Welcome to the eighth edition in our continuing tale of the Mets top 50 prospects. In case you missed any of our other segments, check them out at: 50-48, 47-45, 44-42, 41-39, 38-36, 35-33 and 32-30. Next up is:
29 – Milton Ramos
When MLB and the Player’s Association agreed to a slotting system for the amateur draft, the Mets decided to go cheap in the early rounds and use the excess money later in the draft in both 2012 and 2013. They broke that pattern in 2014, when they gave third-round pick Milton Ramos a bonus that was $98,300 over slot.
It was great to see the Mets step up and pay for premier talent in the early rounds. However, the player they chose to break the bank for may have you wondering. Ramos is an athletic shortstop who was noted for his fielding and his speed. If there was a question mark about him, it was his bat. Defense and speed are wonderful but are they worth paying a premium for?
Ramos held his own as an 18 year old in the Gulf Coast League, as he put up a .654 OPS in 185 PA in his professional debut. But it’s an indication of how suspect his bat is when the fact that a player with virtually no power was essentially lauded for having an 18.4 K%. There’s a lot of work to be done offensively with Ramos, but his high draft status and bonus show that the Mets think there’s something there.
28 – Cory Mazzoni
For the second-straight season, Mazzoni had an injury-plagued year. If you just glanced quickly at his stat line, there wouldn’t be anything jumping out at you to mark him as a top prospect. But Mazzoni was added to the 40-man roster this offseason, giving an indication that the Mets view him as a potential contributor at the MLB level.
Mazzoni has swing-and-miss stuff with his fastball and slider. Last year in Triple-A, he had a 4.1 K/BB ratio, better than the mark put up by top prospect Noah Syndergaard (3.4). Besides staying healthy, his big issue is being able to go deep into games. He failed to complete six innings in eight of his 14 starts in 2014.
A trip to the bullpen seems inevitable for Mazzoni, even though he’s started 52 of his last 53 games. The glut of starting pitchers ahead of him, along with his own endurance questions, seem to clinch his fate. It’s not impossible he develops into a closer at some point in the future. But first he needs to make the adjustment to the bullpen. Let’s see if the Mets start that with him in April or if Mazzoni opens the season back in the rotation.
27 – Jayce Boyd
Along with 2B-3B who can hit but are nothing special defensively, the Mets have more than their fair share of 1B prospects who come with good AVG/OBP skills but who don’t offer much in the way of power. Today’s example of that ballplayer is Jayce Boyd. A collegiate player who dominated at Lo-A Savannah, Boyd has continued to get on base in both Hi-A and Double-A.
After posting a .935 OPS at SAV in 2013, Boyd got a mid-year promotion to St. Lucie. His numbers across the board fell at the higher level, but he still posted a .292 AVG and a .372 OBP in SLU. That performance was enough to have him open 2014 in Binghamton, were he repeated those numbers over a full season. Boyd notched a .293 AVG and a .382 OBP in Double-A last year.
A righty batter, Boyd has the chance to be a nice backup first baseman for the lefty-hitting Lucas Duda. He’s more advanced than the similarly-skilled Matt Oberste and while he’s currently ahead of Dominic Smith in proximity to the majors, there’s still hope that Smith will add power to his game and be more than just an OBP guy at a power position. Still, showing the ability to get on base is a good skill to have for the Sandy Alderson-era Mets, so sleep on Boyd at your own risk.
I like the way that Jayce Boyd hits. He hits gap to gap.The Mets signed Brandon Allen to a minor league contract so he will return to Las Vegas. Allan Dykstra is a minor league free agent. I think Boyd is better than Allen but not as good as Dykstra. If Dykstra is not in the mix then the 24 year old Boyd should start in AAA.
Mazzoni is obviously thought highly of by the organization. It is a good point that he be converted to the bullpen immediately because there are too many prospect starters ahead of him and he will be 25 years old. Then again, he has a similar statistical career path as deGrom so maybe this is the new Met way. If they could only be so lucky!
Dyksyra already signed with someone else
If Mazzoni doesn’t have a realistic shot of making the rotation in the next year or two, and they definitely want to keep him in the fold, then reliever seems to be the way to go. Otherwise, he should continue to start next year, and the Mets should use him as another trade chip.
I seem to remember a couple of good fielding gap to gap hitters that played 1st base for the Mets in the mid 80s and 2000. That seemed to work out pretty well.
I think Boyd should be given a shot at AAA. He has earned it.