Top Prospects Series
Below is an evaluation of the prospects within the farm system of the New York Mets. Scouting experiences have been compiled with data offered by trade sources in addition to my very own observations. This is the third 12 months we’re delineating between two anticipated reduction roles, the abbreviations for which you’ll see within the “position” column under: MIRP for multi-inning reduction pitchers, and SIRP for single-inning reduction pitchers. The ETAs listed usually correspond to the 12 months a participant must be added to the 40-man roster to keep away from being made eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Manual changes are made the place they appear acceptable, however I exploit that as a rule of thumb.
A fast overview of what FV (Future Value) means might be discovered right here. A a lot deeper overview might be discovered right here.
All of the ranked prospects under additionally seem on The Board, a useful resource the location affords that includes sortable scouting data for each group. It has extra particulars (and up to date TrackMan knowledge from varied sources) than this text and integrates each workforce’s record so readers can evaluate prospects throughout farm methods. It might be discovered right here.
Other Prospects of Note
Grouped by sort and listed so as of choice inside every class.
Young High-Variance Guys
Anthony Baptist, OF
Simon Juan, OF
Nick Morabito, CF
Daviel Hurtado, LHP
Yeral Martinez, 1B
Junior Tilien, 2B
Andriel Lantigua, C
Baptist signed for $1.1 million in January. He’s a twitchy, lefty-hitting outfielder with fairly good vertical plate protection for somebody with an extended swing. Juan signed for simply shy of $2 million just a few years in the past as a big-framed power-hitting prospect and has struggled to make contact. Morabito bought an over-slot $1 million because the seventy fifth total choose in 2022. He runs effectively and has barrel really feel, however he’s a decent, comparatively stiff-legged athlete who was previous for the draft class and wasn’t somebody I ranked final 12 months. Hurtado signed for $650,000 in January and is a reasonably athletic, medium-framed lefty with a brief stride down the mound and a vertical arm stroke. He’ll present you 93-95 mph at absolute peak. Martinez is a really projectable lefty-hitting first baseman with an awesome glove and hitting palms that fireplace from a useless cease, making it robust for him to be on time. Tilien and Lantigua are softer-bodied potential up-the-middle guys with above-average bat pace.
One-Tool Bats on the Fringe
Lorenzo Cedrola, OF
D’Andre Smith, 2B
JT Schwartz, 1B
Stanley Consuegra, RF
Wyatt Young, 2B
Cedrola is a righty-hitting outfielder who is hard to make swing and miss. If he may play a greater heart subject, he’d have already got been within the huge leagues for some time. Smith was a favourite of mine in highschool and at USC. He has sufficient of successful/energy combo to be a 40 if he can play a pair totally different positions. Schwartz can hit, however the first base-only profile is hard. Consuegra has tantalizing bodily projection and energy, and he’s actually off to a scorching begin, however the size of his levers and swing point out it isn’t sustainable. Young appeared like he may need particular really feel to hit right now final 12 months, however he has since settled into extra of an above-average hit software space with 20 energy.
A-Ball Arms, Potential 40s
Layonel Ovalles, RHP
Douglas Orellana, RHP
Jordany Ventura, RHP
Felipe De La Cruz, LHP
Ovalles has a really deep and competent repertoire for a 19-year-old, with a low-90s fastball, a number of 40-to-50 grade breaking balls, and the occasional changeup. He shouldn’t be as projectable as the standard prospect his age and is extra of a long-term fifth starter prospect barring an sudden uptick in stuff. Orellana, 21, will sit 94-95 mph for total begins and has plus fastball and curveball spin, however all of his pitches are under common from a bat-missing standpoint, partly as a result of his fastball has a downhill method angle. Ventura, 22, pitched little or no in 2022 as a result of he was recovering from TJ after which was shut down once more with a pectoral pressure. He’s come out of the gate having misplaced three ticks of velo in 2023, sitting effectively under the 92-95 mph he was displaying as a really younger 40 FV prospect. Ventura’s breaking ball continues to be above-average, however he’s a projectionless 22-year-old with a 30-grade heater proper now. Both Orellana and Ventura may nonetheless be long-term depth choices with their present stuff, they’re simply each very far-off from the large leagues. De La Cruz, 21, is an athletic little lefty who’ll contact 96 a number of instances all through a begin, but it surely lacks a lot motion and he’s been getting shelled.
Sneaky Fastballs
Josh Walker, LHP
Nolan Clenney, RHP
Nate Lavender, LHP
Eli Ankeney, LHP
This entire group has some mixture of shallow fastball method angle or vertical break that helps the pitch play up. Walker just lately made his huge league debut. He sits 92-94 mph with driving life and mixes in some low-80s, low-spin breaking balls. Clenney sits 93 with above-average motion and a 45-grade slider. Lavender, 23, was a Day Three choose from Illinois who has by no means struck out lower than a batter per inning all the way in which as much as Triple-A, however he solely sits 90 and smells extra like an emergency depth possibility than an precise prospect. Ankeney, who comes out of Grand Canyon University, is comparable besides a number of ranges under.
System Overview
This system is extraordinarily high heavy, with a giant late night time snack-sized handful of Top 100 prospects stacked on the very high, adopted by a skinny layer of extra risky, high-variance gamers within the 40+ FV tier and on the very high of the 40s. The depth, high quality, and proximity of the 45 FV and above guys, a lot of whom are beginning to contribute on the huge league degree, makes this a high 10 farm system in the intervening time. However, as quickly as they graduate (Francisco Álvarez and Brett Baty already did earlier this month), the rash of pitching accidents and lack of depth will trigger it to fall precipitously down the MLB hierarchy, into the underside third of methods. Of course, this says as a lot in regards to the flaws in farm rankings because it does in regards to the high quality of this group — a great younger participant who loses rookie standing continues to be a great younger participant who you get to make use of for one more half decade. The large flotilla of expertise that’s presently arriving on the huge league degree provides the Mets some younger cornerstones to combine in with their contending veteran group, and likewise the flexibility to commerce for blockbuster assist on the deadline. There is sufficient huge league-ready expertise right here that they get to have it each methods if they need.
The Billy Eppler period in New York continues to be comparatively new. He and his entrance workplace have been so usually patrons in Anaheim it was robust to gauge what the professional scouting division’s tendencies have been as a result of they weren’t usually buying and selling for prospects. They would goal post-hype guys on the roster margins, claiming and signing notable gamers who had fallen out of favor somewhere else or come free for some motive, with Kevin Maitan being essentially the most vital instance. Eppler’s commerce historical past suggests he is aware of tips on how to commerce prospects he gained’t miss; it wasn’t till the desperate-feeling Dylan Bundy swap that Eppler clearly gave up an excessive amount of to get a deal executed.
The Angels struggled to interrupt by way of below his steering largely due to the org’s incapability to develop enough pitching depth from inside. This Mets system doesn’t appear to have magic pitching dev pixie mud the way in which another orgs do; it’s not like there are a bunch of faculty pitchers from the final two drafts who’ve proven drastic enhancements to their stuff. But the Mets’ seemingly bottomless price range ought to at the least allow them to do what is important to enhance on this space, regardless that it’ll in all probability take a short while for the infrastructure and equipment that can assist churn out pitchers to be put in place.
Content Source: blogs.fangraphs.com