Ah the Mets! It’s been an interesting last few years for the organization as they were just in the World Series in 2015 and since then have had a bevy of roster changes and injuries to the major league roster while at the same time changing managers and general managers. They’ve also made some questionable trades in that span too that have thinned out the farm system at bit overall. They do still have a decent collection of talent throughout the ranks and quite a few high-risk, high-reward type guys that if they hit, this system will look a lot better in a year or two. In the meantime, it’s a waiting game for an inpatient fanbase that’s been puzzled by ownership and the new regime alike.

Org. Rank (100): 28

Division Rank (100): 5th

Top-100 Prospects: 2

Org. Rank (300): 23

Division Rank (300): 3rd

Top-300 Prospects: 10

Affiliate

Level

League

DSL Mets 1 & 2

Rookie Summer League

Dominican Summer League

Kingsport Mets, GCL Mets

Rookie League

Appalachian League, Gulf Coast League

Brooklyn Cyclones

Short-Season A

New York-Penn League

Columbia Fireflies

Class A

South Atlantic League

St. Lucie Mets

Class A-Advanced

Florida League

Binghamton Rumble Ponies

Double-A

Eastern League

Syracuse Mets

Triple-A

International League

 

Top Prospects In The System

Ronny Mauricio

Pos. - SS  Ht/Wt - 6’3” 166 lbs.  Bats: S Throws: R Age: 18

Level - Class-A  Signed - July 2017  ETA: 2023

Grades: Hit: 50 Power: 55 Speed: 50 Arm: 60 Field: 55

Mauricio set the record for international signing bonuses when he inked a deal with the Mets in 2017 for $2.1 million. Since then, the Mets have been aggressive in pushing him up the ranks of the system as he reached A-ball after just 57 games in rookie ball at two affiliates. The skills are there for him to be an impact player up the middle of the infield, but there’s a lot of development needed to reach that ceiling. The switch-hitter has a quick, short, level stroke from both sides of the plate and in his first season the lefty stroke produced a higher average and better power and then that switched in 2019 where the right-handed swing produced better numbers. He also faded down the stretch of the 116 games played at Columbia hitting .290/.333/.394 in the first 59 games and then .244/.280/.320 in the final 56. Endurance will come as he gets more experience in pro ball as well as him adding more muscle to his lanky frame. The added strength will also help develop the power that most, including myself, feel is coming and he’ll be hitting more than the seven home runs he’s hit so far over 173 games. He has a natural feel for the shortstop position defensively and his instincts are quite good to go along with a high baseball IQ. The defense will continue to allow him to be pushed along even if the bat is lagging a bit. Ultimately, he profiles as a solid middle infielder from the offensive side of the ball with the power to be a 17-20 home run hitter while hitting .270 and stealing 10-12 bags a year.

Andrés Giménez

Pos. - SS  Ht/Wt - 6’0” 161 lbs.  Bats: L Throws: R Age: 21

Level - Double-A  Signed - July 2015  ETA: 2020

Grades: Hit: 55 Power: 45 Speed: 55-60 Arm: 55 Field: 60

Gimenez has taken a bit of a hit in the rankings and standing with the Mets over the last year due to a down year, to a degree, at Double-A in 2019. The slash line in his first full-season stint at Double-A showed as a .250/.309/.387 but after returning from injury in the second half the average was actually .271. The problem for Gimenez didn’t just start with the injury, it’s a product of the decreasing walk rate every year he’s been in the minors and increasing K-rate at the same time. There are a couple of bright spots in his game though as he is a potential gold glove defender at shortstop and the speed he has is real. He stole 66 bags in the last two seasons and that’s with getting caught 30 times in the same span. The success rate is worse than you’d like to see but the speed is there to be a 25-plus steal threat in the majors. The biggest issue for Gimenez is that he has been passed over by Mauricio at the position for prospects and the development of Amed Rosario on the major league roster locks up shortstop a bit more than it was previously, plus Robinson Canó is at second for the next few years as well. If he has a good year at likely Double-A, you could see his standing rise and be the target of trade talks if the Mets are needing to buy or make moves at the deadline. He’s still a top-100 prospect, so there’s upside here.

