Recently, people have been complaining about the depth of the farm system and how there doesn’t seem to be (m)any impact players in the pipeline. For a team that in the past few years that has promoted Harvey, Wheeler, deGrom, Sydnergaard, d’Arnaud, Herrera and Lagares – and Matz seemingly any day now – that seems an odd complaint. But given how the team has refused to spend much money on the major league payroll, perhaps it’s justified.
So, here are five guys apiece from Lo-A, Hi-A and Double-A to keep tabs of going forward.
Savannah
Wuilmer Becerra – The final piece acquired in the R.A. Dickey trade, Becerra is often put down for being the “non-elite” prospect of the deal. This disregards his $1.3 million signing bonus. Regardless, Becerra can run a little and hit a lot. He currently sits with an .845 OPS with 26 XBH in 216 PA
Eudor Garcia – Most everyone viewed Jhoan Urena as the young 3B in the system to watch but Garcia has performed much better in the first part of 2015. A fourth-round pick in the 2014 Draft, Garcia already has seven games with three-or-more hits and has an .836 OPS for the year. A potential name for the player to be named later in the Alex Torres deal.
Casey Meisner – He’s 6-1 with a 1.82 ERA and a 1.057 WHIP. He’s 6’7 and throws in the mid-90s. And he’s only 20. He’ll undoubtedly get a promotion to Hi-A after the All-Star game.
Corey Oswalt – On the surface there’s nothing to get excited with, as he sits with a 4.70 ERA and a 1.602 WHIP. But he’s not very likely to carry a .414 BABIP and a 59.4 LOB% moving forward. He’s got a 2.72 FIP, which is a better indication of his ability.
Brad Wieck – A college lefty succeeding in the SAL is generally nothing to get too worked up about. But a guy who in his last six starts has 53 Ks in 37 IP and a 2.43 ERA can’t be ignored, either. Oh and it should be mentioned that he’s 6’9.
St. Lucie
Jeff McNeil – He’s a little older (23) than you’d prefer and he doesn’t hit for much power. But the Mets seem to give chances to these types of infielders and McNeil has a good chance to at least follow in the footsteps of Josh Satin and Eric Campbell. Despite the limited power, he has a .377 wOBA and a 143 wRC+, numbers which match what he did previously in Kingsport and Savannah.
Akeel Morris – Generally, it’s a good idea not to get excited about minor league relievers. Morris is different. He’s moved very slowly through the system but has dominated since transitioning to the bullpen in 2013. Right now command is the only thing holding him back. Just a tiny bit of improvement in his walk rate could produce fantastic results and he already has a 0.733 WHIP and a 1.50 ERA. Morris is the type of guy who could make the leap from A-ball to the majors in a single season if the command cooperates.
Amed Rosario – The Mets challenged him with a promotion to Hi-A and the 19 year old is holding his own. He strikes out too much and doesn’t walk enough but a teenage shortstop in the FSL is enough for right now. Rosario has hit safely in 16 of his last 20 games and has a .729 OPS in that span. His K% in this span is 15.3, down from 19.2 previously.
Dominic Smith – For the second year in a row, Smith got off to a poor start. But he’s been raking lately. In his last 29 games, he has a .353/.390/.569 line with 21 XBH in 123 PA. It’s still mostly doubles but everyone believes he’ll provide at least double-digit homers in the majors, possibly more. It will be curious to see if he’s done enough to earn a mid-season promotion.
Robert Whalen – Hit a speed bump where he gave up 7 ER in 8.2 IP over back-to-back poor starts. But he rebounded to throw a Quality Start his last time out. He’s been solid with a 3.36 ERA and a 1.207 WHIP. His strikeouts have been down but with a full repertoire at his disposal, look for improved strikeout numbers in the months ahead.
Binghamton
Gavin Cecchini – Former first-round pick is hitting for both AVG and power in Double-A. Now the concern is if he can remain at shortstop.
