With Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz having graduated to the majors and the All Star game fading in the rearview mirror it’s time to acess the quality of the remaining Met minor league talent. The Mets will not be entering 2016 with the same bevvy of MLB ready talent that they did in 2016 but the talent that will be ready looks likely to compliment the talent that they promoted this season.
- Michael Conforto, LF – Conforto is the best offensive prospect I have seen come through the Met farm system, ever. He hasn’t looked over-matched at any level and he’s shown an ability to stabilize once the pitchers start to figure him out. Conforto will be stealing the starting left field job from Michael Cuddyer before the end of the 2016 season and potentially earlier than that.
- Dominic Smith, 1B – Smith started the season so poorly that it looked likely that he’d be off the Met’s Top 20 prospects. He also turned things around so drastically that he’s likely going to reside in the Baseball Prospectus Top 100 for 2016. Smith has displayed great contact, great defense and solid doubles power but he needs to develop more power to make it in the majors.
- Gavin Cecchini, SS – How can I rate Cecchini, a player I refused to even name a prospect before this season, the #3 prospect for the Mets going into the second half of 2015. The answer is that Cecchini has finally started to look like a major league caliber hitter. He looks like a player who can fill the void the Mets have had at that position since Jose Reyes left.
- Dilson Herrera, 2B – Herrera’s stock has taken a hit now that he’s had some time in the majors with no real success. He remains a quality player who could round into the All Star caliber middle infielder that scouts predicted he’d be at the start of the 2015 season.
- Brandon Nimmo, CF/RF – The Mets have a chance of putting forth an outfield with Conforto, Nimmo and Juan Lagares as early as 2016. This homegrown outfield could be a very talented outfield but that is yet to be seen. While Nimmo has hit in the minors, he has not shown great power or speed and needs to show one or the other to qualify as a corner outfielder.
- Michael Fulmer, SP – Fulmer had been on the forefront of the Met radar once upon a time, but after a few injury plagued seasons he vanished from sight. If Fulmer isn’t traded (a serious possibility) he factors to be the #1 SP prospect in the Met’s system going into 2016. That said, he’ll have an impossible time reaching the majors without an injury to one of the five Met Aces.
- Casey Meisner, SP – Meisner isn’t a “Fireballer” but he’s made such strides in 2015 that I don’t think he can be ranked any lower. The Met hurler is currently in Port St. Lucie and looking ready to tackle Binghamton in 2016.
- Wuilmer Becerra, RF – Becerra was the wildcard addition to the R.A. Dickey trade that netted the Mets a ton of talent. Becerra is proving to be yet another great addition that was made as his power has broken through in the power stripping confines of Savannah.
- Amed Rosario, SS – Rosario hasn’t featured on my recap much in 2015 but he hasn’t been “bad” he’s mostly been “okay”. He needs to repeat at Port St. Lucie in 2016 but still has a ceiling a mile high.
- John Gant, SP – Gant has come down to earth once he reached Binghamton, but being that he started the year in Savannah, some growing pains can be accepted.
Look for a complete list of 50 prospects after the season ends.
AAA:
Dilson Herrera hitting in AAA – Over his last 10 games he’s hitting .366 but Herrera only has 2 walks in that time. He needs to become a more well-rounded hitter.
T.J. Rivera is on fire – Rivera is hitting .421 over the last 10 games and has a .321 BA in 46 games for Las Vegas.
AA:
Michael Conforto is bouncing back – He had gotten off to a great start before cooling off. Now, he’s beginning to swing a hot bat again. I still don’t think he’s the savior of the 2015 lineup.
Gavin Cecchini might be ready for the majors – At 21, Cecchini has finally played up to his “Top Prospect” tag and he should probably get a look at shortstop before the end of the year.
Brandon Nimmo is ready for AAA – I’d like to see the outfielder learn to hit for more power or steal more bases before we talk about his impact in the majors.
A+:
Dominic Smith keeps hitting but needs more – He’s been hitting well over .300 for over a month and a half but he’s still not really hitting for much power. His OPS is only .772 which shows he needs to walk more and hit for more power.
Casey Meisner is hard to hit – Meisner has pitched 25 innings in Advanced A and only given up 21 hits.
A:
Wuilmer Becerra is getting on base – 11 Hits and 4 Walks over his last 10 games. He’s never going to walk a lot but he’s walking more often and that’s a good sign.