Francisco Alvarez

Pos. - C  Ht/Wt - 5’11” 220 lbs.  Bats: R Throws: R Age: 18

Level - Rookie ball Signed - July 2018  ETA: 2023

Grades: Hit: 55 Power: 60 Run: 40 Arm: 55 Field: 55

Alvarez is a fully-grown man behind the plate despite being just 18 years old and signing in mid-2018. The frame is already developed so all of the improvements in his game will have to come from adjustments made to the swing. The first taste of pro ball he got was at the two rookie ball affiliates in 2019 with 42 games played and a .312/.406/.510 slash line with seven home runs, 32 runs, 26 RBI, and a steal while maintaining a 20.4-percent K-rate and 11.6-percent BB-rate. It’s a small sample size in the lowest level of the minors, but the promise is there. The main things that need to change for his improvements to really take off is for him to be more upright in the box, currently, he’s got a wide, and squatty stance that shortens him by about 4-5 inches and it really saps some of his raw power as well as making him vulnerable to pitches up in the zone. He also has a relatively pull-happy swing hitting the ball 44-percent of the time to the pull side. Defensively Alvarez is already solid behind the plate with a 28-percent caught-stealing rate but the receiving and framing do need to develop more, which is to be expected from an 18-year-old catcher. The hit tool is at a 55-grade for future development leading to a potential .280 hitter behind the dish and the bat, if he stands up a bit more and gets more leverage in the swing could generate 30 or more homers if the changes don’t happen, there’s still enough raw power for a 20-23 home run hitter right now. Catchers tend to take a while to develop, but the payoff could be big with this one.

Brett Baty

Pos. - 3B  Ht/Wt - 6’3” 210 lbs.   Bats: L Throws: R Age: 20

Level - Low-A  Drafted - 2019 (1.12)  ETA: 2022

Grades: Hit: 55 Power: 65 Speed: 40 Arm: 50 Field: 50

Baty was taken as the 12th overall selection of the most recent June draft and as I wrote in the MLB Draft analysis “The big, left-handed hitting third baseman also has perhaps the most raw power of anyone in the draft class, prep or college, and is drawing comps to Nolan Gorman from last year’s draft. Baty is quick to the ball with a slight uppercut swing plane that produces the raw power, he hit 19 homers his Senior year of high school, but at times it appears to be a max effort approach that isn’t sustainable as he advances through the minors. His feet can get a bit jumpy sometimes that takes away some of the power but that can be worked on with dedicated hitting coach work. Defensively, he has the arm to stay at third but his footwork, range, and agility all need improvement and could force a move across the diamond to first base or out to left field where the arm plays.” The biggest question for Baty was the fact that he was a 19.5-year-old high school senior and whether that made his game play at a higher level being more mature than a typical senior. In his first go at pro ball, he played 51 games split between both rookie affiliates and Low-A with 42 coming in the Gulf Coast League and slashed .234/.369/.452 with seven home runs, 38 runs, and 33 RBI. He did have a 28.8-percent K-rate and a 15.3-percent BB-rate. Some of the concerns were justified with his age question but the power is a calling card trait, much like it was for Gorman coming out of high school. In the long run, he profiles as a so-so defender at the hot corner with a career path that’ll be similar to Joey Gallo , though the bat may not play at that level for average but the power is certainly there and he likely moves to left field.

Mark Vientos

Pos. - 3B  Ht/Wt - 6’4” 185 lbs.  Bats: R Throws: R Age: 20

Level - Class-A  Drafted - 2017 (2.59)  ETA: 2022

Grades: Hit: 45 Power: 65 Run: 35 Arm: 60 Field: 45

Vientos was drafted in 2017 after being what many considered to be a first-round talent but the commitment to Miami dropped his draft stock a bit for signability concerns. Once he got to the Mets’ system though, his overwhelming power showed up, especially in rookie ball in 2018 with 11 bombs in 60 games while hitting .287. However, the issues in his swing showed up in a big way this past season after getting a promotion to Class-A Columbia when the average dropped to .255 and he jumped the K-rate from 16.4 to 24.2-percent over his 111-game season. The power was solid with 12 home runs hit, but the length in the swing led to more swing-and-miss and trouble handling spin from the more advanced pitchers. The power is no joke, and if he can clean up a bit of the length in his swing, it’ll make more of an appearance in live game action than it has previously. If he can’t make adjustments, he may start getting passed up by Brett Baty given that Baty plays better defense and has a better overall hit tool than Vientos. 

Prospects To Watch For

Matthew Allan

RHP Age: 18 Low-A ETA: 2023

The Mets took a shot at taking the best prep arm in the 2019 draft in the third round and then signing him to an above slot deal to lure him away from a University of Florida commitment, and it worked. From the MLB Draft analysis from June’s draft “He touches 97 mph with the fastball and keeps the velocity up deep into starts on a regular basis. He drives the ball down in the zone well but does work up in the zone to get guys out with swings-and-misses. Allan also has a power curve that grades as a 60-grade on the 20-80 scale and is a true 12-to-6 breaker and he compliments that with a changeup that is above-average too. Allan will need to improve his glove side pitches as he advances as he can tend to overthrow those pitches and they get away from him.” There haven't been a lot of innings since being drafted to dissect having only pitched 10.1 between Rookie and Low-A but he did post a 14:5 K:BB ratio. The frame and stuff indicate the development of a frontline starter in four years.