Luis Cessa – A converted infielder, Cessa throws hard and is still refining his offspeed stuff. But he’s already plenty good, with a 2.81 ERA and a 3.82 K/BB ratio. He doesn’t get the accolades of others in the system but you ignore him at your own peril.
Michael Conforto – He has a 1.202 OPS in his first nine games in Double-A, with more walks (9) than strikeouts (8). Seems a near certainty to make his MLB debut in 2016.
Robert Gsellman – Absolutely dominated in St. Lucie, where he was 6-0 with a 1.76 ERA and a 0.941 WHIP before getting a promotion. He’s off to a rough start after two games in Double-A, yet still has 10 Ks in 10 IP.
Brandon Nimmo – After a slow start, he had an .834 OPS in his last 23 games before winding up on the DL with an injured knee. It will be exciting to see Conforto and Nimmo in the same outfield in the near future, hopefully a sneak preview of things to come in Citi Field.
I personally think the farm system has been over-hyped from year one of Sandy’s reign.
It’s not that great, and trending downward after Matz gets called up.
Not barren, not empty, just not that great, IMO.
Yeah, Im in full agreement James.
You guys floor me.
The system this year will likely graduate Syndergaard, Matz, Montero, Plawecki and Herrera — which is just an insane amount of talent.
The farm system will still feature top 50 guys in Conforto and Cecchini and top 100 guys in Nimmo, Rosario, Smith and Meisner.
How many farm systems do you think had six Top 100 guys (according to Baseball America) in it this year? Five, that’s it.
Not to be bottom third after graduating as much talent as the Mets did is an achievement. To still have a Top 10 system is amazing.
Just curious how many on that list actually you think will stick in the big leagues?
Of course Matz.
Outside him, Conforto looks every bit the part of an every day big leaguer; I like Gsellman too. Meisner and Morris are hopeful. I hope Garcia is not the PTBNL.
We still have position player issues. Nimmo never makes the grade, Cecchini never makes the grade, Plawecki doesnt either…I see a lot of back up guys. Smith is hype that will never live up. More or less all of SAs first round picks will not impact Queens, except for Conforto. Ive read a lot about Rosario, and Klaw seems to love him, but hes a project. I hope he lands, but Im not holding my breath. In any event, its not like the pipeline is empty. A lot of the top ranking came from players well near the top and have graduated or soon will. After that, it seems good but not great or bad.
You have to preface everything with – “assuming no injuries.”
One name lacking in the original article is Marcos Molina, who coming into the year looked like one of their best guys. Now he’s injured. It wouldn’t surprise me if 2/3 of these guys “stick” in the majors. It wouldn’t surprise me if 1/3 of them got hurt and never developed and another 1/3 busted before they got to the majors.
You assemble a ton of guys and hope to succeed with numbers. I think the Mets are doing a fine job with this
That’s 4/3rds.
Not if you pay attention to one sentence ending and another beginning.
What? Dude…the farm system is the deepest it’s been in 30 years.
I agree — Mets could hv done a much better job of drafting — but if u listen to the ” Great one ” not jackie Gleason but sorry sandy alderspin the Mets are right on target in their 20 yr Pittsburgh Rebuilding Plan
agree — tho there is some talent spread in the ranks — but not as much as I would hv hoped after being in this 5 yr rebuilding plan
The problem is that the Mets spend very little and when they have, Sandy, “the Genius in his own mind”, gave us Granderson and Cuddyer. And before that he gave us the EY, CY, Farmswoth, Ververde while trading the Pagan’s for yet another stiff.
Wouldn’t be nice to have Pagan leading off for the Mets? How about Turner at 3B? Ahhh but he had a bad attitude.
Ur so right Joe — couldnt agree more — Alderspin has handcuffed the team again with the cash spent on Cuddles, Parnell, Mayberry this yr — and now when we need a hitter there isnt any cash to spend to bring in one — Alderspin is too old to be GM and needs to hang it up — as a matter of fact the entire FO should be fired and replaced with new blood moving forward
Herrera, Plawecki, Nimmo, Conforto…. these are “on the cusp” guys with good upside. I believe Herrera and Plawecki will each be MLB starters within 2 years….and that doesn’t discount the possibility that it may happen (somewhere) this season.
