Mets Minors: Top 50 prospects 2017 25-21

To start this quintet we have five players who appear to be a little higher than they deserve. Carpio is ranked higher than Ramos, Cespedes is ranked higher than Stuart and Woodmansee is ranked higher than 40th. These are all aggressive rankings for one reason or another and some people will disagree. Most people should agree that the Gonzalez’s, at least, belong. From here on out there will be far fewer surprises as the talent within the Top 20 is more readily apparent and difficult to dispute.

#25 Luis Carpio, SS/2B: The 15th Top Prospect from last year’s list only played in 20 odd games in 2016 and of those games he played exclusively DH. It was a wasted season for the 18 year old infielder but it doesn’t suggest his stock has vanished. Carpio isn’t a typical small bodied shortstop but he is also not so tall that he’s unlikely to hold the position as he adds muscle to his skinny frame. Look for Carpio to start the year in Columbia to make up for lost time. (ETA: 2020 Ceiling: Starting Shortstop)

#24 Ricardo Cespedes, OF: Back in 2013 the Mets signed Cespedes out of the Dominican Republic for $725,000 a year after they spent $1.75 Mil on Amed Rosario. Cespedes did not have the same raw ability that Rosario did but his swing was viewed, by scouts, as being much less of a “work in progress”. Cespedes came stateside in 2015 and, at 17 years of age, seemed overmatched by the GCL. 2016 saw him progress to the APP where he showed what difference a year can make. Cespedes put together an OPS of .735 on the back of a .322 batting average. There are flaws in his game, chiefly his lack of walks and 7 instances of being caught stealing but the talent seems to be there. Cespedes could round into a player with speed and power, it’s just too early to tell. (ETA: 2021 Ceiling: Starting Outfielder)

#23 Colby Woodmansee: The tall infielder doesn’t look like a shortstop when he’s standing tall. At 6’3″ tall you don’t expect Woodmansee to be a shortstop. Having seen him play, I can vouch that he’s capable of defending there. That’s likely to change over time with an eventual move to third but expect the Mets to test his versatility at every level. His stat line from Brooklyn doesn’t look great as he struck out far too often for a player who only hit 2 home runs but his athleticism truly intrigues. The Mets have a bit of a project in teaching him to be more disciplined at the plate but if he learns his lesson he could round into an impact player. (ETA: 2020 Ceiling: Starting Third Baseman)

#22 Merandy Gonzalez, SP: You have read repeatedly about the importance of WHIP and K/9 in determining a pitcher’s ultimate value. The third most telling statistic is simply how many innings a starting pitcher manages per outing. At 4.9, you’ll begin to understand why some scouts view Gonzalez as a reliever. Add in that his height is only 6’1″ (short for pitchers these days) and you might even start nodding along. His 9.3 K/9 as a starter would likely see a rise if he shifted into a relief role as well. They do say that the best relief pitchers get their start as starters. (ETA: 2020 Ceiling: Closer)

#21 Harol Gonzalez, SP: Compare Merandy and Harol Gonzalez and you see two very similar pitchers. Harol is even an inch shorter. Look at their stats and you’ll notice two distinct differences. One, the latter averaged over 6.0 innings a game (including a relief appearance) and two, control. With a K/9 of 9.3 and a WHIP of 1.012 you are looking at “Ace” stats. Though that might be a little over-ambitious. Gonzalez will be entering into his first year of full season baseball in 2017 and we’ll look for these superlative statistics to continue before we start penciling him into the upper echelons of our next Top Prospect list. (ETA: 2020 Ceiling: 2nd Starter)