With the third overall pick in the 2004 draft, the Mets decided to find a future ace for their starting rotation. They focused on three college pitchers: Justin Verlander of Old Dominion, Jered Weaver of Long Beach State and Philip Humber of Rice.

Verlander went second over all to Detroit. Weaver had high bonus demands and did not pitch well for the Mets’ scouts. They passed on Weaver, who went to the Angels, and chose Humber, a 6-foot-3 right-hander with a 95-mile-per-hour fastball.

“Everybody who went in to see him, including myself, thought he was going to be a 200-inning, year-after-year type of pitcher,” said Jim Duquette, then the Mets’ general manager. “He had a good frame and a lot of the elements you’d look for in a top-of-the-rotation starter.”

Humber made only one start for the Mets, who traded him to Minnesota as part of the package for Johan Santana in 2008. From there, he bounced to Kansas City, Oakland and the Chicago White Sox, while Verlander and Weaver went on to stardom.