Young players with High Draft Pedigree who succeed at AA are obviously Starting Player Prospects….Nimmo and Conforto.
You have 2 19 year olds as the best players on a High A team— Rosario and Smith—- and I still believe in Urena. I’d wait to “project” as they rise to AA….until thenm they give me “Happy Hope.”
Every kid does not come up as “Griffey or Trout”—or as David Wright, for that matter!!!
Flores is playing and showing that he might hit….and maybe force himself to a position.
The Mets have many, many high round draftees succeeding…. I don’t like anything that’s not finished cooking, ecept Cookie Dough!!!…. but I cannot argue against the depth and readiness that they have over the next 3-18 months.
Not counting Matz, who in the system do you think has a chance of not just making the team, but being a future starter and maybe all-star? I’m thinking Conforto, but that might be it.
Also, Montero, Plawecki, Herrera, Leathersich and even Syndergaard are all still considered prospects.
Future starters – D. Smith, Cecchini, Rosario, Conforto, Nimmo
Guys to make 30 starts in a season/regular bullpen members for multiple seasons – Cessa, Gsellman, Meisner, Whalen, Molina
Edit – A. Morris
I don’t think any of these guys is a can’t miss All-Star. My guess is that more than one will make an All-Star team. I’m pretty sure no one in 2007 thought Daniel Murphy would be an All-Star.
Not Nimmo — no power alright speed — another Matt Den Dekker but with less speed , less arm , just a tad more power — 4th OF at best if he makes it to the ML
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Guys—
There are no—none—zilch guaranteed MLB stars anywhere!!!! My Gosh…. I can’t stand sandy and the Wilpons, but you guys are impossible!!!!
I didn’t note Cecchini, but he’s another guy with a shot.
5-10 years ago Camerin Maybin…Domonic Brown…. 2 years ago Byron Buxton…. a year or so ago Xander Bogarts— c’mon—some of these guys will be great players…… but what the hell do any of us know about Nimmo, Conforto, Cecchini—and how the heck do any of you dismiss high draft upper level (AA and above) propspects who are Performing?????////
You probably haven’t seen them play….frankly, you wouldn’t even know what you’re looking at because you don’t know what the player is working on while he’s developing.
They can send a guy out and ask him to take pitches….hit only to RF…whatever!!
No one is saying there are guaranteed stars. You are titling at windmills. The idea is high-end prospects with big, discernible skills. Not everybody makes it, of course.
Herrera might not be a star. But he’s a very solid, promising prospect who counts as a huge plus for the organization. In my book, anyway. it’s worth noting that he was not drafted by the Three Amigos, whose draft record is bland, at best.
I don’t believe that winning games in the farm system is an accurate measure of talent — I prefer to look at top-end, future stars (not a big “depth” guy) — but when you look at these teams now, it’s pretty much Sandy’s guys at this point.
Look at the records. What’s so amazing?
Don’t you think other teams can point to Low A guys and talk about how great they are gonna be?
Now that Sandy can’t trade away Omar’s guys for prospects, and after Matz can’t bring up any, we’ll see what happens.
Nimmo might be good, and might not be able to hit LHP. Plawecki might be Ed Hearn — with a GM who doesn’t transact. I think Conforto will be a hitter. Hopeful about Rosario. Then there’s a lot of 4-5 type pitchers, which is good to have.
Sorry, but there’s been times in Mets history when I looked down at the Farm with genuine excitement and anticipation. After this season, when both Matz and Conforto should be up (in my view), I’m not blown away by the next wave.
Sandy is just not that great a GM. Not horrible, not terrible. I look at the farm and think, “Is that all there is?”
The point of depth is to survive injuries and/or busts. At shortstop they’ve got Reynolds at AAA, Cecchini at AA and Rosario at Hi-A. I feel pretty good that one of them will be the answer at the position and all three will have MLB careers.
