft. Many observers felt the Mets reached for Nimmo; many observers felt the Mets were lucky to get Conforto where they did.

Baseball America ranks the top 100 high school prospects each year. Among the 2011 high school class, Nimmo ranked 10th and Conforto placed 57th. Seeing this, it’s understandable why Nimmo turned pro and Conforto went to college. Still, it’s a tiny bit surprising that Nimmo bypassed college, coming from a state that did not have high school baseball.

However, Nimmo had a bunch of baseball experience, with a strong American Legion schedule as well as top prospect/All-Star games where he got national exposure. Still, speculation had him lasting until the 30s. On the day of the draft, online site MLBDraft.com held its final mock for 2011 and projected Nimmo to go 31st overall. Earlier, Jim Callis at Baseball America had him going at #33 (although he mentioned that the Mets liked him). Marc Hulet at FanGraphs also had him going 31st overall.

Whatever your feelings on the Nimmo pick, he did not exactly set the world on fire his first few years in the Mets organization. After an injury-marred season in 2013, some even considered him a disappointment. Meanwhile, Conforto’s stock rose considerably after his first two collegiate seasons. Entering his junior year, there was even speculation he might be the top overall pick in the draft, as he was selected the preseason college player of the year by the Sporting News.

But Conforto’s junior year did not exactly go as planned. It’s hard to be disappointed with a 1.028 OPS but his HR output was underwhelming. He finished the year with just seven homers, compared to the 13 he hit as a freshman. Conforto hit three homers for Brooklyn after the Mets drafted him, not quite the 14 HR that Cory Vaughn hit for the Cyclones back in 2010.

Yet Conforto hit .331 in his professional debut and his defense in left field was much better than advertised. Overall, it was a very strong showing.

Meanwhile, Nimmo enjoyed the finest year of his professional career in 2014. Freed from the stifling hitting environment of Grayson Stadium, where he had just a .681 OPS, Nimmo hit the cover off the ball at Hi-A St. Lucie, where he recorded a .906 OPS before a mid-year promotion to Double-A.

Nimmo struggled mightily at first in Binghamton, posting a .685 OPS in his first 91 PA in Double-A. But over the remainder of the season, a stretch covering 188 PA, Nimmo posted a respectable .758 OPS.

So, we have two guys the same age, both former first-round picks who are projected to play the same position in the majors (corner outfielder). One had a successful 186 PA in a short-season league (.851 OPS) and the other had a successful 279 PA in Hi-A (.906 OPS) and another 279 PA in Double-A.

How would you rank these two prospects? Here are some notable lists for comparison:

Nimmo Conforto Mack Ade 8 4 Amazin’ Avenue 3 7 Baseball America 3 7 Baseball Prospectus 3 9 FanGraphs 6 4 Keith Law 6 2 Mets360 6 7 Minor League Ball 4 7 MLB.com 4 5 Top Prospect Alert 8 2

Of these 10 lists, Nimmo got the higher ranking six times and Conforto came out on top four times. It looks like the ones who have a heavier basis on scouting favor Conforto, with Baseball America being the notable exception. When Nimmo was drafted, he carried the five-tool label but it does not look like either his power or speed will overwhelm folks. However, he did take a step forward in power last year and supposedly new batting coach Kevin Long is working on that same issue with him.

Does Conforto have better tools? Maybe. Or maybe he just hasn’t been through the minor league grind like Nimmo has been. It will be curious to see how Conforto’s power plays in his first taste of full-season ball here in 2015.

An intriguing possibility is that Conforto and Nimmo could be teammates at some point this year. Nimmo hardly mastered Double-A and it shouldn’t be a surprise to see him back at Binghamton at the start of the season. Meanwhile, it’s anyone’s guess where Conforto’s opening assignment will be.

A typical assignment for a first-round collegiate pick is to open his first full year with an MLB organization in either Hi-A or Double-A. While a Double-A assignment would have been too aggressive for the 2011-2013 Mets, we saw the team much more likely to push their prospects last year. Now, my opinion is that a Hi-A assignment for Conforto is the likely outcome but opening the year at Binghamton is not impossible.

Regardless of where both Nimmo and Conforto are placed to open the 2015 season, here’s hoping that they follow up with even better years than they had a season ago. All Mets fans hope these two first-round picks born in the same month but with a draft distance of three years will hold down the team’s corner outfield spots in the majors for a decade or more.

And that this Mets organization can succeed developing guys drafted both out of high school and college.

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