 

Thomas Szapucki

LHP Age: 23 Double-A ETA: 2021

Another pitcher a bit lower in the ranks of the system is Szapucki who was a fifth-rounder in the 2015 draft and since then has been step-stoning his way through the system, with the exception of 2018 which he missed with an injury. While his numbers all look great with a 2.42 ERA, 2.61 FIP, 2.94 xFIP, 31.7-percent K-rate, 9.4-percent BB-rate, 1.10 WHIP, and .193 BAA in his career to this point, that’s over a total of 142 innings pitched since 2015 with his most in a year coming last season at 61.2. The main pitch combination for the southpaw is his mid-90s fastball that is thrown from a three-quarters arm slot and gives it glove side run and sink when he wants and then he pairs it with a knee-buckler of a curveball that for my money is the best breaking pitch in the Mets’ organization. The third pitch is a decent change-up that is still developing but needs more control with it to really take off. The top-two offerings though are both 55 or better grades and more than enough to keep him moving through the organization as a starter. He needs to build up the innings load to really jump up the prospect rankings as well as develop the changeup but he’s got the stuff to be a number-three starter in a major league rotation right now.

 

 

Alexander Ramirez

OF Age: 16 Unassigned ETA: 2025

The Mets inked Ramirez to a $2.1-million deal this most recent international signing period. From watching the video below, you can see just how much raw talent this young kid has and the frame is there to add to those raw tools as well, once he starts adding muscle to his lanky frame. The bat speed and athleticism are his best tools currently, along with his speed. He has the speed to be a true center fielder and the advanced approach for hitting could give him a 55-60 grade hit tool when all is said and done. He’s yet to play a pro game for the Mets but is expected to start in either the Gulf Coast League or Kingsport this season. Clearly there is a ton of development to happen with him, but he’s one of the more exciting prospects to watch for in this bottom-third of baseball system.

 

 

David Peterson

LHP Age: 24 Double-A ETA: 2020

Peterson was a first-round pick back in 2017 and since then has progressed to throwing 116 innings at Double-A Binghamton last year, and ended the year in a flourish with a 10 K game in the final start. He struck out better than a batter an inning en route to a 3.19 FIP in 2019 and he was successful at limiting the walks but there’s not much more to Peterson. He’s a vanilla lefty that uses a low-three-quarter arm slot to add movement to his pitches and get them to play up more than the velocity would suggest they would. He throws the fastball at 89-92 touching 94 occasionally but the glove-side run he gets from the delivery is what makes it miss more bats, along with the control he has on the pitch that works to both sides of the plate well. A slider and a changeup round out the arsenal with the slider being by far the better pitch at an above-average grade while the changeup is a fringe-average pitch. The slider is effective to both left-handed and right-handed hitters and the sink he gets, differentiates well from the fastball. The changeup sits at the same velocity as the slider and shows decent depth and fade but it’s more of a get-it-over changeup than anything else. He profiles as an inning-eating number four pitcher who could get a taste of the rotation this year in the second half.

 

 

Josh Wolf

RHP Age: 19 Rookie ETA: 2024

Wolf was selected in the second round of the 2019 draft out of the Texas prep school ranks. He has a quick-arm action and a lower-three-quarters delivery from the right side of the pitching rubber. The delivery has some red flags about it with the lack of control sometimes from a hard to repeat motion as well as some added stress to the elbow while loading up to pitch. That delivery though delivers his full complement of pitches well as the fastball sits in the mid-90s and has some late life to it. He backs the fastball up with a 12-to-6 curveball and a two-plane breaking slider that both sit in the upper-70s to low-80s at the moment. The changeup is the last pitch and the furthest behind in the arsenal as well as it’s a below-average pitch right now with the chance to become an average offering in time. The young righty is drawing comps to Simeon Woods-Richardson who was taken in the 2018 draft in the second round and then traded to Toronto in the Marcus Stroman deal with the main difference being that Wolf has more projection left and more bulk he can put on his lanky 6’3” frame still. He’ll need to make adjustments to his delivery to avoid injuries as well as make his stuff less hittable at times but he’s got the capability of being a number two starter.