Having just graduated Harvey, Wheeler, deGrom, Syndergaard (and essentially) Matz, I’m not worried about having no All-Star pitchers directly behind them. I feel pretty good that among Cessa, Fulmer, Molina, Meisner, Gsellman, Whalen, Oswalt and Wieck that there are future MLB pitchers on the horizon, likely a couple of good ones.
We’ve already seen the depth of the bullpen arms with all of the injuries this year with Leathersich, Robles and Goeddel and more to come.
I wish there was more OF depth but Conforto and Nimmo is a nice start and they just used their top draft pick on an OF who is allegedly a power/speed guy. I wish Jayce Boyd could hit for power and that Champ Stuart could hit at all. But an OF of Conforto, Lagares and Nimmo would be solid and then they have Becerra and Lindsay working up behind them. For a weak spot, that’s not bad.
If you’re really thinking, “Is that all there is?” then I think your expectations are way out of whack.
My expectations are not out of whack. I’m just tired of the collective fantasy that this is some kind of amazing farm system.
It isn’t.
As for the starting pitching, you are thinking backwards. Number one, Syndergaard should be traded to address profound team weaknesses in offense, speed, defense. This year is just further evidence that hitting and defense matter, too. Secondly, if the Mets had a promising pitching prospect in the farm, other than Matz, they could trade that player to address deficiencies in the organization. He’s been at this five years and what front line pitching prospect have they brought in?
It’s not a terrible farm. There’s some solid guys sprinkled throughout. But there’s a silly narrative out there that Sandy “fixed” the farm and that no the Mets have all these outstanding players ready to jump into the fray. Yet that’s Eric Campbell over at 3B, and that’s Darrel Ceciliani in the outfileld, and Mild Danny Muno — oh, wait, he’s gone again.
In terms of international signings, I don’t think there’s great, exciting things happening there either. The focus has been on “plate discipline” over athleticism. They still act as if Jeremy Brown was a genius pick.
I agree that Syndergaard should be dealt. And the reason he should be dealt is the depth of pitchers all around him.
There’s not a farm system ever that had prospects at every position waiting for a chance to be a star. If that’s your definition of a great farm system, then yes, your expectations are out of whack.
Brian is absolutely correct when he says the Mets have developed an insane amount of talent. Another way of looking at it is to compare the Mets homegrown talent base (and those who have played in their minor league system) to other teams. On a longer view (2011 and prior), they have Wright, Niese, Murphy, Parnell, Gee, Tejada, Duda, Harvey, Famila, Meija, Lagares, Campbell, Flores, Edgin & Goeddel. On the shorter term, they have Wheeler, deGrom, d’Arnaud, Syndergaard, Plawecki, Montero, Robles, Black, Herrera, Leathersich, Ceciliani and Muno. And on the cusp is Matz, with Conforto, Nimmo, Cecchini, Rosario, Smith and Meisner likely to arrive from 2016-2018. Thirty-three of the Mets 40-man roster played in the Mets farm system. Seventeen of their 25-man active roster came out of the Mets system. Very few teams can match that sort of development and it is to be commended not belittled. The Yankees have only five players from their system on their active roster and not one infielder. The Mets have an entire infield of homegrown players.
If one needs to throw stones, perhaps the two most troubling moves have been the signings of Granderson and Cuddyer, both of whom are substantially overpaid and have big holes in their game. The Cuddyer signing also robbed the Mets of a 1st-round pick this week, which flies in the face of all this development we are commending. Frankly, a strict platoon of Ceciliani and Mayberry would have yielded similar or better results than Cuddyer and saved about $19 million and a draft choice. The Mets could have also signed a real power hitter like Nelson Cruz for much less than they paid for Grandy and sacrificed a little defense for much more offense.
