​The 2026 MLB Draft is set to unfold this weekend in Philadelphia, and as the annual professional selection process approaches, The Score’s Bryan McWilliam revisited the 2016 draft with a decade of hindsight, offering a redraft that reshapes the top picks. In this exercise, Pete Alonso, the Florida Gators slugger, would reclaim the No. 1 spot in the redraft, taking the crown from Mickey Moniak as the Philadelphia Phillies’ supposed first overall selection.
McWilliam notes that Alonso has evolved into the standout player of the 2016 class since being drafted in the second round. If the Phillies had selected him first overall, he suggests Alonso might have caused headaches for the Mets—the real team that drafted him—with the kind of prodigious power that later earned him five All-Star selections before he joined the Baltimore Orioles in the most recent offseason. Across eight big-league seasons, Alonso, a Tampa, Florida native, has posted a career slash line of .252/.341/.512, belting 284 home runs, driving in 774 runs, and drawing 466 walks while striking out 1,081 times over 1,101 games. He spent his first seven seasons with the New York Mets after they took him in the second round, 64th overall, in 2016, before signing with the Orioles in the 2026 offseason.
The redraft also notes a change at another top slot: Gators pitcher AJ Puk, who went sixth to the Oakland Athletics in 2016, is replaced by pitcher Zac Gallen in the hypothetical do-over. Puk’s big-league journey spanned six years with the A’s, Miami Marlins, and Arizona Diamondbacks, and he is currently working back from shoulder rehab within the Diamondbacks’ minor-league system.
In this revised order, Pete Alonso is listed as the top pick (formerly Mickey Moniak), while Zac Gallen comes in for AJ Puk, and Cal Quantrill slots in for T.J. Zeuch. Readers can follow ongoing Florida Gators coverage and related updates from Gators Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and Bluesky, and by liking the page on Facebook.
This reflection on the 2016 draft, presented as a Florida baseball “what-if” exercise, aims to offer a fresh lens on player development, team needs, and the sometimes surprising consequences of draft-day decisions. This piece originally appeared on Gators Wire under the headline highlighting how a Florida star could have been the No. 1 pick in a 2016 MLB Draft do-over, potentially offering new SEO traction for readers seeking perspective on Florida baseball history.