The Mets are in the midst of an amazing late season run towards the playoffs and have exceeded my pre-season expectations at the major league level. Part of what makes it so amazing is that the team has been without their MVP, Francisco Lindor for an extended time. Coming up from AAA to cover that loss, the Mets brought up Luisangel Acuna. Since that call up, he’s played in 5 games and amassed a thoroughly impressive (limited time) stat line.
In 29 at bats, he’s gotten 11 hits (five of which have been for extra bases and three home runs) and he’s generally playing good defense. His timing for success is great for him endearing himself to fans but it should be noted that his success has come from basically nowhere.
The Mets traded Max Scherzer and a boatload of money to Texas for Acuna and were hoping for a top flight prospect. His numbers with the Texas minor league team were good and with name recognition, he began the season ranked 5th in the Mets system but starting in June he began a swan dive down the rankings. By July he was out of the Top 10 and by the end of August he was slipping from the Top 20 but his small sample of major league success has injected some helium into his stock.
How much of a bounce in value that should net him is a hard question to answer. On the one hand, he’s a high level prospect who now appears fully ready to play at the major league level. On the other he has looked like he had the ceiling of a bench player prior to his promotion. The power he has shown is miles above the power he displayed as a minor leaguer. We’ll keep tabs on what he does as Lindor returns and the Mets need for him diminishes but for the moment he looks like he’s bouncing back up towards the Top 10.
Prospect Report Cards:
At the start of the season I posted rankings for Top Prospects and quite a few underwhelmed. While I don’t know if the farm took a giant step back I would say the Mets farm system had a stiff reality check from the injury Gods.
Jett Williams, SS/OF – C: Williams was hurt for most of the year and didn’t play great in AA once he was back. He’s fallen several spots in the rankings but he did look good in AAA for his end of season audition. I don’t think he can be part of the Mets 2025 plans thanks to the injury.
Drew Gilbert, OF – C+: Like Williams, Gilbert was hurt early in the season and had actually seemed off to a good start when that happened. His numbers, given the injury, were actually not too bad and the Mets will likely have him on the radar this Spring given Starling Marte’s age.
Ronny Mauricio, 3B/OF – IL: Mauricio was expected to be injured all season and there he has remained. I don’t know if the Mets allow him to play winter baseball given his injury there but they do want him up to speed for 2025 where he should be in contention for starting 3B among other jobs.
Luisangel Acuna, SS/2B – D: His grade prior to his MLB callup would have been worse. The highest ranked prospect to not spend the majority of the season injured, Acuna did little to raise his stock as he dropped from Fourth overall to sitting outside the Top 10.
Blade Tidwell, RHP – C-: We should say that Tidwell showed well after some early worries in AA and did earn a promotion to AAA this year. His poor grade comes from him having more than enough time to adjust and allowing his control problems to get out of hand. He needs to get control of his pitching soon. He will get looks in Spring Training but the Mets cannot write him into a rotation spot.
Ryan Clifford, OF/1B – B+: One of the streakier prospects in the system there is a lot to like and feel good about with his bat. He ends the year in the Top 5 and with another full year in the minors ahead of his factoring with the major league squad.
Kevin Parada, C – C-: We saw months of Parada performing the way he should but we also saw dismal months of him looking like a player without an MLB future. He fell far enough to be looking in from the outside of the Top 10 and has likely played his way out of being trade fodder for the offseason.
Christian Scott, RHP – A-: First, the obvious, I ranked him too low. Scott exceeded my expectations in the minors and forced his way into the majors thanks to good pitching. He’s pitched enough that he’s graduated off the list and should be in the running for a starting rotation spot unless something truly mad occurs.
Colin Houck, SS – F: He was flat out bad almost all year. He strikes out a ton and looks very much like a wasted top pick.
Mike Vasil, RHP – F: There were stretches, I guess, where he was just bad and not abjectly terrible but I no longer view Vasil as a prospect.
Yovanny Rodriguez, C – B-: Given his numbers are in the DSL and mean little it was good to see him come around after a slow start with a triumphant August. Hopefully he plays stateside in 2025.
Jeremy Rodriguez, SS – B: Nothing I’d complain about for this prospect who the Mets traded for last year. He began the year on a tear and cooled off but looks to be a solid Top 10 prospect for 2025 and beyond.
Anthony Baptist, OF – F: I made a lot of his DSL success in 2024 but it may have been that he was older than his competition, since he was older than he told the Mets he was.
Alexander Ramirez, OF – C-: I was debating if he had a C- or a D+ season and went with the former. He got off to a great start but ultimately showed he is too much of a swinger and not enough of a hitter. He’s physically gifted and I’m not giving up on him just yet.
Brandon Sproat, RHP – A: Want to harp on his bad outings in AAA? Sure. Want to point out he was too old for Advanced A? You’re correct. He advanced two levels in the minors and looked very good through both of them. Give him more time and expect a strong Spring Training audition.
Tyler Stuart, RHP – B+: Like Tidwell and Sproat, Stuart struggled once he reached AAA. Unlike the others, he reached AAA with the Washington organization. I like what Jesse Winker brings to the team but I had hopes for Stuart.
Dominic Hamel, RHP – D-: He might barely scrape into the Bottom 5 players of the Top 50 after starting the year in the Top 20. That’s bad.
Marco Vargas, 2B – C: Too many stints on the IL has this talented infield prospect mostly treading water. He has been left behind by another acquisition, Ronald Hernandez but will hopefully catch back up in 2025.
Jacob Reimer, 1B/3B – D: He was hurt most of the year and didn’t look great once he came back.
Jesus Baez, IF – A+: The best offensive prospect performance the Mets got, Baez shined in a season where higher ranked names did not. Now he’s ranked with the bigger names and moving forward will be held to a higher standard.
Players Who Should be Mentioned
Jonah Tong, RHSP – A+: From unlisted to #7 overall in my rankings.
Daiverson Guttierez, C – A-: He came to the US and showed his scouting reports from his pre-DSL days might have been right.
Nolan McLean, LHSP – B: So long as he only pitches.
I’m excited about Gutierrez and wonder where the Mets will have him start next year. He did fine in a brief stay in the FCL and struggled in an even-briefer stay in SLU. My hope is that he starts next year in full-season SLU – getting ABs in a competitive situation right away.
Of course the Mets have good depth at the catcher position, which might mean he opens back in the FCL
I’d like to throw a little love for Acuna. Let’s not say he came from nowhere. If the Mets brought me in and I had that it would be from nowhere. He’s got legacy/bloodline, another team that thought a lot about him, our scouting that also did etc. So it’s not entirely a complete shocker. One other thing I read today somewhere was that he had been struggling with the dark stadium lighting in the minors, and that being up has been a whole different look at the game. Is that BS? Probably to some degree, but not entirely discountable either. Anyway, he looks like a major leaguer, but definitely small in stature. Comfortable in the field. Hard to not see him as a potential every day 2B for next year.
Seems maybe a bit harsh on Williams and Gilbert who spent so much time on the DL. I guess I would have call them INC for a grade.
Mauricio seems to be a huge part of the unknowns for the team going forward. It’s been easy to forget about him entirely, but before he went down, wow. Maybe he’s an every day 2B?
Super disappointing for Houck. Hes only 20 so maybe given some time to get his crap together is needed. Would suck to lose a #1 that fast.
Appreciate the extras. I hope Jonah Tong is special for the long term.