Neither of us is particularly belittling of promoting out own, and yes the Mets have done that a lot lately. Of course, the youth movement has an additional component that shouldnt be overlooked: they cost nothing. The other point worth making is that just because a player is promoted to the show doesnt make them somehow a game changer of any sort. On that present list you present of position players only a couple names have eye opening talent, and even at that, we dont know if its sustainable, and therefore legit (Duda, Lagares, Familia perhaps). Wright of course has been great. None of the other names are players that take you to October, or even September for that matter. The pitching has been a shining star; I think everyone gets that. But that alone will not get the job done. I look down the futures list and see a bunch of generic players, with only a few that have a real chance to be more than 40 man roster filler. Again, no crime there…but that doesnt get you a trip to the White House. Im not a talent evaluator by training; I get that. And that makes me extra conservative.
By the way, it makes no difference whether you buy or home grow talent. The only thing that matters is flying flags. Look to our WS wins and tell me that buying/trading talent doesnt matter, whether it be Donn Clendenon, Kid, or Mex just to name a few.
When the Mets made a big deal out of the all-homegrown talent lineup — I think it was in 2012, maybe — I wrote a post over at “2 Guys” calling it a disgrace.
The narrative was all about patting the club on its own back. Look at our organization! Yet all it really showed was a lazy organization that was bringing up inferior players because they were cheap and, yes, not really all that concerned with winning. Big deal.
Depth in our farm system is a weird concept because we want all the players to graduate and contribute the major leagues. But at the same time, we want to be as stacked as possible. It’s a weird paradox.
Needless to say, the Mets will not have a Top-Five farm system after this season. Not that it’s a bad thing.
I hope Eudor Gracia is not the player to be named later.
Conforto and Morris are two low minor leaguers that should have impact major league careers. IMO the system is on solid footing and will continue to produce major league quality players.
By the way, again, I agree on the “solid footing” appraisal.
In two years, my bet is the Mets system is ranked somewhere in the middle, though the rankings are extremely imprecise and unreliable, IMO.
If the Rockies trade Tulo today for three prospects, their “farm system” will jump up in the rankings. It will have a little to do with player evaluation, and nothing at all to do with drafting and development. Yet we’ll be watching that farm system rise in the rankings. If the Brewers want to improve their farm system to appease the bloggers, they can just give up on the next three years. Trade away Braun, etc. Then everybody in Milwaukee can write about patience and the genius GM.
Sandy has benefited immensely by trading away good players for some other team’s talent. It’s not that hard to do when you aren’t trying to win.
If it’s that easy, why aren’t more clubs doing it? Why isn’t every club that does it successful?
Sandy is and remains one of the worst GM’s in baseball
It’s funny to see comments about how this guy or that guy might not stick at shortstop. Meanwhile a few years ago the word about young prospect Wilmer Flores was to the effect that his bat could play at 1B, 2B, or 3B but that even though he was signed as a SS he’s too slow and range deficient to ever play there at the major league level.
I have said continually that he can not be a major league shortstop with his lack of range.
Is anyone else not sold on Nimmo yet? While I would love to see him break out and be a star I think he is hyped based on draft position rather then what he has done the past few years. This is his fifth year (I know he is hurt) and still strikes out a ton with no power or average. I will give him OBP but if he was 10th round pick we would all have no idea who he was in the system.
He’s improved in his strikeout rate, going from a 27.3 K% in 2013 to an 18.1 mark this year.
I don’t know how hyped Nimmo is right now. Certainly, just about everyone considers Conforto to be more of a “can’t miss” guy today. Nimmo showed a bit of HR power last year but he wasn’t matching, must less exceeding that this year before he went on the DL. I’d like to see more power from him.
I see him as a Christian Yelich type, maybe a touch more power and a little less speed. I think that’s a valuable player.
I just want to see that breakout we have been hearing about. We have all been expecting to see him do what Confronto is doing. After 5 years in pro ball the whole he didn’t play HS ball and is raw is getting old. I think when he comes off the DL he needs to finish strong. Next year will be year six. None of us can name a star outfielder who needed six years in the minors and at this rate may end up seven.I bleed orange and blue and would love to see him an all star in queens but hopefully with Confronto on the same team will motivate him to be the top guy.
