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When scouting prospects you talk about a player’s “Floor” and their “Ceiling”. A player with a high floor is already fairly skilled with a high likelihood of reaching the majors. A player with a high ceiling has a ton of potential. A team’s best prospects have a high floor and a high ceiling. At the lower end of the Top 20 you’re looking at players who have a high floor and a low ceiling or a high ceiling and low floor.
20. Nabil Crismatt, SP (Bats: R, Throws: R, Age: 23) – A blog favorite who doesn’t get much respect outside of Mets360.com, Nabil Crismatt had a successful season in Port St. Lucie. His numbers were not as impressive as they’d been in lower levels of the minors and his lack of “stuff” may continue to diminish his results as he progresses. He’s still potentially a workhorse pitcher who can provide a team with quality innings thanks to his control. On a good team he likely only shows up as a backend starter. In 2018 he’s likely to join Marcos Molina in the front end of the AA rotation in 2018 and hope that he can get some of his peripheral numbers back from 2015 and 2016.
19. Jacob Rhame, RP (Bats: R, Throws: R, Age: 24) – Based upon his 2018 numbers, Jacob Rhame isn’t guaranteed a role with the major league club but he’s a strong contender for relief work. The Mets have a strong bullpen base with Jeurys Familia, Anthony Swarzak, Jerry Blevins and Paul Sewald but Rhame will be in contention for work against the likes of Hansel Robles and (potentially) Zack Wheeler this Spring. His numbers, after the Mets acquired him, looked pretty sharp and his WHIP and K/9 suggest that he could develop into a closer caliber reliever if things all pan out. You look for relievers to have a K/9 above 9.0 and WHIPs under 1.40 if possible. For what it is worth, in his 49 outings for AAA Rhame had a K/9 of 16.5 and a WHIP of 0.33 but that is a painfully small sample size. If he doesn’t win the job, expect him to be closing for AAA to start the year.
18. Ronny Mauricio, SS (Bats: S, Throws:R, Age:16) – The Mets top international signee hasn’t yet done anything in the minors to hang your hat on. He’s ranked within the Top 20 based entirely on scouting which suggests him to be a Plus Hitter with good defense. Scouts see his contact ability as his best tool which would also suggest that the Mets might be intrigued by his legs. He’s young enough that you could be looking at an eventual heir to Amed Rosario but he’s far enough away that it’s premature to say that much. The Mets are likely to start him off in the DSL where we’ll hope for him to put together a solid season before we rate him much higher. You will see bloggers and scouts who do.
17. Wagner Lagrange, LF (Bats: R, Throws: R, Age: 22) – The Kingsport Mets exploded in 2017 with Wagner Lagrange, Rigoberto Terrazas, Edgardo Fermin, Juan Uriarte, Jeremy Vasquez and Mark Vientos all looking to have offensive gifts. Four members of that team ranked within our 25-21 rankings with Edgardo Fermin falling off the rankings at #26 overall. Lagrange added to his 2017 resume by succeeding after his promotion to Brooklyn which is not particularly common. He hit .330/.379/.460 across the two levels and he stole a few bases. The dig against Lagrange is that he doesn’t walk very often. He also doesn’t strike out very often so we’ll hope for better discipline as he progresses. He profiles as a hitting corner outfielder who has some speed and more power but the Mets have had too many players succeed at the lower levels and wash out in Port St. Lucie to get overly excited just yet. Still, it’s hard to not look at some of these players without a tinge of optimism.
16. Jhoan Urena, 3B/1B (Bats: S, Throws: R, Age: 23) – Once upon a time we looked at Jhoan Urena as a potential heir to David Wright. That’s why looking to youth can be dangerous. The switch hitting corner infielder had a resurgent 2017 and played games at three levels pretty well. The Mets will likely begin his 2017 in AA but they could be shifting him up to AAA in the near future. His numbers in Port St. Lucie were .282/.364/.437 and his 13 game audition in AAA boasted a .227/.292/.477 both of which are positive signs for a player who had last inspired confidence in 2014. It’s difficult to get too excited about Urena who has alternated his solid performances with dismal ones but between he and Eudor Garcia there should be some corner infield hitting talent depth.
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“It’s difficult to get too excited about Urena who has alternated his solid performances with dismal ones but between he and Eudor Garcia there should be some corner infield hitting talent depth”
You might have missed this, but Eudor was released by the Mets at the end of the June. Hopefully he isn’t your top 15.
Yes, my mistake
It’s tough to know where to put the new international guys. Is Mauricio more like Andres Gimenez or more like Gregory Guerrero? I’ll probably be a little more aggressive with my ranking of him but that says more about the farm system than just about anything.
Well Brian,
Either way, I feel that we have time to discover what Ronny is going to become. He’s likely to play in the DSL for much of 2018 and not come stateside before 2019. When he puts out numbers befitting that signing bonus he will find himself shooting up the charts for me.
I’m also more bullish on the farm in general. Imagine, for a second, that Justin Dunn, Desmond Lindsay and David Peterson show up after spring training and put on a show. If these former “Top Picks” perform up to expectations the Met farm goes from bottom third to top of the middle third. It isn’t impossible.
Have hope!
~David G
David, I also have hope but it’s mixed with disappointment. Every organization has talent, but how much do they have and how many prospects defy the odds and make it it where success lies. The Mets will start having some of their better talent emerging in two to four years, but if the GM doesn’t make room for them, what’s the use? When you have Flores, Smith and Bruce, why sign Gonzalez? The money was to the Coupons’ liking but it sends the wrong message.
Also, Nimmo was wanted by the Pirates as a piece in a McCutchen deal, but the Mets declined. They are now hoping to use Nimmo to land Harrison. It’s a mixed bag for the Mets fan that waited for this player to be a contributor, but we need to give in order to get, I guess.
“Every organization has talent, but how much do they have and how many prospects defy the odds and make it it where success lies.”
And then you get the San Diego Padres.
Rhame has a live arm but looked awfully raw to me. Wagner LaGrange is now my favorite baseball name.