Continuing the Top 50 rankings we reach the section where there is quite a lot more disagreement, and not only because of the international signees. You will notice far more “Bold” predictions in this group and a lot less consensus. There are likely three to five people on this list who I rate as having pretty good chances to become Top 10 players before too long and that isn’t because of how little faith I have in Mike Vasil. Alright, it’s a little bit of that.
11. Yovanny Rodriguez, C – DSL Dominican Republic
12. Jeremy Rodriguez, SS – FCL St. Lucie
13. Anthony Baptist, OF – FCL St. Licie
14. Alexander Ramirez, OF – A+ Brooklyn
15. Brandon Sproat, RHSP – A St. Lucie
16. Tyler Stuart, RHSP – AA Binghamton
17. Dominic Hamel, RHSP – AA Binghamton
18. Marco Vargas, 2B – A+ Brooklyn
19. Jacob Reimer, 1B/3B – A+ Brooklyn
20. Jesus Baez, IF – A St. Lucie
21. Jose Butto, RHSP – AAA Syracuse
22. Calvin Ziegler, RHSP – A+ Brooklyn
23. Nolan McLean, IF/RHSP – A St. Lucie
24. Yensi Rivas, SS/2B – DSL Dominican
25. Edward Lantigua, OF – DSL Dominican
26. Paul Gervase, RHRP – AA Binghamton
27. Stanley Consuegra, OF – AA Binghamton
28. Ronald Hernandez, C – A+ Brooklyn
29. Boston Baro, IF – A St. Lucie
30. Daniel Juarez, LHRP – AAA Syracuse
Yovanny Rodriguez – As far as draft profiles go, hearing offensive potential in the realm that he has with very solid defense is almost too much to hope for. Brian and I talked all about how much of a craps game the DSL can be and a number of the Mets recent signings are actually under investigation for falsifying birth records.
Jeremy Rodriguez – A blogger favorite, Rodriguez is the ultimate mystery box prize from the 2023 fire sale. He was a promising prospect to begin with but the Mets gave up relatively little to obtain him and his results in the DSL turned a few heads. If he can repeat them stateside, get excited.
Anthony Baptist – At the risk of putting three DSL players in a row, I’m putting three DSL players in a row. Baptist was the best performing prospect from the Met’s previous crop and he had a great debut in the DSL. He projected as a five tool player and he could just be the real thing if the Mets are very very lucky.
Alexander Ramirez – He fell from a fairly lofty ranking in 2023 after putting together an entirely meh season with a side of worrisome. His strikeout numbers are starting to look like the bad half of Mauricio and his bat isn’t generating the same offense anymore. He should get out of AA this year even if he has a ho-hum season.
Brandon Sproat – The Mets went after the one that got away and he came back to them. Sproat has every appearance to me of being a future reliever and I have to assume the Mets saw a future closer. He’s got great stuff and has never showed all that much success. To be fair, I wasn’t that keen when they drafted him in 2022 and I still wasn’t that keen in 2023 but his stuff appears to be legit.
Tyler Stuart (The “Bold” Choice) – Not the boldest of choices but I was three ranks higher than my closest control group and six above another. Stuart was unequivocally the player I was most pleased with in 2023 but like Christian Scott I won’t let myself get lost in the season and will wait with fingers crossed, for a repeat showing.
Dominic Hamel – Hamel seems like a solid overall pitcher and ranks higher in some rankings than where I have him here. He’s coming off a solid year of work where he put together 124 fine innings for AA Binhamton and seems to have rightfully earned a shot at AAA. Add in that his season would have looked even better if not for a rough patch in May and June and there’s lots to like. Hamel is not a “Stuff” pitcher but “Control” pitchers see plenty of success in the majors. He isn’t going to magically become an “Ace” but he has a better chance of reaching the majors as a starter than many.
Marco Vargas – While he played better in the Marlins system than he had for the Mets, Vargas had a solid season in the minors for his Age 18 outing. The left-hand hitting second baseman has a contact approach and seems like he should have a reasonable shot of being a major leaguer. The “negative” is that he doesn’t seem to have much all-star buzz about him as he doesn’t have any real power and only slightly above average speed.
Jacob Reimer – One of the better “Bat-First” prospects in the Met system right now, Reimer spent most of his year in Low A before a promotion to Brooklyn hit him like a ton of bricks. He will assuredly be repeating the level and will need to figure out how to hit in a pitcher’s paradise if he wants to keep on track to stay “young for his level”. When I say he’s a bat first player I really mean it. Reimer is not a good defensive third baseman but it was good to see the Mets have him play their exclusively in 2023.
Jesus Baez – While Baez is listed as a Shortstop, the Mets seem to play him pretty freely all across the infield. Having had a more or less successful campaign in rookie ball, we should expect to be seeing Baez start his season in Port St. Lucie wherever there is an opening in the infield.
Jose Butto – There are a lot of people who would say that Butto being on a Prospect list is a little bit of a stretch, and I’d be one of them. The Mets saw Butto in the majors for a number of innings last year. Butto is an innings eater who can keep you in games and has major league value even if he’s already reached his ceiling.
Calvin Ziegler – The Mets have not had a ton of health luck with pitching prospect though Zielger (who makes this list) hasn’t been as unlucky as a certain Matt Allan (who does not). Ziegler has only pitched a paltry 47.2 innings in the minors and is now behind the 8-Ball to show some results.