I’ve actually been encouraged by Nimmo’s steady progress. Seems like he should be a good ML player. A piece of somebody’s puzzle. I hope he can hit LHP, that’s biggest red flag right now.
Not projecting him as an All-Star, personally.
A farm system has two major components, acquisition and development.
Players such as Harvey, deGrom, Familia, Wheeler, and Matz show an excellent job in the development area.
The issue is on the acquisition side. Five years in and these guys can’t produce anyone who can do anything for a major league team that needs help. It is worrisome, a lot of these guys are not exactly kids. Plawecki and Reynolds were college players. If they cannot help a major league team at this point it is questionable whether they ever will. Nimmo too, although yes he is younger.
Confoto is showing by moving fast that he might be for real. And the breakthrough from Cecchinni is the best news I have seen from the farm all year. But overall I fear this group has put approach above talent and worry that the best from the farm has already arrived.
Nimmo, Conforto, Flores, Plawecki, Cecchini, Herrerra, Matz, Sydergaard….. That is just a whole bunch of 23 and under getting their first try or banging on the door!!!….at AA and above.
Smith, Rosario— your two best players at A+ are 19!!!!
These are the Pedigree Guys!!!…top Draft “Big Prospect” guys.
Puello?…. still has ability…. Urena at A=…Akeel Morris at A+. Reynolds at AAA……
That’s a very large number of guys….most “high Prospect…. at A+ and above.
You cannot forecast “Stardom” for any but the most outrageous prospects—- and I’ll point out that sopme never graduate beyond the luster of their original Promise…Premise. Harper hasn’t won an MVP…Yet….and Strasburg hasn’t won a Cy. Xander Boegarts is still establishing himself. Byron Buxton is Still in the Minors. Cameron Maybin is now “A Guy”….. finally looking like a reasonably good MLB Piece—– those were among the “Can’t Miss” guys of the past decade.
The number of 19-23 Year Old players with high pedigree/performance/above A+ who remain as “Every Day PLayer Prospects” is very, very deep…whether you like Sandy or Not.
My compalint is that they could develop Farm and MLB concurrently—they haven’t….we still wait.
My concern is the ability of this group to scout and sign amateur talent. They didn’t draft Matz, or sign Flores. Syndergaard and Herrara came from trades.
This front office took over in 2010, why are none of their players ready to do anything yet? Five years into the previous regime, Murphy, Davis, Pelfrey, Niese, Gee, and Tejada had already made real major league contributions. None of them were stars, but they are an example of the type of organizational depth people keep saying we now have. All were signed or drafted after 2005.
I don’t see that. I see garbage players such as Muno every night, making major league debuts only because we have no depth at AAA. Why not? We certainly haven’t traded anyone away.
As for below AA, that is too far off for me to care. I can’t get into the 2020 Mets yet. Based on how slowly the first crop has progressed and now stalled I am dubious, and concerned about the future of the entire system.
Alderson’s first draft was 2011 so his picks have had four years. His emphasis has been on high school players and you can question whether that was the way to go but I don’t think it’s fair to criticize that HS guys aren’t putting up All-Star years yet. We knew Nimmo was raw when he was drafted and he’s been injured the past two years, too. Fulmer has also been injured. Hey, it happens. The next two picks were both acquired by other organizations. Tyler Pill was doing just fine until he had to pitch in Las Vegas. Leathersich is currently pitching in the majors. Because of the injuries, I don’t see how you could grade this class as anything but incomplete right now.
As for 2012, Cecchini is having a breakout year, Plawecki is considered one of the top catching backstops in the minors, even if he failed in his initial exposure to the majors. Reynolds looks like a future utility player. They didn’t sign their next pick, Koch is doing well in Double-A. I don’t see any reason to be down on this class.
I think it’s too soon to say anything one way or the other about 2013 and 2014, although Dominic Smith has made the adjustment as one of the younger guys in the FSL and Meisner is probably the best pitcher in the SAL from 2013 and everyone loves Conforto from 2014.