Martires Arias is harder to hit – Arias has pitched 79 innings and only given up 61 hits in that time. That’s unreal!
A-:
Brooklyn Pitching, is there something in the water? – There are 9 pitchers around or below a 1.00 WHIP on the roster. Gaby Almonte who has only given up 4 walks in 35.3 innings, Matt Blackham who has 40 Ks in 29.1 IP, Christian Montgomerey who has 18 Ks and only surrendered 3 hits in 9.2 IP, Andrew Church, Corey Taylor, Blake Taylor, Alex Palsha, Craig Missigman and Tyler Badamo who all could represent the next generation of Met pitching.
R1:
Patrick Mazeika is a hitting catcher – He’s a bit tall to last at the position, but he certainly is hitting enough to shift almost anywhere.
Harol Gonzalez is typical of the Met pitching Renaissance – He doesn’t give up hits or walks easily. He doesn’t necessarily strike a ton of guys out but it’s hard to argue with results.
Could at least spell Casey Meisner’s name correctly.
Typos happen.
I’d like to thank the internet for grammar shaming me.
Thanks for the work David. Was hoping for a better than Gant #10 and hoped that Rosario could be higher, but I’ll take both. Ironic how much different it looks with all the big names now gone.
You think Molina isn’t still a better bet than Gant, even though Molina’s hurt?
Gant feels like the right mix of floor and ceiling to come in at #10. There were plenty of options for the last two spots.
There are several pitchers I like better than Gant and I’m really surprised that you have him ahead of Luis Cessa.
Luis Cessa has stumbled mightily in AAA. There are a lot of second tier pitchers in the teens but I picked Gant as the best of them.
Struggled mightily? His 2.89 FIP would disagree. You’re penalizing him to ridiculous lengths for being in the PCL and Las Vegas and not immediately dominating in ERA in 13 innings. There’s no way you can compare their stats for Binghamton and conclude that Gant is better. Cessa has the better ERA (2.56 to 4.17), the better FIP (2.56 to 3.66), the better WHIP (1.215 to 1.537) and the better K/BB ratio (3.6 to 1.6). And Cessa has the better stuff.
I was surprised to see Gant rated so highly too. But he’s exactly the kind of pitcher I tend to whiff on. No obvious out pitch, no great fastball, no clear tools. I feel the same way about Bowman.
When I saw Gant pitch, I was unimpressed. Yet he continues to succeed.
Maybe he succeeds on the margins, maybe not.
I think you give HRs way too much importance when talking about prospects. In many cases power develops in tne ML If Smith comes in with extra base power, that’s fine with me.
Hererra is going to be a better player than Smith, Cecchini and Nimmo and question why he is not rated higher.
The improvement of Becerra from the first time I saw him on May 12th to the next two times in June was significant. He is a five tool player and very good defensive right fielder. He is a better player than Smith, Cecchini and Nimmo were when they played in Savannah and that makes me conclude that he too will be better than those three in the future. I was fortunate enough to see Meisner pitch a gem this year but surprised (but not questioning) that he was ranked so high.
Nice mid year report.
Almost too excited to Dominic Smith reach the major leagues. This guy has the potential to be a better version of James Loney!
I’d take that. I miss the days of wiry first basemen who could hit .300 and play outstanding defense.
Cecchini’s 29 errors makes him really ready for the Mets. Dominic Smith was hitting 301 not well over 300. Lacks power, but its a big improvement.
Cecchini’s defense had been solid until this year. I had been concerned with his bat, and those concerns are waning.
Herrera would be my #2….and I feel he’s the best lock for a long career as a starter. Conforto has star possibilities, but Herrera will definitely be a starter.
Definitely is a dangerous word.
You nailed it.
Im so tired of people complaining about Smith’s lack of power. He just turned 20 years old and he is facing much older competition. To be fair he leads the league in doubles and he does have 4 homers so the lack of power is a bit of a overreaction
As Dom fills out the power should come — he may not be say a Strawberry but could be a 20 HR guy someday
Savannah is not a pitchers park — its not a band box either but it is a hitters park — been there to watch about 10 games and opposing teams who hv real hitters ( unlike the Mets ) dont hv a problem hitting the ball out — as for Becerra we should hv taken Gose instead but Paulie had a hunch — like Nimmo who was a wasted 1st round pick
I like the writeup, and way to man up about Cecchini. Lesser men would have waned.