Nolan McLean – While McLean is a “Two Way” player the Mets expect to have him firmly switched to pitching full time soon. He has some power but it remains to be seen if he can hold on as a starter. As he’s already 21, the Mets will hopefully get him into Advanced A sooner than later.
Yensi Rivas – Another international signee who was highly rated by scouts. He’s got a bonafide plus tool for hitting and seems to get solid scores for power, speed and fielding too. We’ll know a little more once he gets some games under his belt.
Edward Lantigua – Like Rivas, Lantigua has a highly scouted international draft profile. His best tool seems to be his arm but he profiles as being a solid all around player. Being in the Top 50 earns him a spot in the Mets Top 30 even before he plays a single minor league inning.
Paul Gervase – From the future to the present, Paul Gervase is a rapidly rising reliever prospect in the Mets system who could start the year in AA or AAA but could finish the year in the majors. I’d like to see him begin the year as the closer for Binghamton.
Stanley Consuegra – After being in the Met system for a number of years Consuegra had a nice bit of a breakout season for the Mets in 2023. Having hit 23 home runs in Brooklyn we will hope he can build on that in 2024 as he proceeds to Binghamton and less terrible stadium metrics.
Ronald Hernandez – He was considerably better in rookie ball than he was in Port St. Lucie but the sample size was small. The Mets are hoping to get some nice value out of a catching prospect who has solid scouting numbers across the board.
Boston Baro – Boston Baro ranked extremely high on one ranking list after some nice numbers in Rookie ball. Seven games stateside isn’t something to write home about but it isn’t nothing. He has to show a whole lot more before this ranking starts making sense.
Daniel Juarez – The Mets treatment of Juarez in 2023 made little sense. He returned to Advanced A after having an entirely successful stint there already and produced excellent numbers and was finally promoted to AA where the Mets started to tinker with the idea of him starting. Juarez still profiles as a solid lefty reliever.
This list really speaks to the improving depth in the system.
In years past Hamel and Ziegler were and would still be top 10 prospects.
The system has depth but the depth of pitching remains suspect. I think you see pitchers with lower level ceilings higher on the list because the Mets lack any pitchers who profile as future aces.
It’s my opinion that the pitching depth is fine.
Hamel, Sanchez, Scott, Sproat, Stuart, Tidwell, Vasil and Ziegler make eight guys who are worth watching, with six of those already with multiple good outings in Double-A on their resume. How did you feel about the depth and future aces of the system five years ago? Here are the top 20 guys from your top 50 back in 2019:
6. Justin Dunn
7. David Peterson
8. Franklyn Kilome
9. Thomas Szapucki
10. Anthony Kay
16. Jordan Humphreys
17. Tony Dibrell
18. Jaison Vilera
20. Bobby Wahl
Dunn and Peterson had the pedigrees of being first-round picks but neither of them were thought to be an ace. Dunn had some success in Double-A but also had a 4.22 ERA there. Peterson had a 5.11 ERA at Hi-A, his highest level. Kilome had some success in Double-A but by the time the list came out, he already had the TJ surgery that would keep him out for the year. Szapucki hadn’t pitched above Lo-A and had missed all of the 2018 season. Kay was a supplemental first-round pick but hadn’t pitched above Hi-A. Humphreys had two games pitched at Hi-A and had missed all of the 2018 season. Dibrell hadn’t pitched above Lo-A. Vilera hadn’t pitched in a full-season league. Wahl was an older reliever who threw hard.
I could see preferring this group because of the pedigree of Dunn and Peterson and Kay, too, I guess. But the rest were ranked higher due to the lack of prospects (both hitting and pitching) in the rest of the system. But there were no aces here. And is it fair to use “aces” as a measuring stick?
If we ignore the reliever, there are 8 guys on this list from 2019, the same number I listed above for 2024. My opinion is that the 2024 guys will have more of an MLB impact than the 2019 guys.
Your lips to the Baseball God’s ears.
I still believe in Ramirez and I expect him to rebound significantly as he escapes Brooklyn. The fact that the Mets put him on the 40-man this year speaks to what they think of him. Pretty rare to put a hitter on the 40-man who stunk up the joint, like Ramirez did last year. I’m also encouraged in seeing him getting starts here early in ST, where he looks good defensively in RF.
I was high on Ziegler previously and I’m looking forward to seeing him pitch this year. I’m a little surprised you have Sproat above both Hamel and Stuart. It’s a crazy to me how little buzz those two pitchers are getting. I feel like all the attention is going to Scott, who is being overrated, while Hamel and Stuart are being underrated.
I like Gervase. But I think I’d rank Lavender above him.
Finally, I expect Consuegra to be the big breakout guy this year as he moves to BNG.
I’ve seen Alex Ramirez a lot and I love him in the field. At the plate he reminds me a lot of Ronny Mauricio and I have my fingers crossed that once he’s out of Brooklyn the stat-line improves.
Where are the HRs? Where are the Ks?
Hey Woodrow,
This list has a pair of players I’d consider power hitters in Reimer and Consuegra and a pair of offensive prospects capable of almost anything: Yovanny Rodriguez and Jeremy Rodriguez. In terms of strikeouts you have Brandon Sproat and Tyler Stuart on this list along with a number of relievers who get solid K numbers.
Hamel struck out 160 in 130 IP last year. And the pitchers with a lot of Ks are probably in the 1 – 10 grouping.