I understand everyone’s frustration. I just don’t see a reason to abandon hope and look for a scapegoat at this point in time.
I’m not looking for stars. Where are some solid guys, like the guys I mentioned from Omar’s staff. When a guy goes down, where is a Murphy, a Gee, somebody better than Danny Muno. We had two position players go down, not ten, and the offense completely cratered.
The draft is not one round or two, why couldn’t these guys find anybody in all these years that could help the big league team?
And this is from a group that never trades a prospect and up until 2015 hoarded every draft pick. Remember, the guys who proceeded them were signing free agents and forfeiting picks, yet, as I showed, could produce major league players in a relevant time frame.
I think it is fair to worry, and that most people are not looking at the entire picture. They see all of our young talent (mostly the arms) and credit the Alderson regime and do not realize he had the greatest inheritance since Zsolt and Geza Peladi.
During those same years Sandy and dePo made the following first round picks with the Padres:
2005 – Cesar Carillo
2006 – Matt Antonelli
2007 – Nick Schmidt
2008 – Allen Dykstra
2009 – Donavan Tate (third overall)
I don’t think I am worrying needlessly.
Herrera got hurt and Plawecki failed. Let’s see what happens with Dilson going forward. I think it’s important to note that Herrera is the one who merited a promotion – Plawecki was out of necessity. If Herrera hit like he did upon his callup last year, which was not outrageous and came with a .256 BABIP, I think the narrative would be different. Regardless, I’m not going to judge the system based on the output of any particular six-week window.
I think here is where the HS vs. College debate can be had. They focused on HS players. I think it’s fair to criticize that decision.
It’s now 10 years since Alderson’s first Padres draft pick was made. I’ll be more than happy to go back and compare at a similar point with his first Mets draft pick. I’m confident the output will be better. If you think that Nimmo, Cecchini, Smith and Conforto are all going to bust – the only thing I can do now is disagree with you. Time will tell.
I dont like the heavy HS draft. At every level it says one thing: dont hold me responsible for winning now. Anything good we are doing from draftees has zero to do with Alderson until Conforto arrives, who Im on board for. Anyway, I dont see Nimmo, Cecchini, or Smith has being important every day players (not necessarily stars, but solid above average every day big leaguers). Nimmo seems like a 4th or 5th OF, although may get starts because Granny is so bad, same with Cecchini. Im afraid Smith just wont profile to play 1B at the elite level.
I am not enamored with Granderson either and he has played below expectations of the contract he signed but to be fair he is the 6th best RF in the NL according to fWAR. IMO he is currently being utilized incorrectly in this depleted batting order.
Forgot to add that on the development front the success stories have been almost exclusively pitchers.
The Mets are expecting everyone to work out. They do not. Just for fun here is a list of 2011 Mets top prospects. You will see a whole lot of “Oh yeah what happened to that guy”
http://www.minorleagueball.com/2010/10/29/1782047/new-york-mets-top-20-prospects-for-2011
Gee, there wasn’t an “A” prospect on that list yet six of the top 10 guys made it to the majors. I think that’s pretty good, especially given that two of them were Harvey and Duda. May our current crop include a guy who was the starting pitcher in the All-Star game and a 30-HR hitter.
There are two new articles at MMO on the Mets pipeline both are interesting. One thing that struck me is that their mid-season update for top prospects includes the new draftee, Desmond Lindsay, from the other day. I find that astonishing for someone that wasnt even a top 200 prospect. Its not like this guy is a Mike Trout or Bryce Harper. What does that say about the farm depth?
Perhaps that says more about the writer than the farm system.
When it comes to Reynolds, if he can play worth a damn he should have been up. These games every night count and he is not a teenager.
Since he was not brought up to challenge the immortal Danny Muno and Eric Campbell he becomes a total non-entity to me until he shows me otherwise on a major league baseball field.
I’m not holding my breath.
Brad Wieck is the pTBNL in the Torres deal